Samantha and me at the San Diego Zoo

If you ever get a chance to go to the San Diego Zoo, you need to go! I had Columbus Day off and since I get free admission to the San Diego Zoo for being military, I decided to take Samantha on a daddy-daughter excursion into the wild unknown! Well, ok, so it's a major zoo in the middle of a major city, but it was excursion enough for us!

My relationship with Samantha is an odd one at best. I have felt in the last several months that it was vital for me to raise a son worthy of his future manhood. That has gone very well for Timothy, but it has left me wondering what I'm supposed to do with Samantha. I'm not trying to raise an amazon warrior, unless you're speaking metaphorically about fighting CF. As far as that goes, I am trying to show her how much I love her by raising awareness and money for the cause.

Yet as far as just regular old daddy-daughter bonding, well, we haven't had much. She would rather spend time with her toys and her mom, and I've allowed her that. But when Alicia suggested I take her to the zoo, I decided that this could be an opportunity to bond with her.

And boy did we! My daughter and I had the most wonderful time. We didn't worry about CF, treatments, discipline, instruction, or anything else. We spent the morning simply living in a wonderland of animals, footprints, and holding hands. It was so amazing. I always grew up loving animals, and Samantha has that same spirit.

So here are some pictures of our time at the San Diego Zoo. This was my best trip to the zoo ever!

These two just broke my heart and made me so happy at the same time! She really loves animals, and she really loves elephants (not sure why!). I'm glad it's part of who she is.

By the way, these are not real elephants...they were just the only ones she could hug!

Samantha, I had a blast with you little one! Keep fighting!