Zoolights...

On Friday evening Nioka (a wonderful girl I work with) and her sweet little boy Kelani met up with Daniel and I at Zoolights and the Point Defiance Zoo.  We got there right before it opened for the evening and it was a good thing because by the time we left a little over an hour later it was PACKED.

 We got to see the meerkats, goats, camels and even go into the aquarium even though the rest of the zoo was closed for the night.

 

Checking each other out. :)

 

This little guy is crazy cute!  He smiled right after I took the picture, silly goose.  :)

 They had little replicas of the Narrows Bridges...

...and Mt. Rainier.

 We got to go warm up in the aquarium and watch the sharks in the big tank. 

Kelani really wanted to hold Daniel's hand and Daniel wasn't quite sure what to make of that at first.  They were so cute!

 The boys had such a fun time and it was so nice getting to visit with Nioka outside of work.  

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and is taking the time to go slow and enjoy the season!

Countdown to Thanksgiving...

On Friday morning Daniel and I left the house very early to go do the Thanksgiving grocery shopping.  Our first stop was Starbucks of course for some hot chocolate and espresso and then I drove down to Manchester to see the sunrise.  The view was gorgeous.  I even had a ferry heading to Seattle pose for my picture.

The view of Mt. Rainier was breathtaking.  Even the little sailboat posed for me too.  I am above and beyond Thankful for where I live.  I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. 

Now starts the countdown to Thanksgiving.  I have my checklist of what to do each day this week up until Thanksgiving posted to the fridge.  I am hoping my family might pitch in to check off at least one or two things on the list. *wink wink*

My tasks for today are to make my cranberry sauce, chicken broth, and clean some windows.  I plan on doing just a little bit each day so I'm not scrambling like a mad woman on Thanksgiving.  All I want to have to do on Thanksgiving is be cooking and setting the table.  I do have to work 5am to 10am but that still leaves me plenty of time to cook that turkey.  Everyone is suppose to arrive at 5pm.  We'll be having 15 this year with ALL of Rue's siblings being here which is very exciting! Time for family pictures!!  :)

 

Here is my freshly made cranberry sauce! Yes, those are Christmas decorations you see in the background.  Yes, I decorated for Christmas this last week.  I decorated one year for Christmas before Thanksgiving and everyone loved it so much that it has become a tradition.  :)

 I had to include this picture of Daniel and Daddy reading a bed time story together.  This Momma was a puddle of mush on the floor.  :)

This is the book they are reading.  We have a few different Fern Hollow books.  I grew up with them and they are lovely little stories.  This is all Daniel wants me to read to him right now.  I highly recommend this as a Christmas present for any of the little people in your life.  :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week everyone!! 

Sledding at Paradise...

We took a little family trip up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier last Thursday for some sledding and to spend a day in the mountains.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I was so glad we actually got to see the mountain. 

Daisy had fun!

Daniel and Daddy on the kiddy slope.  Daniel wasn't too fond of sledding but I'm sure he'll grow out of that.  

 The Tatoosh Range

We were only there a couple hours and the clouds started rolling in.  A ranger said they were expecting freezing rain so we (and everyone else) decided to head out.  It went by way to quickly.  For me it was like taking a tiny nibble of some decadent dessert and it only leaving you craving more.  I am already counting down the days to spring.  But I have to say I do love winter though.  The cozy rainy, cold days just make me feel warm and content. 

Aaaaaaaaaaand...my hubby surprised me with a new camera yesterday!!!  The camera I've had is 8 years old now and in technology years that's pretty much ancient.  I dropped it for about the hundredth time on Thursday up at the mountain and one of the switches stopped working, a very important switch.  I accepted the fact that I would probably have to just try and work with a very broken camera for a while.  But yesterday my hubby came home from running errands and told me to close my eyes, it didn't even cross my mind that he might have a camera for me.  And there it was, my shiny new camera!  It is about half the size of my old camera, takes HD movies and is 16 mega pixels.  My old camera was 4 mega pixels.  I can't wait to start playing with it and post some pictures!

Naches Peak Loop...

One of my favorite hikes is the Naches Peak Loop.  It's a hike the whole family can do easily and it has everything you look for in a good hike.  There are little streams, water falls (although they were just trickles right now), lakes, alpine meadows, wildflowers in abundance and of course gorgeous views of the mountains especially my favorite mountain, Mt. Rainier.  And not to mention it is a relatively flat 4 mile loop that makes it perfect for Daniel's little legs. 

And yes, this was the hike where I sprained my ankle, badly.  This time last year the spot in the picture was completely covered in snow with a little stream flowing under the snow where Rue is.  Knowing much better, I wasn't paying attention and walked right over the creek and down I went spraining the inside and outside of my ankle.  Rue had all kinds of teasing remarks for me this time.  Thankfully no sprained ankles this year.

Rue couldn't resist and jumped into this little lake.  It was a bit cold.

Dasiy's friend Ciara joined us.  Daniel wanted to hold her hand a lot and she was very sweet to let him.  

Mt. Rainier!

 

I am hoping to get in at least one more hike this season.  I'd love to do another big one with just Rue and me.  I have a couple ideas of where I would like to go. 

It rained a few days ago and I have to say it did feel nice and cozy and I felt like I should be baking some pumpkin bread.  It's back to being sunny and even though it's warm the air feels different and the sun isn't quite so intense, the mornings are starting to be more crisp.  

Now I'm off to bake some cookies for my hubby's little camping trip he is doing with some guys from work.  They are going to camp at Mt. Rainier for a night and do an epic guy hike.  I am a little jealous but the guys do need their guy time and my Gramma is visiting from LA right now and I want to spend as much time with her as I can while she is here.  She is going to treat us to a trip to the zoo so you can be sure I will have a zoo post coming up soon!  :)