Woodland Park Zoo with Friends

I am so far behind in blogging this event, it's a bit ridiculous. But, oh well. Life Happens.

A few, meaning three weeks back before The Plague hit our home we went to the Woodland Park Zoo with our friends from He Shall Direct Our Path.

It was a fun, fun day. We walked, A LOT. :-)

The grounds of this zoo were beautiful.

 Every kid had a map. And every kid had a different idea about what route we should take, and what we should see. In the end, we saw it all. Including the carousel. The kids were completely energetically themselves at the end of the day despite running circles around us the whole entire time, but Brooke and I were beat. :-)

I think lunchtime was the last time we actually sat for any length of time. And, of course the kids were STARVING at  about 11, so it was an early lunch. :-)

This photo turned out SO cute. I wish Nora was in it too.

Chasing the Woodland Park Zoo Peacock. Who was not at all happy about it, and made his escape very quickly.

Rolling down hills.  I think we could have just found a park with a good hill and spent the day there. They would have been happy. 

Wrangling for KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!! position.

A beautiful Elm (I think?!) tree they had to cut down. Pieces of it were ALL OVER the zoo.

A super cool Meerkat.

 True Story. While our children were playing in the Meerkat cave, (Not the real one, to be clear. A sample one they have set up for kids to play in.) Brooke and I were chatting and observing Meerkats, like Mr. Super Cool above. Enter directly in front of us a group of the three nerdliest nerds you ever did see. I got them in a Meerkat photo, actually, but decided that even though they are pricelessly nerdy-ish that didn't negate my strict policy against putting photos of people on my blog without their permission. Darn my ethics.

Anyway, the nerdliest of them--complete with floppy hair, thick glasses, and mustache, striped sweater, too short pants and fanny pack proceeded to attempt to woo two girls at the Meerkat display with a rather lengthy and wordy expose' on how the name "Meerkat" was derived from one of the poems that was written in response to Horace's "Carpe Diem". Now, it's rather obvious to anyone who knows anything that he was full of beans. But, his attempt was hilarious, and pretty much made our day. It also made his friends day, for sure, as they immediately began trying to hide their laughter by coughing and fumbling in their fanny packs. His attempt to impress the ladies was very unsuccessful--they sloooowwwly backed away, but he definitely gets points for effort.

For some reason, we were all excited about seeing the Komodo Dragons.

 It was one of those days where the sun shone, but it was cool too. So the kids were constantly taking off and putting on sweatshirts. Never at the same time of course. ALL. DAY. LONG. Off. On. I'm hot. I'm cold. Off. On. I'm hot, I'm cold. ALL. DAY. LONG. At some point it just became funny.

Orangutans OUTSIDE the Orangutan cage.

This is one of Keira's MANY nicknames. :-) So, we had to have a photo. 

It was such a fun day. Thanks for the fun time--so glad we got to do it! We'll have to figure out what place we want to see next. :-)

The Aquarium with Friends

Last Friday we headed to the Seattle Aquarium with our friends over at He Shall Direct our Path. We had so much fun! And, there is NO possible way that I could add to Brooke's highly accurate description of how the day went, so I'm not even going to try. I'll just add a few of my pictures to the mix, and call it good.  You should read her post if you want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

 Most of my pictures are of the kids from behind, because that is what happens when you are looking at exhibits.

 I'm not entirely sure this is much better.

 This one, however, with the illusion that they are safely behind a chain link fence, suits me just fine. It's actually the seals that were behind the fence.

 The baby girl otter, a recently-born resident of the Aquarium, looked all snugly and cute, napping away on her rock.

 The burping contest that didn't happen. :-)

 The goofy crew. I had to laugh when I got home and looked through all my pictures, and the kids all have different bags of vegetables or sandwiches in their hands all the way through the Aquarium. Apparently we ate our way through it.

