My Birthday and the Zoo!

Well, I got home from Minnesota the day before my birthday. I met Justin at Church since it was almost over and helped bring everyone home. It was so good to see them all again. Reuniting is so fun! Justin surprised me with a deluxe cake he made FROM SCRATCH by himself that morning before church. Um HELLO?! That says love to me. Thanks honey! He also had a sweet card/date from him and another card from the kids AND Sunday dinner all planned and ready for us to go! What a guy!

What he didn't know was that I had already made plans with another family in our ward. We had been invited to dinner the week prior but were gone, so they asked if we could come this Sunday and I said yeah, just talk to Justin to make sure since i was in Minnesota and couldn't call him that often without it costing a fortune. Limited communication. Stinking border. Anyway, we ended up going to the families house for dinner and then eating my birthday steak dinner later that week. I'm all about birth-week! :)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

My birthday is a holiday here in Alberta! Well, at least this year it was! That was perfect though, because Justin had the day off that way. We went up to Calgary and took the kids to the Calgary Zoo. It was fun for the first few hours, but then nap time came...and went...and so did our happy kids. Yikes! I say don't even bother with the Canadian/Dinosaur side of the zoo...BORING! Except for the bears and maybe the cougar. Anyway, I took these shots on the way to the zoo. I LOVE CANOLA fields. I think they are BEAUTIFUL.

Look at that VIBRANT color. Mmmm. I love yellow.

This tiger was GORGEOUS! And scary. I think I was a little too close for comfort. His paws, and teeth, were HUGE!

I've discovered this weird quirk about me. Whenever I am around big animals, or snakes, or horses...basically anything I get the chills! So weird! And it never fails. I wouldn't really say I am scared or anything around them. It is pretty funny! But I also feel cold a lot so it isn't so funny after a while. Quite annoying actually. WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

Next we saw the efalants.

They were giving this guy a bath and he was doing all kinds of tricks! It was a great time to be in there and watch. He even did the loud elephant noise for us once and submersed himself in his little pool.

And of course, I got the chills...

Next was lunch and ice cream time...they didn't deserve it, the little boogers, but we were at the zoo, it's a birthday, they're cute. What the heck...

They have this awesome Mama Kangaroo out there. I had to put my little Joeys in it for a picture.

Kate didn't love it, but Zach and Kara did! Having a pouch would be quite convenient. A pouch...not a pooch. :)

Gorillas! Last time I was here there was the sweetest baby gorilla sleeping. These things are so cool, but kinda creep me out how they watch you and stare at you, like you are the show. Too human...

...and so I got chills. Again.

We headed over to the dinosaur/Canada side...yawn.

Here we met up with Papa Crippen!! My dad! I missed him since I hadn't seen him for 36 hours when we parted in Minnesota. :) He came up to Calgary to speak at EFY. It was fun to see him again on our turf. I really really wish they lived closer.

Papa teaching Kate how to pick noses?

After we took him around the rest of the Canada side...double yawn...no offense...we took him back to all of the big animals he had missed earlier in the day. I think hippos are very odd looking...



...so I got chills.

I saw one other lady looking at the camels with chills. I wonder if we have the same thing?

After the Zoo we went to world famous Peter's drive in. Well, at least Low famous. I personally prefer a burger with avocados, tomatoes, and lettuce and onions on it, but the saucy greasy kind can taste good...sometimes... :) The shakes are yummy and are basically all my kids ate that night. It's my birthday, why not?

After the Zoo we went to world famous Peter's drive in. Well, at least Low famous. I personally prefer a burger with avocados and lettuce and onions on it, but the saucy greasy kind can taste good...sometimes... :) The shakes are yummy and are basically all my kids ate that night. It's my birthday, why not?



Our final stop was to Alysha Sladek's house!! My dad really wanted to see the Calgary Temple grounds. Well, really the best place to see it from legally is Alysha's house! This is RIGHT in her back yard. What a view. It was fun to catch up with Alysha and eat birthday cake with the fam. Thanks for letting us crash your place for a while Alysh! After that fun we had to bring Daddy-O back to the University so he could prepare for his talks the next day at EFY. Lucky kids. It was fun to see you again Dad! On our turf this time!