Field Trip: Northwest Trek

Yesterday we had a field trip to a wildlife park.
We caravaned up northwards with my best friend, Jill, and her children and mom.
Her mom got most of us in free using her membership card and was then sweet enough to pay for the two who weren't covered by the membership.
Being in the park was like being a kid in a candy store. We were able to see animals that are in our own neck of the woods, our own backyard so to speak. We wandered on a paved trail through the forest in search of animals native to the Pacific Northwest, saw many herbivores while on the tram ride, and saw animals up close at trail side exhibits. The animals were literally just feet away and in some cases, like on the tram tour, inches away.
We all had a wonderful time.
Here are some of the animals we got to see.

The kids paired up with a buddy.
And we're off.................

First stop...........Spotted Owl.

It was very difficult to get a picture of this wolverine.
He was constantly on the move.

I love the beavers. I think they are so cute.

They also had a fisher there. I didn't even know such an

animal even existed. It was pretty cute.

We also saw a skunk and a raccoon.

Next we did the tram tour.

While waiting in line for the tram to arrive we saw

these moose. We couldn't believe our eyes. It was so awesome!

On the tram tour we saw......
Elk,

mountain goats,

more moose, oh and a crane,

buffalo (I love these guys too!)

big horn sheep,




and deer.

After the tram tour we headed back to the trail for more exhibits.

Here are some eagles. I liked watching them together.

Myles and Aeva spotted a squirrel.

The kids all yipped and howled when we got to the coyotes.
At first the coyotes were no where to be seen, but then they came down
to take a look at who was howling for them.

Eagles, coyotes and...............bears oh my!

There were black bears and grizzly bears.

It was a bit difficult to get a picture of the grizzly bears. The behind of one was all I managed.
The other one was back a ways digging. It was fascinating watching the dirt being dug and heaved backwards.

The wolves and foxes were interesting to watch too.

They would sneak around behind shrubs and then you would catch just a glimpse of them

moving. This wolf was nice enough to come out and lay down for a photo shoot.

Myles found two woolly bear caterpillars while we were there.

Just as we were heading towards the exit we saw
this beaver trail side exhibit.

We learned that their teeth are orange. This is because while our teeth are coated with calcium, there teeth are covered with iron. I guess they'd need to have strong teeth with all the trees they gnaw on.



Myles was full of questions.

Taking a little break.

And that is our field trip in a nutshell.

An Account of the Past Week

We've been trying to stay dry and keep inside most of the week.
We are loving the fall weather, the downpours, and watching all the leaves change color.
Rhaevyn thinks all that is missing is a good lightening and thunder storm.

These are just a few things from our week.

So, we play a game to get Elsa to clean up. Before all we had to do was sing the clean up song, and she would sing it with us and clean up. Now we've had to make cleaning up into a game. Which I have to say makes it even fun for the rest of us. Who is gonna win? Who is gonna put the most toys in the bin, who is gonna get the last toy or block?

On Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed General Conference and the special breakfasts we look forward to when conference roles around. Sunday afternoon after the last session of conference was over the girls went back to their room. They yelled down the hall to come see what Elsa had done. I wasn't sure at first I wanted to see the disaster that awaited. However, I heard the girls laugh, so I figured that was a good sign.
Our little artist had found something new to do artwork with on the walls.

And how wonderful that you can peel then off
and stick them somewhere else.

She was quite proud of herself.

Monday was Dentist Day!
They all passed with flying colors.
No cavities or drilling..........yeah!!!!

Myles had been counting down the days for two weeks.
He just couldn't wait to go.

My little girl keeps looking more grown up.
She is already moving into size 3T.

Myles has been wanting his hair cut.
Chris always likes to have fun while in the process.
One time he did an arrow like the cartoon character, Aang,
from Avatar the Last Airbender.
And another time he did a mohawk.
This time it was stripes. It started out as "the old man."
He told Myles that might be what he looks like when he is 60.
They sure do have a good time with their haircut time.

We have a new visitor.