 The best part of this trip was having someone to just chat with, and sort of follow the kids everywhere around the Aquarium, without rushing them through anything. They spent a TON of time at exhibits that I never would have guessed would have intrigued them.

 Watching coral reefs get trimmed. This was pretty cool.

 The tide pools are always a huge draw to the kids. I'm pretty sure they spent the most time here, and they actually got to feed the sea urchins kelp, besides touching them, and the anemone, and the sea cucumbers, and everything. That is such a cool exhibit. The aquarium staff was really generous with their time with all our kids, and they all got a lot of additional attention and learned a lot of really cool stuff as a result. Surprisingly enough, none of them fell in.

 Beautiful Sea Stars.

I was an idiot, and parked the Rover in a spot that I could only use for four hours. And, I ran back to give the hungry machine more money, only to discover that it wouldn't take it because my maximum allowable time was up. So, we had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked. But, it ended up being a good thing as after we left Seattle we went out to Garrett's work and traded cars with him and spent the rest of the afternoon in Les Schwab getting a lovely little screw in the tire removed, and the tire fixed.

Thanks for the fun day!! We'll have to do it (or something like it) again soon.

So I got tagged a million years ago...

By Mrs. Maliblahblah, over at The Lumberjack's Wife. I love her blog. It always keeps me laughing. She tagged me quite some time ago, and I forgot to do it, because I didn't put a reminder in my brain, aka my Blackberry. And then I took a blogging break. And then I got overwhelmed with life, and well, I cannot think of anymore lame excuses, so I will stop. Today, however, feels like the perfect time to do a tagged post because answering questions is something I can handle. Coming up with intelligent thoughts out of my own brain is absolutely not.



So, thanks for the help with the blog post today Taylor! Otherwise the only thing I can think of to blog about is how I am in the middle of a cloud right now, so thick that all I can see out my window is white. I'm pretty sure I still have neighbors.


1. What is one food you detest?

First of all, there is not much (real food-wise) that I wouldn't eat. I LOVE food, the more interesting, the better. And, I consider it to be a complete obnoxious disgrace when people consistently chose to dislike food that God has put on planet Earth for our health and wellness. That being said, personal taste and opinion is something I am quite fond of and do try to advocate for, as I am chock full of tastes and opinions. So, I think that people should like ALL food, with rare exception. My exception would be Green Olives. I WISH I didn't detest them. About once a year I try them again to see if I still detest them, and I always end up spitting them out before the gagging starts. Makes me crazy. Someday I shall conquer this annoying lack of class on my part.

Weird fact: I used to HATE watermelon. I know, weird. Who hates watermelon? It's a texture thing. Then when I got pregnant with Debris I craved it like crazy, and ever since then I have loved it.

Speaking of food, this book was a birthday gift from my in-laws. It's been on my wish list for a while, and I'm so glad to have it. I have just finished reading the whole thing, and enjoyed it immensely. A beautiful coffee table feature, a piece of cake (har har) to read because you can easily read a page or two at a time and put it away, and also, there's so many amazing places in it to read about, I'm imagining that I'll always be able to pick it up and get some enjoyment from it. I highly recommend as a gift for the food lover.

2. What is your perfect day?

I am inclined to say any day where I don't have to clean, do dishes or laundry, or dread the fact that while I am NOT cleaning, doing dishes or laundry they are piling up, and will be waiting for me the next day.

However, that sounds an awful lot like complaining, and I'm trying really hard to not complain, so I'll shoot for a more interesting answer. 1.) Wine tasting in Lake Chelan... pure bliss. Gorgeous, fun, and the delight of discovery thrills my soul. 2.) Deep deep in the woods with Rovey and my family, and another vehicle so we can do more interesting stuff and have someone to pull us out of muck if need be. 3.) Sitting around my parents living room with some sort of beverage and snacks and my whole family, talking and laughing. 4.) Long Underwear, hats, gloves, coats, snow, sunshine, frigid weather, and a long winter walk. 5.) A fab outfit, high gorgeous heels, sushi, and either a day-long date with my husband, or guilt free shopping with friends. It should be noted that when I do things like that with my husband I've learned to pack boots and jeans along, because we almost always end up in the woods. That would totally suit me.

