Friday, March 18, 2011

Did I Mention We Heart The Zoo?

As I mentioned in my previous post, in the first week of February we made two zoo trips... the second one only 3 days after the first!  We went again so soon for a few reasons, first being that my sister mentioned that she'd like to go, and second because the zoo was having a special event during which they put snow in some of the animals' exhibits!  I thought it would be really cool to see the animals frolicking in the snow, so we packed up the boys and headed to the zoo!  And not only was Amy able to join us this time, but so was Travis and my dad! 
 
All eight of us were surprised by the sponsor booths set up at the entrance, but we didn't hesitate to go and check them out!  Jack got to learn all about preventing forest fires, he and Luke got to sit in a police car (Luke turned on the siren on accident!), and Jack checked out the fire engine while I accidentally insulted the firemen when I told Jack that their gear wasn't as dirty as daddy's gear was! 
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After checking out the booths, we headed to see  the animals!  Our first stop was the nursery, of course, to check on Jack's pals, the baby komodo dragons!

The train at the zoo only runs on holidays and weekends, and since we always go midweek Jack never gets to ride it!  He was really excited, then, when we realized that it was running this day!!!  He and Luke got to ride it twice!
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Luke really wanted to ride standing up and had a hard time remembering to sit... Jack helped to hold him still!  Such a good big cousin!
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The snow exhibits were a pretty big disappointment, unfortunately.  Every animal was ignoring the snow- even the snow leopard!  I guess they've all been in Los Angeles too long and have acclimated to our weather...?  Either that or we missed their playtime.  The tiger walked over the snow for a second, but then he ran right off of it again to go lay down.  Bummer.
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Aside from my disappointment in the snow, it was definitely the easiest trip I'd ever had to the zoo!  Mom, too!  I am used to juggling two kids while my mom takes care of Luke... it was freeing for her that Luke had his mommy there to take care of him (and he was loving having her there, too!) and she got to play with Jack more than she is usually able to, which both of them loved!

And Sam was loving having Uncle Travis' full attention!

And at one point, my dad was playing with Jack, and both my mom and I were free!!!  We had dad take a picture of us, sans kiddos, to commemorate the moment.

(I have no seque for these photos, but I like them so I'm just sticking them in here)

(note the elephants as they ignore the snow)

Sam was having such a great time with Uncle Travis, that he didn't even start whining and crying when he got tired... he just put his head down and zonked out!  And he stayed like that forever!!!  Amazing!!!



(must include a photo of one of Amy's favorites... the orangutan)
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And on our way to seeing Jack's favorite animal, the komodo dragon, Jack saw that the Kangaroo's name was Jack, too!  He was so excited about that and now declares that the Kangaroo is his new favorite animal.


Sam finally woke up as we were headed to the exit, so on the way out he decided to get some walking practice with grandma and Auntie Mimi


He was so refreshed after his nap.  He never sleeps that long in the afternoons- he must have thought that Uncle Travis' arms were very comfortable!  


Uncle Travis had such a good time, too, that he even came with us the next time we went to the zoo!  Once again, Sam fell asleep in his arms... and even though I tranferred him to the stroller to sleep, he had another epic nap!  I think Uncle Travis is going to have to come to the zoo every time we go, if just so that Sam gets a great nap!


Monday, March 14, 2011

A Little More Knott's

Just to break up the Zoo posts a bit, and because these are slightly out of order due to video uploading difficulties, here are a couple pics and videos from more Knott's trips!  The pictures are from my mom's camera, and I just had to share them.
Sam's first ride on the hot air balloons
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Jack and I on the Kiddie Coaster.  (I hate that thing, Jack loves it!)

The boys' first ride on the Log Ride!  Luke was in front of my mom, who was taking the picture from the seat in front of us

Sam apparently doesn't like Snoopy

Jack and me as hot dogs!

The videos are from my Flip camcorder.  I brought it so that I could show Dave how cute Jack was on the Log Ride (his Favorite Ride Ever), and while we were there that day we discovered that he was big enough for the Sierra Sidewinder... a roller coaster that he had been asking to ride!  So of course I had to get a video of Jack's first time on the big roller coaster! 


Sidewinder

Log ride
(You can't see it, but it's pitch black for the first drop)


Sunday, March 13, 2011

We Heart The Zoo!

In the first week of February we made two trips to the zoo!  For the first trip, the boys and I went along with grandma and Luke, Ang, Austin and McKenna.  I didn't take very many photos since we've been there so many times, but I couldn't help myself but share our day with you!

Of course, the first thing we did was check out the fountains at the entrance... we have to pass them every time, and every time Jack acts as though it's the first time he's seen them!
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We hadn't been to the zoo in a while, so I was excited to see how Sam would like it now that he was older.  He was definitely amused by the animals, and intrigued by the texture of their coats.  He'd pet them, but he couldn't resist pinching and pulling the poor goats' hairs!  I don't think he hurt any of them, and I stopped him when I noticed he was going to pinch, but still, I felt bad for the goats.  I wasn't able to get any photos of Sam petting the goat because I was holding him, but here are some pics from my mom's camera and Ang's camera.
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Jack had so much fun brushing the goats... he made sure he brushed every single one in the petting zoo!

Another reason I was excited to go to the zoo was because we hadn't been to the zoo since they finally brought the elephants back after redoing their exhibit, and I was really excited to see them!  The exhibit was really great- It was huge, and you could see them from four different areas of the zoo! 
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And the third reason I was really excited was that the baby komodo dragons had hatched!  The komodo dragon is Jack's favorite animal at the zoo, and he was so excited to see the babies! 
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And the big komodo dragons, too!

Two other things that Jack loves at the zoo:
1) The Waterfall
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2) The caves!

Just a few more pics...
At lunch, my mom got a picture of our whole group

And Ang was quick and captured a sweet moment between Jack and his best friend Austin!

And right before we left for the day, I managed to capture a sincere smile from my boy!  He always does his fake "cheese" smile when he sees the camera, and I hardly ever get to share this genuine smile that I adore!!!!  Dimples and all!
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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Pillow Snuggler

This video is from the beginning of January.  It's really long, so sorry about that...  I'm too lazy to edit the video, especially since it took me so long to get it to upload in the first place!  
(Oh, and pardon the mess on the fireplace... we put everything there because I needed space to take the Christmas tree out.  Well, that and we tend to pile stuff up there as a barricade against our little one that loves to climb into the fireplace!)