Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The best laid plans...

Today we had planned to drive to Santa Barbara to spend some time with Uncle Russ, his girls, and Daddy. We were hoping to spend the night, but.... Ron only got 1.5 hours of sleep last night and he didn't get a hotel so... even the best laid plans sometimes fail.

We were able to spend some time with Uncle Russ and his two lovely girls whom I hadn't seen in probably five years.

Our first stop was to the Palace for lunch. Libi loved showing the girls and Uncle Russ the alligators in the restaurant.

Libi was super excited to share the zoo with her new friends. Poor Uncle Russ was pulled in a dozen different directions by his girls and his honorary niece.

We attempted to get a picture of all three of the girls--- this is the best one. Even when two of the kids are older trying to get all three to look where you want them to is a challenge.

This picture is mostly for the Strassner's-- last time we were at the zoo this lizard decided to jump on the glass and scare the kids. Today he was much better behaved :)

I was enamored with the elephants again today...

they are just such fun to watch.

This is our family photo stop so we were able to get a picture of Russ and the kids.

Libi loved acting like a big kid and doing anything the girls did.

We spent a great deal of time watching birds today. They were very active and Russ really likes birds.

It was amazing to see the condors' full wing-span-- this photo doesn't do it justice.

Look at that darling little monkey :)

Libi dressed like a giraffe today, so we had to visit....

the giraffes.

She was totally giraffe-d out: dress, shoes, hair bows... but I forgot the hat at home :(

The lion and lioness were enjoying the gorgeous weather.. just like our group.

Once again I forgot cardboard, but we managed to find some for sliding down the hill. Poor Ron is starting to fade at this point!

Libs even had giraffe print shorts on just for this exact moment--

Mommy didn't want to see panties sliding down the hill.

Everyone needed a nap at this point...

so we headed to the gift-shop and the exit.

Libi really lucked out today-- Daddy bought her a butterfly ring, and Russ' girls gave her bracelets and a tiny polar bear.

It was so nice spending the day with the Peak family.

I "needed" cinnamon taffy on the pier so we also grabbed a quick dessert.

It was freezing in the shade, but Libi braved it out to eat her strawberry ice cream.

She crashed the second we dropped Ron off at the dorms and I rocked out all the way home.

No comments: