Elephant Food

We went to the zoo this morning with Hayley and Logan and we are so glad we did! The rain is supposed to start up tomorrow...just in time for Halloween! It was a beautiful morning, cloudy, a bit chilly, but perfect. Don't let all of Andi's winter layers fool you, it wasn't that cold, she is just a cold child and shivers when it's 80 degrees outside. The animals were all in pretty good form. If they weren't up and playing, they were at least sleeping right in plain view. 

I'm sure you saw the news of the baby elephant all over a couple months back, but what didn't hit newsstands was the birth of three baby wart hogs! They are adorable, in a hoggy kind of way. They have vertical stripes on them and were running around like crazy! The kids loved them!

There were also two elephants out together and their trainer was having them do tricks like hold their trunks a certain way, lift a leg, etc. Well, we were up above at the elephant viewing area (for those familiar with the Oregon Zoo),  and there is a fence that hits me at about my waste, then about 5 yards of bushes and brush on a gradual decline, then another fence, then a 20 foot drop or so into the elephant's little home. Well, I had picked Carter up so he could get a better look at the elephants. Then I set him down so I could put Andi back in the stroller. I start snapping her in when I hear the snapping of branches and some guy saying, "Some kids just went over the fence." Yeah, Carter somehow managed to climb the fence and fall over into the elephant pit. Ok, not really the elephant pit at all, but he was well on his way. It scared the heck out of him and he has a scratch on his face from the snapping branches that I heard. I guess he just wanted to see more tricks from the elephants. Be looking for us on one of those most shocking world videos shows, we are going to try to fall into the tiger cage next time!

I'm trying to rip Andi's cup away from her, but she wasn't having that.

Logan and Andi sittin' in a.... saddle. 

Playgroup Party!

Every Monday we get together with a few of our friends and hold a playgroup, rotating houses each week. This week we were at our friend Rachel's house with her three boys and she hosted our playgroup Halloween party! It was so much fun! My kids loved getting into their costumes and Carter loved trying on everybody else's costumes. You'll notice the only way I could get my two kids to cooperate and take a picture together was safely strapped in their car seats. :)

Beach Babes

This past Sunday we hit the beach! Ok, in Oregon we call it the coast because usually its' beautiful beachy shores are cold, windy and rainy. That's what we planned for on Sunday when we headed out after Stake Conference. We bundled up in jeans, hoodies and tennis shoes planning for a cold, bundle up by the fire, kind of afternoon. Were we ever wrong! It was in the upper 70s but there was no wind and sunny skies so it felt even warmer. We all stripped down as much as possible, rolled our jeans up, kicked off our shoes, and went splashing in the ocean.  We went with our good friends the Wards and had a great time. Our kids play so well together. When it got to the late afternoon, we were all still sitting around hot as ever, but decided we wanted to eat so we started up our fire and roasted hot dogs. When it finally started to get dark and cool off a little we curled up next to the fire and busted out the s'mores. It was the perfect summer day at the coast in the middle of fall.  

For the life of us we could not keep Andi from eating the sand. I cannot even count the number of handfuls that she ate!

The kids  loved playing in these holes that the men folk dug. They were pretending they were hot tubs and swimming pools and that the shovels were cell phones. 

Heather is an amazing photographer. Here she is taking a picture of her cute kids Madi and Nixon.

Nixon and Carter running off into the sunset together.

Taking advantage of the last rays of sun. 

Andi is sitting here hoping that mom will roast her another hot dog.

Slumber Party

On Friday night our young women had a slumber party. We did some planning, ate pizza, played games, and chatted into the night. It was great for us all to bond and get to know each other a little bit better. The next morning we headed out to Liepold Farms to hit the corn maze. I think all the girls were a bit sleepy and it ended up being the quickest trip through a corn maze ever, but still fun. Jefferson was supposed to have some hours in the clinic that morning so I had to take the kids along. About half way out to the corn maze I saw that I had missed a call from Jefferson about an hour before. There was no message or anything, so I decided to just call him back. He answered and told me that he didn't have to go to the clinic so he could take the kids if I wanted. Do you love how hard he tried to get ahold of me to tell me that?! No message and only one missed call. Real sneaky. Anyways, I ended up just dragging the kids along. And when I say drag, I mean that literally. Carter stopped a couple of times in the cornmaze because he wanted to go the other direction. I was carrying Andi and in no mood to discuss, so I literally dragged him by his arm a couple of times. It was so very pleasant. Carter did love the big cheshire cat at the end (it was an Alice in Wonderland theme) and walking through the pumpkins. Luckily it was a quick trip. 

Girl Talk

No, not the game with the sticker zits and "crazy" dares, like prank calling your crush. I am talking about the real deal, bona fide, girl talk with a couple of my most favorite girls! Yesterday my friend Hayley and her son Logan came down to play with us. We spent a good amount of time strolling around Target enjoying our popcorn and soda. Then we came back to my place and for four hours rotated our kids through naps and lunch and had some good girl talk. Here are Andi and Logan enjoying their little Target date:

Then at 6:30 I checked out and drove over to Beaverton to see my friend Robyn. We just ate treats, exchanged recipes and chatted. My good husband put the kids to bed, cleaned the kitchen, and even folded laundry! What?! I should leave more often!

Here are a few more random photos of my kids. Carter crosses his legs all the time. It makes him look like a little man:

Andi being a girly girl. We bought her some pearls the other day and she insists on wearing them pretty much all the time. And of course, the purse is a permanent attachment.

And here is our Halloween preview. Our pumpkins waiting to be carved and Andi trying on a piece of her costume:

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Mommy Moment: Carter's cracking me up!

I have had two funny conversations with Carter today. The first one was when Carter showed me the tail to his teddy bear. I asked Carter if he had a tail and he replied, "No, I have a bum." 

The second was when I got the licorice out after lunch as a treat. I asked if Carter wanted a piece and he said, "No, a big one." He says he wants a big one when he wants the whole thing, so he thought I was only going to break a piece off.

Pumpkin patch

This past weekend my parents came up and we went down to meet up with my brother and his family in Salem to go to the French Prairie Pumpkin Patch. It was a bit cooler than we were anticipating, which ended up keeping the pumpkin patch pretty empty while we were there. We had a great time going through the hay maze, playing in the sand pit, going down the huge slide, feeding the animals, riding the pig train, taking the hay ride, picking out pumpkins, eating delicious pulled pork sandwiches and my favorite, watching the pig races! They had a little race track where they raced two sets of pigs and then ducks. It was hilarious. Carter actually got picked to be a pig leader (aka cheerleader) for the pig with the purple bandanna. It was a riot! We had a great time and fully feel in the fall spirit. 

$70 date night

Bowling for two hours: $30

Pizza and drinks: $10

Nachos: $10

Babysitter: $20

Spending time with my husband and friends: priceless