Heading West

We took a trip out West to the hunting ranch with my parents a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful time just enjoying the outdoors. On our way out there, we stopped in Bismarck at the zoo and met up with some good friends.

The cutest welcome committee I've ever seen!

They would have spent all day feeding goats. Their giggles were the best!

Checking out the prairie dogs from the inside.

Watching the river otter put on a little show with Mary and Julia.

Rylan loved the bears, but he thought it would be funny if we took a picture when he wasn't looking. What a goof!

They have a great tiger habitat with tunnels to get a closer look. The awesome white tiger was showing off, lying on the top of the tunnel.

The Golden Tabby tiger was close to the glass too, wow, they are huge!
Despite one little mishap with a ground squirrel, we had a great time and it was fun to hang out with Blake, Mary, and their adorable kiddos!

After the zoo, we headed on to the ranch and had a wonderful time with my parents. Our big activity for the trip was floating down the river on tubes, but I don't have any pictures of that, as we obviously didn't take the camera with us on the tube. We had beautiful weather, but we ended up walking much of the river instead of floating. A low river paired with a slow current makes for a LONG ride. There were also times when the wind was actually blowing us back upstream! But we had a great time just hanging out together. Here are some pictures from our vacation.

Kenzie insisted on wearing her life jacket in the house to play.

We spent some time checking out the ducks and chickens in the newly remodeled chicken coop. Rylan loved to chase them around and pet them, but didn't really like to hold them. Mackenzie on the other hand, will try everything!

Awe, cute duck.

Playing on the new climbers for the chickens.

You hold it Mom, I'll just pet it.

So excited!

So soft!

I love this next collection of photos! We caught a crayfish in the river and Kenzie wanted to check it out. She was a little cautious at first, but when Grandpa showed her it was alright, she was all about it. This girl has no fear!

Gotta have a picture in the tractor wheel

Blowing dandelions

Riding in the tractor with Daddy

So tired, fell right asleep on Grandpa's lap WITHOUT a binky or blanky!
The last night we were there, there was severe weather and we ended up in the basement for a while fearing there were tornadoes nearby. I never did hear if any tornadoes actually touched down anywhere, but we had enough damage from racquetball sized hail. Here is some of what I quickly picked up a good 20 minutes after it fell. The corn was damaged and the house and all vehicles were full of dents. We were all fine though, and the animals weren't hurt, so it could have been much worse.

Summer Fun

Two Year Photos

I had Mackenzie's 2 year pictures taken this week and she did great! It took her a little while to warm up to the photographer, but then she was all smiles as usual.





Of course we had to have some with big brother as well.




I wanted Mackenzie to have pigtails for her pictures, but don't be fooled, she won't keep those rubberbands in for anything! So, because we need an easier hair-do for summer, she had her hair cut today by our wonderful daycare lady. She looks so grown-up and it's so cute!

Vacation

Almost 2 weeks ago, we took a little vacation to Vegas and Seattle. It was our first kid-free vacation we've had since before Mackenzie was born and it was wonderful! We were only in Vegas overnight, but we had a wonderful dinner, saw The Lion King and walked through the conservatory in the Bellagio (one of my favorite things to do there). Like always, I wish I had taken more pictures, so this is it.

A flowery snail - he was about 3 feet tall.

My only proof that I was actually there!

Beautiful as always.


We went to Seattle to visit Nick's sister, Katie, and her husband, Brian. On the first day there, we worked like crazy to help Katie paint the outside of their house as a surprise to Brian. We didn't quite finish, but got the most difficult and most in-need parts done. Brian was blown away when he got home from work. It was a great surprise and we were happy to help.

The following day,(Saturday) we headed right out to go kayaking on Lake Union. It was so much fun to see the floating homes, the float planes landing and taking off, and all the different boats from many different places in the marinas. The weather was perfectly cool and cloudy for a morning on the water. We paddled for about an hour and 45 minutes and I *think* we went about 3 miles. I really wish I could do that every day, what a great workout! And fun too! I didn't take the camera on the kayak, so this is it. :(

Nick tried paddle surfing after kayaking.


The kayak crew after we were done.

After kayaking we ate at a nearby Chinese place and then went downtown to Pike's Place. What a fun and lively place!

Next to the big golden pig. I have no idea what the significance is of that pig, I guess I should have asked!

It would have been fun to spend more time there, but we had to get going to our next adventure.

In the afternoon, we did a boat tour around Lake Washington. What a beautiful lake with unbelievably beautiful homes!!! By the afternoon, the sun had come out and the sky had cleared up and it was a gorgeous pleasure cruise. One of the tour's highlights was seeing the home of Bill Gates. Below is a picture of it. (not the buildings on top, but the brownish colored ones close to the water) Apparently it is 66,000 square feet, but it's so cool because you would never guess it, because a lot of it is underground.



We also had the pleasure of having a clear day to see Mount Rainier. The tour guide said that on average, Mount Rainier is only visible 9 days of the year (although Brian disagreed, he said it was more than that) so we picked good days to visit!


That evening, we went out to dinner and enjoyed conversation and fruity drinks. :)

Another beautiful view while eating.

Sunday, we drove up to Snoqualmie Falls for a wonderful breakfast at Salish Lodge. We were hoping to hike down to the bottom, but things were under construction, so we'll just have to go back another time!


Monday we headed back home, so it was a kind of a quick trip, but we had a blast and are gracious to Katie and Brian for being such wonderful hosts!

Mackenzie is TWO!!!!

Okay, she's been two for almost a week now, but it's blog-worthy none the less. Rylan and Mackenzie got to stay on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa for 5 days while Nick and I had a little vacation (stay tuned for that post later) and we came home on her birthday and had a party on the farm. She loved the attention, the candles, the cake and the presents. She is such a wonderful little girl, we are so blessed to have her as our daughter.

Yesterday we had another party with Nick's family and she loved doing it all over again.


Rylan needed a candle to blow out as well.
Daddy helping her with a beautiful necklace from Great Grandma and Grandpa Connie and Russ.
My little diva!