The day after Christmas, we put our tree out by the curb, packed up our van and headed to sunny Florida. It was 80 degrees and sunny all week—delightful. Besides the glorious weather, highlights of the J-ville Zoo included petting stingrays, the squirrel monkey exhibit with 20 little yellow-faced monkeys flying and jumping around, the sea otters that swam over our heads, the piggy-backing bonobos, some beautiful bongos, and the sleek, powerful jaguars. Did you know that black jaguars are covered with spots (you can see them when the sun shines)? We topped off our first Florida zoo with a surprise trip to a nice beach in Jacksonville. Collected shells, waded in the cold water, and praised God for His awesome creation.

View photos of our trip to this zoo