Chewbacca's cave

Ian dropped something and made a loud noise in the garage and Chewie bolted off, then came back and peered through this hole in our Azalea bush. Sweet puppy!

Random Blog-worthy pictures from the last 6 months.

 This is from our trip to Arizona in January...Ian and Siren with big grins!

 On our way home from Phoenix, the flight loaded early and we were later getting on. The Captain invited the boys up to the cockpit of the plane. Odin got to sit in the co-pilot's seat!

 February we went skiiing at Crystal Mountain at the base of Mt. Rainier. It was great! Odin did well for his second time on skis!

 Soren stood on skis and walked around for about 5 minutes until full meltdown ensued. He finally got out the words "my toe." We discovered a pine needle in his pinky toe. He wouldn't put the skis back on after that, but he said "I ski" proudly the rest of the day.

 In March, Ian's Norwegian cousin, Melene, came to visit from her year as an exchange student in Florida for some great snow. I finally had a match for adventure on the mountain. We ski/boarded in some great powder. It was delightful.

 April, we hosted a friend interviewing for a training position at Seattle Children's Hospital. We went to pick him up from his day of interviews and the boys enjoyed the sidewalk entertainment.

Here are some photos from the zoo at the end of April. It was a great family day.

Amber and Bjorn and Thunderbolt

ON THE RANCH

The boys got to try their feet on the horse obstacle course

Both enjoyed prancing around in the dirt.

We got the full tour of the Ranch with Amber and Bjorn

 Then we got to meet THRUNDERBOLT the wonder colt!

 These are his beautiful "buttercup ears."

 He was really good around the boys. Amber has a well trained horse.

 They got to brush him.

 Hang out with the ranch visiting dog who did tricks for carrots.

They put away the lead rope. 

And they got to feed Thunderbolt!

Tasty margaritas at their favorite Mexican restaurant put a nice cap on our visit.

Bjorn and Amber's new house is near a reservoir and we saw this huge bullfrog on our hike around the water. 

International Triathlon Competition in San Diego!

 This was the final chance for qualifying for the US Olympic Team in the Triathlon. We were cheering for Laura Bennett.

 Finish line in front of the stands. You could see the whole swim, 8 laps of the bike course and three laps of the run course from here. It was a fun venue for everyone. The boys even had a really good time cheering on the racers!

 Start of the swim.

 First Place finisher, Jenkins, from Great Britain.

Laura Bennett finished third, which was in the top 9 places and qualified her to go to London this Summer Olympics!

Safari Park - out in the grasslands

 We took the African Safari Tram and the Asian Safari Tram.

 Another day on the savannah

 Indian Rhinos have thick folded skin and look like a pile of rocks when they are laying under a tree.
The park places huge rocks under the trees so that the rhinos do not ruin the trees with their horns or damage the roots with their weight.

 Some species of gazelle...there were so many!

 I loved the tribe of giraffes.

 One of EIGHT living Northern White Rhinos in the world. They were dying off in the wild due to poaching. The Safari Park has two rhinos, but they are past breeding age. :(