Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Mark put Sawyer up on the ledge against the glass to take this picture-he didn't realize just how scary this situation was to a 2-year-old who has a 1/2 inch of glass between him and the biggest creature he's ever seen. About a second after he took this, Sawyer freaked out and jumped into my arms. He may need therapy someday but...cool picture :)

We're in front of the walrus in this picture-I'm pretty sure Rig is watching him.
Check out the antlers on that reindeer!

FYI: You might have noticed this before, Tessa is really in to "posing" for pictures. Now, I know that most kids get a cheesy grin when they see a camera but Tess takes it one giant step further. She comes up with poses that she calls "ballet" or "gymnastics" or some where she just does bizarre things with her face. She might not be the most normal child but she's ours :)

Penguins (you probably need to blow it up to see them) (Tessa thought this pouty lip face was great)
Otters-I've always thought they were pretty cute but I think this picture is changing my mind. They look a bit too rodent like for me.
I took several pictures of them in front of the elephants and in all of them Tess had to put her chin on her shoulder-goofy kid, I know.

1st Day of Preschool

Tessa started going to a little preschool in September. She LOVES it! Her favorite parts are: "learning letters, playing with toys and...when we play again" (already such an overachiever :)

I had to take this picture because the backpack she is using is the same backpack I used when I went to preschool-cool huh?

The Good, the Bad, & the UGLY

Seattle, like anywhere else has it's good things and bad things. To illustrate my point...

The Good:

No I did not take this picture, but we do see bald eagles a lot.

Nope didn't take this one either but we have seen killer whales a few times

Took this one! This is at the Tulip Festival this past April. So, before I move on to the more negative portion of this post I should say that it is BEAUTIFUL here and what we lack in quantity of sunny days we make up for in quality. Now...

The Bad:

Opposums are maybe the ugliest creatures on this planet. In fact, when I see one dead on the road I think "cool 1 down 300 million to go" (sorry to those who love them) So, that being said, you can imagine my excitment when Tess noticed something walking across our back fence a few months ago. Yep a cat-sized rat thing in my back yard-luckily we haven't seen him since.



Me and the kids actually kind of like snails (Tess and Sawyer keep themselves busy lining them all up on the sidewalk) Mark, however insists that they make it on the "bad" list because they attract moles which ruin our yard.

The rain is of course kind of a bummer but I'm determined to not let it slow us down this year. Plus-the kids look pretty cute in their coats don't you think?

The UGLY:

When I get to heaven I'm determined to inquire about slugs-I mean seriously.

An Eventful Summer