For Angela's birthday we did a surprise trip. We left on the morning of December 26th and headed for Hillsborough River State Park which is just outside the northern boundary of Tampa. We camped there overnight. Rich and I stayed in the RV and Angela and Olivia slept in the tent. Luckily the weather was perfect for sleeping outside. We had her birthday dinner that night (which was a day early). I had precooked CJ's ribs, pinto beans and spicy rice. We ate by the fire and topped it off with birthday cake. On her birthday the next day we headed for the same small zoo where I swam with the tiger. This visit we held a 5 week old African lion cub. What a thrill! We also held an albino skunk and baby alligators. After our animal encounter we took the zoo tour. It's such a small zoo and so perfect. You're not allowed to wander on your own. You only can see it on a tour. There was just the 4 of us on our tour which made it even more special! We were only 2 or 3 feet from a 600 pound female lion while she growled at us! We all kept a close eye on the fence to make sure it looked substantial enough!! We all are eager to go back ASAP!

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