Hogle Zoo

For a little vacation Dan and I took Eli to the Hogle Zoo and the Living Planet Aquarium, in Sandy, UT. Since we had room in our car (probably for the last time before this little girl comes) we invited Grandma and Grandpa Squires to come with us. Great Grandma and Grandpa Hansen were kind enough to let us stay with them. Great Grandma even came with us to the zoo. The zoo opened at 9 and we decided we wanted to get an earlier start since the weather was really hot. So much for that thought, it was already hot when we left around 8:30. To prepare for the zoo, Eli and I read a lot of books from the library about zoo animals and visiting the zoo. I think for the most part Eli did enjoy the zoo. Sometimes he had a hard time finding the animals we were pointing out. I think he had fun, fun with grandpa if nothing else. However, he was overwhelmed by all the people and kids.

This little boy was so excited to be with grandpa. If you notice, most pictures are with grandpa, because he wouldn't leave grandpa. 

There was this big hollow "log" that Eli had fun playing in. The only problem, we couldn't get him to come out.

The polar bear, the newest attraction in the zoo. He was a lot of fun. He would walk around his area and then jump in the water and do tricks. It was very entertaining to watch. He was the only animal we saw who really did anything. 

Grandma and Eli watching the polar bear do his tricks.

The Grizzly Bear

Grandpa and Eli standing in the mist spray. It was really hot, the high that day was 99, and I don't think it took every long to reach that either.

The tigers were awesome, they actually got quite close.

You can see Eli's rosy cheeks.

Eli loves the carousel 

Eli loves grandpa!

We took a little break to have some lunch. Once he finally stopped moving he didn't last very long and fell asleep while eating cucumbers.

After a good little nap and lunch we took a ride on the train. 

Again you can see who Eli prefers, grandpa.

One of my awesome former roommates and her mom came and met us at the zoo.

Me and my sweetheart.

Of course anything with water gets Eli's attention.

Time to go home!

After going through the pictures I realized we don't have any of the aquarium. I think we left the card at the house and brought the camera. He loved looking at the fish. The place we went to was a good size. Not big but not small, good enough that Eli enjoyed himself and was still happy at the end. 

Well this post pretty much brings us up to date with the activities. Hopefully Eli's little sister will make her grand appearance soon so will have something else to post about.

4th of July in Driggs

My brother and his wife and kids go up to Driggs to see the balloons every fourth of July. Since this year we were in Driggs we decided to try it. The night before, Eli actually went to bed really well, which is amazing because normally he only sleeps well in his room, in his bed. The only problem was he decided it was time to get up around 3 in the morning, bless his heart. If he sees me and Dan he assumes it is time to get up. We tried our best to get him to sleep. I would have let him cry at home but since we had a house full of people, we let him in our bed and, that didn't work. He would not go back to sleep.  Dan ended up playing a movie on the i-Pad. Needless to say we didn't get anymore sleep. Which made for one early morning. 

Seeing the balloons was pretty cool. A little disappointing because I thought there would a lot more there. Either way it was still fun to see them go up in the air.

My cute little family. Yes, I have a blanket, it was a little chilly.

Gee, does someone look tired?

This in one of my favorite pictures. It depicts a lot of what goes on during our day. Eli being wild and crazy. Me trying to get his attention and then pursing my lips and trying to grab him. With his quickness and my big belly, I usually loose. It is a good thing he is so darn cute! Of course in this picture I was probably way past ready for Eli to be in bed. 

The parade, it was pretty good. They had some fun tractors and cars that Eli really liked. It was kind of sad, we were at the end of it and a lot of the floats were out of candy. Mind you, we still got plenty of candy.

The kids and Tyler doing the fireworks the Keiths brought for the kids.

We were going to drive up to Jackson to watch the fireworks but after our long day we decided to just do some at home. It was great! Poor Eli was too tired to really enjoy the fireworks, I think we would have preferred to just go to bed.

We did a little hike and it was so much fun. Eli saw daddy cross the water and climb up the rocks and it was all I could do to keep him with me. Finally Dan came over and got him. 

My adorable boys, how I love them!

After the hike we wandered over to the water. It was nice and cool down there, but the water itself was really cold.

Eli and Daddy throwing leaves and watching them float away. That was Dan's attempt to distract Eli from thinking he wanted to get in the water.

He ended up getting his feet wet. He acted like the water was not cold at all.

He loved it but poor daddy was cold.

Happy boy!

Eli recently learned to do a somersault. He decided doing one right there would be a good idea.

I decided it would be a good idea if I helped him.

His victory, "I did it!"

Here is a video of Eli doing a somersault. Another new thing Eli does or says is "I'm amazing." I think it started out when he was trying to do somersaults and I would say "You're amazing." Next thing I know he did some new trick and instead of my saying it, he says "I'm amazing." Now he says it all the time.

4th of July in Rexburg

Once everyone got back from Driggs we met up at the Herzoff's to hang out. Since we had such warm weather, playing in the water seemed natural. Eli loves getting together with his cousins. He tries so hard to play or interact with them but he just doesn't really know how.

The big kids were on the trampoline but as soon as Aunt Keri brought out the squirt guns they quickly abandoned ship. Eli saw his opportunity. He loves the trampoline but add water - he was in heaven.

He loves trying to drink the water. I believe this comes from Grandpa Squires letting Eli drink from the hose when they play outside in the water.

At one point he took his crocks, filled them up with water and drank it. Totally grossed me out but was hilarious. I did make him bring me his shoes after that.

Eli getting a turn. He had no idea what to do, but had fun being like the big kids.

So excited!

This boy is just so cute! He gives some of the best grins.

He loves tractors and trucks and the Nielsen's is a great place for those toys.

Cute Videos

Eli talking on the phone. He used to be happy with just pretending. Now whenever I get a call he tries to take the phone from me insisting it is his turn.

Naiya was a great helper during Calin's baseball games. 

In this video Eli just learned how to jump. It was cute when he was learning. He would jump with one leg up and one leg still on the ground. But he was so proud of himself. Here he just started getting both feet off the ground. 

Random Pictures

We bought Eli some new sunglasses. He is actually very good about wearing them, quite handsome too!

This year we joined the Nielsen's and the Herzoff's at the Rigby parade. We went to watch and support Trin who got to be in the parade. It was pretty fun!

This was a really cool looking old tractor that I made Dan take a picture of.

After the Rigby parade there was an air show in Rexburg. We went to the air show while the rest of the family went to the Herzoff's. It was kind of fun. The first airplane we saw did tricks that were too far away bur then the next couple airplanes did them closer so that was more fun. 

We met up with one of Dan's co-workers and they had a 4-wheeler there. Eli was in heaven. He got to sit and climb all over it and then Lesa took him for a ride. 

It was a long and hot day. Eli was starting to feel the effects. Here he is snuggling with Lesa.

After the airshow we met the others at the Herzoff's for lunch. Eli had a ball jumping on the tramp. Calin and Ivan were good sports to let Eli jump with them since they couldn't jump very high/hard with Eli.

Stick 'em up!

I walked into our room one morning to find Eli with one of Dan's dart guns. Too cute! Check out that form!

Enjoying a Popsicle on a hot day.

Dan in Yellowstone.