Zoo and the Troll

One of our favorite things to do is go to the zoo. This time we went with the Thorpe's and the Sam's. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Our best animal shots of the day.
I love this picture. During lunch they hid behind a table and I snuck up on them and got this shot.
I love this girl so much. She takes great pictures. Of course she is quite the poser.
Oh to be a kid again. They love to climb on everything.
Even when she is mad and grumpy she takes a great picture.
Blake and Cate! Climbing of course.
Blake giving us his best tiger roar.
Meagan and her best friend Jaylyn.
Blake standing like a flamingo.

We also went and saw the Freemont Troll. The kids loved this. They climed all over him. Here's a little history about the Troll.

The Fremont troll has been lurking under the north end of the Aurora bridge since 1990. He was sculpted by four Seattle area artists -- Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead -- for the Fremont Arts Council. The head-and-shoulders sculpture is 18-ft. tall.
The shaggy haired troll glares southward with his shiny metal eye -- a hubcap? In his left hand, he crushes an old style Volkswagen beetle (which originally contained a time capsule of Elvis memorabilia; removed after the car was vandalized and the California license plate was stolen). There are plenty of places to pose, and interaction with the troll is encouraged.

The community pays tribute to the troll every October 31st with a mobile "Trollaween" party, starting under the bridge and wandering to other funky art sites and events in Fremont.

Finally!

I thought I would start with what most of our summer consisted of. BASEBALL! Between week night season games and weekend tournaments we watched a lot of baseball. Here are just a few of the many.

Maple Valley Hurricanes

We traveled all over Washington State and Canada.

Dallin played short stop, outfield, and pitched.

I love watching and cheering for my kids.

Dallin was the lead off hitter and had the second highest batting average on the team.

I think Dallin alone went through 20 cases of Gatorade this season.

The famous Incredible Triple XXX Burger!

I don't know where this kid puts his food. He ate that thing in about 10 minutes, plus a large fry and large root beer.

I don't even know what to say!

Meagan and the girls.

Blake loves to be with his big brother.

It was a great day for skiing.

Meagan and Blake getting some pool time in between games.

What's better than an afternoon nap in the sun.

Even Blake got some game time.

It was nice to have some down time between games.

SLEEP AT LAST!

Yes, we still have four kids. Hannah was in Canada with family. And sorry, I lied. Maybe a little more than a few. Stay tuned, more to come.