Vacation Day 4

Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early after a fun sleep over at aunt Esther's house. Gabriella was very eager to go up the big stairs to see "Aunter Esther" (that's what she kept calling her, it was so cute!)

We ate a quick breakfast and then headed out to the Portland Zoo for some more fun and animal viewing.

Along the way we happened to drive by the Portland RSD (the company Matt works for). So we went around the block and came back for a picture before we continued to the zoo.

We had lots of fun just going slow, taking our time and exploring everywhere.

The first animals we saw were some black bears (who looked like they were kissing)

Gabriella being an eagle in the eagle's nest. She was flapping her wings in this picture 

Matt comparing his wingspan to that of a bald eagle

Gabriella taking a shortcut

Xander looking at the frogs

Gabriella wasn't too sure about the giant fish! 

Xander trying to grab at the penguins. It was the cutest thing ever watching him try and grab at them when they swam by.

Saying "hi" to the goats in the petting zoo part

Seeing how they measure up compared to bears

Monkey arms

Gabriella discovered this little plaque at the monkey exhibit and was trying to hold the little metal monkey hand on it. So sweet!

On vacation I mastered mobile nursing ;)

Watching the elephants. She stood there for a long time watching them. 

Playing drums with daddy in the Africa section

Sitting on top of the lion

Gabriella and I inside the snakes cage!

Climbing with daddy

Hippopotamus!

Looking at the giraffes

Feeding the Lorakeets. 

Gabriella was so cute! When we gave her the little cup of nectar she put it up to her mouth to drink it before we could tell her not to. She immediately spit it out. I guess it didn't taste as good as it smelled!

She walked around to the birds saying, "Come here little birdie. I have some food for you!"

Me feeding one. 

They just jump right up on your hands to eat. So fun!

Xander helping daddy feed the Lorakeets. This one nibbled on his finger and he laughed at it.

By then we were tired and hungry so we hopped on the train that rode to Washington Park and back to the Zoo so we could rest and eat our snacks we had brought with us. 

Me and my Munchie on the train

All four of us! I love Gabriella's expression in this picture!

Xander loved the train! He jabbered and squealed and tried to hang his head out the window the entire time!

After the Zoo we stopped at the gift shop to pick out a souvenir with the money Gramma had given the kids. 

Gabriella picked "Beezer" (she named it) and Xander thoroughly enjoyed chomping on his frog. 

The kids fell asleep before we left the parking lot so Matt and I hit up a Jamba Juice and had fun just cruising around for a little while so the kids could sleep. 

We met up with Matt's buddy Matt and his fiance Genevieve and headed to P.F. Chang's for some gluten-free Chinese food. I was pretty bummed because ALL of their sauces had oyster oil in them (I am highly allergic to shellfish). So I had fried rice with no sauce on it :( 

Gabriella was getting antsy so as soon as she was done eating, her and I walked across the street to Whole Foods. Mmmmm!

We said "good-bye" to Matt and Genevieve and then had a couple hours to kill before we could head back to Aunt Esther's house (she and Bill were serving down at the homeless shelter). I had never been to Ikea so (thank Jesus for smartphones) we entered it into the GPS on my phone and headed over. 

Oh my! I could have spent hours (and several thousand dollars) in that store looking at all the fun decorating and storage ideas!

Gabriella had a BLAST because Daddy let her run around. 

She crawled right up into the bed and asked for her binkie!

Making herself comfortable on the couch displays. 

(she crawled up there by herself)

She of course wanted to carry a big yellow bag like mommy.

Ikea had the weirdest carts ever! All four wheels rotated so they kind of slid sideways instead of going straight. It was annoying the heck out of me, but Matt and Gabriella really enjoyed it. 

Fun in the parking lot!