so like i was saying... the weather forecast wasn't looking good. but we decided to go ahead - we had a rainy-day back-up plan in place. here we are, excited and ready to go! we drove through thunderstorms almost the entire drive to knoxville, but we didn't let it dampen our spirits (bad pun, i know. i couldn't resist). earlier in the week, i noticed adella's sunhat was missing. i decided to make her a new one, and was determined to finish it by the time we got there, hoping that we'd have some sun to shield her eyes from. i started it last night, and this is what i started with today: once we got into the knoxville area, the rain stopped! yay! looks like our luck was changing... but the hat. only 10 rows away from finishing, and we pulled into the parking lot. meanwhile, at the zoo... that's a camel! a couple of funny signs: if you look closely, you will learn that the gorilla's Scientific Name is gorilla gorilla gorilla. very clever. and here is gorilla gorilla gorilla looking at adella. she was asking the gorilla its' name and then saying, "name. adella." baby bird no little baby car for her - adella wanted the real thing! in the petting area, they handed out brushes to the kids to brush the goats! adella and daddy milking a cow! beavers! our zoo adventure over, we had one last treat for the ride home - animal crackers!