Our First Trip to WA: Woodland Park Zoo

We also visited the Woodland Park Zoo on our trip in 2001. As I said before, Moody Teen is very much about seeing animals thrive in their natural habitats and if they can't be returned to the wild, having the best life possible in a good zoo.  Woodland Park seemes to be very good at protecting the wildlife.

Woodland Zoo Blog
Backyard Habitat Blog

There had been some new births when we went in 2001 and we were very excited to see the baby animals.  Especially Moody Teen who was, even back then, very interested in the animals and how they are treated.

Here are some of the photos from our visit

Momma & Baby Elephants (kinda hard to see though)

Eagle & Nest

Giraffes

Gorilla

Hippo

Monkeys & Zebra

White Wolf

Our First Trip to WA: Aquraium & Harbor Tour

In 2001, right before Dolittle became a twinkle in my eye, my ex husband, then 5 yr old Moody Teen, and I went to visit my Mom & Step-Dad, Dad, Step-Mom and Sister.  We did all sorts of sight seeing while we were there and I'll share some of our adventures over the next couple entries from our older visits in 2001, and 2006 (of me, Moody Teen & Dolittle) ... 

Even then, Moody Teen was obsessed with Orcas and was already taking about "being a whale trainer" when he grows up.  Now of course he wants to help keep the Whales in the wild and protect them. 

At the beginning of our trip we went over to Seattle.  (Well we went to Seattle a lot.)  

(Moody Teen on the ferry with the Space Needle barely visable in the background! LOL)

Seattle Aquraium
The Aquarium is very big on preserving the health and beauty of the Puget Sound, and what impact your life has on it, along with keeping all the wildlife in and around the area safe.  It first opened it's doors in 1977.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures in 2001 - had a 35 mm camera then .. lol.. 

Argosy Cruises
After visiting the Aqurium we went on a Harbor Cruise, which is an hour long boat ride around the harbor where you get to see the Sound, the waterfront, the city skyline with the Space Needle, and views of the mountains.

This is done by Argosy Cruises who offer all sorts of other cruises!  Dinner Cruises, and Theme Cruises including a Murder Mystery one that I'd love to do sometime.  (hint hint .. my birthday is coming up honey!!! hint hint!)

(We went on the Spirit Of Seattle, the bigger boat in the picture)

Transplanting our Family

It wasn't an easy choice to pick up and move our family from Wisconsin, where I have lived my whole life, to Washington ... state that is...

We are moving from this....

To this.... 

So why are we going to move?  That's right.. because we haven't yet.  We have a month (or two) of packing yet before me make the trek half way across the country to Washington, to the home of my Mom and Step-Dad where we'll cram our large family in a 3 bedroom house until we find a home of our own.  (Yep, that's right...  2 people plus 2 dogs being invaded by me, my husband, our four boys and my cousin who is coming along ....  and all our furry loveys ...   That = OVERFLOWING ... 

So the economy stinks right now and my husband is having a hard time finding a decent job here in Wisconsin.  I was born and raised here, lived here my whole life...  it's not easy to think of picking up from everything I know, to something completely different.  But I'm going to do it for my family.   Our oldest son, Moody Teen ... well, he loooooooves Killer Whales.  He is going to be in HEAVEN.   Dolittle, our 8 year old, is named right because he is an animal lover.  This move means he can get the dog he's been begging for (plus Nana & Papa's dogs too) ... He is going to be bringing me every stray animal that he can.  And the Twin Tornados ...  Boo-Boo and Bubba ... well, they will get to be spoiled by grandparents (all four of my parents are right there, Mom, Dad and Step-Parents) ...  It means my husband can (crossing fingers) find a great job in his field...  and that I can have some freedom to work on my books!

In additon, Dolittle and Boo-Boo have medical issues.  We have great DRs here, but it feels like, sometimes, things just aren't taken care of the way they may be if we were in a bigger hospital with stronger care system.  So we'll be visiting Seattle for the Children's Hospital for sure. 

As scary as the move is for all of us (except my husband who is more like a gypsy then anything) ...  we're all excited too!!

Lots more to come!!