Happy Birthday Bradley

Bradley's is 9, I can hardly believe it! Wayne was right at the end of his deadline on Bradley's actual birthday, so I took Bradley and Elli up to the dinosaur museum with Crystal and her kids. It was fun because they had some Halloween activities going on as well. Afterwards we came home and had Oreo ice cream and opened presents. We celebrated with Wayne a couple a days later, which worked out to be fall break. We took a trip to one of Bradley's favorite places....the zoo. The temperature was perfect and we saw a lot of animals that you don't see in the summer because they are too hot to be out.

Elli really enjoyed this trip too. We took her last year, but she didn't really get into the animals like she did this time. It was fun to watch her reactions.

This was one of Bradley's favorites, it's a fossa from Madagascar. It wasn't what I expected at all. I thought they were like hyenas, but they are much more cat like.

I think this was Elli's favorite. She loved watching baby Zuri run around and play. She really is cute!

Here is mom eating her dinner. Elli got a kick out of this too. Now whenever someone says elephant to her she will try and imitate an elephant reaching up to get food.

This is Bradley's favorite cat. We were really glad to cougars were so visible.

The bears were easy to find too. They kept yawning and licking their mouths, so what do you think Elli was doing as she watched them?

The zebras are one of my favorites! It seems like they are always turned with their back sides facing the crowd, so I was pleased to get a photo of their faces!

Reading about the red panda. Bradley loves animal facts, and it amazes me how much he knows about all kinds of animals. He tells me all the time that he wants to have his own zoo someday.

These are my other favorites at the zoo. I think they are adorable! It was hard to get a photo with all of the giraffes, but this is the baby, and I think both parents.

The hard to find cheetah was out today, AWESOME!

Here are 2 of the 3 tiger cubs. They were having a great wrestle over a bone. We really enjoyed the tiger area because the dad was on the other side talking to the cubs. He would go the edge of his enclosure and the cubs would come over the the edge of theirs. It was really loud, and not something you hear very often at the zoo. Pretty cool!

Hiding behind the tree is the snow leopard cub. Also usually really hard to find, but not this time. The mother and the cub were running all over the place playing together.

This is by far Bradley's favorite place in the zoo, it's the reptile house. He is looking for the iguana, but we never found him. He was hidden really well.

Rocky Mountain Rattle Snake.

This a one of Bradley's favorites, it's a Gila monster.

This is a rubber boa. We found one once hiking in Provo Canyon, so Bradley always likes to find this one to remember when he caught one in "the wild".

Bradley measures up to the adult female. I like the new sign!

By the way, Bradley doesn't usually wear shirts that are so big on him. He is wearing a Los Hermanos shirt because that's where we took him for his birthday lunch before the zoo. He ordered a Diablo Verde for free because he had on the shirt. We also asked them to sing Happy Birthday to him. He was a little embarrassed, but he liked the fried ice cream. And the salsa that day was absolutely perfect. Not too hot, just a hint of heat....mmmmm, delicious!!

On Saturday we threw Bradley a birthday party. Bradley has some great friends!

They really liked this game. They had to be in teams of 2, one would wrap the other with toilet paper like a mummy, and then the mummy had to hop to the finish line. Michelle and Amara did the best job on wrapping.

Braydon and Jex won the relay.

By the time Bradley crossed the finish line he wasn't wrapped anymore. He just kept his legs together to keep it fair. Good job Bradley and Ben!

How do you like the birthday cake? Bradley loves doughnuts, so this I thought he'd like a giant one for his cake. I also got glazed doughnuts and made homemade Reese's ice cream. Yummy!!

Elli was such a good sport. I was constantly busy doing games or getting lunch ready. Because of that, she was in her pajamas until after her nap. She stayed in her stroller most of the time watching the kids. Here she is enjoying her hot dog dipped in ketchup and chips dipped in ranch. At one point she picked up her plate and started licking the ranch dip. Lots of good fat in that for her! Maybe that's what I need to give her everyday to help her grow!

Thank you to all of Bradley's great friends! We even had 3 friends from our old neighborhood come down. It was so great to see them again!!!

Ben (Bradley's cousin) had spent the night with us, and he was at our house for most of Saturday. They had a great time together, especially putting together all the Bionicles and Lego's from the birthday party. It was a really fun day!

Happy Birthday Bradley! You are such a smart and good boy! We love you!!!!

It's Autumn Time

I really love this time of year! We thought it would be a fun FHE to take a picnic up to the mountains and go for a hike. It really is the best way to enjoy all the fantastic fall colors.

There wasn't anyone else up there, which was perfect! And the temperature was in the mid 70's which was even more perfect!!

This really is a beautiful trail, and not very hard. We didn't take it all the way though. It's the Mt. Loafer trail up Payson canyon. It was a very kid friendly hike, AWESOME!!

It started to get dark, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get very many good pics. But I did get a few good ones, if I do say so myself.

It's too bad fall doesn't last longer. It really is my favorite time of the year!