a baby boy...

"What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of!"

Yes. This means that the little one kicking in my tummy, the little one whose heartbeat brings me joy, the little one who is my baby, is indeed a boy.

recycled t-shirt dress

I have the sweetest friend, Disney, and not only does she create the most adorable items to furnish her home and dress herself and daughter with, she also has a blog, Ruffles & Stuff, where she posts tutorials, pictures, and inspires others to be creative, frugal, feminine and beautiful. I read her blog regularly and was inspired by her post on a simple dress she made for her daughter.

Mine is very different as I didn't have a Gerber onesie that wasn't completely stained, so I used a fuchsia thermal shirt that seemed to have shrunk, a pair of white sweats that were too short and a light pink stretch cotton tee that Stephen never wore. I also used an elephant applique that was on a 3-6 month tee of Jovie's that managed to get terrible banana stains around the neckline. I used the existing hem on the pink tee to make easy sleeves. I used the existing collar on the thermal to make for an easy body and left the skirt un-hemmed. I stitched it all together and voila! Within 2 hours Pear has her favorite, most comfortable, warm dress that cost me $0.00! Here are some pictures:

Merry Christmas!

For a family who loves eating, baking, shopping, cooking, presents, decorating, crafts, hot chocolate, lattes, bundling up in the cold, reminiscing old times and gathering with family and friends, could there possibly be a more wonderful time of the year?

To say that we like food is an understatement. We love food! In our spare time, Stephen and I enjoy baking: a decadent chocolate cake with a creamy milk chocolate frosting or vanilla bean croissants (my new favorite) which take 3 days for the entire process. Stephen bakes Danish puff at least once a month and it makes it easier for Pear to go to bed if she knows she gets to partake in Danish puff in the morning. Stephen cooks up good food of all different ethnicities. He has a knack for melding herbs, spices and pairings within a meal. I don't especially enjoy Asian food, so any time I'm gone, that's what he makes for himself and the girls. I prefer to cook Italian, French, Mexican and of course American dishes. Stephen does all of these as well, (and usually better than I do, although he would never admit to it.) The bottom line is- we love food. We love having people over for meals. We love including our girls in the process of making food. We even enjoy watching geeky shows like Iron Chef America! The love for baking doesn't cease in this home. And we see this love for buttery goodness being passed down to the next generation. If you haven't been around Jovie recently- her cheeks do not lie. Her world revolves around food, especially sweet food. The excitement and joy seen on her face as a cookie appears in the room is enough to make everyone in the room stop and watch her enjoy the delectable bite she is about to take. Although Pear ingests half the quantity that Jovie does and is much more picky about the types of food she eats, her sweet tooth is almost as big and her desire to be in the kitchen baking, cooking and cleaning is very evident. It is a very familiar sight to see Pear pushing a chair up to the counter to help wash potatoes, make daddy a latte, mix a batch of cookies, frost a cupcake, salt the meat, smell the herbs, unload the dishwasher or whatever else we may be doing.

It's amazing to me that we've been in Olympia for 1 1/2 years now. Our duplex and the gift of owning a home continues to be a huge blessing, while at times causing us much grief. That may sound worse than it actually is. I guess a better way to put it is this: every time we start a new project or remodel another room, I begin to hear Pear saying words she normally wouldn't say. Words or phrases like: "piece of junk" or "freakin' dane-it". Stephen has done an amazing job remodeling, especially given the fact that he constantly has a little helper or two that he so graciously welcomes. Over the summer, he gutted our bathroom. Let's just say it was disgusting and now it is gorgeous, probably the nicest room in our house! We now have a nice front yard and an entry way with nice pavers. Our kitchen is halfway complete and we hope have it finished by spring. And the list goes on. The life of a homeowner!

Did I mention that Pear is a princess? If I didn't, take note. You may call her Pear or you may call her Princess Pear. If you mistake her for anyone else such as stinker, googly bear, pumpkin, cupcake, monkey, etc., you will get one of two things: a glare and short retort, "I'm not _____ I'm a pwincess!" or a devastated child that cries as if you are trying to shatter her beliefs and tell her that she might not be a princess, "but I thought I was a pwincess." And Pear seems to have it figured out, if she is a princess, Jovie is also a princess. Although we can get away with calling Jovie other endearing names, we will often hear the same remarks if Pear is in her complete princess mode, "but mom, Jovie is a pwincess, not a chunky monkey!"

