WA visit #2

I know, I know...I'm AWFUL at posting. But I'll give it my best shot at catching up. Five months...yikes!

I'll just give a crash course in our lives for the past several months. There's a reason I don't journal daily (though I seriously respect those that do).

These pics are from June 6th through 17th. We took another trip up to Washington cause, well, we could. Jason still hadn't had many job leads in Redding, so we figured we'd better make good use of the time.

On the way up we decided to hit the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR. It was totally rad! Amie had gone there with Paul and Maggie, and we were not disappointed. And we got a discount because of our zoo memberships.

Z really liked to sit in the front seat. He was almost as interested in the animals as he was the buttons :).

The lions were pretty boring, but Jason really liked the brown bears. Apparently he failed to read the "keep your vehicle moving" sign (big sign) that was right before the gate. He decided to stop and they decided to inquire. I kept telling him we needed to move, but he kept saying how cool it was. Literally, they could have reached out and trashed our car. The guys in the vehicle near the back of the exhibit actually started to come toward us (they must be there in case somebody does something stupid and the bears capitalize on it).

I love giraffes! They are my favorite, and Z loves them too. This one walked towards us and then followed after us. It was like a really slow version of Jurassic Park, but with an animal that won't eat us. People in other cars watched it happen, and they seemed to think it was pretty cool, too.

At the little "village" they have there. They had a tortoise walking around with a lady, and Zachary and I kept calling it a turtle. She felt the need to correct us and tell us the difference. Doesn't matter to a 21 month old! She was young and probably didn't have kids.

Snuggling in his car seat. I think it was on the way up that Z was looking a book and counting "one, two, three" while pointing to the page...over and over again. It was pretty cute.

We stopped and after waiting a while, hung out with Jason's sister Melissa.
Babysitters! Here's Eva taking Z for his pre-bedtime walk.

And of course, cooking. I love to cook, and Amie likes to chop stuff. It works out well. And we all like to eat!
Zach really likes Amie. Not sure what they were watching, but he does like to watch trucks go by (especially the garbage truck).
Just a random cute picture of our kid :).
Eva's got all kinds of cool old school toys that Z just loves.
Oven mitt boy!

And of course, upside down Zachary.

We also got to spend some time with my dad. As always, if you push his nose it squeaks. Zach couldn't get enough. Of the squeaking and Dad's french toast.

We all really like this picture. They have a huge "Playground of Dreams" here that's pretty intense. Z didn't want to go down by himself, so I went with him.
We didn't get too many pictures with Grammie Jeanie. Never managed to drag the camera over there, but we got some with our phones. Pizza!


Jeanie has this little teepee that she tried to give us. Couldn't take it back on the car, but Z liked playing in it.

One day we went with Dad to Chuck E Cheese. Don't think we ate there, just went to play. And we had fun - all of us. Speaking of, if you ever need a cotton candy fix, go to Chuck E Cheese! It's not the cheapest, but it's the only place I know of that always has it.

Zach liked the little cars that moved. Dad and I really like the game where you have to stop the moving light on a particular number. I could spend all day doing that, but Dad got it on the highest number pretty quickly (just more tickets).

And "driving" them.
This one made some pretty awfully annoying noises.

We ended up getting a cheap plastic slinkly (which half is permanently leaning to one side on account of staying in the sun in our car) and a little toy lizard. Which amazingly enough, has not been lost yet.

And of course, with the Tri-City heat and the beautiful river (it's actually blue), gotta go out on the boat! Z helped wash the trailer.

Chillin' with Papa Bob. Always works to bribe Z with food (PB and honey sandwich).

We dragged Amie along with us. She has since started a tie-dying business. The one she's wearing was mine from years ago, but she makes lots now and sells them.

Bailed on his snack for the honey sandwich :). Though his yogurt is pretty sweet (and super yummy).

I thought this was a really good pic of Gramma Eva and Z.

Several pics of Amie driving. This was, of course, before we stopped for more water and talked to a sheriff. Apparently it's illegal for her to do so with new laws and regs.

We figured it wasn't technically illegal for Z to drive though :).

Being silly. He really didn't get that bored.

But he did manage to get some nice heat rash. The life jacket probably didn't help with sweating. The next day he had bumps all over his belly, even some on his arms and back, I think. We were pretty concerned at first until we figured out that's what it was.

Really, it's the cheapest things that usually amuse kids. In this case, paper airplanes.


Zach trying to blink. He's not possessed. In this picture, anyway.
Random pic of Z with Papa Bob.
More babysitting! Zach will sit forever (most times) if he's got a book.

We went out to breakfast for Father's Day (it worked out well we were in town - it wasn't planned). Z did pretty well, and enjoyed coloring.

Because Jason needed a project and Bob could use the help, the boys worked on putting up a new fence.

Zachary included :).
He doesn't match, sure, but he loves those two pieces of clothing.

If Z's not super snuggly or warmed up to someone, high fives work really well. I left out the pic where he left him hanging :).
A pretty good self-portrait of Eva and Z (they like those).

Bummin'.

Giving kisses. He really warmed up to Eva fast.

Including letting her feed him.

Then telling her how to do it.

And being a ham.

More time with Eva.

Zach loves his turtles. Except when he tries to cram them through holes.

Boys will be boys...

We also got to stop in and see Jacquie. She's totally rad and into healthy stuff and canning. Yea, canning! We had several good talks about food and nutrition. Since then I've been much more hard-core about proper nutrition and diet. Veggies, baby! We've been doing very well. I always knew that we'd have to change our diet to be more like Zachary's, and we definitely got started on that path.

Being silly with Dada.