All of these things would float my "perfect day boat" nicely.

3. If you could take a vacation next week, where would you go?

Alaska. Most definitely Alaska. I dream of a cabin, a snowmobile, a high powered rifle, a fishing pole, a hot tub, some champagne, my man, and some Aurora Borealis. Can you tell I've thought this through?! As my children are equally desperate to explore Alaska, I could never feel right about going without them. We need a summer (for the adventure) and a winter-ish (for adventure and solitude) trip to Alaska. Or we should just move there. I keep trying to talk Frank into it.

4. What are five of your favorite blogs?

That's a mean question! I can't pick just five. I'll do my best. This list is by all means not inclusive. Just a few blogs I enjoy reading, and why.

The Lumberjack's Wife--because her stories are fun, and normal, and real. Because her writing style is great. Because it seemed prudent to mention her, due to the fact that she tagged me, and got me into the question answering mess.

Thoughts and Whatnots--because we have similar interests and appreciate each other's sense of humor. Because what she blogs often speaks to my heart, whether it be the importance of focusing on a Christ centered life, or the enjoyment of a great recipe.

He Shall Direct our Path--because we've been friends since we were kids, and it's always fun to communicate with friends. As our kids get older they will hang out together, and that neato to me.

2 plus 5--somehow we found each other in blog land, and I'm glad. It's so fun when you meet someone you feel like you could just sit and talk to. That is why blogging is so great--it's so fun to meet people that otherwise you'd never know existed.

Sis Boom--Oh, the fabrics! All the pretty fabrics, and not nearly enough time! I always leave inspired!

5. What are your thoughts on The Facebook?

I like Facebook. I like being able to be in touch with people I otherwise would never see or hear from. I am not by nature a keep-in-toucher, so it's a good thing for me.

6. Are your parents technological goobers like mine?

No. They read my blog, so no, they are not. :-)

7. If you had to chose between losing 15 pounds forever, but never wearing makeup again or having perfect skin but putting on 15 pounds permanently, what would it be?

I would definitely chose to have perfect skin, and put on 15 pounds. 15 pounds bothers me not. This may be odd because as a normal rule I don't wear makeup--I save it for the weekends. But, I LIKE the option of wearing makeup, and I would not be willing to give that option up. I happen to wear 15 extra pounds pretty well, if I do say so myself, so I'd go with that option.

8. What is your best recipe? (so I can steal it!)

Taylor, you do not need to steal this recipe. I give it to you freely. This is family favorite, and it is easy peasy!!

Beef French Dip Au Jus Stuff

1 Crockpot

1 beef chuck roast

5 cups water
1 cup total of soy sauce/Worcestershire sauce/Teriyaki sauce (Whatever combination of said sauces makes you happy, I've done them all, they all work equally well-just have the total equal a cup, and you're good.

Half an onion, sliced, if you like. Or not.

Crush 5 or so cloves of garlic and toss them in, or use granulated. Whatever.

3 bay leaves

Rosemary

Salt and Pepper

Toss it all together, and cook in the crockpot for 10 hours or so. The longer the better. I may or may not have done 14 hours before, and it was the best beef ever. Just make sure you get longer than 8--otherwise it might be tough.

When it's falling apart, stick two forks in there and shred it up. Use a slotted spoon to pull the meat out and put on hoagies, then use a (non-slotted, ha!) ladle to scoop the au jus out into bowls. Serve with swiss cheese. The swiss cheese is required.

There ya have it! Have a lovely Monday!

The Sheriff & Auntie G get hitched...Part III

Okayyyyyy... here's the third batch of pics! More from the wedding, and the fun week before... :-)

In answer to a question in the comments of my previous post, the wedding was at Wolf Lake's Park, an absolutely GORGEOUS event property.

