goat – Wellness & Wanderlust

Santa's Christmas Tree Forest As part of my 26 at 26 bucket list, I was dying to visit a pumpkin patch this year. Like most young women between the ages of 18 and 35, I absolutely love autumn and everything that comes with it: the drop in temperature, the cuter clothing options (I live in Florida but somehow have an entire drawer dedicated to scarves), the seasonal flavors, and especially Halloween. In fact, I love this time of the year so much that I redecorated my apartment with fall/Halloween décor back in mid-September. 🙂

In spite of my love for all things autumnal, I haven’t been to a pumpkin patch in years, so this year, I decided it was time to pick out a pumpkin of my own. Of course, I wasn’t going to go to just any old church or high school to do this. Instead, I decided to visit Santa’s Christmas Tree Forest in Eustis.

My sister and I made the trip out to Eustis and were surprised at how much fun we had. Santa’s Christmas Tree Forest had free admission, along with family-friendly activities that required ticket purchases, such as a zip-line, hayrides, and pony rides. We did purchase a pumpkin from their abundant patch, but we actually discovered something better: the petting zoo.

Without a doubt, one of the happiest moments of my whole life!

Anyone who has ever come into contact with me knows about my love for animals, so our trip to the farm was a dream come true. At first, Julie and I visited the goats, my absolute favorite farm animals, and the pigs. We learned the hard way that pigs bite (sorry, Julie!) and that goats can bite a little bit too if they think you have food. Of course, our favorite part of the whole trip was when we had the chance to hold the baby goats!

One of my dreams in the next five years is to adopt a dog, but now I will need to get a baby goat as well. The one that I held was incredibly sweet (even though she loved to gnaw on my hair!) and clearly my favorite animal on the whole farm. I definitely plan to return, if only to play with the baby animals!

Yes, I’m a crazy animal lover, but for those of you who live in Central Florida, I fully recommend Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm for your next weekend excursion. The farm not only hosts events and attractions throughout the year, but is friendly for all ages (families included). I know I’ll be back in the near future!

What’s on your bucket list for this year? Share in the comments section below!

How is my bucket list progressing? Click here for links to recaps and to see what I’ve been up to!

Squad goals.

My inner child had the time of her life over the weekend when I took my very first trip to the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford. As some of my blog readers know, I’ve been dying to visit this zoo for quite some time — it’s practically in my backyard and it made its way onto my 25 at 25 Bucket List! (To see my progress so far, click here.) I was overcome with excitement when I convinced a few friends to tag along, and I enjoyed every minute of my visit. 🙂

Total disclosure: I’m an unapologetic nerd when it comes to my love for animals. I know there are a lot of pros and cons when it comes to zoos, but there’s no denying that zoos can instill in us an empathy and love for all creatures from a young age. You gain exposure to species you’ve never even heard of from areas of the world you’ve never been. If you live in Florida, a giraffe is probably not going to wander in front of your window one morning, so seeing one in person can be a one-of-a-kind experience.

Of course, as you’ve probably guessed, I had a great time at the zoo. 🙂 It was Lemur Conservation Day, which meant that we learned little factoids about lemurs throughout the day and even observed part of a zookeeper talk on lemurs.

Red Ruffed Lemur at Central Florida Zoo

Aside from lemurs, the Central Florida Zoo features a cheetah, leopard, cougar, dromedary camel and many other animals, as well as a fairly extensive herpetarium and a variety of birds. The adorable otters were swimming when we arrived in their area and were possibly the happiest animals in the entire zoo, followed closely by this boer goat (who just might definitely be my spirit animal).

He seriously might have been my favorite animal of the whole day.

I was also enamored with these two Indian rhinos, Jahi and PJ, and compared them to two of our family dogs throughout the visit based on their proximity to one another. 🙂

Rhinos at Central Florida Zoo

For those of you who live in the Orlando area or are making a trip out here, the Central Florida Zoo is well worth the visit. I’m so happy I was able to finally experience it after years of living only a few miles away! It is a relatively small zoo, but it has a good variety of animals and plenty of activities for children as well.