A Trip to the Hogle Zoo

We planned to have an extra day in Utah to do something fun, but we didn't have it planned out,   because this trip was about relaxing and having fun, not about always being scheduled.

After a nice sleeping in morning we headed to the Hogle Zoo. I came here once as a child with the Stoker cousins. I don't remember alot about the zoo except a picture taken at an animal shaped drinking fountain and a picture of all the cousins in front of an animal exhibit.

The kids needs no encouragement to test out the animal drinking fountains. Ammon & Corrine wanted their pictures taken at the two we saw.

This sweet little elephant just celebrated it's 3rd birthday just like Rebecca! It was so cute to watch.

The kids needed to try out every thing we came to. We tested out the Bald Eagles nest, the gorilla statue and the Polar Bear statues which were nice and cool because of cold water being pumped through them. Such a great idea!

Corrine and Ammon were very much enjoying messing around with the polar bears. In every picture Ammon is smiling and has his fingers up the bear nose. He was "picking it's nose". Corrine was pretending that another of the bears was biting her hand. Those two were totally hamming it up for the camera! Simeon & Rebecca had no idea what those 2 were up to and sat there smiling nicely the whole time.

The polar bear became super active right as we walked up to see him. He had his routine that he did over 2 dozen times in a row and we had the front row seat. The bear would swim right up to the glass and come up right on the glass, then push off and swim away. He did it over and over. It was such a neat thing to watch.

When we got to the bear exhibit, the zoo keepers were in putting food around for them. We stuck around so we could see the bears eating their lunch. One of the bears LOVED bananas. He would unpeel the banana and just eat the inside. The bears were super active and super fun to watch. One go onto of there shade shelter, then we turned around and 2 of them were up there. It's so fun to go to the zoo when the animals are moving around!

Park City and Lake Jordanelle

Debbie and Paul were staying up in Park City at their condo the week that we were planning to stay with them, so they invited us to come stay with them there. Brea and her girls were there, so the kids were more then excited to go stay there.
When we got there Tuesday evening we swam then had dinner. The kids were having such a great time playing that bedtime wasn't until around 11pm. Corrine got girl cousin sleepover with Brooklyn and Aleigha!

Corrine and Aleigha instantly reconnected after playing together in February.

Corrine is about 8 months older.

The next day they were planning to go to Lake Jordanelle to paddle board and kayak and invited us to come along. The kids LOVED it. The kids had such a great time paddling around the lake and exploring "Treasure Island", which after exploring it they changed the name to "Bird Poop Island!"
There was a group of kids in a junior sailboat class that came in and out of the water by use. Their sailboats were so cute and so fast!
The group next to us had alot of young kids. They had a boat that would take some kids and parents out on to intertube. At one point there were 12 little kids under 8, 5 moms and 1 dad. The kids started getting restless, so the dad started making sand castles with them. Then he let them put wet sane all in his hair. Next thing we knew he was covered head to toe in wet sand. You could see his eyes and nothing else. What a dad!

This is my favorite picture of the day. Utah and it's mountains and lakes are beautiful. I love the peacefulness of the mountains, the amazing clouds and the boys in the kayak. I would love to do this more often!

Corrine and Aleigha got caught out in the lake with the wind blowing them out farther, so mom went to the rescue with Rebecca in tow. On the very long, hard way back in Rebecca fell asleep until the paddle bonked her a few times!
We had such a great time at the lake. Today left the kids and mom wanting to get our own paddle boards and kayaks to use at home!
Back at the condo we swam some more then had dinner before heading down the mountain to Debbie & Paul's house.