Either I have been eating far too many doughnuts or I have a baby growing in my tummy! I think the latter to be true for two reasons: One- there isn't a good doughnut shop within a 15 minute radius. And two- I can feel the kicking of little feet right now. We are 18 weeks along and due May 13, 2010. We find out whether we'll have a little boy or a little girl on December 23rd.

Stephen and I are so blessed. We are happily married. We have 2 children (Pear will be 3 in February and Jovie just turned 1) and another on the way. We own a home (the rent from the other unit in our duplex sure does help out with the mortgage!). We upgraded Stephen's junky VW Jetta to a new Toyota van. Stephen has a great job as an Enterprise Technology Architect for DSHS. We have good health. We have wonderful parents, siblings, family and friends. As you may have guessed, having food on the table isn't a problem in this home. We have a God whose grace is sufficient and who sent his son as a baby so that we can be saved. And that same God chose us to be HIS children. Could we ask for anything more? I certainly don't think so but as the years go by the list just gets longer and longer.

Merry Christmas and may you too be blessed in Christ!

Paige, Stephen, Pear, Jovie, and baby.

A note from Stephen:

As I was reading Paige’s letter above, I kept wanting to interject my highlights and thoughts. So instead of mucking about in her sentences, I decided to throw in my notes as an addendum. Paige really did highlight the 3 major areas of our life: kids, food, and our house. Outside of that set, there were several activities that I would like to call attention to. I went on a fantastic backpacking trip in May with 12 good friends. We hiked to Toleak Point and camped on the beach. The weather was sunny in the low eighties with no wind, I had to keep reminding myself that I was sitting on a beach, on the Pacific Ocean, in Washington State, and I wasn’t wearing a parka and mittens or being pelted in the face with sand. It really was a special trip. If you want to see pictures of the trip you can visit my blog http://sbackholm.blogspot.com. Secondly, THE highlight of the year for me was going to Maui for 5 days in November with Paige. We left the kids with Paige’s parents, and did nothing but snorkel and lay on the beach the whole trip. I now see why people go to Hawaii.


Regards,
Stephen



Thanks to Michelle at Candid Reflections for the wonderful photographs.

Christmas Cookie Party!

As I love to bake and Pear loves to be creative with frosting, I thought it only fitting to have a cookie party with the girls (my sisters). On Friday Taffi, Libbi, and Aspen came over for a morning of fun. I made the dough the night before and it was waiting for us in the refrigerator so when the girls came they just got to do the fun part- cutting out the fun Christmas shapes and decorating. We took a lunch break while the cookies were baking and enjoyed macaroni & cheese, chicken nuggets and watermelon while watching Elf. We had a lot of fun!







Aspen was so sweet and made a cookie for each of her family members and took them home perfectly arranged on a plate. When they arrived home, they took in Taffi's and Libbi's plates in the house first and came back out to the car to get Aspen's but it seems that the wild peacocks beat her to them. Poor thing. The peacocks ate everyone of her perfectly frosted, perfectly arranged, cookies.

men wore the pants

Check out this Dockers Man-ifesto. Bold but good and far too true.

Starbucks inspired yarn ball wreath:

Last year, Starbucks decorated their coffee shops with wreaths made of yarn balls. I loved it! How hard could it be? Styrofoam balls wrapped with yarn, a few floral pins and hot glue to stick them together and some cardboard as a base. I've been working on it in my spare time the last couple of days and here's the finished product:

Imagination vs. Reality

I imagine having dinner sitting on the table, the girls sitting patiently, Stephen walking through the door and greeting us and we have a wonderful dinner.
Real life situation: I'm scrambling with dinner, Pear is chanting "I'm hungry", Jovie's rubbing olive oil across the ENTIRE kitchen floor, Stephen walks through the door and greets us only to receive a harry eyeball from me, an "I'm hungry" from Pear and Jovie wants to give daddy a hug with her oiled hands but he's in his nice dress slacks.

