Zoo Day

Greg's work had their annual party, and this year it was held at Hogle Zoo. From 4:30-9:00 the zoo was open to all Kennecott employees and family, complete with face painting, open concession stands for free food, and unlimited carousel and train rides.  Unfortunately, we never got near the rides, 'cause we stayed so busy and it was REALLY crowded.  But, the kids loved it.  The highlight was the dinosaurs and the dinosaur digging pit.  And the zebra face painting -- the girls LOVED that.

Checkin' out the giraffes -- you can see my baby bump (which was a tad exaggerated in this pose, but isn't entirely inaccurate.)

Isaac eating sand.  Yum.

My cute boys.

Annie in the sand, rocking her brand new Rio Tinto/Kennecott hat.

Ellie VERY enthusiastic about seeing snakes -- there was pretty much an interpretive dance of joy.

Isaac checking out turtles.

Isaac chillin' out in the misters -- 'cause it was FREAKING hot.

Greg (with his new visor) and Isaac with sand and ice cream on his face.

Man, I love this kid!

The kids as Rio Tinto employees.

The girls showing off their zebra faces -- they LOVED them.

At the end of the night, it was late, they were all getting cranky, and when they found out we'd JUST missed the last train, Ellie went into full on freak out mode and screamed the entire walk to the car.  Good times.  :-)  Overall though, it was so awesome -- I'm hoping we get to do it again next year!

Miss Smarty-pants

This morning, while Greg and I were acting as the bottom of a family dog-pile as all three children had joined us in bed once they woke up, Greg turned to me and whispered, "So, are we still thinking of going to the Z - O - O today?"  To which Ellie responded by jumping up with joy and shouting, "Yay!  The zoo!  The zoo!"

When did my two year old learn to spell!? 





This, of course, proves Annie wrong (see the below facebook status update I posted a few nights ago:)

Despite being in bed for OVER an hour now, the girls are still wide awake and bickering.  Right now Ellie is happily calling out random letters, "Q! E! I! J!" while Annie is wigging out and screaming, "You can't spell Ellie!  Those aren't even real words!  Stop saying letters, those aren't really words!"  You are only two, you don't know how to spell!"
For some reason, this only seems to be encouraging Ellie . . .

Week in Pictures

We've been busy lately.  It's been good -- even if at times, in my sleep-deprived state, it's been a bit overwhelming.  I can usually tell how eventful it's been by how many pictures I download off my camera -- and with over 500 pictures in less than a week, you can imagine it's been a bit crazy.  (And yes, written out, acknowledging that I took over 500 pictures in 5 days, does make me feel a tiny bit nuts.)  :-)
We had a town Halloween Carnival, my baby brother's Mission Farewell, a fun trip to see and ride giant horses with Greg's family, plus a final trip to the zoo with Uncle Cody before he leaves for Uruguay for two years.

This is Isaac and I with 'Grandma' Edna -- the woman I grew up next door to my entire childhood.  She was the ideal surrogate Grandma -- we made cookies and worked in the yard and she had pictures of my sisters and I up right alongside her 'actual' grandchildren in her home.  She's proud to be Great Grandma Edna to my three kids.

I love the look Isaac's giving his Great Grandpa  :-)

Chillin' with Uncle Cody

The closest we got to a posed picture of Uncle Cody with all three kids before he left -- Ellie was less than cooperative.

But she was happy to dance while making ridiculous faces for the camera.

Isaac and Mommy -- my cold sore-ridden lips are improving rapidly, but MAN, they still hurt!

Two peas in a pod . . .

Cody looking like a used car salesman, with Star, who just looks cute.

Great Grandma Betty and Isaac

Sibling picture -- me, Star, Cody, Lacy and Talina

Several pictures of my (apparently far too affectionate) family trying to either kiss, or avoid being kissed by, other members of the family.

The girls dressed up for the town Halloween Carnival.

Isaac and Aunt Andrea petting the single LARGEST horse I'd ever seen in my life.

