Woodland Park Zoo

On our way down to Seaside the end of August, we stopped by the Woodland Park Zoo. We all had a great time, and the kids especially loved the Zoomazium (it's an indoor play area for kids). Geoff's mom wasn't doing so hot after the knee replacement, so she had to spend some of the time in a wheelchair, but the kids loved riding on her lap all over the place. :) After the zoo, we headed down to Tumwater (near Olympia) where we spent a couple of nights in a hotel. We took the kids to Cabela's, which was fun for all of us. Of course, Jaylen and Trevor's favorite parts were the fish, the elevator, and the escalator. I think they would have spent hours on the escalator alone had they been given the choice, but we wanted to see more than just moving stairs. :) I didn't get any pictures at Cabela's, but here are some from the zoo...

Geoff saw this sign and thought it was all too appropriate.

(Not for his family, but mine, I believe!)

So tired after a day at the zoo!

The Fair and Derby, 2009!

Ok, it's obviously been too long since I've posted since I have to start with fair pictures, and the fair was a month and a half ago! BUT - we had a BLAST at the fair this year (as usual), and of course we also loved cheering on my brother Linsey in the demo derby! Trevor stayed with Geoff's mom while I took Jaylen to the derby. I was a little nervous taking Jaylen, since it's SO loud, and there are just so many people, not to mention a totally new place. But, Jaylen surprised me. He had so much fun, and was so excited to see all these cars crashing in to each other! We used Geoff's shooting earmuffs to help deaden the sound (we've used these before and they are a life-saver with Jaylen!), which really helped. We ended up getting tickets to the evening derby, so we took Trevor along for that. He also thought the derby was great, and both boys cheered along with the rest of us. Since Geoff was busy all day Monday helping with the derby car, the four of us went back on Tuesday to see the fair together.

Geoff and Jaylen with the car before it was destroyed

#2 - Linsey! Stuck already...

Jaylen, happy with his earmuffs and cotton candy

Trevor loved the little chicks...

and the excavator, too!

More to come...

Well, we had a great time at the fair, and just got back from a WONDERFUL vacation in Seaside, Oregon. Now my sister is here from Arizona with her family, so we're busy spending lots of time with them. So... I will be posting some pictures on here at some point! I just make no promises as to when. :)

Happy Friday!

OK, how cute is this little boy?! Love this little guy...

And this one too!

A Morning at the Movies...

The theatre here at our mall plays movies for free during the summer, and I've been wanting to try it out with Jaylen. This week they were playing Alvin and the Chipmunks, and I figured he'd get a kick out of the little chipmunks with there funny voices. So last night, Jaylen was getting pretty excited about it... until this morning about the time we left the house he said he didn't want to go because it was too scary. The whole way there, he was not wanting to go. I fugured, well, we'll at least go to the mall, and if nothing else, play in the play area. Once we got there, he wanted to go in the stroller (he never wants this!) so I let him. As soon as we walked into the mall, he took one look at the arcade games in the theatre, and another at the candy, and he wanted in! So just like that, we got our popcorn and went straight in, no problem! He sat in the stroller for a few minutes, then wanted to sit in the "cool chair" that almost folded in half on him. But overall, a very good experience! Sometimes I have to push Jaylen a little out of his comfort zone, I think it's good for him! Trevor was with us, by the way, and didn't seem to mind it... although he didn't particularly enjoy it either. I guess you could say he tolerated it. :)

Chuck E Cheese

Last Saturday we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese for dinner... Oh, did they have a blast! Jaylen couldn't stop talking about it, and Trevor was so excited when we got there, he was just vibrating!

After dinner there, we had to stop by Krispie Kreme, where we got doughnuts and the boys got the cute paper hats. Trevor loved his so much he wanted to wear it to church the next morning!!

Artist's Point

A few weeks ago, on a hot Sunday afternoon, we took the boys for a drive up to Artist's Point. It was beautiful! They, of course, got a kick out of playing in the snow (in 80+ degree weather, no less), and really loved going for a little hike. We ate our picnic lunch in the back of the van to get out of the sun, and threw a few snowballs around. Fun day!