Hogle Zoo Time!

For Mark's mom's birthday this year, she requested that everyone get together at the Hogle Zoo to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely fall day and we all got away with wearing light jackets and sweaters. It was so fun to be able to spend time with Mark's brothers and sister and his parents. My kids had a blast going around to the different exhibits and checking out all the animals. Their favorites are the Elephants, Polar Bears, and the Giraffes. Karmindy loves her some "Bagiraffes" as she refers to them. Our kids enjoyed seeing their aunties and uncles and also enjoyed playing with their little cousins.

Hogle Zoo

My mom, sister Kamberee and nephew Karev came up for a visit. My mom doesn't make it up to Northern Utah much so it was nice to have both her and my sister come up for a visit. They arrived late Tuesday July 23rd. On Pioneer Day, we decided to take the kids to the Hogle Zoo. I have been wanted to take the kids to the zoo this summer and the summer has gone so fast I was afraid we weren't going to make it. Right now at the zoo they have some very neat Lego displays around the park. They have a huge Lego Polar Bear, turtles, monkeys and many more displays made completely out of Lego's. Both Kaleb and Karmindy are huge fans of legos and I knew they would have a blast seeing life-sized Lego animals! The polar bear was our favorite animal made out of Lego's!

Kaleb, Karmindy and Karev had a great time looking at all the animals and had to get their picture taken next to all of the animal statues!

While we were at the zoo we had to make several stops. The elephants are always a favorite and my kids always love sitting on the life-sized elephant and trying to avoid getting sprayed by water by the motion activated elephant's trunk. This time they opted to just sit in the safety of the elephants trunk for a picture. 

Karmindy also loves going to see the "BaGiraffes" as she calls them. It is so cute when she calls them "BaGiraffes. I haven't the heart to correct her yet. She was so excited to see not one giraffe but TWO out and about when we rounded the corner to the Giraffe house. We even saw the cute baby Giraffe that has grown since we were there last!

It was a pretty hot day at the zoo and so we sought refuge in the shade quite a bit. We ate at the Rocky Shores for lunch and then after lunch saw a few more animals, took a ride on the carousel and then headed home. It was a fun day but was so miserable in the heat. The kids had fun and really enjoyed themselves.

That night after we got home we all took a nap and then had dinner at lit off fireworks to celebrate the 24th of July (Pioneer Day). I am so glad my sister, mom and nephew could come up for a few days and spend time with us. I love them so much and miss seeing them since we live 300+ miles away from each other. Even though we are so far from each other I always cherish the time we do get to spend together. 

Lions, Tigers & Bears

For one last hurrah before school started, a few neighbors/friends decided to head to the Zoo one afternoon. The Hogle Zoo has a new Polar Bear exhibit. We kept hearing wonderful things about it so I was eager to take the kids and check it out. It was really cool to see the Polar Bears Swimming around. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures because it was so crowded and busy that day at the Zoo. It was, well a "Zoo!" The three of us had a great time checking out the new exhibits and being with friends. It was a  lot of fun! I took a ton of pictures that afternoon of the kids but apparently none with them and too many animals. Go figure?

 Kaleb with his friends Winston and Jaxon.

 Kaleb and Karmindy enjoyed hanging out in the hallowed out logs! The were really something to see and especially to lay down in.... Guess you have to try it out for yourself! :) Karmindy in the next picture was hot and tired! I think if I would've let her rest for too long, she may have just taken a nap in there.

 Kaleb riding on one of the Polar Bears!

Little Miss Animal Lover herself had to jump on the Baby Polar Bears back for a picture.