7 out of 9 grandchildren agree: The Zoo is Fun!!

We went to the zoo with all but 2 of our grandchildren. We missed you, Jackson and Zoe! The weather was perfect, the animals were in fine spirits and the company was exceptional. Here are some of the animals we saw:

Baby elephant

Most of us went into see the apes and missed the elephant show - he stood on his head! Those who were lucky enough to see it, took some great pictures. I wasn't one of them - :(

This little guy was so cute. He's stealing food from his parent. The funny thing was that he would swing away really fast and then drop the stolen goods!! 

 He looks like he's sucking his thumb:

Bald eagles

 Seals - they can see their trainers getting ready to come out and are anxiously waiting for the fish!

 This is a sea lion waiting for his reward from the trainer:

He was told to lie down - so he did. Why do I call them all "he"?

"Wait for it. Wait for it."

Here and there throughout the zoo, they had displays like this one, all made out of legos. It was impressive!

A sloth, doing what sloths do.

A couple of beautiful birds:

This guy kept jumping around so fast, it took several tries before I could get a non-blurry picture.

This one was a little less active.

I have no idea what this is, but I thought it was picture-worthy.

The monkey walked down this branch, towards me - just so I could snap the picture.

Meerkats apparently love having their photo taken.

Burrowing owl

More lego animals

This was a water area where the kids could play

They are trying to keep the water from shooting out - they were somewhat successful.

Well, I showed you some of the animals we saw at the zoo. Now I'll show you the ones we TOOK to the zoo. :)

Max - 5

 Lexi - 8

Crash - 8

Ethan - 10

Aspen - 12 

Haley - 8

Skylar - 6

 Kent - more than 6

 I LOVE being with my family.

Play Date with Haley

My granddaughter, Haley, and I had a play date a few weeks ago. I sure do love this adorable person!! She's eight and full of fun.

Our first stop was Wendy's for lunch. Here she is trying to suck up her Frosty. It was too thick.

 She likes fries with her shake:

After lunch we went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. Right now they have a special room entitled "Tinkering". Here are some things we did there:

She made her own parachute:

And then she launched it in this air tube. It flew out the top and up to the ceiling!

This area was for playing and shaping sand on a rotating wheel. I even tried this one.

When we finished tinkering we went into the dinosaur museum.

Here's Haley sitting on a dinosaur

If it had been up to her, she would have stuck her head inside the shark's mouth. Cooler heads prevailed. :)

I was tempted to put on an apron and play myself. Again, cooler heads prevailed. :)

Her island, complete with a lake and dinosaurs:

The artist and her creation. Isn't she cute?!!

Last stop - digging for dinosaur bones. 

Such a fun day with my Haley. I love you Haley bugs!!!

More fun at home

Road Trip!

I'm kind of behind - sorry. In August, Kent and I did a road trip. It was the perfect trip - drive until we want to stop. Then sit/walk and enjoy the beauty of God's earth. These are all from Mirror Lake, in the Uintahs.





We walked all the way around the lake and saw so much "wonder". Kent has become a wildflower photographer and quite an expert on all the different kinds of flowers.

These are just a few of the many flowers we saw! 

 

 

Here are some of our other favorite things to do.

Look through binoculars:

Read under a pine tree:

 Have lunch surrounded by fresh air and pine scent:

This was our first day. We ended up in Evanston, Wyoming, where we spent the night.

Day 2 - Evanston to Vernal

After we left Evanston, we followed the Pioneer trail for awhile. We then went to a place called Sheep Creek Geological area and close by to Sheep Creek and Spirit Lake. It was beautiful! Our last leg to Vernal, took us through Ashley National Forest. Nature is good for the soul, isn't it??

I loved Main street in Vernal. It is so welcoming, don't you think?

End of day 2.

Day 3 - Vernal to Orem

Leaving Vernal we went west and then went off road up Rock Creek Rd to Upper Stillwater Reservoir. 

My happy driver. :)

I've never seen a dam from this perspective before. It was really impressive!!! 

Here's the top of the dam! We had lunch near here.

More off-roading up over the pass to Hannah

 

The sad part of this trip? It ended and we came back to sweltering heat in Orem. Love our road trips!!!