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Wednesday, October 29

HAIL!




PING, ping ping ping PING!

The sound of hail, smashing against our new steel roof, plinking off of my car.....






It was like someone dumped a bag of coarse salt on my lawn.






The dogs were freaked out by it. They kept on barking at the noise of the marble-sized hail crashing against our roof.






I'm glad I don't live in a place where the hail are as big as baseballs. That would totally suck.

Tuesday, October 21

Even more pictures!

Awww we're so cute!



This is the last bunch of pictures. No whining! Linda, you especially!









This is a tapir. The picture was in colour, but it was too fuzzy and difficult to see (because of the early morning rising sun glaring out over everything.... gah) So I black'd and white'd her up.













Tyler was like a little kid with the tigers. He loves them, he thinks they're the coolest animals. We kept on going back to their pen again and again! "Hey hun, let's go to see this animal, and on our way let's see the tigers!"








This is a tree kangaroo. He sleeps all day. They have a sign that says "SHHHHH" on his display.







Cute little wallaby!

This guy is a wombat. He hid behind the grass, refusing to come out. Kinda ugly, eh? But still cool.







Hungry hungry hippos!









Komodo dragons are freaky. They can kill you with a nip. Their spit is toxic. Bleck.








This is a red river hog. Isn't he cute?








Lazy African rhino. Either lazy or lonely..... which do you think?








This seagull was trying to bum some food off of us. I said no, but before that I took his picture. He was kinda cute, but I hate seagulls. Rats of the sky.










And that's it!

More Zoo pictures!

This guy was one of seven green pythons all curled up along this branch in an aquarium. See his pretty golden eyes? Bet you wouldn't want one of these guys to topple onto your head from above. That's what they do to catch their prey....

This is a lionfish. He is so pretty.





This is the friendliest moose in the world. He came right up to the fence, and followed us around as we walked by his pasture. He's taller than he looks in this picture! Definitely taller than me, and I'm 5'11!



I named him Maurice.




I like this picture of the mountain goat. I'm not sure exactly what they are called (the signs for the animals were sometimes hard to find) but his kind lives somewhere in Europe.




Lions are so lazy! These guys did not move for two days.
But they are so pretty.

Just look at how tall that giraffe is compared to the goose. Incredible, eh?




This sweetie was so gentle and quiet. Her eyes are kind.

A barbary ape. He was sunbathing, but woke up when I made kissing noises.




My favourite animals to see were the elephants. They are so gigantic, everything they do seems to be in slow motion, but they move away so quickly!

There were four elephants, but not all of them came out to see the people at the same time.

They were all girls, I think.



This one was the youngest one, also the smallest. She was such a cutie!



This one was being bugged by flies, so she kept scooping up trunkfuls of dust and throwing it over her back.

This is a Sumatran tiger, smaller than a Siberian, but more ferocious I think. Her eyes were glaring at us the entire time we stood there. This picture was taken through a wire fence, but I was able to angle the camera so that her face wasn't crossed by a wire.






More pictures later!

We went to the Zoooooo!

For our first anniversary (yay!), Tyler and I went to visit the Toronto Zoo.

Did you know it's one of the largest zoos on the planet?

Anyways, we stayed at the Delta hotel (which was hella expensive! Don't go there! Seriously!) and drove to the Zoo both Saturday and Sunday.

We really had an amazing weekend. God blessed us so much by letting us see the animals in action. So many people just see blobs of fur on a distant hill, but we saw tigers playfighting, a bear pushing a giant ball around in a pool, and other cool things!

This is a young Kudu buck. He was so close to us! He snorted when he saw me, but paused just long enough for me to snap this picture before he ran away.



This one was the big Kudu buck. I think he's the boss, man.



Canada geese are freeloaders at the Toronto Zoo. They wander about wherever they like, eating the feed put out for the other animals whenever they get the chance. It was funny to see the giraffe keeper chasing them away and cursing them.