The bride, walking down the aisle...One of my favorite pics from the wedding so far... The reception was just beautiful...the flower lady totally outdid herself...Frank broke his own "I never dance" rule to boogie with the bride for a few moments. She's been flirting with him for 13 years now. I believe that leaves me with 10 more years to flirt with her husband, by my calculations, before we all settle down and act like adults. Snort! Like that'll ever happen!!! :-)And Auntie A and Uncle D, who from here on out on my blog, shall be called "The Cowboy." Keeping initials straight for both Guys and Girls is totally scrambling my brain.I love this sequence of pics with Auntie G, and her Mother-in-law, who we call PegLeg... totally cracks me up.And, Auntie Caca, who got told approximately 15 times that she looked like a pin-up girl. Now, don't go searching for pin-up girl images, cuz you'll end up with some very scantily clad ladies on your screen, but her curls and pearl earrings were very reminiscent of the 1940's/50's, and looked totally vintage and darling. The hair lady and makeup ladies totally outdid themselves too!!Now, after the ceremony, and the dinner. Debris went on a hunger strike until her clothing was removed. She had been in it for 5 hours, which is a long time for a toddler. So, we acquiesced... but, Debris wanted to keep her ballet slippers on, and Kiki wanted to keep her crinoline on. So, I let them.Now, some more on the week before the wedding. One of the blogs I read (on my sidebar!) is Robynn, over at Robynn's Ravings. She lives near where we were that week, so we arranged to take a break from wedding stuff and meet at a park. So, I met her, and her lovely daughter, Hannah-bo, and their doggies. I've read Robynn's blog for a several months now, and just love her stuff. She's mostly a humor writer, but the things that I love about her blog are this:

1. She's a Christian. So, her humor is of the clean variety, which is refreshing. Have you noticed how hard that is to find anymore!? But, it's also realistic, and doesn't go out of it's way to clean up the reality of life, which is nice. Too much clean-up of poop & throw-up makes things that should be funny not funny anymore. Just my opinion.

2. She's a homeschooling mom! A very successful one, judging by the full scholarship her daughter just got! Way to go, Hannah-bo!

3. When your job is being a wife and a mother, and a taxi-cab service, and a house-cleaner, these things sneak into, and take over, every other aspect of your life. Maybe that's just because it IS your life. So, her writing reflects that, and I can totally relate, even though the ages of our children are very different. Funny how mom's can all connect over stuff like that, huh?

4. They love the outdoors, just like us, and like to go losting, or as they call it, Point-and-drives, in their Jeep. So, that totally clicked for us.

Anyway, I know I could say more, but then I might start getting creepy, so now that I've given a review, here's just a few pics from our time at the park...

Robynn and me...

Frank and Auntie Caca...Kiki and Debris, and Daisy... Debris climbing...

I felt like a ding-dong afterwards, I didn't get any pics of Hannah-bo, and not any of the all the dogs playing together... they got along like white on rice. But Robynn was much better about taking pictures, and we had a great time... next time we're down there, I'll call you, Robynn!

A few more, and then I'll stop, promise!!

Fun at In-n-Out...
Debris sunning herself by the pool...

We all have appliance envy. If I could have done it without looking like a complete baby, I would have sat down and watched the washer and dryer too. Oh boy howdy, do I want them!! I think Auntie G checked my bags before I left her house, to make sure I hadn't snuck them in...

Happy Hour! Waiting for Enrique to cook for us... :-)

The Momma's!

And, PegLeg, and Enrique... Enrique took Kiki fishing, and as a result has a permanent place in her heart. Actually, he has a permanent place in all our hearts. Should PegLeg ever give him the boot, I believe we would all fight over him. He's a handy guy to have around!! Come see us anytime you like Enrique! And bring PegLeg and Crisp with you!

Okay, that's all for today! Have a lovely day, where ever you are...