End of July & Zoo

Usually when Amie comes down to visit Paul and Maggie, they take several days off and take her on random adventures, usually involving camping. But this time they didn't have any vacation time, so she hung out with us. It worked out pretty well, actually. We had a good time during the week while Paul and Maggie were working, and then they did the camping thing on the weekend.

Here's Z driving our truck (not really, of course, so don't get concerned :)).

After Amie got there I warned her about Paul and Maggie's dryer. Even if you run it for a short time, it still gets really hot. Lots of my clothes started becoming more snug, and it wasn't because I was growing! And I'm not just saying that. So I blame it on the dryer. I'll throw it under the bus :). Anyway, I warned Amie about my suspicions, so we dried our clothes the old fashioned way. I title this picture "wrath of the dryer."

I didn't take this - don't know who did, but it's pretty cool. Amie spent a fair amount of time practicing...in the street. Which isn't such a big deal as there's not a whole lot of traffic through their subdivision, except when there's a desperate mom driving her child around. In circle after circle after circle. Amie and I noticed the same minivan go by and I told her it was probably a kid thing. After a few more times of driving the circle, the lady slowed down enough to tell Amie she was, in fact, trying to get her child to sleep. Poor lady - I've been there!

I know I've said it before, but Tiffany and Luke's jam was fantastic!! Z looks pretty femmy, but it was pretty cute - even he really appreciated the yummy goodness!


While Amie was practicing baton and Z and I were eating jam, Jason decided to ride his bicycle up Mount Diablo. It's a crazy climb, but he thought if he went slow enough he could do it. And by golly, it took several hours but he did it! He came home and just crashed :).

It's actually a pretty spectacular view (I'm told).

Random shot of Jason.

What better thing to do with family than go to the zoo? Have I mentioned I love the zoo? The tigers were actually up and moving this time, and they even played with a big ball. The pictures that better depict this turned out blurry, but you can kind of see him here.

The giraffes are always neat, and I think this picture turned out well.
All the times we had been there, we had never gone to see the bats! These things were monsters - the breed whose wingspan is between 4 and 6 feet. Feet! That's the size of me! I think they are called Flying Foxes, either Malaysian or something else. Pretty impressive.

The meerkats to me are just plain old boring, but Amie liked them. The have this tunnel to play in and watch them. I guess they came pretty close to the window. The tunnel is definitely kid sized, but adults masquerading as kids fit okay, too.


These ones are neat, but the lighting is definitely not the best. I hate trying to figure out lighting!


I stayed outside and took pictures :).

The merry-go-round!! When we became members we got some free tickets for rides but had never used them. So we figured we'd better get on it. Jason doesn't much like the merry-go-round, but Z and Amie do. And I don't really mind that I have to go on with Zachary :). We picked the giraffe, even though it doesn't go up and down. For some reason Z looks chunky in this one.

A pretty good pic of Amie.

And all three of us having fun!
We also rode the train. They must be making a killing - it's two bucks per person! Thankfully it was free for us. Not really the best train ride at a zoo, but it's still pretty fun for Z.

This picture would be awesome if J had just PUT DOWN the phone!! :) Oh well.

We actually had a hard time getting a good one of all three of us - these are the best.


Amie waiting for the train to go.

And playing with her camera. Ah, the electronic age. One's on a camera, the other on the phone.

And that's July!