I've had a hard time narrowing down pictures and getting the energy to relate this adventure that we did waaay back in April. We decided to add some adventure in our life with out doing major vacation trips. Our first destination: the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. We had thought about taking Miriam last year, but she didn't seem old enough or interested enough to invest the time. We chose to go on a Wednesday when perhaps there wouldn't be as many people visiting. Little did we know how few people would be there though due to rain as opposed to the middle of the week. We saw several school groups during the first half of the day, but it just got less and less people till we had the zoo to ourselves. We started with both kids in the stroller though Miriam just didn't seem interested in anything even the cute baby elephant, as seen below top right. (BTW did you know that if I were an elephant at that time I would still be pregnant with Aaron!)It wasn't till we stopped at the giraffe house to let Aaron nurse that Miriam got interested once she wasn't stuck in the stroller (bottom right). Though she didn't ever really seem fascinated by the animals except perhaps the ones that looked familiar like cats and birds in particular. 
I personally loved watching the tigers with the 3 cubs, penguins, and the bigger apes. Eric got really good pictures of the tigers though Miriam really didn't want to stick around for long.
We stopped and ate our Gandolpho sandwiches by the penguins and the red panda. Eric and the kids checking the panda out after lunch. The red panda attracted a crowd at this point because the guys in the nearby snack shack hadn't ever seen it move and it was prowling when we were there.
It had been drizzling off and on all morning, but after lunch the skies opened and it poured. As seen above the kids enjoyed playing with the umbrella. I think one of Miriam's favorite things was seeing the river that goes through the zoo and splashing in the puddles. It was a good thing I brought all of us jackets and sweatshirts plus a change of clothes for the kids because we got soaked. We left the park, got gas, and drove around for awhile trying to decide if we should just go home or see if the rain would clear up. It did clear up some so after they had a good nap we tried again, but hardly anyone else was brave enough so there wasn't very many people around which was a plus. On the minus side we didn't get to ride the train, the carousel, or play on the play equipment because of the rain. We left the zoo as it was closing in another torrential rain though luckily we saw all the animals that were out before then.
We all loved the monkeys. I got a kick out of the chimps because the baby chimp was crawling all over the dad while he was trying to sleep, a familiar occurrence at our house! I don't know if you can tell but the gorilla above is eating a textbook of some sort.The bird Miriam is examining in the bottom right I think had a hurt wing, but when it saw Miriam it ran into the glass and kept trying to come through.
Miriam also had a good time posing on the various statues around the park The one she loved the most though was the tiger and cub below. we couldn't get her off of them and as we tried watching the real tigers she would sneak back here.Miriam had me get on the tiger and is pointing out all the body parts. This may have been her favorite "animal"!
What animals that? A mommy and a Miriam?! A rare animal indeed! Hopefully we'll have better weather next year, see you animals!
This was the first time he stood by himself outside while I was planting flowers on May 3. Since then he has gained incredible muscle control that he can squat without sitting down and rise back up again. He has also been pretty stable just holding onto one hand to walk and such.
I feel strongly about having a picture of a temple in bedrooms but I realized with all our pictures we had very few to no pictures of the Provo temple. Miriam has gotten interested in the temple lately also, so I wanted to show her the temple. We've told her mommy and or daddy are going or are at the temple but I don't think she had any idea what we were referring to. i wanted her to see where we go.
What I didn't realize is that the fountains in front of the temple are a major missionary hangout on Sunday. I never did it when I was at the MTC but Jennifer said she did. Miriam loved seeing all the water. She loved putting her hand in the pool and walking around the fountain. She got filthy, oh well.Miriam for awhile (shes getting the difference now) when saw temple every time she saw a church. Though she has a different sound on the front of the word so it can be a little tricky understanding what she's talking about. I love love that she is identifying with the temple and getting excited to see it because it is one of my favorite places in all the world. Sometimes at dinner out of the blue she will point to our wedding picture and say excitedly, "temple!"
In all the time I've spent going to the temple (particularly the last 6 years) I have never gone to the back of the temple. I didn't know there were benches and the depiction of the temple. Who knew? A sister companionship approached mom and I while we were back there to 'street contact' us. When we said yes we were members they asked if they could bear their testimony. It was a perfect addition to our excursion. When I mentioned I served a mission they wanted to know if I had any advice.
For my birthday we went to Joe Bandito because it had been too long since I had their scrumptious aloha enchilada, mmmm! The kids fell asleep on the way and slept the entire time we were at the restaurant, made for a much more peaceful eating experience.
I was a lucky girl to have my parents come down for the weekend to celebrate with me. Mom made me a beautiful cake with flowers and strawberries (going with our strawberry obsession :) Thanks for all my presents and everything!
