Otters and Bears and Big Cats... OH MY!

On Saturday afternoon, I headed off to The Stone Zoo (hey that's my honey to the right, with sunglasses on, standing in line for our Cheesecake Factory slices... guess I was too short to show up in the pic because I was right in front of him and my friend Dani is behind him...) for their annual Wild Affair "tasting" event. This was the first time we went and it was a blast... the food was delicious!! I think we're all definitely going again next year!

I stupidly left my camera at home, but did use my cell phone to snap a few cute pics. They had a lot of the animals out and about for people to see up close and personal, including this BIG guy.

I totally love cute, furry things and am especially fond of both otters and meerkats...

Lookie here at Mr. Big Kittie Kat! This photo was actually taken from behind the glass and I can't believe how well it came out...

They had various fundraising things going on during the evening, one of which was $25 for a stuffed bear (who roars... Sophie has already stolen it twice, she's quite infatuated with him). You pick which bear you want, all are numbered, and you are guaranteed a prize worth at least the $25 you spent (prizes ranged from gift cards to restaurants, hair salons, car washes, even a vet's office... to autographed sports memorabilia... to behind the scenes tours at the zoo). Later during the event you bring your numbered bear to the prize table to see what you've won.

I got my bear on the way in (they were selling out fast) and picked #98... then as we were walking around, I was looking over the prize list and said "oh cool... a rose quartz bear pendant... oh and a behind the scenes tour of the new black bear exhibit... some autographed Red Socks stuff..." Then as we were looking for the prize table, I started thinking "oh great, watch me win the free car washes and I'd have to waste half a tank of gas just to get there to wash my car..." Then the nice lady starts looking for #98... nope, its not here on the prize table... its not any of those baskets, not even that big Red Sox one.... okay, she goes and looks in the flat envelope box and pulls one out a big envelope and hands it to me... its this...

The Rose Quartz Bear pendant, valued at $200 from a local jewelry designer (attached card says rose quartz bear, rose quartz & garnet beads, sterling silver, faceted fresh water pearls and swarovski crystals). How funny is that... I ended up with the first prize I mentioned out loud(damn... if I had only read "behind the scenes black bear exhibit tour" first... note to self for next year...)! Needless to say, I was quite happy with my $25 investment (I'd never spend $200 on this!)... now to keep the little growling bear away from The Princess who wishes to de-stuff him......