A Saturday at the zoo

On Saturday morning we got our yard work and chores done as quick as we could so that we could take our kids to the zoo!  We technically felt like we had two zoo experiences that day when one of our errands that morning was to Zamzows for fertilizer and we all got to see them feed the tarantulas and bearded dragon crickets! Boy was that equal parts horrifying and fascinating! haha I think I'll stick to the real zoo thankyouverymuch. ;)

There weren't very many people at the zoo which was so nice. We started with the side that has the tiger exhibit but their poor tiger recently died so it was closed but Lyla looked adorable riding a baby pretend tiger!

I love Liam's imagination so much. I always have but even more so when I see all of his facial expressions that go with it. Turtle face!

My FAVORITE picture from the day!

My mom didn't have any afternoon plans so we invited her to come along with us! Her and yaya checking out the meerkats ...

One of their new animals they've added since we last came turned out to be Lyla's favorite ... Sand cats! They were all huddled up together in one small box.

Goofiest baby bird I've ever seen. ;)

I waddled my way along behind everyone. haha Everything is incredibly swollen and sore at this point. While I don't have a ton of energy left, I want to make the most out of my last weekend(s) as a family of 4. 

It was so fun to see the giraffes SO close to the fence. They are such an incredible animal ...

I think I have a picture of my kids on this safari jeep every year since Liam was a baby. <3

A few of the indoor exhibits were finally open again like the penguins! We wore a mask inside. 

One of the indoor exhibits that was still closed of course were the bats. Liam was so disappointed!! In fact, he shouted "I've been stuck at home for a year and this is what I get?!" haha It was comical to the rest of us but he really meant it. Poor guy. His other favorite is the crocodile. When we got to that exhibit we weren't quite sure if it was real?! It wasn't out in the pond like it usually is ... instead, we could only see its head peaking out from inside with its jaw permanently open from the door that leads to the indoor habitat. The indoor habitat was completely closed off and the water drained. What do you think ... does it look real?! 

We couldn't believe how much the baby anteater had grown! After only a few months, you can no longer tell the difference between the momma and the baby because they were the same size. Since we went in the afternoon, a lot of the animals were laying down and sleeping including the emu's who apparently lay on their stomachs with their neck extended on the ground. We didn't know they slept that way, it looked incredibly uncomfortable. The butterfly exhibit closed at 2:30 so we just barely missed it!

It was about 86 degrees but felt pretty hot so we ended our zoo trip with orange and blue slushies for the kids courtesy of my sweet mom. Those tongues! 

They put just about everything they saw in the gift shop "on their birthday lists". So sneaky that they make you exit through there ... parental torture! haha So happy we could give these cute kids a fun Saturday!

Pocatello

 Last weekend we did our final trip of the summer and visited family and friends in Pocatello! In the 10 years I lived there, I thought I had pretty much seen the whole city but then my father-in-law suggested going for an evening walk after dinner on Friday night and took us to a path I'd never been before. It reminded me so much of the Eagle greenbelt which runs alongside the Boise River. Instead, it was called Sacajawea Park and it was a paved figure eight path that followed the Portneuf River. It was so beautiful! It was still fairly hot out so Lyla quickly asked for a ride. haha

We saw baby ducks and found tons of walking sticks. ;)

I have to give a quick shout out to my father-in-law ... he has lost 65 pounds from walking 4 miles a day with their puppy and I'm so proud of him!! This baby bump and I were having to sprint to keep up! 

Liam was totally in his element!

"Come on Bella, follow me!"

These two shared a bit of a love/hate relationship during our visit. Smothering love from Lyla and constant retreating from Bella. haha

Saturday morning we visited another new-to-me spot, Edson Fichter Trail and Nature Preserve. It had a few ponds to check out and ran right along the railroad tracks. 

They opened a Children's Museum in the mall and we got to check it out with some friends. We met the Southworth family there and our kids had a blast together building this car ...

How cute is she with her tape measure?! And Liam's face as he hammered ... haha

Teamwork makes the dream work, helping him hold up the car so he could attach a wheel ...

They loved climbing the rock wall too!