During the girls' nap time I clean the kitchen, organize the toys in the family room, fold all of the laundry and am refreshed as the girls awake from their naps and we read a couple of our favorite children's books.
Real life situation: I get the dishes done. I fold most of the clothes Pear and Jovie wake up happy. They then decide that the freshly folded laundry is the perfect pile of leaves to jump in. I frantically try to put them away before they are all messed up only to come back to another pile of scattered "leaves" every trip back from the closet. 1 hour later- done. We didn't get to read those books. I'm not quite feeling completely rejuvenated.

Saturday morning arrives and we sleep until a leisurely hour, perhaps 6:00 am isn't too high of an expectation. We get ready and leave for a morning in Seattle at our favorite bakery, Cafe Besalu. Pear and Jovie enjoy their pastries and allow Stephen and myself to enjoy ours. We sip our coffee and cocoa and leave with a feeling of great satisfaction and there couldn't possibly be a happier family out there!
Real life situation: Jovie sleeps terribly. She decides that 4:00 am is a better hour to wake. We rush to get ready. Leave the house just a few minutes later than estimated and arrive at Besalu just in time to enjoy fresh quiche, pastries and cookies. Upon receiving our goodies, Jovie decides it's time to have a bowel movement. (For those of you who do not know Jovie, this is a HUGE ordeal.) I take my screaming child into the restroom to allow her a little privacy and 20 minutes later, cleaned, changed and much relieved, we return to our cold cocoa and finish our pastries. It could have been worse but let's just say upon leaving, I hardly felt I'd sat down and wasn't feeling ready to face the rest of the day.

I sit down to write a blog post. The girls play and I'm able to complete my writing within 30 minutes. I move on to do other things all while the girls play happily together.
Real life situation: I sat down 2 weeks ago to write this post. Pear and Jovie had a tizzy over a toy that I should have bought 2 of but only bought 1 and within minutes Jovie is crying on my lap. Once she stops crying, she begins banging on the keyboard. I then give up trying to write a post and move on to the next task. This repeats itself over the following days until I finally get the post done. (You'd think I might decide to give up blogging or decide to only do it during nap time. I guess maybe I'm crazy.)

The bottom line is, being married, having kids, serving God, living life- it isn't always a bowl full of cherries. In fact I often feel it's more like poop (you'd be surprised how literal this is for me at this point). But the fact of the matter is, for some strange reason I find satisfaction amongst the chaos. I enjoy these girls. I love my husband. And I revere God. At the end of the day as I'm laying in bed, I don't think of how terrible my day was. What comes to my mind makes me smile; I think about how I called Pear a stinker and in a devastated state she responded, "I'm not a stinker, I'm a pwincess." Or the way that Jovie lit up as I read Animal Sounds (currently her favorite book) and tried to repeat the animal sounds which in all actuality all sounded the same "uh-uh-uh". I think about how Stephen treasures me and saves a kiss for me before he leaves for work, when he comes home for lunch and again in the evening. I serve a great God who blessed me with a beautiful family. I take comfort in James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Just for laughs...

Friday night, Stephen and I decided to take the girls out to dinner and to do a little grocery shopping. We had a less than relaxing dinner (lets just say Jovie couldn't hold still) but it was still enjoyable and then we headed over to Costco to pick up a few things. As we were standing in line checking out, Stephen began laughing. He then pulled out three coasters from the hood of my sweatshirt. Pear must have decided I needed a laugh and pulled a little prank on me. These coasters were from home. They have cute elephants on them and are brightly colored. They had been in my hoodie all night. Everyone needs some accessorizing, right?

a breath of fresh air...

Hawaiian air that is. My wonderful parents watched our little sweeties while Stephen and I took a trip to Maui, HI. I was so nervous to leave my girls. Well, at least to leave Jovie. I knew that Pear would blend right in with my family. She and Libby (my 4 year old sister) are almost like sisters. Libby is much nicer to Pear than a sister may be but Pear is just as feisty, brutally honest and comfortable with Libby as she would be with any sister! (In all honesty, she can be down right mean towards her. We are working on that.) On the other hand, prior to this Hawaii trip, Jovie had never been left for more than 5 hours with anyone! Not only had I never left her for more than 5 hours, she is still very much a "mama's baby" and hardly even let my parents hold her. But, we spend a lot of time at my parent's house and she is very familiar with the grounds, her sister, my parents and my siblings so I thought it would be okay.

