The Hogle Zoo

Ben and Cat both had a break from school last week, so we headed up to SLC to go to the zoo with my cousins and their children.  The weather was awesome and we all had a great time checking out the animals.  Definitely a day well spent!

Impersonating the monkeys in the monkey house.

More monkeys! 

Two adult females and two toddlers.
(Eliza and the elephant.)

Seeing the "elfewents" was Jack's favorite part of the day.

Gorillas.

Apparently we have a few female gorillas and some juveniles in the family.

Cat said that the peacock was her favorite.

Camels!

This giraffe got up close and personal with Ben.

And what trip to the zoo would be complete without some time on the playground?

Thanks for meeting us, Steph and Alicia!  We are missing our families back east even more than we thought we would, but having cousins and other family members out here definitely eases the pain.  We love getting to hang out with you guys!

Halloween Preparations

Decorating!  I love Cat's contributions - pumpkins, bats, and ghouls on the banister, and a bunch of bats trying to escape out of the front door.  The top left picture is of a pair of pumpkins Jack painted using the cups from a cardboard egg carton.  He did such a good job, even though they were small and I'd planned for Cat to do the painting.

Hoot Owl Cookies.  These ones turned out much better than the ones we made a couple of years ago.  (This is the recipe we used this year - supposedly it's the original.)  And I love looking at the finished cookies and reflecting on the number of eyes each owl has, and finding which ones look like they are recovering from a bad fall out of a tree.

I really tried to do costumes on the cheap this year, but didn't want to make anything.  So that meant looking at the thrift store, online, etc.  I found the too small dragon costume for Jack from someone selling it online for a good price.  Then the next week I found the too big one at a thrift store.  Hmm.... which is better, too small, or too big?  (In the end, Jack said he liked the smaller one better, so that's the one we went with.  Thankfully we were able to return the bigger one to the thrift store.  Yeah!)

I suddenly wanted to make sugar cookies one Sunday afternoon, and the kids were my busy little helpers.  After assigning herself the job of using the spatula to place the cut cookies onto the pan, Cat referred to herself as "the spatulist."  I like that.

Because I hadn't planned on making sugar cookies, I wasn't really prepared with anything to decorate them with.  After a quick search online, though, I found out how to make your own colored sugar.  Here, Cat is demonstrating.  (If you are curious about the process, check out my other post here.)

Frosting the cookies, or, in some cases, eating the cookies.

The FHE Jack-O-Lantern:

1. Scoop out the guts.  This requires teamwork.

2. Place the pumpkin on your head to determine whether all of the guts are out.

3. Draw the face.  It might take you a few tries.

4. Cut out the face.  Best left to Daddy.

5. Admire the face, then scoop out remaining guts that are showing through the face holes.

6. Place Jack-O-Lantern on your front porch, alongside one that simply has stickers on it and only took seconds to create.

This week is pretty full with various Halloween events, which is so fun!  Thank goodness all of this prep work is out of the way, so we can just enjoy the festivities.

Buffalo Peak

Last Saturday afternoon we took the kids up to Buffalo Peak.  It's a high peak that our landlords advised us to hike when we first moved into the house, but we hadn't made it happen yet.  After that whole snowing episode a couple of weeks ago, we decided we should make it happen asap, or we could miss our chance for the year.

It was a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours.  We first had to drive up the mountain a few miles on a paved road, then a few miles on a dirt road.  The kids loved the second half, and especially enjoyed making their "ahhhhhhhh" sounds as our Honda Pilot bumped over the rocks and dips in the road.  The views of the mountains with the incredible colors of fall were just beautiful.  It was only a 1/2 mile hike up to the top of the peak, but there was a 287 foot gain in elevation.  I had Eliza in the Ergo carrier and Ben carried Jack in our landlord's hiking backpack (which they gave us permission to use).  The end of the hike was a bit sketchy, with slippery rocks on the trail and a steep incline to the top of the peak, but it was well worth it.  The view was awesome, the weather was beautiful, and we all had a wonderful time.

Here is Cat approaching Buffalo Peak.  You can see that we had quite a climb getting up there!

Eliza and me at the top.  We did it!

View of the BYU campus from the top of the peak.

Another family picture, minus 1.  Just imagine me with the rest of the crew.

Eliza had fun exploring at the top of the peak.

C & J enjoying the view.

When Eliza got a turn in the hiking backpack as we prepared for our descent, she gave us our first smile of the  hike.

On the hike back to the car, we let Jack do a lot of walking by himself.  This was scary for us, since he didn't like to walk on the steep slippery trail, but preferred running.  Thankfully, we all made it out alive without any major falls or accidents.

Cat started throwing the fallen leaves in the air and pretty soon Ben joined in.  The picture didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but it was pretty fun!

Cat was a great hiker for about 70% of the hike.  Then she decided it was time for Daddy to carry her.

Just a few shots of the gorgeous views, complete with awesome fall colors, during our drive and our hike.
Love it!!

Pumpkin Patch (x's 2)

About a week and a half ago, the Spouse Association for the MBA program put together a little trip to Jaker's Jack-o-Lanterns, a local pumpkin patch.  This was a great place to take the kids to because they had tons of pumpkins at reasonable prices - which you could literally pick yourself out of the field, a hayride, a corn pit, a small petting zoo area, and fun stuff made out of bales of hay.  It was small, fun, and FREE.  I took Jack and Eliza there with the MBASA on Tuesday morning and we liked it so much that on Friday afternoon, our whole family went back. 

Jack wanted so badly to get to the top of the mountain-o-hay.  He couldn't quite climb the bales himself.

Then Makayla's Mom took mercy on him and helped the two of them up to the top.  Thanks!

He loved the corn pit, but apparently it was not to be enjoyed while shod.  But I don't blame him.    It's nice to  feel those dried kernels of corn between your toes.

Walking on top of the small hay-maze.  Still barefoot.

At first, Eliza tried to navigate the small hay-maze  by herself.

Then she resorted to climbing.

Llama llama having fun.
Sitting with goat in the sun.
Llama lama stays away.
With the kids he will not play.

Donkey's not as smart as Llama.
Now he deals with Jack-Jack drama.

Getting ready for our hayride.  Notice I'm at least holding Jack's shoes at this point.  I'm not completely negligent.

Some of the views during the hayride.

After the hayride, Jack decided that it was just too hard to keep those darn overalls on, plus it was getting warm outside.  So I'd like to title this picture, "Hay - who needs pants?"
I guess that's our cue to leave...

We came back on Friday, though, and Jack remained fully clothed the whole time, although he did not keep his shoes on. But I'm willing to compromise on that.

Nice goat.

"Hay!  We climbed to the top of the mountain!"

Eliza wanted to see what it was like to be part of a petting zoo.

Leaping into the corn pit.

Wandering into the pumpkin field.  Barefoot.

Ben helped Eliza navigate the little hay-maze.

Very nice goat.

"Hay!  We climbed to the top of the big maze!"

Cat chose, cut, and carried her own pumpkin.

Family picture, minus 1, as usual.
Good job not looking at the camera, Eliza.

Thanks for the fun times, Jaker!