A good time was had by all at the Panda Convention!

Well, it was a wonderful weekend in PanDiego once again. I saw the Wu Self, Madame Her Royal Highness, the Empress Bai Yun, and even a glimpse from the bridge far above, of the lovely Gao Gao of the extra fuzzy feet. The Panda Convention drew panda fans from around the globe! Australia, Canada, Switzerland, as well as points from all corners of the US. (Literally!) Washington State, Florida, Maine, and southern California were all represented as well as many points in between.

We had a wonderful panda presentation by Nate Wintle of PDX Wildlife who attended with his delightful 8 year old daughter Dee, who has been best friends with pandas since (before) she was born. Alas, the director of PDX Wildlife, Meghan Martin-Wintle, could not be there as she was in China supervising the incoming interns. Meg is also the mom of the delightful Dee, and with parents like this, it’s no wonder she is smart as a whip.

I have to tell you one of my favorite moments of the weekend…

I…um…strong armed Nate into buying a copy of The Pinky Defense for Dee, and she proceeded to read out loud, the story of KittySue and the Three Pandas. She got to the end, and looked a tad puzzled at the last panel:

What a lovely day for the 3 pandas to relax at home!

…and then she looked at the previous page:

Pandas are very misunderstood, in so many ways….

And then her eyes got really big and she said, “They ATE KittySue!!!!!!”

See what I mean about being smart?

Anyway, Speaking of Pinky…um…we’re always speaking of Pinky aren’t we…

Don’t ignore Princess Pinky!

Alas, there was no cookie balancing competition at the convention, but there was a bit of a scene at the Mexican restaurant where Babette’s many admirers vied for her attention!

Babette and her many admirers

Viva Les pandas!
Bob T Panda