We arrived in Maui on Friday afternoon and after getting our car and groceries, we headed straight to the beach! Ahhh. How therapeutic. The beach is endless, the water warm, the air clean and blue skies rested above us. We went on a Lava/Snorkeling tour with Blue Water Rafting and I would have to say it was probably the highlight of our trip. The captain was a little on the daring side and he drifted the boat into a lava cave, took us snorkeling on the backside of Molokini (known to be an "expert only" snorkeling spot), and let us snorkel to the edge of the reef on Molokini (I wasn't energetic enough to make it that far but Stephen did and he said it was extremely scary and amazing). We spent a lot of time relaxing on different beaches, reading, eating, snorkeling and walking. It was a wonderful time and I'd like to go again next week! If only money grew on trees, eh?

I missed the girls terribly by our 3rd day. I asked to talk to Pear on the phone several times but she was always too busy. One time I did get to talk to Jovie on the phone and I can still hear the little "eh, uh, eh," that she nearly wrenched my heart out with. I teared up and couldn't talk to her again the entire trip because I missed her so badly. We arrived home around 2am on Wednesday morning, got a couple hours of sleep and then went to pick up the girls. Upon walking through my parent's door, Jovie was very excited to see me and just snuggled with me for a good 5 minutes. Then I got a big hug from Pear and it was as if we never left them! They weren't mad, they weren't upset, they weren't even cranky! They were simply happy to see us.

What a great vacation.

A year gone by...

Jovie's a year old. We've had so much fun with her this past year. The wonderful day she was born I ate an enormous piece of cake throughout the night. The weeks to follow were a little rough. For the first 6 weeks of her life she thought that between 1 am and 5am was the perfect time to be awake and cry. I remember walking out in the family room, sitting on the exercise ball bouncing, pacing the creaky bedroom floors, yeah, that was rough. Then we moved on to constantly spitting up. I changed my clothes at least 2 or 3 times a day. Jovie's were changed even more than that. But then came her adorable smile with those chubby cheeks that nobody could resist. Her cheeks caught eyes a mile away. Her big blue eyes seem to grow bigger and bluer by the day. Since she was a couple of months old, she loved to talk. She is so noisy! Usually a good noisy. She is constantly chiming in her two cents. She's not quite as noisy as she used to be, now she usually nods her head with an "eh" and that means something however I don't always know what. Food. Jovie LOVES food. She always has and probably always will. If you want to make her happy, just lead her to the food. Jovie is adventurous and enjoys trying to be just as big as her big sister. She loves to go down her slide, climb up and down stairs and would probably jump off the couch if she could figure out how to jump. She dances like nobody else and I will often look in the rear-view mirror in the van and see a carseat rocking side by side as Jovie is wrapped up in the beat of the music.

What a joy and a blessing our little Jovie is.

"...Happy Birthday to you!"

"Oh, don't touch it!"

"Ouch. Are you okay?" (Yes, she put it out with her fingers.)

Yum! Now this is a birthday.

Not too messy.

Hugging her new baby doll from Mammy, Pappy and kids.

Knife Skills

For years, Stephen has been lecturing me on how to properly use a knife. I usually shrug off his advice with knives as overly cautious which is simply not my style. That is, until three weeks ago when I was preparing a wonderful chili dinner. I was so excited. Stephen was going to love it (he normally doesn't care too much for chili). I was taking advantage of the girls' nap-time. I chopped the onions and moved on to green peppers. This is where I went just a smidge too far and chopped my thumb instead of the pepper. That put a little damper on the chili dinner, actually, it put a stop to it. No chili dinner. Luckily, I didn't have to get stitches. It bled and throbbed for hours but a good bandage job was all it needed. Just this week the feeling returned to my thumb and I'm as good as new.

