we're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo ...

Blessing Day

Elaine was blessed on Sunday at my parents' home. Laney cried through much of the blessing, but it was still beautiful!

Lagoon

Last Friday was Mike's work party at Lagoon. It was quite an adventure; I think we had fun?

Within minutes of walking through the gate, Mike noticed a stroller tire was flat, and I of course had not brought our patch kit or pump. Mike's good thinking quickly found us a pump at the First Aid and Security office. But no patch kit. We ended up patching the hole with a butterfly bandaid Mike retrieved from our car. It held quite nicely. First catastrophe avoided.

Our first stop with a repaired stroller was the merry-go-round. Mariah saw the "see-see's" (horsies), and wanted to ride. She loved it until the merry-go-round started moving. I illegally bailed off of my horse to stand next to her, and then ended up having to take her off and hold her for the duration of the ride.


Our second stop was the log ride. Mariah saw the water and wanted to go in the boat. She loved it until the part where the log plummets down a slide and splashes at the bottom. I didn't remember how rough the landing was (maybe it was worse because we were in a log all by ourselves?), but when we hit the bottom of the slide, we flew forward, and I had to jam my knees into the back of the seat in front of us to avoid crushing Mariah. (I think the attendant should have warned us of such things). Near catastrophe #2 narrowly avoided. My knees are very bruised; they hit so hard there were traces of blue fabric left on the seat. (You can view the video of this ride in the slide show at the bottom of this post. Notice how well I'm pretending I didn't just barely avoid crushing my child.)

We stopped next at Rattlesnake Rapids and watched the rafters go under the waterfall. This was Mariah's favorite part so far. She was still talking the next day about how all the people "get wet."

Mariah loved the train!! It just goes around a little pond (takes about 5 minutes). It goes by cages and pens with different animals in them. All the most exotic animals (grizzly bear, tiger, lion) were not in their pens, however. We did see a zebra, some camels, some elk, ostrich, emu, geese, ducks, deer, and kangaroos.

Mariah was very pleased to sit on her very own bench on the train . . . until it started moving.








After the train, we finally stopped for dinner. I had packed sandwiches, peaches, grapes, carrots, and popcorn. We were all very hungry and feeling much better after we ate.






Our next stop was the little kid boat ride. Mariah watched for a while and then insisted she wanted to drive a boat. Mike helped her into one, and she was fine until just after I took this picture (the boats had not started moving). She decided she wanted "out, out, out," and she wriggled out of her seat belt and started to bail. This would have been a bad thing, because the boats really are in water, and there's no way she would have safely crossed the gap between her boat and the sidewalk surrounding the ride. Luckily she heard me yelling from outside the gate and actually obeyed me and stayed put until Mike could rescue her. Another near catastrophe.

That was it for the kiddy rides. We then met up with our friends, Ryan and Amberlee to ride some roller coasters. They waited in line and went on the ride, and then we were allowed to switch them places and get on the ride immediately rather than waiting in line again. A good arrangement. Mariah was a good sport to stay with them while Mike and I went on the rides. Elaine slept in the stroller the whole time.

We did "Wicked" first, which is my favorite! Just after the ride starts, there is a vertical hairpin. Riders are rocketed straight up, facing the sky, and then free fall straight down, facing the ground. For some reason, I love that. Then there are a few corkscrews and fast turns. A very good ride.

Then we did the old classic--the Collosus (which is now called the Fire Dragon - whatever). I always like that one.

I and the girls finished the evening by riding the train twice more while Mike hit the roller coasters a few more times with Ryan and Amberlee.

Here's a little slideshow with a few more pictures and a video.

Yuck!

Yesterday, I was clipping our roses, and I found this fine fellow. I've never seen a spider like it. Does anyone know what kind it is? He looked very menacing and most likely poisonous to me, so he met his end after I photographed him for history's sake. (Joanne, I'm remembering the spider you guys kept and fed in your backyard. I'm sorry if my cruelty alarms you.)The spider in the last photo set up camp outside our front window the day after pest control sprayed. Hmmm. In the photo, he's enjoying his lunch.

Another Day at the Park

Elaine graduated from the stroller bed to the doubles seat. I think she looks pretty cute in there.


Mariah wanted to climb the ladder up to the big curvy slide. I showed her how to get there--going up the stairs and across the bridge. I was surprised when she didn't even hesitate at the ladder, but went right up. I was even more surprised when she went down the slide. She immediately said she wanted to do it again. But by the time she reached the top, she was having second thoughts. She paced around on the little slide platform thing for 10 minutes. She'd walk to the edge of the slide, say, "No way!" and walk back to the ladder. Several times I helped her down the ladder; she'd immediately climb back up and start the whole routine again--walk to the edge of the slide, "No way!" walk back to the ladder, then back to the slide, etc. Funny girl. She never did go down again.

(Note the shopping cart in the picture of the guy playing the guitar . . . . That's what people do around here. They take carts from our 2 neighborhood grocery stores and use them to cart stuff around. This guy had his guitar and subwoofer in his. Lots of people also just walk their groceries home in a cart and then take the cart back the next time they want to shop. I think it's pretty funny, but I imagine the store owners/managers do not. They have to supply extra carts because half of them are out and about in the neighborhood.)

Banana Coffee Cake

I just made this banana coffee cake that is delicious!! I found the recipe on fat free vegan kitchen. And it actually turned out looking like the real thing! (I used evaporated cane juice instead of turbinado sugar, and honey instead of agave nectar). Very tasty! I'll test it out on Mike when he gets home for lunch, but I'm pretty sure even normal people would like it.

20!!!!

Woo Yahoo!! Mike got a 20 on the DAT yesterday! We are so excited! He will add that score to his 25 applications, and things should get rolling. He already has an interview scheduled for the end of October, in Indiana, but more should be coming his way. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers on our behalf.

Finally!!

We finally have a major health food store in Utah County!! I went on Thursday, and seeing all that great food in one place almost made me cry (I'm serious).

Tame the Mane

I tried today putting clips in Elaine's hair to control it a bit. As you can see from the different angles, any hair not trapped by a clip worked extra hard to be wild. It seems there's no taming the mane for now.

We love hand-me-downs!

I feel like I need to post something cute, so the spider isn't our top post. I've been wanting to post some cute pics of the girls in some of their hand-me-downs, so here you go.

This dress was in a box of fabulous clothes from Laura. They are mostly size 4-5. Mariah put this dress on all by herself. (There was one pair of size 2 jeans in the box. Mariah is wearing those in our canyon pictures. Laura, did you mean to send those? Please say, "Yes," cause they're her only jeans right now.)

So, thanks to everyone who has contributed to our wardrobes!