The Hogle Zoo

We decided to be spontaneous today and go to the Hogle Zoo.  For some reason having a child makes us feel like we need to do kid-oriented things even though our kid gets nothing out of it.  Maybe it is just my excuse to do things that should only be acceptable for a child.  Either way- it was fun!

Me and Elise in the 'classic' Hogle Zoo picture

David and Rachel were kind enough to come with us and even let us borrow a coupon for it!  Here are Rachel and I in front of the elephants. They also have a baby elephant too!

The family with the Giraffes!

Here is the Tiger taking a nap!

Elise with the Gorilla.  Clearly she was more entertained with her toy than the Gorilla.  He seemed to like her though- he just stared away at her!  So funny!

Liberty Park Splash Pad!

I have lived in Utah for 20 years and will be leaving in 2 weeks and until today I had never been to Liberty Park!  I am now realizing what a tragedy that is because it is such a beautiful park with so many things to do!  This morning I was watching Studio 5 and they were talking about the best free splash pads in the state so I called up my sister Nicole to see if they wanted to make a day of it!  We decided to have a picnic in the park and let the girls play!  We had a blast! 

Me with the girls at our picnic!

This is what the splash pad looks like!  The girls were afraid still and Elise is too little so we didn't spend too much time in it, but it was fun to pass by it and cool off in the water!

They have about 3 different playgrounds surrounding the splash pad in the middle and here is one of them! I love Elise in her cute little purple hat!  Somewhere my Grandma Watkins is smiling knowing that my baby is in a hat :)

One section of the play ground had all sorts of these metal pipes that you can use to make music on!  Elise was pretty entertained watching me play them I even let her have the wand to hit it but she decided it was better used in her mouth, so we stopped that game.

Here's my favorite girl hanging out in the shade! Love her!  It was a really fun afternoon!  If you haven't been to Liberty Park- go!  It was a great and free way to spend an afternoon!

Goodbye Vicky!

My car, Vicky, was sold last Friday!  Zack has been bugging me to sell it for months now and out of boredom more than anything I put it up on ksl.com classifieds thinking it wouldn't sell for at least 30 days.  I looked at other similar listings and I saw that they had been posted for about 23 days so I thought I had time.  Luckily 5 minutes after I posted the ad I got a phone call on it. I met the person that night, they test drove it and liked it.  The next day they called telling me they wanted to purchase the car!  It truly was a blessing being able to sell it so quickly.  It also was a blessing for the price we sold it for!  We got at least $400 dollars more than I thought we would :)  Definitely a bonus!

Vicky was first my Grandpa Galbraith's car. I have a memory of him and my Grandma coming over to our house to show it off right after they bough it in 1994!  I would have been 11 years old!  I thought it was so cool how the speedometer would digitally show you the speed and I loved that there was an extra seat up front!  Little did I know that this little beauty would be mine a few years later!  I was lucky enough to inherit it for free from my Grandpa.  He decided he probably wasn't safe behind the wheel anymore and so he offered it to his grandchildren first.  I am the youngest grandchild on that side of the family and most all of our other cousins were established and had cars of their own so I got it! Pretty sweet deal!

It is a Ford Crown Victoria, so because of that I nicknamed her Vicky for short!  You certainly were a 'grandpa car' in every way, but you were great to me while you lasted!  Be good to your new owner!

So proud of Daddy!

 

Elise is so proud of her Papa!  This is a picture with them holding Zack's acceptance letter to the Medical College of Wisconsin.  His third acceptance to medical school, might I add!  I know, I'm totally bragging but this man has worked so incredibly hard to get to the point he is at today and I could not be more proud of him, and judging by the look on her face, Elise couldn't love her Daddy more. I guess the third times a charm because in 3 weeks we'll be moving to Wisconsin!  Congrats again Zack!  You deserve it!

Our baby Doll

Some of our family friends, the Mathews, gave this adorable little dress to our Elise!  It took her a few months to grow into, but she sure looked darling in it!  It came with some bloomers as well as a bonnet and I just had to take pictures of her in it!  I think with the bonnet on she looks like a real life little doll, don't you?

First Haircut!

Yes, there have been a lot of "first" for this little girl!  Bear with us :)  Elise was lucky to have been born with quite a bit of hair- and for the most part it didn't totally fall out!  She always had this little patch of hair at the bottom of her head that is long and much darker than the rest of her hair! We decided to let Grandma Pugh cut it ever so slightly to even it off and make it look a lot less like a mullet.  She's cute no matter what it looks like though! 

Here is the "before" picture.  A little dark and a bit unruly.  It also grows to the left.

"What is going on guys? Hold still?  No way!!"

Love her eyes in this one!! She is darling!

The final result!  A bit straighter :) Thanks Grandma!

Fun with Grandpa Pugh!

We have been lucky enough this summer to be living with Zack's parents.  They have been very gracious to open their home to all of our stuff and to put up with us!  Elise has been having a blast getting to see her Grandma and Grandpa every day!  They love to hold her and play with her and talk with her. These are some cute pictures I have taken of Elise and her Grandpa Pugh!

Wearing his baseball hat!  

She may have a sassy look on her face but she was loving this!  Outside rocking with Grandpa!

First Foods!

I have a lot to update you on- not that anything very exciting has happened, but I need to post them for memorys sake!  We gave Elise her first solid foods a few weeks ago right after she turned 6 months old!  I can't believe that it has already been 6 months- I know that is such a cliche' but I have to say I agree with it!  We started her with rice cereal and she really liked her first attempt at food and since then it has been so-so.  She liked carrots and green beans are okay and thought the mixed veggies were just okay.   It has been fun to have her be able to eat real food but definitely messy and time consuming!

 Not sure if she wants to swallow...

 She likes it!

We have to hold her back otherwise she leans forward and bends in half!!