All this to say: take heed to your husband's advice. Proper knife skills are a must.

Amazing Life

I Just read a few facts about the baby in my tummy and I am left in awe of my creator. This baby has been in my womb for barely 13 weeks and yet his (I do not know that he is a he I am just going to refer to him/her as a he for now) little heart is beating strong, the fingernails are growing, his veins and organs are developed, the unique fingerprint that separates each of us have been created and all of this in a little body that is a mere 3 inches long and weighs little under an ounce. Yes. I am left in awe of such a wonderful creator.
Psalm 139

1O Lord, you have searched me

and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O Lord.

5You hem me in—behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths,a you are there.

9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

12even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

13For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.

19If only you would slay the wicked, O God!

Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

21Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,

and abhor those who rise up against you?

22I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

23Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

H1N1 Influenza aka: Swine Flu

After being lectured and pushed around at my most recent OB appointment, I decided to do a little deeper research regarding the H1N1 influenza and the vaccination said to prevent it.

When asked by the nurse if I've received my flu vaccinations I responded, "no, and I am declining all vaccinations at this time." The nurse smiled and said, "well, I'll let you talk to the doctor about that." When the doctor came in, she went on to inform me that pregnant women who contract H1N1 influenza have a 15-30% fatality rate! And that the government is estimating that 30-50% of the US population will contract this bug. I don't know where she got her information because from everything I've researched including medical journals and the Center of Disease Control the highest percentage rate of pregnant women who contract the disease and die is 4%. Here's my breakdown: The CDC has 700 reported cases of pregnant women who have came down with H1N1 influenza. Out of 700 REPORTED cases 100 were hospitalized. Out of 100 hospitalized 28 died. This concludes to 4%. However, for many, the symptoms of swine flu are no more than a common cold. In that case many would not go to the doctor and even if they did, it may not have been reported as H1N1. So in my opinion that number is a safe high. Also, it has not been revealed whether or not these pregnant women had underlying conditions.

I also want to note that the CDC has never before tracked the impact of the common flu in pregnant women. Although it is known that any flu is a higher risk for pregnant women, it's not known whether H1N1 is any worse than the common flu. So, why all the hubbub about H1N1 influenza (swine flu)? I'm not exactly sure why. Yes, there have been nearly 800 deaths this year linked to swine flu but what most people don't know is that the number of deaths linked to swine flu and pneumonia are not much different from deaths of the average seasonal flu we see every year (which is approximately 36,000 deaths)! Swine flu is simply one of the strains we're seeing this year. The vast majority of deaths that have been linked to swine flu have been reported to have underlying conditions such as asthma or an immune suppressing chronic illness.

In 1976 a hastily-prepared mass vaccination program was undertaken in a panic due to a virus which was also partially swine derived. The outcome was a virus which was not nearly as widespread or dangerous as was projected, it fizzled off quickly. Millions received a vaccination which was thought to be safe and turned out to have many cases of neurological defects including 500 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome which is a paralyzing disorder.

So, why am I not getting this vaccination? Let me list my reasons:
1. The vaccination has not yet been proven to work! The vaccination is said to be a very similar strain to the one that is currently traveling our country but if that strain changes (which it can) the vaccination may not be effective. Also, it simply doesn't work for nearly 15% of people.
2.I am aware that pregnant women are more prone to having complications with an illness, however, H1N1 does not appear to be any different than a seasonal flu. There are many strains of influenza that go around every year and there is never a guarantee that I will not contract one of those no matter how many vaccinations I obtain. I am healthy, active, aware of the symptoms and I will act promptly to control an illness that I may come down with. I am also taking vitamins and extra care in hygiene to prevent getting sick.
3. I am not in the work place nor are my children in a daycare or school system therefore we are less likely to contract the illness and will abstain from visiting sick people, using shopping carts without sanitizing, etc.
4. The manufacturers (CLS Limited, MedImmune, Novartis and Sanofi Pasteur) of the vaccination state that it has NOT been tested safe for pregnant women or babies under 6 months of age. And they are immune from any liability for complications linked to the vaccination. This vaccine was put on the "fast track" and wasn't actually tested as much as normal vaccinations.
6. There are ingredients in this vaccination that are known to be cancer causing and may lead to other complications including death. Who knows what they may have found 5, 10, 50 years down the road with my precious baby.
7. World Health Organization states that 30-50% of people who contract H1N1 show mild or no symptoms at all. The majority of people clear the virus on their own without even going to a doctor.
8. There are possible side effects such as fever which is one of the big concerns with pregnant women contracting the virus itself.
9. In perspective: There was a report that there have been 200,000 preventable deaths due to medical errors and hospital infections in the US compared to <900 deaths from swine flu.

