Zoo Days - - Fun in the Sun!!!

Meet Ethan's buddy Corbin!













Ethan is ready to see the new baby elephant!

And then there's Miss Macie!















Meet the NEW baby Elephant!














For my dad's birthday, him and my mom decided to take a week off for a "stay-cation" as they were calling it! They spent the week doing local things, and decided that they needed to have a day at the zoo with the kids!! We decided to go on a day when I had the least amount of daycare kids. We looked forward to one of our biggest adventures which would be visiting with the new baby elephant that had been born two weeks prior!

The kids had a WONDERFUL time calling my mom and dad "grandma and grandpa" while we explored the many exhibits around the zoo! We saw monkeys, a polar bear, some seals, and the giraffe was even outside for us to view. Of course there was a line for viewing the new baby elephant, and I must say that despite what people say about the attention span of two year olds, they did remarkably well!!!

They were so excited to be spending a day outside, that it didn't matter that about an hour of our trip was to view something that they couldn't understand the importance of! How often do you get to see a real life baby elephant? I think they were mostly excited about their trip, because they knew how excited we were!

The new baby elephant was AMAZINGLY awesome. It really made me cherish those awesome new baby moments that all us mom's get for a short while! He was just so precious. We had to be quiet, and of course, no flash photography while we went inside to view, and they rush you through, that you don't get to have a lot of time with the elephants, but it was still amazing. I look forward to getting to go back. And since we decided it was time to invest in a zoo pass, I should be able to make it more worthwhile for going! Until baby comes anyway!

Ethan of course loves the zoo! Everything is about what sound the animals make these days. He's just so smart it BOGGLES my mind! He is always asking when he can go back to visit the "animals", and of course we're obliged to take him every other week or so, if even for a couple hours!

My parents had SUCH a good time spending the day with Ethan, and their "honorary" grand kids. We packed up a lunch, "grandpa" made up a batch of cookies, and there were juice and snacks to be shared by all. We ate in the big grass field, and when my dad disappeared to go sit in the shade, the kids wondered, "Where'd grandpa go?" - - then they'd run to where he was sitting, so as to make sure that they didn't lose him. We were surprised at ourselves for making it around the zoo on our own two feet, pulling a wagon, carrying a diaper bag, and having two little rambunctious ones on their leashes, but what surprised us more was Ethan's ability to walk the WHOLE zoo without having to take a turn sitting in the wagon. It really was an awesome day, with GREAT weather. We're looking forward to zoo lights with the grandparents this coming winter, after Ethan's baby sister is born! At the end of our trip, grandpa and grandma decided that it would be beneficial to get the kids little mementos of their zoo trips. Each picked out a small stuffed animal, Ethan picked out a Giraffe, Macie a Tiger, and Corbin picked out a Lion! They all climbed into the van, exhausted from their big days, and slept soundly with their new stuffed animals in hand. Too bad we didn't catch that on film!

Silverwood 2008! - Our big summer vacation!

Well.... We took our big trip for the Summer over to Idaho to frequent a theme park we have been to a couple of times! We went the first summer after we were married, then again when Ethan was only 3 months old. This time Ethan REALLY got to experience the fun of the rides and the water parks. In all truth though, we do not have a water baby! He was not impressed with the swimming pools at the RV parks we had stayed at, but tried his best to have fun dispite his dislike of floating in the pool!
Atleast for a while he did get to have fun with dad playing a few games. I was able to catch a few smiles on camera. We stayed two nights in Spokane at an RV park and got to experience an AMAZING thunder and lightening storm. It lasted about 30 minutes, and even had a National Weather Emergency warning. Imagine having to pitch your tent in that kind of condition! I'm sure many of you actually have had to do it though! But it soon ended, and we were able to enjoy some great weather while visiting. Shortly after our stay in Spokane, we headed over to Athol, ID to spend two days at Silverwood. If you haven't been, I really recommend looking in to it and taking a trip. They have an RV park right across from the actual park, and it's almost like camping in the woods, because they built it right in the trees! Our first day we spent at the amusement park, where Ethan got to ride on a few rides. His favorite being the "Tiny 'toot Coaster" and his least favorite being the Elephant Rides (they didn't compare to Dumbo at Disneyland!). He got to watch dad and aunt Katie and Uncles John and Mikey go on the big 'coasters, and do a few more rides himself. He was also quite fond of the Tilt a Whirl I might add! I think I have a little roller coaster rider in the works! After dinner we decided to head back for another hour to let the big kids hit the roller coasters one more time, while the rest of the park was getting ready to close up! The next day was our big day at the Water Park!!!

The next day we embarked on a BIG day at the water park. It was the part I was looking most forward to, as I wasn't able to go on any rides in my "condition". Ethan was less than impressed with all the water. We took him over to "Polly Wog Park" which was just for the toddlers, and he liked it when we'd run with him through the water (which thankfully was warm!) but as soon as we were out of it, he was back to being upset, because the wind wouldn't stop blowing on him. He does not like to be cold! After that we went back to our sitting spot, and had some snacks and enjoyed the people watching that was taking place. Then mom finally got to go do her special events for the weeked! The Current Pool!!! Allan was nice enough to rent a two person intertube for mom and anyone who wanted to join her! I floated with Ethan for a while (he wasn't as impressed as mom was) and enjoyed the sun shining and the easy flow of the water. It's like floating down the river in a raft! Nothing to stop you! Eventually Allan joined me in the intertube, and we got "fancy" drinks (he sipped his Margarita while mom had a non alcoholic "Boulder Breeze" (also known as a Bahama Mama). The rest of the afternoon was just spent resting on the water, relaxing in the sun, and eventually heading over to the Theme park for one more train ride, per Ethan's request! It was definately a wonderful inexpensive trip for our family. And one last one for a whole year I'm sure!

Our first family portrait! Little Madi is still in mommy's tummy!!!