Decision Made

I have always had a tough time deciding what my favorite wild animal is. There is something so amazing and majestic about elephants. But monkeys are so cute and I love watching them swing from tree to tree and appreciate their keen intelligence (especially that of the great apes, which I recognize are different than monkeys). So when people would ask me what my favorite animal was sometimes I would answer monkeys; sometimes I would answer elephants.

But we headed to the zoo last week, and I saw something that made my mind up for me. We watched the baby elephant Zuri with her mother. Her mother had been eating and Zuri was playing. Then the mother walked away from the food, defecating as she was walking. Zuri trotted over to her mother's fresh poop and sniffed it. Then she began using her trunk to shovel it in her mouth. She feasted on it. My kids could not believe it and have been telling people about it ever since. Now I know that many animals do things that we would think are disgusting. I know that many birds swallow food and then regurgitate it for their babies. I know that some animals chew their own cud. But somehow, in all of my reading and all of the times I have watched elephants, I had missed the fact that baby elephants will eat the mother's fresh excrement. I guess it must have nutrients as the mother had just been eating. But I felt like leading that sweet baby elephant by the trunk over to the food that was not far away and encouraging her to eat that instead. Gross! So now, my mind is made up. My favorite animals are monkeys. Or is my favorite the koala? Or maybe the giant panda? Okay, perhaps my mind isn't quite made up. :)







The zoo has a new exhibit, Rocky Shores, that just opened. It contains seals, seal lions, a polar bear, grizzly bears, river otters and bald eagles. This was our first time seeing the exhibit and the girls loved it. (Although I still think the elephant stole the show.) I loved seeing the river otters since Alfredo and I had seen some when we went on our rafting trip last summer in Jackson Hole. And the polar bear was awesome. The girls loved watching the seals and the sea lion and were completely unimpressed by the river otter.





















They also wanted to sit on every animal statue we passed and have their picture taken, no matter how many times they'd had their picture taken on that statue before. Some were new though, so perhaps that was why they were so intrigued on this trip.
It was a fun trip to the zoo. I really love spending so much time with my kiddos going on fun outings throughout the summer. We don't spend a whole lot of time at home, and that is just how I like it. I like to be busy and out doing things and making memories together.

Why I Didn't Get Very Sore After My Half...

I was tired and a bit sore, but not nearly as sore as I expected after jogging/walking over 13 miles. I attribute that to the fact that I hardly sat down the rest of the day. After our half marathon, Alfredo and I drove back to Salt Lake and picked up our kids from my friend Brenda's house where they had a sleepover. I got out of the car and after just a few seconds, I felt nauseated and thought I might throw up. Then suddenly, I felt the blood drain out of my face and Brenda grabbed me and helped me to sit down in my car. I nearly passed out. But after eating a banana and drinking some water, I felt better. Then we headed home, showered and got ready for a fun day at Lagoon with Alfredo's company.

We got there just in time for lunch. The food was good and the prizes were better. The kids got to choose prizes and Gabby had a great time playing with her chalk and other toys with Oaklie.
Alfredo got a gift certificate to Red Lobster, a lantern and a t-shirt.




I told him we should start heading to rides when there were just a few prizes left. He said no way. He wanted to win the grill. (Each year the grand prize at the Lagoon Day is a huge propane grill.) He was going to win the grill. So we sat and waited for the last few prizes to be awarded. Seconds before they announced the winner, Alfredo rubbed Liz's pregnant belly and said the baby would help him win. He announced, "I am going to win the grill." And then they announced, "The winner of the grill is ... Alfredo." I was shocked. Alfredo was thrilled and the girls were elated. (They don't buy the actual grill...just give you a gift card to go buy it... so he bought it a couple of days later.)





Then we headed to the rides at Lagoon. Michelle decided to spend time riding rides with Stacie, Jeremy, Eli and Avy. So I didn't really get pictures of her, because she spent virtually the whole day with them. Ella, Gabby and I headed to the kiddie area and rode rides with Heather and Oaklie and then by ourselves when Heather, Justin, Asher and Oaklie left. Alfredo mostly set off on his own to ride a few rides he enjoys. It was a fun day, but a tiring day. But I credit my minimal soreness to the fact that I hardly sat down... I walked around Lagoon, rode a few rides, pushed Gabby in a stroller and stayed moving until about 6 PM.

