Escape Attempt

We watched these guys for quite a while as they made various uncoordinated escape attempts. This guy was especially entertaining for both us and his partners in crime.

(click the pic for the rest of the pix)


We took a quick zoo trip Saturday after Ian's football weigh-ins at the Steiner center. Ian starved himself the day before and all morning so he managed to sneak in just under the 135 lb limit. He was VERY nervous about making weight especially considering that fact that he would have lost one-fifth of his official identity which currently reads as:

Babysitter Extraordinaire

Struggling Student

Parent Antagonizer

Dog Lover

Running Back

We started out in a light rain which I believe is the perfect weather for a zoo trip. It's just enough to keep the crowds away, but not so much that the animals mind. I had to drag everyone along to get them inside and excited, but once Aimee declared her desire to pet the fruit bats, everyone was in a good mood (and slightly disturbed).

By the time we were leaving the snow was coming down pretty heavily, but no spirits were dampened. Avyrlie enjoyed catching snowflakes, Aimee was on her phone safely under the umbrella, and Ian was still a little goofy from his day of starvation.

I'll add more commentary in the Flickr gallery

Back to School Zoo Trip

(click for more pix)

Snuck up to the zoo today with Jessica today in between carpool trips. Now that school has started, mid-day trips are much less crowded. Most of the animals were having a pretty good day as well. The penguins were splashing around and all the new babies were out and exploring.
We ate at Ruth's afterwards which is just barely worth the lunchtime wait with a couple tired, rowdy kids. I had some so-so vegetable wontons and an awesome fried pickle sandwich. I also had good intentions with ordering a dessert to share, but flubbed the whole no nuts thing for Dylan... Dessert or not, we all had a great time :)

Croc Check

Avyrlie and I took a quick trip to the zoo last Friday morning to make sure the crocodiles were still there. I'm pretty sure she gets worried that they might have escaped and be lurking around a corner waiting to snap her up for lunch. They're the only animal there that she us really afraid of.


They recently had babies so they are in a different habitat for some reason. When we went to see them, the hall they are in was completely deserted and dead quiet. Avyrlie crept up close enough to see that the crocs were in there, but wasn't coming any closer.

Outside Avyrlie had a ball playing Whack a Bug. Kleenex had a promotion for their anti-viral tissues with a couple games and a mascot. Avyrlie wasn't about to get close a life size germ ;)

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast, originally uploaded by eouio.

Avyrlie loves having sunglasses and takes them everywhere. Saturday we went to the zoo hoping to see the new crocodiles and Madagascar exhibit.

The exhibit was not too lively with most of the animals hiding out or not present and the crocodiles have yet to return to their regular pen. We did catch the bird show which I love and got to see a rare Steller's Sea Eagle. They are found in Russia and are huge. Wingspan over 6 feet!

(Kiss me Baby!)

Family at the Zoo

(click the pix for the full gallery)

It seems we don't get to use our zoo passes often enough so when Aaron and Brooke called to let us know they were headed to the zoo, we jumped at the chance. Our passes let us take 2 guests along for free and Hayden is still free as well. Leah also came along because who can say no to an afternoon with monkeys and Aimee?

Riding the wolf with a goofy grin

Avyrlie was very excited to ride the wolf after seeing it picking berries of a bush right next to her (as close as the fence allows...). Ian was even pretty happy to stop by the zoo for a quick visit.

After the zoo we headed up the canyon a bit to eat at Ruth's. Ian has never had lunch there and I just like the atmosphere. Avyrlie took a liking to the stage and spent her lunch time singing and dancing on it.



We headed home to let the dogs know we still care, and then zoomed off to the second Dr. appt of the day. It went really well because Aimee managed to make it there in time to get her opinions heard. I honestly always try to convey what her intentions are, but the fact the her opinions fluctuate as wildly as the stock market and that I have rather strong doctor/medication prejudices make it nearly impossible for me to arrive at the same conclusions that she might. We are definitely getting closer, but might need another 15 years to get our marbles effectively mixed ;)

Heading home we debated on procrastinating housework by seeing an 'Eater Movie' (Avyrlie's term for being able to eat in the theater), but decided instead to head home and see if we couldn't fill the dumpster we rented with all the accumulated crap laying around (yes, the dog crap alone filled half :o )

Ian and I started tossing the old pantry debris while Avyrlie entertained the dogs in their wire pen. They fight and wrestle almost constantly, but even in the midst of their most epic battles they tolerate Avyrlie pouncing on top of them and demanding that they "BE NICE!!!". Presently, I still have Sadie listed for sale, but I wouldn't be disappointed if we end up keeping her either. Ideally, I'd like to have a dog with a bit less energy that isn't in your face at all times, but Triela and Sadie get along really well and sleep pretty sound at night after calling at truce and retreating to their kennels for the night.

Ended the night pretty early (which is around 10 PM at the Smith house) and headed to bed to rest up for The Big Game...

A walk in the park

A couple pix from our walk to the park yesterday with Triela. Avyrlie did pretty well holding the leash to walk her home, although at the moment Triela is growing faster than her and can manage to pull her around. Avyrlie didn't lose her grip on the leash even once though! Click below to keep reading our events from today...

Today Ian had an appointment at the sleep clinic. I made it early in the morning and let him stay up late just to make sure he looked the part (nothing worse than trying to convince doctors of symptoms...). All my efforts may have been a little much because after 10 minutes of questioning Ian (he does a pretty good job describing his concerns) the doctor decided to set him up to test for everything from apnea to narcolepsy. I've done this a couple times, and that seems a bit extreme, but it covers the bases which is what we're looking for at this point. Next Wednesday he heads in for his first sleep study. He has pretty mixed feelings between feeling weird and geeky like something is different or wrong with him, and just being glad in the realization that he has a bit more control over things he always felt were a bit out of control but couldn't decide just why.

As long as we were all the way down at PCMC, we decided (Avyrlie and I with Ian protesting) to stop at the zoo for ice cream and a bird show. The ice cream was very bad (don't get ice cream over by the zebras), but both kids loved the bird show.

I'd not seen the bird show at the zoo before, and after seeing a couple shows in the kid theater, I was not expecting too much. Ian was ready and anxious to head home, and Avyrlie busily eating her way to the bottom of a cup of nasty ice cream. Once the show started none of us looked away or quit smiling once. The humor was pretty good, the birds were amazing and the presentation was much better than average.

Avyrlie was a bit anxious about where the birds were going after they left the stage and were out of sight, but once I assured her they were not being eaten by anything, she was ok (not sure where she got that idea...) She was more impressed than I thought she would be with the birds flying overhead, although having a Golden Eagle graze your hair with it's wingtips is pretty impressive by any standard.

Ian is just an animal lover at heart and followed every bit of the presentation and was very attentive. Somehow I ended up there without a camera, but with season passes, and now having scouted the best seats, we'll be back for some pix another time (with an unsuspecting Aimee screaming as the Eagle Owl swoops a couple inches from her head!)

As I'm sitting here typing this, I'm literally surrounded by the foreign screams of multiple children. Much of the reason for the length of this post is the fact that I am hiding in the basement as Aimee entertains Rachel's horde outside with Triela. The dog is in heaven, finally having a pack large enough to be worthy of her beagle heritage and Aimee is in hell finding that she does not have enough arms to hold all the paper towels needed to keep that many children clean at all times. I had to laugh a bit (actually a lot) when I heard her exclaim, "Holy crap, there's already grass in the house!". Yeah, it's going to be a long weekend.