Our Day at the Zoo

Sundays are our "special day". Kaeli and I spend the entire day doing fun things together, whatever Kaeli wants to do! Except for the airplane rides she's been asking for recently! Today we had breakfast at McDonald's, where Kaeli is much more interested in playing in the tunnels and slides than eating her eggs. Then we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, where NaiNai and YeYe bought us a membership. It is a nice small zoo set on a steep hill looking out over the sound.


Kaeli loves to use the map to decide what we're going to do next. We usually have to sit on a bench to look at the paper map that we carry with us and then confer about where we've been and where we should go next. She very carefully points out and names each animal we've seen, and then suggests what ones we should see next.

The day was warm, and we took a break to have "ice cones". Kaeli has become very adept at eating them and not making too big a mess anymore. We also got water and lemonade later.

Our Day at the Zoo (continued)

Kaeli asked for FIVE rides on the carousel, and MaMa agreed. Kaeli kept track of them - counting how many we had done and how many were still left

Watching the Wildlife Show, we sat in the center of the front row, where all the birds in the show swooped right over our heads. We saw a bald eagle, a barn owl, and a vulture. We also saw a porcupine, a beaver, an armadillo and some rats. At the end of the show, Kaeli donated some money to the animal rescue fund and a macaw parrot helped put it in the box.

These are the two show presenters, who Kaeli really enjoyed!

When we finished riding the carousel, Kaeli tried her hand at the "Lover's Tub", a round seat with a stationary pole in the middle. You twirl yourself around by pulling on the round disk in the middle, which doesn't move. You can get going REALLY fast! Kaeli loved it!

Kaeli was quite tuckered out by the end of our five hours at the zoo! She laid down for a 10 second rest and then was recharged and good to go again!

At the end of the day, we stopped for the traditional balloon animal outside the zoo. Today Kaeli asked for a mouse.

Our Stylist

Katika taught Kaeli today how to "style" her hair. While MaMa and Katika were catching up at the end of a long day, Kaeli disappeared upstairs and came down in all this fine regalia. She was quite pleased with knowing how to put clips in her hair all by herself now!

She carefully went through all of her hair accessories and pulled out all the pretty painted wooden ones from Hanna Andersson and used them - the clips and the necklace. She added two bracelets and the large yellow butterfly ring and the blue sunglasses to complete the effect. What a model!

Olympia Blueberry Picking

Kaeli, her friend Elena from Chinese school, Elena's MaMa, and NaiNai and I went to a wonderful, huge blueberry farm in Olympia to pick blueberries. There were acres of tall blueberry bushes and we had a lot of fun!

Kaeli is a VERY good blueberry picker! She had several cups of berries in her bucket at the end of the morning, even with Elena "borrowing" handfuls every now and then! I think Elena put more in her mouth than in her bucket.




NaiNai and MaMa made blueberry pies - one regular size one and one just Kaeli's size - with a "K" and a heart of dough as the top crust. Kaeli and Katika ate the "K" pie together to celebrate Katika's birthday.

"Kayaking" with Dave

After a wonderful day on Mt. Rainier, Kaeli and Dave took the kayaks out for a "spin" in Dave and Laurie's backyard! They had a good race, and saw sharks, according to Kaeli. MaMa and Laurie were told to swim to the beach (the patio) to be safe.

2nd Outfit of the Day

Kaeli fell into a mud puddle on the trail above the visitor's center on Mt. Rainier and scraped her leg and arm. We had to go buy a t-shirt and a first aid kit in the gift shop, and patched up our little girl. We put the muddy clothes into MaMa's backpack and used a carabiner from Laurie to clip together the straps in the back to keep the "dress" from falling off! Kaeli is standing on one of the rock supports for the visitor's center here, with bandaids on her knee and a smile on her face!

Mt. Rainier Snow Play

A Day at Mt. Ranier

Kaeli and Laurie sharing a laugh in front of Mt. Rainier on a beautiful sunny day!

Kaeli's 4th Birthday!!!!

Here is the birthday girl, holding her balloon from YeYe in one hand and "Sog" in the other, with a noisemaker in her mouth!

Kaeli started her 4th birthday by following yellow string through the house, finding birthday presents all along the way! YeYe laid them all out the night before, and Kaeli had a great time finding them all!












Here Kaeli is looking at the crocodile book, with the butterfly cage next to her, that Aunt Margie sent. We will have fun with them!











This is the birthday card that JioJio sent to her - a big green dinosaur!

On Father's Day, Kaeli entertained us by bending over and gathering all her hair together in one hand and then trumpeting like an elephant while lifting her "trunk" up and down in front of her face and giggling! She has us all laughing ....

Sprinkler fun in Laurie's backyard on a hot afternoon!

Arcadia Year-End Picnic

Kaeli's Montessori school, Arcadia, had a year-end picnic lunch at nearby Vassault Park. The teachers and students walked there and met all the parents there. We spread a quilt under a tree at the playground, which Kaeli spent very little time on! The first picture is her taking a moment to snuggle Sog before heading off again. She had a wonderful time that day!

Olympia Farmers Market

Kaeli and I went to the Olympia Farmers' Market with Laurie and Dave a few weekends ago. Kaeli asked for a cat balloon animal, but the first balloon popped while he was making it. So Kaeli decided it was safer to watch the next one being made from behind Laurie!

Kaeli discovering the way the piano makes music....

The Cool Miss K

Day at Owens Beach

Sundays are our "special days" for me and Kaeli. We spend the whole day together doing fun things and NOT cleaning, doing laundry, etc. (that is left for MaMa to do on Mondays!). Usually we head to Owens Beach near the zoo, where Kaeli loves to play on the beach. She looks for shells and throws rocks in the water, and people-watches.

Kaeli's "Special Day"

Kaeli's Montessori school assigns a particular date to each student as their "special day". This is Kaeli in the car on her way to school, looking at her "special day" book. She's pointing at the map of China where she was born. NaiNai and YeYe and MaMa helped Kaeli finish the three-page special day book the night before.

NaiNai and YeYe were able to be there at school with her and watch her celebration. We brought fruit trays and drinks for the class, and stayed for circle time.






Kaeli is working hard on her "special day" crown. She looks very nice in her "pretty dress" - her favorite type of clothes!






Kaeli and Miss Charity, her teacher, are reading the special day book to the class in circle time.