Changes, Part 2

Not only did Alfredo change the door, he also did some big changes to our main bathroom. He pulled out the old sink and put in a new sink and new flooring. He repainted, bought new towels and shower curtain and put in new base boards. It looks amazing! He did such a great job. And huge thanks also go to his friends Thomas and Jeremy who came and helped him. We love our new bathroom.

Out with the old:






In with the new:









Alfredo decided to begin this project 3 days before the girls' birthday party. That stressed me out a little, because I know that projects rarely go as quickly or as smoothly as planned. I was right that it would take longer than expected... the original plan was to keep the old flooring, but the new vanity was smaller than the old one and so a small section was bare --no flooring -- so we had to get new flooring. But he got it done. (Two hours before the party began, but it was done.) We love our "new" bathroom. It looks so pretty now. I love the flooring, the sink, the blue walls, and the red highlights in the towels and shower curtains. It turned out so pretty. Thank you Alfredo!

Changes, Part 1

Alfredo loves to make changes to our house. He is such a hard working guy, and he really enjoys home improvement projects. Or at the least, he enjoys the results of home improvement projects... I am sure there are moments in the process that he doesn't enjoy as much.

About two months ago, we bought a new door. (It was time. The old one was an ugly green and had a door knocker that said "The Fishers" on it. After almost 10 years in this house, it was time to not have someone else's name on our door. Also, there was space at the bottom of the door and so we had to keep a towel rolled up there to prevent all our hot/cool air from leaking outside. It was time to replace it.)

Michelle is Alfredo's sidekick and a kiddo with definite good taste and strong ideas about what she likes. So she picked out the door, and the color of paint. We were a little uncertain about the color of paint at first (it was supposed to be darker and more red), but we really like it now. Michelle also picked out the doorknob...she really wanted this kind, not the regular knob.

Alfredo picked out and installed a new doorbell. There was nothing wrong with our old doorbell, but this one is certainly prettier.

He also painted the numbers on our house. When we moved in, the house had two silver numbers and two black numbers. It has always bugged me, but I've never done anything about it. I don't know that I'd even mentioned to Alfredo that it bugged me, but I was thrilled when he painted the numbers.


But these changes were just the start of what he had planned.

Modeling

Michelle loves having her picture taken. With Ella and Gabby, it depends on the day. Michelle and Ella got new outfits for their birthday, so the next morning I was able to get them to model their outfits for me. Gabby didn't have a new outfit, but on this particular day she wanted to join the fun as well.












I sure love these girls! I am often amazed by their beauty, inside and out. I feel blessed to be their mother.

A doggone good party

On Saturday, May 26, we had the girls' birthday party. We celebrated Ella's seventh birthday and Michelle's ninth birthday with a combined bash in our back yard. Thankfully the weather cooperated, for the most part. It poured rain that morning, but by the afternoon, the skies had cleared and the yard was dry. It was chilly, but we were able to do the party outside which made things much easier. I had a plan for doing it inside but was worried about fitting everyone.

The girls played some games, although not as many as we had planned.

Each person got a name tag with the name of their dog, a sticker of their dog and the owner's name (that child's name):





Then they had a dog coloring "contest", although we never actually judged them. I got distracted and forgot. Then we played "Woof, woof, meow" (duck, duck, goose) and "Doggy, doggy who's got your bone?" The kids also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, swinging and using the zipline.











I bought a pinata. I know to buy them at the hispanic store. They are bigger and sturdier for about the same price as the pinatas you buy at party stores or Walmart. But the girls really wanted this party to have a dog theme. And apparently, nobody sells plates, napkins, etc. with doggies on them these days. So we bought a dog pinata to go with the theme. Ella hit it and then Michelle broke it. That was it. Ah well.


Of course, there was a cake. And of course, Michelle and Ella got their faces shoved into the cake.








By then, people were cold, so we moved inside to open gifts. They got so many really wonderful gifts that they have so enjoyed playing with since. It was a great party with so many dear friends and family members.










Happy birthday to my beautiful girls! Hope you had a "doggone" good time!