Birthday Cake

Christopher surprised me with an awesome cookie dough ice cream cake for my 22nd birthday! I had an awesome day in general just relaxing and enjoying it.

Turning 22 on the Big Blue

The transition process back to Missoula has begun. After leaving Ohio, I headed back into the foothills of Pennsylvania to visit my hometown & my parents for a few days. I also had a bit of an ulterior motive in that I needed to pack up my room as well & figure out what needed to be boxed up for the long haul to Montana. When you move across the country you really need to sit down w/ all your possessions & sort out what means something to you because space is precious in the few suitcases I have room for. After spending a few fun & packed days (Kennywood w/ Pat, Dr. appointments, visiting Gommy, eating at every hometown favorite possible, training sessions w/ Skyler & Lucky, packing & repacking) @ home spending time w my parents, I headed east to Lancaster to pick up Chris' mom on the 12th, & then we drove straight to Philly to pick up Christopher @ the airport! I haven't seen this guy since I left Montana in May so, yea, I was a little excited to see him again. I then headed north w/ his family to Connecticut to visit w/ old friends of theirs, & stopping to finally meet Christopher's sister, as she was driving from Boston to Austin on her final move. But moving on from the details of it all, Christopher surprised me w/ an early birthday present of a day trip to Gloucester, MA for a whale watching trip w/ Yankee Fleet. WHAT A DAY! We ate dinner right on the docks & watched our boat, Yankee Freedom, come into the docks then took of for several hours whale watching. If I never get to go again, it will be okay b/c our day was just that damn good. I've put together a little video to show off some of the stuff of the day. I'm no editor by any means so bear w/ it. But it goes to show a small piece of an amazing surprise 22nd birthday present.

A small note about Yankee Fleet. They are a biological team that pays for its research trips by taking tourists out on whale watches w/ them. If you ever go on a whale watch, take yourself to Gloucester & be sure to use these guys. They won't let you down & you'd be helping a great cause.

Turning 2 at the Zoo

For my niece, Emily's, 2nd birthday I took her & her momma to the Columbus Zoo for the day. We had a great day seeing all the animals & taking as many photos as possible till my camera batteries died.






Emily's least favorite animals were the gorilla's and the elephants as she kept telling me "I don't like it!" & almost crying to get away from the glass. I know it wasn't b/c they were large animals b/c she didn't have a problem w/ the rhinos. Sometimes I wish I could read what's in that kids head so I could understand why she acts the way she does.












Emily's favorite two animals were the flingos (flamingos) & pretty birds (lorikeets).







We spent some time in the lorikeet enclosure actually feeding the birds. Laura & I were "attacks" by birds landing all over us trying to get at the cup of nectar that we had in our hands. The other people in the enclosure kept asking the keepers "how do we get the birds to jump up on us like that?" Meanwhile Laura & I were trying to get all these birds off of us before we were covered in bird poop






Hope you can enjoy the pictures from our day at the zoo!