October Zoo

A visit to Portland's incomplete without a

  Visit to the zoo

Our zoo membership really pays off when the kids are in town. We have all 9 grandchildren along with Hayden and Cam on our pass, plus two additional guests. At zoolights we always end up paying a bit for additional adult admissions to make sure all of our kids and grands can go but it works pretty slick on regular visits.

We did not see any sliding elephants. We did however use caution. I'm sure that some of the cement type surfaces can be slick with leaves and such at this time but more and more of the surfaces they use on the paths and in the buildings are very non-skid.

The foliage was lovely.

Alyssa and her seaweed scarf

Lys brought a scarf with her that she described as looking like seaweed. It reminded her of the kelp growing in the Stellar Cove exhibit.  It really does.

Bears!

Rowan and his mom checked out a polar bear den while the polar bear munched on corn stalks. I'm sure it was a sweet treat.

Look how everybody measures up!

It was fun seeing the animals so active in the cool weather. Their fur coats make it harder to be comfy in the summer heat.

Catching a glimpse

Alyssa and me in reflection and a great picture of Hayden with the burning bush.

Safari Katie

Look who else was there

Krystle invited a young lady from our church youth group to join her for the day. They had plans to go there before we even knew that PCC had a teacher's inservice.

Krystle was better prepared for the weather with her warm coat and gloves!

Rowan's favorite animals

Rowie loves lions but especially the big male one. He had just caught a glimpse of the big guy when I snapped his picture.  So cute boy!

Snack and warm up time

Tradition dictates when the weather is cold and we stopped by the Africafe for hot chocolate and fries. It's hard to abstain when it's tradition.

Goldilocks here thought the fries were "too hot".

A couple more group shots

Our van was at capacity + one, so Courtney was seated on the floor on the way up and back. If we'd have had one more person we'd have had to take another vehicle.

We had some mixed reviews about the trip. We'll have to try a little harder to get all thumbs up next time.

Preparations for Halloween

One prepared pumpkin

Krystle is the only one to carve a pumpkin so far. She did most of it at youth group last Friday night.

Two menacing masks

I'm not sure who is going to wear which mask but I'm leaning toward Wyatt wearing this hat and IronMan mask together. We are getting excited about getting costumes together since we'll be having a costume party for Rowan's 5th birthday on November 1st!

Three sets of wings

Genevieve has monarch butterfly wings and a mask, Danika has feathery angel wings and a halo and Katie has fairy wings and a colorful frilly skirt. It's going to be fun seeing them all together.

Evie is going to be a COW.

And in San Diego...

The kids are still spending plenty of time on the beach. They absolutely love it so as long as the weather holds out they should take advantage of being so close to the ocean.

Halloween costumes for Anabelle and Henry

Cherise picked up a tiara and outfit for Anabelle. I sent the Captain America mask and shield down to Henry and Cherise found an outfit to complete the costume.

They turned out awesome!

Baby Rapunzel and Captain America!

Even with short hair that Rapunzel has some strength. So cute. 

Road trip for Portraits

Ft Steilacoom photo backdrop

Alyssa arranged for a friend of theirs to take portraits of the kids. She really wanted pictures done while she was out here and taken in the area where they spent so much of their family time.

The photographer lives up near Ft Lewis, where Lys and Logan used to live. Since she has kids and a busy life and Lys is basically on vacation, we agreed to drive up and do the photo shoot. It was originally scheduled for the 19th but changed due to Army timing. A couple of dates were tossed around and reviewed but Monday the 22nd was settled on.

Of course it poured.

Rain-boots and umbrellas were picked up along with jackets and sweaters and we headed out Monday morning for our early afternoon photo shoot. Not only was it wet, it was really quite cold. The kids had a blast on the playground there. Splashing in puddles and not paying much attention to the weather.

Enough was enough

The photographer took a bunch of pictures on and around the playground but really wanted us to go to the back of the park where there are some awesome barns and lovely fall foliage.

By this time the kids were cold and ready to be done.  

With the promise of hot chocolate when it was all done, we finished out the day with a standing shot of all three kids. Evie stood long enough for a couple of clicks.  

I didn't get a clear picture of them on my camera :0(

Beautiful barns

I did take a few scenery shots as the kids were getting loaded into the van. I really should take some classes to catch what I want to. I get close but don't quite capture "it".

Hot chocolate!

We stopped at the first Starbucks we saw. They don't have many drive thru Starbucks up there.  I thought this building said "Pork Central" and wondered if it was a cup of ramen or something pictured above the sign. It happens to be Perk Central. A drive
thru coffee place.

Alyssa's Washington scenery pics

Alyssa took the camera for the trip back because I am really not the best photographer when I'm driving.  She got pictures of us coming up on the Nisqually River Bridge. It's one that Logan crossed everyday on his way to and from work. She got a picture of one of the main freeway exits to their house along with the Capitol dome as we came through Olympia. She also got some really incredible photos of the conditions we were traveling through. The clouds were amazing as was the moon and the sunset that she caught a glimpse of.

I'm so glad that I got to go. We did stop at the Christian book store at the outlet mall for about a half hour on the way back. We got home just before all of the kids had to get settled for bed.

I can't wait to see the photos that Stephanie took. 

I'm sure they will be great.