This squirrel likes to come and hang out in our backyard.

We get to see him a lot because we do our schoolwork at the kitchen table.

Yesterday we went on a field trip to NW Trek.
I'll tell you more about that on the next post.

Look Mom..............

no training wheels!!!!

Yesterday Myles got on one of the girls' old bikes and started peddling.
I dashed out to get some footage. The two neighbor boys were giving him pointers, lots of encouragement, and cheering him on. It was so sweet.
Then he decided to have his training wheels taken off his "Mongoose."

At dinner he was saying how he just got on and it was like magic that he staring riding.
Just like magic..............I can remember how magical it felt to ride a bike without training wheels, but I was 9 when that finally happened. Ah, but it is magical riding a bike, especially for the very first time without training wheels, with the wind blowing on your face.
He could hardly go to sleep last night because he said that "riding a two wheeler was so much fun", and he wanted to "ride right now." I assured him the bike wasn't going anywhere and he needed to get sleep so he'd have energy to ride it the next day.

Today he's riding off the curb already and riding around like a speed demon.

Elsa has now picked up the scooter.

My goodness.............my little ones are growing up.

It's Fall Again

Oh, I just love fall. Yesterday Myles helped me bake a loaf of pumpkin spice bread, and I lit my first fall scent. There's nothing better when the the weather turns crisp, gray and drizzly then to bake some yummy bread and have a bit of candlelight.

I had forgotten I had some pictures of Uncle Matt from one of his dinners that he had with us while he was working in our area. He even went swinging with us at the playground on one of his visits.

This past weekend Matt, Leslie, Sam and Keakalina came to drop Keaka off at college.
It was nice to visit with them, and we got some awesome homegrown vegies out of the trip :)

Yogurt anyone?

Elsa has graduated from her highchair to a booster seat at the table.
Sometimes it proves to be a bit messy.

I asked her if she was having a spa day with a yogurt treatment for her skin.

This is her pretending to be a mermaid.

I think she loves feeling her long hair swish her shoulders in the water.

Leslie brought back sunglasses from the college for all the kids.

Myles has been very busy lately.
He is loving schoolwork, but his favorite is his math workbook so far.
He has been an avid catcher of Crane Flies lately.
He likes to catch them, hold on to one leg, and let it fly with the breeze. He says it is his version of a kite. Then he throws them into the spider web at the back porch. That spider is soooo huge and fat from all the Crane Flies Myles throws at it.
When he isn't doing that, he loves playing football with Rhaevyn, Aeva and the two neighbor boys. He is anxiously awaiting the fall leaf hunt I've promised to do.

Elsa has hit the stage of loving clothes and wanting to be free of them at the same time.
I had to laugh one day I saw her in a new outfit every two minutes. Usually when she has gone through just about every pair of pants, every shirt in her drawer, and every dress that I'll let her put on she just ends up running around in her underwear the rest of the day. Gotta love being a free spirit at that age.
Yesterday I was watching her play. She made me some invisible soup, and then she dressed up with a bracelet, a camera and a purse and carried her baby around. After a few minutes she put her baby in bed and took off the bracelet, camera and purse and laid down for a couple of minutes. Then she got up to put her bracelet, camera and purse back on and carry her baby to another part of the house. She did the whole routine again about four more times. It was making me smile and tired at the same time.

The kids love watching Kid History. I often hear my kids, mainly Myles, reciting various parts from the episodes. Myles's favorite being the debate of "Oceanology/Oceanography" from episode four. And if you haven't seen any episodes yet, I recommend you do. You can click on the link at the side of my blog. They are pretty funny.
This one is Myles's version of "Kyle" from episode two.

Elsa has learned to race cars, who would have thought......
I came out to the garage and heard her yelling to her car "come on, come on, come on!!!!!"
She was having a blast with Chris and Myles.

Well, I think that is all from our neck of the woods.

My next post will have some video of Myles riding his bike. While typing this up I had to run out and catch some video of him riding without training wheels...........woohoo!!!!