Lions, Tigers, and Beers! Oh My!

Woodland Park Zoo is one of my favorite places, and so far it seems it be one of Eleanor's too. A year ago we took the plunge and bought a membership that we shared with Jennie and the kids. Then we moved to California. Oops. But since we've been back I've made sure to get every penny out of that membership I can.

Gavin and I took our friends and their little girl for their first Woodland park experience. I also took advantage of a free member only night with my mom and Brad, where we got to enjoy an animal encounter with a possum and see the zoo a bit less crowded and the animals were more active at dusk. These excursions unfortunately don't have photo documentation, but our other zoo adventures do and I've included plenty of photos for your enjoyment below.

When Michelle and Jason were little I used to take them to Woodland Park at least a few times a year. Its fun to see them try to show Eleanor everything they loved, while experiencing all the new things the zoo has to offer now. One of my favorite zoo memories is when Michelle was little and I took just her; we were looking at the Tapirs when she suddenly got super excited. I thought it was because the beast was right against the window until she exclaimed "Look Karie! A squirrel!" Good to know the local park would have been just as entertaining. Haha!

Eleanor, Michelle, and Jason loved their zoo trip a few weeks ago. Eleanor's favorite animals are the otters and penguins, probably because they are very active and very easy to see. It makes me smile every time she gets excited about the otters, since my own Significant Otter is so very far away in Scotland. Miss you Tiffany!

Eleanor and I also had our very first "play date" with two moms and their kiddos from the mom bible study group I participate in. I was nervous at first, not having hung out with these ladies outside of Bible study, but it was a ton of fun and nice to talk with other women outside of the usual day-to-day. Definitely something Eleanor and I look forward to doing again.

Another AWESOME zoo event was the Brews at the Zoo fundraiser Woodland Park Zoo hosted. Gavin and I had a great date night (thanks for babysitting Jennie!) trying different beers and ciders, and enjoying the entertainment and atmosphere. There were over 40 breweries that participated, free snack samples, animal encounters, and custom button-pin making form Seattle Magazine -which was really exciting after a few tastes. I even had a beer float with a porter and vanilla ice cream that was so delicious! Great night and a fun way for the zoo to fund raise.

Oh, HOT damn ...

The forcast for the news 10-days here in Northern California calls for sun, sun, and more sun. The highs range from 99-104 degrees. 104?! Our Washingtonian bodies are taking their sweet time acclimating to this new, dry, ever increasing California heat. To think, we complained when the thermometer hit the 90's in August. Now I'm thankful for the littlest bit of cloud overhead, or when the weather app on my phone is wrong and it only gets up to 88, or when the pool in empty and Eleanor and I can have it all to ourselves. Its the little things in life really. I've never gone through so much sunscreen.

But we've figured out ways to keep ourselves cool. As I mentioned the pool is always a good one. We're lucky enough to have two provided by our apartment complex, one of which is right by our building. when there aren't too many other kids in the pool we spend an hour or so relaxing and floating to our hearts content. A poolside lunch is always a plus too.

Elenaor's other favorite way to beat the heat is by having Nakie Days. She gets to run around in her diaper or little shorts. Wish this was socially acceptable for me, but alas I dug out all my shorts and tank tops instead. We did enjoy a few movie days in front of a big box fan. Eleanor is becoming a fan of Disney -I think it's all the animals.

We had a nice suprise yesterday actually when Gavin came home a few hours early form work to spend some time with his girls. We enjoyed a family dinner at Smash Burger -a burger joint that I'm hoping will expand to Washington one day. Gavin and I are doing our best to eat healthier, and bun-less burgers are one of our favorite ways to cut a few calories. I didn't think Gavin would like it at first, but there's no bread to soak up all the delicious burger juices so there's a lot more flavor to enjoy. Then we did a little shopping where Gavin and Eleanor had a few good father daughter bonding moments.

Eleanor and Gavin in the cigar room at Total wine. (Above: Gavin found an Eleanor sized wine cup and she loved it.)

We also had a nice visit with Grandpa Pete and Grandma Karen last weekend. They were on a road trip and realized they would be about 20 minutes form us, so they swung by and hung out with me and Eleanor for a few hours in the afternoon. Of course no visitor can leave without breakfast at Mary's Gold Miner Cafe, so the kiddo and I joined them for breakfast the next morning as well. (Unfortunately, Gavin wasn't able to see them due to his work schedule.)

We had an otherwise chill 10 days since the last post. It rained a little yesterday, which felt so good. When it rains here we get these little sidewalk visitors all over. I took a picture as I was walking the dog this morning. Just a little something to enjoy until our next post.