They were so close I could almost

To mark the occasion of my 40th birthday I wanted to do something special, something I would normally never do. There were lots of ideas but it had to be close to home. So, that made the list a bit smaller. I decided that I wanted to go to Safari West. It is a 400-acre African animal preserve just outside of Santa Rosa, so it was close enough for Jeff & I to go there for a day. My friend Suzy watched the girls while Jeff and I went on a tour.

Besides taking a jeep tour through the property, Safari West also has an aviary filled with a variety of birds. This is a Crane -- you know we had to take a picture of Benjamin Franklin here! Did you know they get their mates by dancing?

Ibis.

Cheetah.

Safari West jeep.

The first half of the tour we rode up on top. We like the top seat, though it did get hot. It had a best view!

The first animals on the jeep tour were the giraffes. They were really neat. We got to see several baby giraffes. One mama was still pregnant and ready to deliver any time. No, it didn't happen while we were there. :(

This giraffe came right up to the jeep while we were sitting on top. Made us a little nervous because he was eating at the time -- didn't want giraffe cud dropped on us.

Our guide gave us all the names of the animals and they went in one ear and out the other. This is a type of gazelle??

Rhinoceros -- I DO know what they are called. :)

Our path through the preserve. It was very bumpy! Thank goodness for seatbelts on the top seat!

Zebra & antelope (I know the zebra but the antelopes, well I'm just guessing.)

View of the jeep from the back seat. (You can see the feet of the people sitting up top.)

Jeff & zebras

Wildebeasts.

The tour lasted about 3 hours which was plenty long enough for us. We really liked our tour guide Amy. She was fun and informative at the same time.

Afterwards we drove over to Calistoga for dinner. You have to try the Hydro Grill. They make a killer lasagna!

Hello Mother, Hello Father, Greetings from Camp...

Last week we went to Utah and had a wonderful time! Annalise went to a soccer camp at BYU so we used that as an excuse to make a trip out of it. Sorry to all those we didn't get to see. Between staying in Riverton and traveling to Provo everyday, we just ran out of time.

Jeff was at UCLA the week before so the girls and I drove out to Utah by ourselves. Well, not exactly. My friend Christine and her two girls came along with us. We had a blast driving out. Who knew the time could go so fast!

So Saturday I picked up Jeff from the airport and thus began our week of fun. We stayed with friends in Riverton so that night we saw the fireworks in Riverton. Since the 4th of July was on Sunday, all festivities in Utah were either on Saturday or Monday.

carnival ride

waiting for the fireworks

On Sunday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City with our friends.

Annalise & the Barlow crew
We stayed with them the whole week and had a blast! Robyn isn't in the picture because she was pitching a fit just outside the picture.

girls in front of Christus at the visitor's center at Temple Square

On Monday, Jeff & Annalise ran a 5k in Provo. I tried to get a picture but they were just too fast (and people kept getting in the way!).



Soccer camp at BYU. It was only a half day for four days but she had a lot of fun. I'm sure it would have been more fun with a friend but Annalise is a trooper and made friends while she was there.

One of the days while we waited for Annalise we went to the Monte L. Bean Museum on campus. Boy, is that a weird museum! There are dead, stuffed animals everywhere. The butterfly above is made up of hundreds of butterflies. Just bizarre.

After the last day of soccer camp we headed up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. It's really beautiful and the water is COLD! That didn't deter the girls though. They waded through it and started climbing up the rocks. They must take after their dad because I would never be so brave.

And First Place Goes To. . .

Last week of our county fair and for the third year in a row I entered a few things. This year Annalise entered something as well. She entered her peanut butter brownies and won first place. She worked really hard them. She wanted to practice making them before the fair so I think she has made a total of 6 batches of brownies (we're a little brownied out). All tasted good but the last one was the best. We're so proud of her and her hard work!

I did much better in the county fair than I did in the Dixon May Fair and in last year's county fair. I entered three things and won first place on all of them. I do have a confession -- the competition was not very stiff. In fact, the only competition I had was on the scarf and there was only one other one entered. Anyway, I'm still happy with the outcome because I love getting those blue ribbons!

a stamped cross-stitch pillowcase I made for Robyn

a scarf I made from leftover alpaca yarn from a sweater (I love this yarn -- it is soooo soft)


Robyn's Christmas dress