Good News......

Mommy had an exciting announcement for me this morning.....I am going to be a Big brother! Our new little addition is set to arrive Feb 2010. We wanted to share the good news and ask that everyone please pray for mommy to have a healthy and safe pregnancy this time around......

Enjoying Our Last Full Day Of Vacation At Woodland Park Zoo In Seattle.......

I was excited about our trip to the zoo today. I threw back the curtains to the hotel this morning and loudly exclaimed "Good Morning Washington". Mommy thought I was very funny! Since I have been waking up so early, we decided to go after I had my first nap and a good lunch. We hopped on a bus downtown that dropped us off at the entrance of the zoo (about a 15 min trip).

The first place we came to was Zoomazium and it didn't take me long to figure out how to get inside.....

There were stations for craft time and learning, a place outside to play in the dirt and do a little gardening, but I was most interested in climbing. I climbed up and down the rocks and went down the big slide that was supposed to be for children 4 and over....Hey, your only as old as you feel right? I can hang with the big kids.....

Mommy and daddy would put the egg partially together (I was never patient enough to let them finish the whole thing and the pieces were heavy) and I would break out pretending to be a baby bird.....

Next stop, penguins! They jumped in and out of the water and were really fast. I enjoyed watching them....

I found a big open space to run and play but stopped briefly to point out the carousel I had spotted in the distance.....

This zoo was really beautiful! It felt like we were in a national park....

There were white wolfs and elk roaming about. We watched them through the trees...

I found a wolf den and climbed inside with some older boys. It was much deeper than it looked. You can see me, but there were 3 other boys hidden around the corner.....

I had so much fun playing that I did not want to come out. Daddy finally had to crawl inside to retrieve me...

Our favorite part of the zoo were the bears. Two 500+ lb grizzlies roaming about in an amazingly scenic outdoor display....

The best part....You could go underneath into a cave and watch the bears from below. Mommy's camera ran out of batteries right when the bear decided to get into the water (which was stocked with fish just in case they wanted to eat) and playfully roll around blowing bubbles. Unbelievable!

Daddy and I staring up at 2 bald eagles perched on a branch....

Mommy and I outside the Komodo dragon display.....

Hugging the baby elephant. By mid afternoon most of the animals were taking a nap, hiding from the sun, or just plain camera shy.......

For some reason, the monkeys really like me. Daddy says that explains a lot!

I would have to agree that we do communicate well. You monkey. Me Matthew!

Taking a break in the shade....

By this time I was hot, tired and ready for another nap. Definitely not happy daddy wanted me to take a picture with the hippo. The real hippos were hiding in their big pond of water. There were 3 of them that would not cooperate and raise their heads.......

A squirrel blocked the path to see if we had any spare crumbs.....

I had to stay awake for the gorilla's. I had never seen a gorilla in person. The smaller ones were resting inside the glass. There was another gorilla sitting right up next to the glass sticking his tongue out at all of the children, but there were too many kids around him for us to try to get a good picture...

The biggest gorilla (like this statue) was hiding behind some trees playing with a baby gorilla. I liked to watch them and wasn't even intimidated by their size!

Daddy and I wandered through the rain forest quickly. It was very humid, warm and moist in there.....

Settling in for a little siesta following our long afternoon at the zoo. Across the street was a nice residential are overlooking the mountains. We enjoyed the view while waiting on the bus to return....

Exploring The Ocean..........

Today we went to the Seattle Aquarium. As soon as we walked through the door there was a huge wall of fish...

Daddy and I watched two of the fish at the bottom of the tank fighting over food and saw lots of sea anemones...

Mommy and I had fun standing under the circle of jellyfish...

I think I would make a cute little jelly!

Daddy tried to persuade me to feel the starfish, but I decided to sit this one out...

I thought I was fast, but Daddy caught me.....

Watching the divers feed the fish...

This aquarium was very kid friendly...

I had a great time playing with the felt board...

Wow... look at all those fish...

sharks, fish and sting rays galore...

Entering the otter area...

taking it all in...

Hey, I am getting wet!

Here comes the otter...

It was hard to get a good picture, but the octopus was HUGE!!! They are nocturnal so we watched as one of the workers attempted to feed him. As soon as she placed the long rod with a squid on the end into the water the octopus began to puff up and change colors. I think he was ready for a snack!

Next we stopped by Red Robin for some burgers and malts. With our "tummy's happy" it was time for our cruise. There was a VERY steep ramp to board the ship.....

Daddy and I on the top deck, with downtown Seattle in the background...

Mommy and I on the top deck. You can see the Space Needle in the background...

Look at the mountains!

It was pretty cool out on the water. Good thing my blanket and daddy kept me warm...

Mommy and I inside the boat...

A great view from the boat...

Great view of Seattle from the boat...

Playing inside the boat... What a fun day!!!

Visiting Ezrie........

We were all up early this morning. 4:30am here felt like 6:30am back home which is what time I usually wake up. I fell back to sleep for a little bit but we were all dressed and ready to go by 6:30am Seattle time. We decided to take a walk through downtown, but not before bundling up. The temperature was only in the low 50's this morning....Burr! We found the monorail and strolled the inside of a couple of buildings to do a little window shopping since it was still too early for anything to be open....

After a while I started rubbing my eyes, so we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Daddy and I played with Microsoft surface for a little while in the lobby before going upstairs. It was fun!
I took a long morning nap while mommy and daddy watched a movie.....

When I woke up, it was time to meet up with mommy's cousin Anastasia. It has been a year since the last time I saw Ezrie and we have both done a lot of growing since then! I was pointing out the ferris wheel in Fun Forest and the space needle.....

We were all happy to see each other!

Today was Ezrie's 2nd Birthday and she was nice enough to spend the day with us at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame which had a whole section dedicated to Jim Henson. We sat on the stairs of Sesame Street....

and watched a musical puppet show.....

It was very entertaining!

Then daddy put on a puppet show of his own....

Can you tell me how to get.....

How to get to Sesame Street....

That's me behind the glass laughing with Bert and Ernie right before mommy got in trouble for taking pictures. Too bad she forgot to turn off the flash for this one.....

Next we went to the Experience Music Project. Inside daddy and I had a jam session on the drums and chilled in this chair that played music.....

It was a huge work of art from the outside....

Getting ready to explore the Seattle Space Needle...

It is hard to see in this picture, but looking out from the top of the space needle, Mt.Rainier was very majestic!

A cool piece of art.....

A view from the monorail....

Closing out the day with a stroll through the American College of Sports Medicine conference hall where daddy picked up a muscle man for me. I can flex just like him!