Look at all the Ellie-fonts!

We took a trip to the Wild Animal Park recently to check out the new Ellie-font Odyssey…as my kids would say.

We had to stop and hitch a ride on all of the fake animals in the new exhibit …that’s what we all really come to see at the zoo, right?

We thought this guy right here would be road kill for sure when he wouldn’t move for the zoo tour bus.

We took a little time to feed the Bactrian Camels…very slimey!

Annie will make a great scientist…I’m not sure about that hairstyle for her though.

The same goes for Hudson.  The hair just doesn’t  quite work!

Who doesn’t love a very huge, very fake sloth?  And on a sidenote…has anyone notice the metal chainlink curtain that is going in the new very small lion exhibit.  I thought it was going to hold birds, but lions?!  I’m hoping they just mixed up labels…

The Life of a Gypsy

We are officially moved into our new house(We have been without internet for a while, hence the lack of blogging for the last few weeks).  The walls have a new smattering of paint(I chose Dusty Olive, Gold Buff, Lion’s Mane, Desert Camel and Midnight Haze…I want the job title of naming paint “…and I will call you… drum roll please…egg shell,” yeh, or maybe not) and most everything has found a place amid the walls of our new home.  Pictures from the inside will come later.

My kids seem to be having a more difficult time finding their place.  They don’t seem all that excited about having their own rooms again.  The backyard has been a hit and there have already been several nights where I have found everyone snuggled in the family room watching, “Singing in the Rain.”

I think they are a bit overstimulated from all the excitement that a move brings, but we have yet to collect any casualties along the way…cross your fingers.  Then again, some days I think Annie has found a place among the rubbish.  We’re just glad she wants to stay!

Good Times are Even Better When They’re Shared

Our friends Carmen and Ryan came to visit us.  We were so excited that they carved time from their trip back to North Carolina to come see us.  They brought the kids this amazingly huge blow-up whale slide/pool with a blowspout and crazy sprinkler hose.  Let’s just say we spent quite a bit of time in the backyard watching the kids enjoy the water.  We did all of our usuals.  We went out to dinner, hit the beach, did some sight seeing, played games and chatted into the early morning, all week long!

Del Mar was the beach of choice.  With the overcast weather, we enjoyed having the beach to ourselves.

I don’t know who liked the beach more?  Carmen and I walked the beach.  Hudson seemed to enjoy his recent aquisition.  The muscles didn’t last long though.

The boys spent most of their time out in the waves.

We had to hit up Balboa Park.

We just wandered and enjoyed the sights.

This is what happens when I ask my kids to smile…note to self…don’t ask my kids to smile.  They did enjoy having Ryan read them stories.  All in all, I deem the week a success.  Thanks for the memories!

Muddy Buddy

Well, I had been wanting to set some goals this year and one of my most anticipated ones has come and gone.  My good friend Amber and I decided in January that we wanted to try our luck at a 10K.  We chose the Camp Pendleton Mud Run because honestly, who doesn’t want to play in the mud?!  When everything was said and done, the obstacle course/run included the 6ish miles of running, a few walls to climb over, a lake that we ended up having to swim due to unforseen rains, a couple of river crossings and some huge mud pits.  The hills only killed on the way down…ouch my knees!Really, I don’t know what my deal was here, but apparently, Will says this face is normal when I talk to him…hmm I won’t try to interpret that comment.

Will was great to bring the kiddlets to the race.  He said he waited faithfully for me at the finish to snap a picture.  He even let me hug him after it was all over.  What a great husband!

It felt so good to be able to run it and still have plenty of energy left at the end to do…I don’t know what.  Amber and I enlisted her sister, and my friend Amy.  We chatted most of the course and the time flew by.  Quite a few people in our church ward ran it too so we kept running into all kinds of people we knew, which was so much fun!