Wildlife Safari

We went to see the Wildlife Safari two days ago--what fun! It's about an hour away and definitely worth the trip. We got there just after it opened at 9 am and there was NO ONE there. We had the whole place to ourselves. I love having kids who aren't in school yet.

Here's an enormous porcupine! They have a huge "zoo" area where the kids can see snakes, bugs, birds, monkeys, lemurs, etc. They also have a cougar, etc. It was wonderful... It lets the kids run around and they even have a playground.

I forgot to mention--there's a petting zoo. It has deer, goats, ponies and a llama.

This is a llama. I touched him several times and THEN saw the sign warning he might spit. Great. (I didn't get spit on though, yay!)

My little goat...

Guess Dora can't speak Parsel Tongue. Oh well...

Obviously we're having fun.

Okay, by far the coolest part was the Safari at the end. They have Africa, America and Asia--which basically covers every cool animal there is. We saw lions and tigers and bears, oh my. These giraffes walked right by our car. Literally, I could have touched one. They let you keep your windows open, but you aren't supposed to get out. Dora was ENTRANCED.

Yes, that is a Big buffalo drinking that girl buffalo's pee. EWWWW. Maybe we were a bit too close. We actually had to sit here because a baby buffalo decided to camp out in front of our car.

This is to show you how close you are to the animals. That's the icky pee drinker by Whit.

These bears may have been the coolest thing. Being inches from a cougar and a lion was neat, but they were just walking. These bears were play fighting. It was NEAT.

See the grizzly bear?

See how close we were??

Whit shot this one for you, Haven. Haha.

This little guy poked his head in our car. We had to hurry and put the windows up.

Wow, I thought cheetahs were smaller!!

We got to see the tiger show--the trainer was doing tricks with him when we drove past. NEAT.

Did this make any of you want to come see us?? We'll definitely be going again soon. NEAT.

Houston Trip

We recently took a trip to Houston for 9 days. It took 3 flights to get there, and 3 to get back. Whew, that was tiring. Before I get on with the paltry few photos I took while I was there, I thought I'd throw in one for my mom--my parents gave me an ice-cream machine for my birthday. The kids have loved it. We've been making fresh peach ice-cream. Dora's a big fan. It's a two spoon job with her.

While we were in Houston, Dora got sick (Throwing Up), Emma and I went to Austin for the day with Eli, which was fun, and we went to Build A Bear with my parents. The kids were generally spoiled rotten. I am ashamed to say that although my dad was there, I don't have any photos of him. Between the bad sleeping kiddos, the forgotten blanket (ahh!) and the many activities, I didn't get my camera out until the last day.

Here's Dora. I love this skirt, but what do I love even more??

When my kids play together. They are finally starting to be nicer. Every once in a while.

At dinner a very grumpy Eli (he didn't get a nap--long story, but our flight didn't work out that day so we left the next day)...HAD to sit by Aunt Linsey. She was his favorite person and the only person who could get him to smile. Boy did he smile...

Here's Uncle Clint and Colin. (And the top of Hayley's head! Sorry I missed a shot of you Hayley!)

Me and the bean--I threw this in to show you what faces she makes when I squeeze her. I know she doesn't like it, but I can't help it. She's so squeezable. It's a mother's right, isn't it??

STOP SQUEEZING ME!
More of Linsey the comedian.

Dora loving on Lerdleluh.

I took a million of these, but only one turned out. Eli is in the blackground--the blurry spot. He's obsessed with Spider man lately--insisting he's Spiderman's friend and that he's as super fast as spider man. In this photo, Eli, you just might be. Look at those super fast blurry feet.

FOUR YEARS!! WAHOO!

Just four years ago (and a day) Whitney and I were married in the Seattle temple, by his grandpa. If we'd waited a few years (2), his dad could have married us.

I am just as happy today as I was back then that this smart, handsome, kind, generous, big-hearted, hard-working, energetic, fun, tall, witty man wanted to marry me.

Here are a few photos from our wedding...

And here are some shots from our recent trip (last week) to the same temple. You'll note we've picked up some strays since our wedding. They follow us everywhere, begging non-stop, but we love those little guys!

Thanks so much honey--it's been a fun ride, and I look forward to another 4...hundred. LOVE YOU!

Great Grandparents

On our way back from Seattle, we stopped to see Whit's grandparents about an hour or an hour and a half out of Portland.

It was a long way out there and back, but we had fun seeing Whit's gpa and gma! The kids keyed right in on the toys.

I tried to get some group shots, but the kids had been in the car for so long they weren't very cooperative!

After we visited inside for a while, we went out to see the garden and the horses. Eli had a great time feeding the horses "apples" (pears) and picking some strawberries and a zucchini!

Also, on a side note, this is Eli's "scary" shirt, which he insisted on getting at Gymboree--no pumpkins, ghosts or cute little ghoulies for him. A skeleton with a guitar?? COOL! I'ts "Scary".

Seattle Trip, AKA Dora is a Total Daddy's Girl

I am so far behind on my blog, I am considering just throwing in the towel for a while. More on why later, I hope. Let's just say that between church, work and a new project I've been focusing all my energy on, the blog and my quilt projects have been sadly pushed to the back burner. I still feel guilt though, which counts for something??

But here are a few shots (okay a lot of shots) from our trip to Seattle. To reference Anne of Green Gables, though, if you only knew how many photos I wanted to post and didn't, this wouldn't seem like too many.

Also, Dora has taken to calling Whit Daddy, not Dada. And she wants him ALL THE TIME. He can't even put on his shoes or his pants (yes, she goes in and wakes him up) without holding her. Ah, he's finally getting an inkling of what it's like to be a mom. I'll admit, I miss the attention, but it's a welcome relief to have her off my hip and on his! :-)

She had a long day one of the days there and didn't get a good nap. So, about the time we got to the restaurant, Claim Jumper, she was asleep. Miraculously, she stayed that way for a good 20 or 30 minutes on Whit's shoulder.

Christina is so pretty! And little Rebekah's a doll. Of course, Ivie is a cutie too, but she had candy in her mouth in this photo, so I cropped her out. Sorry Ivie!

The brothers...
The rugrats, playing "checkers"... We had a great time at Claim Jumper!

Then my Uncle Sherry and his wife, Aunt Janet, came into town. We took them down to Pike Place market...

Here's what Dora spent most of her time doing...

Eli never wanted to let go of Uncle Sherry's hand and he insisted that poor Aunt Janet sit in the back seat with him the whole time. They were good sports about it.

The PIG!

Dora really liked this big fat bear.

Already bossing us around. Where do you think she gets that from? Anyone say Whitney? Feel free to leave a comment. Ha.

Both kids really loved Uncle Sherry and Aunt Janet.

This is Whit in front of Ipanema, where we ate lunch. We had our wedding reception here a few years ago...

And here's where we sat at our reception! Wow, what's different? No puffy white dress, no hair, and a new addition. Dora followed us over...

And here are a few shots to bolster my earlier statements about Dora and Daddy. What a daddy's girl!