Oregon Zoo Again!

Way back at the end of June we drove up for one of our zoo trips. We had a blast! Sequoia was very interested in all the animals this time. Her favorite animals were the tigers and a chipmunk that was sitting along the path. Here are some highlights of our trip:

• We asked Sequoia what sound she thought the zebras made. She started jumping up and down yelling, "A cow! A cow! A cow!" It was hilarious.
• We were looking at some of the nocturnal animals when a guy (20-something) was startled by the large snake in one of the exhibits. Upon which he let out a string of profanities. Sequoia turned to him, shaking her finger, and shouted, "How dare you!!" We were rolling with laughter.
• We ate dinner at our usual place, the Sphaghetti Factory. During dinner, Sequoia figured out how to drink out of a straw! This was very exciting because we never showed her how when sucking was an instinct, so we had to try to explain it abstractly. Explaining that it was like kissing seemed to be the key.
• At the end of dinner, Dan asked if she went to the zoo today. Sequoia replied with, "Yes, go to zoo! Okay!" and then started marching for the door expecting to go to the zoo again. I guess we have a date to go again sometime this summer.

Here are some more pictures (mostly of us looking at things).

Weekend Adventures

We had a great adventure-filled weekend! Our long weekends that we have right now are giving us the wonderful opportunity to take mini-summer vacations. We decided to check out Cottage Grove on Friday since it sounded like a fun touristy small town with cool covered bridges. On the way out of town, we stopped by AAA and picked up a bunch of brochures and maps for Oregon. These turned out to be a gold mine of cool activities for future adventures. This is definitely something we're going to do every year so we can keep track of events and festivals in the area.


Cottage Grove was a fun place. We saw a good deal of their fire fighting force, as they were collecting donations along the main street. There was one with a large mustache that I think Dan will need for attending the Academy. We walked along Main Street and perused the small shops. We also walked through the very old timey covered bridge built in 1987. Dan and I were telling stories to Sequoia about how we remembered having to ford the river there before the bridge was finished.


On Saturday, we drove out towards Florence for a beautiful walk through a ferny forest along a stream with lots of waterfalls. Sweet Creek was such a beautiful place! We took a ton of pictures and we hope you enjoy them too! Sequoia did great walking the mile out to the main falls. Dan carried her back as she was a little tired. Definitely a great adventure!


Here are a few more recent pictures of Sequoia.