Saturday evening we went to a few stores (real life: it turned into a total souvenir fighting match with our children) and had dinner at Winger's with my mother-in-law. I loved that I was able to get a picture of Nic with each of his parents this time! 

On Sunday we got to see our friends, the Bradley family, who we haven't seen in 4 years! They live in Arizona but still have family in Pocatello like we do. This year we happened to time our summer trips at the same time! Our kids got along so well and had the best time "swimming" in the pool-temperature hot tub, watching Angry Birds 2 on Netflix, and testing out their virtual reality goggles. I'll give you one guess what Liam is now begging for. ;)

Love these friends so much! No matter how much time has passed, we always pick up right where we left off last time ...

We ended up driving home Sunday evening. My body was ready to be done traveling until this baby comes. I had my first braxton hicks contraction in the middle of the night while we were there and it was definitely unnerving. I've had many since and am glad to be home trying to rest up for the remainder of the summer. Everyone was sad to say goodbye, especially Lyla to Bella! Looking forward to them visiting us when the baby is born!

We spotted a deer on the way out of town!

Shockingly enough, we drove 8 hours to and from Washington without any car sleeping but 10 minutes into this trip, Lyla fell asleep with her uneaten dinner in her lap. She slept all 3 hours and woke up just as we were rounding the corner to downtown Boise. Bless her heart, I think even the kids were worn out and need a break from traveling. Until next time, Pocatello! Can't believe we'll have 3 kids the next time that comes around!!

4th of July 2021

 The 4th of July this year was equally as hot as the entire month before it. It meant no afternoon bike parade this year and as much water as possible! We snapped a quick family picture before heading to Josh and Nicole's for a family bbq and apparently Nic's genes really do run strong in this family ... haha the triplet eye squint!

I tried a new recipe and made watermelon lime slushies to cool us off during the day. They were so yummy! I have the perfect shelf these days to set mine on too. ;)

We brought red, white, and blue water balloons to the family bbq for all the cousins and they had two pools set up for the kids to cool off in. If I hadn't stayed inside most of the time, I would have jumped in there with them! 

Matthew, so proud of his water balloon!

These two were cracking me up the whole night. They either had a snack bowl full of chips they were sharing or scavenging for other people's water bottles to backwash into. haha

Pa gave them all a challenge to see who could pick up the most water balloons and that person would get a dollar. Grams footed the bill. ;)

My poor dad tripped over a park bench backwards that morning so he was hurting pretty bad. I wanted to be out of the heat so him and I hung out on the couch together most of the night! We'd occasionally have visitors who wanted to join the party and the festive glasses came out.

We were grateful to Josh for being the bbq master and feeding us all! You should have seen what he was wearing! I didn't end up with a picture of it but it was a pair of flag shorts overalls with nothing underneath them and a handlebar mustache. hahaha It was a sight to behold!

My sister-in-law pulled out my niece's tooth while we were there and we all started encouraging Liam to let her do the same. He has hung on to this front tooth he hit on my mom's couch back at Christmas time and refuses to let anyone touch it. I had scheduled an appointment to take him to the dentist a few days after the 4th because the adult tooth was coming in front of it but after a night of trying to gain his trust and many attempts, he let his auntie pull it out right before we left! Two days later, the other front tooth was hanging by a thread too so I convinced him while he was distracted watching a movie to let me try the dental floss trick and it popped it right out! The cutest toothless grin and a very busy tooth fairy!  

After we got home from the bbq, we did a few fireworks as a family in front of our driveway.

We let them take turns choosing which firework to hand dad next but Lyla always had a whole lineup in her arms ready to go!

They felt like they were missing out by not getting to help light them so safety dad let them each have a turn ...

He saved the best for last (the dragon one).

Then we had some fun with sparklers! Only one moment of tears at the very end when Lyla touched a hot part while trying to throw it in the bucket of water. Nothing got burned but it was still a stressful moment.

Baby, you're a firework! #29weeks

We let the kids stay up past dark to see a few of the big ones and then everyone (including Nic and I) crashed long before the sounds disappeared into the night sky. Can't believe we'll have another member of our family when we celebrate this holiday next year!