Here's Greg, Annie and Ellie riding on the 2100 lb. Belgian draft horse (bigger than your average Clydesdale, to put it in perspective).

The girls climbed in with Isaac into his crib.  Is it just me, or does Isaac look GINORMOUS!?

Annie and Isaac -- she now finds any excuse to go and pick him up onto her lap like this.  She hasn't tried carrying him anywhere yet.

My girls dolled up in their Halloween finery.

Cody's last Hogle Zoo trip for the next two years -- here's the requisite 'Do You Measure Up?' gorilla shot.

Isaac apparently measures up quite well with an infant gorilla.

My favorite picture from the zoo -- Ellie (making a crazy face), Cody, Annie and Talina (who took a 'long lunch' from her nearby work) on the bronze tigers.

Uncle Cody and Annie on the carousel

More of the Outdoors

We've spent more time outside, and have been loving it! It's been a crazy busy week, where we've just out and doing things most of the day . . . which has been so much fun, although a bit exhausting (mainly for me) . . . the one big drawback though is that Ellie has given up every single afternoon nap this week (her normally nearly two hour nap for the day) and replaced them with 20-30 minute snoozes while in the van, then waking up bright and refreshed and ready to go again. Until about 5-6:00PM, when she turns into a tiny crazy person due to sheer exhaustion. (And don't think I haven't tried to get her to nap after her pathetic 20 minute van cat nap -- most afternoons I've stuck her in her crib for an hour or so, and not once has she managed to fall back asleep.)

We went to the zoo on Thursday morning -- the kids had so much fun looking at all the animals and playing on the playground. They were extremely disappointed that the bears are no longer at the zoo anymore (apparently they live in Oregon or something right now, while the zoo is building new enclosures.) And Annie would tell anyone who'd listen about how the zebras are both dead, and how the baby giraffe died. But, fortunately, the penguins were back on display, and the baby elephant was adorable per usual, so it all evened out for her.

By far and away, my childrens' favorite part of the zoo is the water ball. They'd play here the whole time if I let them. Instead, we always save it as the last thing we do, then once they're good and soaked, we bypass the gift shop and head straight for the van.

Then this afternoon we met Greg's parents, and sister Andrea, out at Thanksgiving Point to walk around the gardens for the Tulip Festival. It was such a beautiful afternoon, and the kids had so much fun. I'd been worried after going all week long, I'd get tired walking around the huge gardens, but I felt great -- especially with a whole handful of other people there to carry the kids when they got tired, or pull the wagon the entire time. I got to be very lazy and just enjoy the flowers and the weather. :-)

Here's Ellie and Grandma Ruth looking at the stream from over one of the little bridges that Ellie loved so much.Ellie loved running around up on the stage in the outdoor amphitheater area.

Annie was a bit of a ham too; dancing, posing and running around with her sister.

Ellie showing off her skills on stage.

Ellie got to help Grandma take pictures of Annie, and it was probably the happiest she'd been all day!

Annie putting back on her shoes. Her hair is getting so long! Never in my entire life has my hair been as long as hers has gotten . . .

Ellie checking out the falls while perched up on Aunt Andrea's shoulders.

Grandma, Daddy and Annie over the falls.

Ellie pointing out stuff to Grandpa.

Ellie and Grandpa again.

The snake Annie and I saw. (We also saw a great horned owl, I just forgot to get pictures of it!)

Annie admiring the tulips. When I asked her what her favorite part had been (fully expecting something about rolling down the hills in the amphitheater, or the waterfalls), she told me it was these pretty pink, orange and purple flowers right at the end of our walk.

Annie would get right down there to smell the flowers.

Grandpa & Ellie again.

Annie, Aunt Andrea and Ellie as tulips. Ellie was less enthused at this point, but both girls were pretty ready to call it a night by then.

It was gorgeous -- and we're going again next week with friends, and now that I know that all that walking just felt great and not exhausting, I'm looking even more forward to it!

Here's a couple videos of the girls playing in the amphitheater area -- Annie rolling down the hills looks exhausting, and they both have mad dance skills. :-)