I found this report educational on the swine flu virus.

the joys of autumn...

I love the crisp air, watching the rain while inside a nice warm house, drinking hot cocoa, eating chili and watching the leaves change colors. There are so many wonderful things about fall. One of my favorite is bundling up and going to the pumpkin patch. That is just what we did the other day. Pear and Jovie loved riding in the wagon as we walked to the pumpkin patch. They also really enjoyed seeing all of the animals (pigs, goats, donkeys, llamas and turkeys). We had so much fun!

Budgeting...

We have been enjoying life on a budget. We are living a very fun and lavish life within reason. You know you're doing good when you hear this:
Pear: "Mom, we need to buy bandaids because we don't have any and I have a scratch."
Me: "Yes Pear. We do need to buy bandaids."
Pear: "Last time, we didn't buy them because I got a dress instead. Today we can take the dress back and get bandaids instead!"

treasured moments...

It's nap time-both girls are sleeping and it's time for me to take a breath and enjoy being me but all that I can think about is how happy I am and all of the little things my girls do that make me just that.

I love the way that Jovie snuggles on my shoulder and refuses to let anyone else hold her.

I enjoy the way that Pear simply says, "I love you too, mom."

I laugh at how excited Jovie gets when she sees a cookie in the corner of her eye.

I smile when I hear Pear say in frustration, "oh, dane-it."

I light up and can't help but join Jovie as she dances a little jig to any music she hears.

I am proud that Pear is 100% girl and pretends to be one of many different imaginary princesses throughout the day.

I love that I can see Jovie's smile through her eyes.

I am smiling as I type because I hear Pear singing a song about her birthday (not until February, mind you) as she's slowly waking from her nap.

Unfortunately, Jovie isn't waking up quite as happy and my duty as mother has returned!

"...these are a few of my favorite things."

Black pumps might be the one shoe I couldn't live without.

A big glass of ice cold milk.

1979 Mercedes Benz 450 slc. (I owned this car when I was 17, I will own it again some day.)

Cupcakes are good, any day of the week.

Black and white pictures.

Peaceful roads lined with cherry blossom trees in full bloom.

A simple, organized room with fun decor and colors.

A medium-rare ribeye steak seasoned with a little salt and pepper.

We're hanging on....

To Summer, that is! I know, most people love fall. I too enjoy it. However, here in Western Washington, fall means rain and thought I love the rain while in the house, sipping hot cocoa and reading a good book, I don't get to do that very often. So, I'm rejoicing in the fact that it's nearly 90 degrees outside today and we are going to enjoy every last minute of this sunshine!

We love the zoo!

I bought a membership to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium this spring and it has been well worth the investment. We go about once a month and every time we have fun and get to see something new and exciting.

Earlier this week the girls and I decided to go and it was the perfect day. When we got there at opening time (9:30 am) there was literally only one other car there. The zoo was empty and the animals were active. We also got to get up close to the walruses who were being fed and cleaned (teeth brushed, etc.). There is one particular female walrus who is trained to do all sorts of tricks that we got to witness. Let's see, she nods yes and no, she waves, she rolls over, she gets in the water with a big splash (which we got a little wet from) or she can get in the water very calmly without any splash at all, she makes funny noises and does many more tricks that I don't know how to title. Pear loved every minute of it.

As usual, we left in the morning and were home in time for lunch. I hope to continue taking trips to the zoo as it's fun and educational. If your kids enjoy animals and you live within a reasonable distance from the zoo, I would encourage you to get a membership and become a regular. It's quite fun.