my birthday weekend

My 27th birthday was last Friday

and thanks to all my family

I had one of the best birthdays!

 

It actually all started on Thursday

when my mom and Lindsay took me to lunch at Kneaders.

Then on Friday,

Lindsay and I went to the mall with the kids,

she bought my lunch,

and we shopped and let the kiddos play on the indoor playground

 

Saturday,

I had to run to a bridal shower for Andrew's cousin.

Then we went up to the zoo

with Bryce, Becca, and Zoey

 

Stella and Zoey weren't in the mood for posing for pics

but we still made an attempt.

 

I took pictures of the wolves

because they are NEVER up next to the fence like this



 

The birthday didn't end there.

After the zoo,

we drove down and met my entire family at

The Cheesecake Factory

Yum!

I may have eaten both mine and Andrew's leftover cheesecake.

He was mad, so I had to play the

"it's my birthday" card.

 

Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday fun!

 

 

Zoo Friends

We went to the zoo with our friends!!

four kids semi looking at the camera

enjoying the animals

Rocky Shores

We went to the zoo to check out the new Rocky Shores exhibit

It was HOT and Stella did not want to pose for pics.

The sea lions were in love

so they were kissing

The giraffes were

 really really in love

 and this was right before.....

something very funny happened.

And we all loved watching the polar bear swim back and forth to the wall.

Have you seen it yet?!?!

So funny that it does the same thing over and over and over 

Part II--Sea World

One day we ventured over to Sea World

We were super excited to see Shamu

Stella loves to watch the penguins.

After we looked at them we went in the store

and showed her some of the stuffed animals

She would look at them and put them back

Then she met this penguin.....

she would NOT let go

Death Grip

we ended up buying it for her

yes, we're suckers

Looking at the beluga whales 

Whenever I see beluga whales

it reminds me of the Full House episode

where Michelle is singing

"baby beluga"

over and over and over.

Any Full House lovers out there that remember this one?

I know Kelsie won't let me down...

Bear World

On the way back from Yellowstone

we stopped at Bear World in Rexburg

 They have SOOO many bears.

Here's the grizzly

Here's some of the black bears

that are right next to your car

I think we saw over 30 black bears

definitely beat the 2 we saw at the actual Yellowstone

There are other animals too.

Wolves

Elk

Deer

Moose

And a petting zoo with lots of birds,

that of course I cannot touch....(i HATE birds)

 They had 6 cubs born in January and they were right next to you

They look so cute

 Stella loved it too.



Y~E~L~L~O~W~S~T~O~N~E

In July

we went to Yellowstone with

{most of}

Andrew's family.

Andrew's brother, Brian, and his family

were visiting from Australia

 Some of our nieces and nephews

(and Brian)

in front of one of them many geysers we saw

 A bit of the wildlife

 Stella was an awesome camper

Some of the kids

got to hide food for the grizzly bears

at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

More cute kids!

P.S. Our camera is the process of breaking so please ignore the blurriness of our pics for a bit. 

aQuaRiUM fuN!

A few weekends ago I tended my niece and nephew. 

Darian was dying to go to the aquarium. 

She even offered to pay (so cute--but of course I didn't let her pay). 

The last aquarium I went to was in Maui--so this one didn't quite meet my expectations. 

But it was a fun "Utah Version" of an aquarium. 

Darian wanted a picture by EVERYTHING in the whole place.

Come to find out in 90% of the pics

she's got her eyes closed or isn't looking at the camera.

I recommend you don't go on a Saturday at 2 PM. 

We had to drive around the parking lot for 20 minutes waiting for a spot. 

But when we came out at 4 PM---the parking lot was almost empty. 

So if you're gonna go--go from 4-6. 

There's a ton of parking spots and

you won't have to chase a 2 1/2 year old

over-under-around-and through the massive crowds.