Guinea Pig

You might not know this, but I raised and bred guinea pigs when I was a kid. At one point I think I had over a dozen in my bedroom (my room also had a pair of breeding doves and some fish). Not to brag or anything, but I made it to showmanship championships in Bakersfield one year. Yeah, I was a big deal with my piggies. Enjoy this very out-of-focus photo of me and my champion Teddy (breed of guinea pig) named Chippy.

I share this to say, when I found out they had baby capybaras at The Sacramento Zoo…I got pretty excited. For those who don’t know, capybaras are part of the Caviidae family and are considered distant relatives of the guinea pig. I got my 6-year-old nephew hyped up and when we saw the five little babies, well, we might have squealed just a bit. Not only are they adorable, but we saw them learning to swim! I think I got him hooked.

Here are my favorite capybara photos, along with some other beautiful Sacramento Zoo animals. Let me know if you have a favorite photo and have a fantastic rest of your week!

#5 *don’t tell the others, but this little one is my favorite

#9 *see if you can spot the third baby in the water

Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
Thank you Vanessa for the awesome face painting! Check her out if you need to hire someone. She’s fantastic.

“Sometimes I think that ideas float through the atmosphere like huge squishy pumpkins, waiting for heads to drop on.” -Neil Gaiman

If it’s not clear by now, I’m a huge fan of all things fall. Few things bring me as much joy as our annual family trip to Rickey Ranch Pumpkin Patch. This year, as we are facing some big family struggles, every smile felt brighter and every pumpkin more delightful.

Although we went during terrible lighting and most of my pictures didn’t really turn out, I’m happy to have captured the day. May it bring a smile to your face and drop some wonderful ideas onto your head.