Sacramento grandpa gives Peppa Pig an adventure, goes TikTok viral
SACRAMENTO - As a Sacramento grandpa departed for his vacation, he never expected the unlikely companions that hitched a ride in his suitcase.
David Zielke unpacked his luggage and discovered a Peppa Pig figurine and her family in the midst of his toothbrush and pajamas – his 5-year-old granddaughter, Lisette, clearly the culprit.
"I think she really wanted to go on the trip, so she decided to pack," Zielke said. "That's what she decided she was going to bring."
If Lisette couldn't join her grandpa's trip, she wanted to make sure her tiny friends did. Zielke didn't take the responsibility lightly; he couldn't let his new friends sit in the hotel all day.
"I immediately thought 'You know what?' I'm going to have fun with this," Zielke said.
He decided to give his toy companions the trip of a lifetime. From fancy dinners to sunbathing to cooking classes, he documented the pigs' adventures as a video souvenir for Lisette.
As he did so, his daughter, Tanya, filmed behind the scenes. When she posted a few clips on Instagram, her followers wanted more.
"That's when I compiled all the videos together and I was like let me just share this and hopefully this just makes somebody's day," Tanya Zielke said.
She posted the video to TikTok – a video that has now garnered over 13 million views. The overwhelmingly positive reception from viewers was something Zielke never expected.
"To me it was just a simple act of love for my granddaughter," Zielke said. "But it struck a chord with a lot of people. A lot of people commented about just how touched they were by it. How it made them remember their grandparents…"
The Sacramento 64-year-old's sweet actions unintentionally served as an inspiration for others.
"So many people were saying 'Oh, I wish my kids had this,' and a lot of my responses to that were that you have to start the traditions," Tanya Zielke said. "Like don't wait for somebody else to do it, you can be this person to your child and teach your child this way of loving on them. They will do it to your future children and it will continue to grow. It just takes someone setting an example."
Soon, Zielke and the pigs were back home in Lisette's arms, right where they belong. The videos, a small act of kindness that Lisette can hold onto forever.
"You don't need to do anything extraordinary, sometimes the best acts of love are just in the ordinary," Zielke said.
The full video of 'Peppa Pig's Adventure' with Lisette's reaction is on YouTube, with over 48,000 views.