there and back again

the final leg

wednesday 12,

woke to a continental breakfast, morning swim in the pool and another hot shower. once ready we headed across the road for a final shop at the woodburn outlets. there was a pretty fun tree house play area that the girls played at while one of us would shop and the other watch the girls. sophie made friends with another little girl named sophia and it was neat to watch them interact with each other and understand how to play with each other.

with our money spent we strapped in and headed to seattle. the last leg of our adventure. the destination, the zoo.

thursday 13,

zoo day. the woodland park zoo is really amazing, however this year i had some difficulty. after watching "the cove", i came to question how and why we have things like the zoo and aquarium. as much as i enjoyed being there my heart hurt for the fact that these animals were not where they should be, mostly due to the actions of my fellow people.

the zoo this year can be summed up as, nation geographic day for the girls. after watching both the elephants and giraffes do their business right in front of us, the girls could hardly speak of anything else, and continue to quote these events as the highlights of their trip.

watching the lions

feeding the lions

the bears were amazing, they played in the water right against the glass we were standing behind.

snack time

thinking of my favorite zoo friend

elephant watching

my little zoo helper. she held onto this map as tight as can be and would show us where to go next.

African village

these two are to be mated this week, a program that has been in place at the zoo for fifteen years and this is the first time it will happen.

tired after a great day at the zoo

friday 14,

we knew we wanted to stop at the seattle outlet mall before heading home, and after counting our coins, we knew it was time to head home a day early! we packed up the van one final time and headed north. we made our stop, we spent the last that we had, we were home in time for dinner.. spaghetti dinner to be exact. the same dinner we had made and frozen for the first nights of our adventure, the same spaghetti that was still in the freezer when we got home!

our conclusion;

pretty great adventure. if doing it again, we would do it as two different trips. one trip for the coast and one trip for the city part. we are thankful. thankful for a family that understands how to love one another. thankful for a husband who loves adventures, who takes pride in his fires, who is willing and excited to fix the van, who dreams of being on survivor. thankful for two girls who love being outside, who remembered to give thanks to Jesus for the days we had and the adventure we were on. thankful for time, time together, time to share. i am thankful for all that we have been provided with. i am thankful to our Creator for all things seen and shared, all things loved and created.

sophies prayer on the night we came home, "and Lord help us go on another adventure very soon."