On Saturday, we covered most of the zoo, but some of the animals were too far away to be seen properly. On Sunday we went back, and some of them -like this cheetah- were close enough to have their picture taken.



Like the Canada geese, chipmunks and squirrels run free, getting food wherever they can. This little guy kept running back and forth across the pathway, but finally he stopped long enough for me to take a picture.



This Grizzly bear was playing with this huuuuge rubber ball, just as we got to his pen. He only played with it for about two more minutes before he got tired and curled up to sleep, out of sight. It was just an incredible moment.







Splish, splash!







Warthogs are so ugly. I'm sorry, but they are.







Especially the males. Oh, so ugly face... so ugly...







This happy Indian rhino was fed up close to the fence so we could see him better.







The tigers were incredible. The Sumatran ones were in pens that were far away from the path, so that you couldn't really see them, but for the Siberian tigers there was a small balcony you could stand on in order to get a really good look at them, and good pictures if you were so inclined.


This little girl was one of two cubs born to the mommy tiger about two years ago.



She's just so darn pretty!







I think she was posing for the camera. The male cub was more camera shy, he hid behind the rocks.







This guy is the daddy tiger. He is MASSIVE. His head is as big as a pumpkin. A big pumpkin. His paws could easily crush my head. He weighed 500 lbs, and he wasn't even as big as he could get! Male Siberian tigers can weigh well over 600 lbs.







He callumphed onto the ground underneath our viewing area (we were protected only by pexiglass... we were pretty close to him, too!) and pretended we weren't there.




That's all the pictures for now! I have more, but I'm doing dishes and helping Tyler put trim on in the back room, so I may not get the rest on here very soon. But I will put more up someday!

Monday, October 20

Happy Anniversary to - ME!

One year ago today, I pledged my heart and life to my love, Tyler.

I thank God for him every day.

He is such a good husband to me, I couldn't ask for anyone better.

It doesn't seem like a year has gone by, but the calendar says it has, so I'm happy to celebrate this day with my husband. He's frying the bacon for breakfast, I'm cooking the pancakes, and we're going to have a special day today, just enjoying each other's company.

Hurray for time off work!

Thursday, October 16

We are already over the half point of this beautiful month, October. I love October. I was married in October. To me, this month -known for the changing colours of the leaves, for pumpkins, and for not one but TWO holidays - is the best month of all.

I wasn't always aware of how much I loved October. I remember loving that "Autumn Smell", when you step outside and just breathe, and the air tastes so clean - and it chills your lungs just a little bit so that it doesn't hurt, it just tingles.

I also have always loved Autumn food. Pumpkin, squash, chicken, potatoes, apples, fresh vegetables... I could eat all day long, except that would be very expensive.

I remain convinced that there is nothing better than going for a long walk in the midday with your dogs (having human company in the form of your sister is a bonus!), coming home with your nose chilly and your back sweaty, and settling down on the couch with a cool glass of water followed by a steaming mug of hot tea.

It is incredible to feel the misty breath of the approaching rainshower upon your skin, which you just barely beat home. Unless, of course, you didn't beat it.... then I hope you enjoy running in the rain.

Decorating for the Autumn holidays is something I will be excited about every year. I have my Jack O' Lantern faces, and my pumpkins ready for carvin', and my twinkle lights at the ready...

I will always love Autumn, even though it eventually leaves and Winter comes in, stomping and bellowing, hammering It's pegs securely into the ground so that no matter how much you pull, you can't get them out.

I will hunker down, wrapped in blankets, waiting for Spring to come again.

And though I love Spring, and I love aspects of Summer, I will be looking forward to Autumn again..... to the air, the smell, the feeling... and the food.

Saturday, October 11

You are going to be SO jealous......


















My mother-in-law has asked Tyler and I to babysit her doggies for her while she goes up North to visit her hubby.
We said no.
HA! As IF! That would've been the stupidest thing EVER!
Of course, we said yes, and I get to play with PUPPIES for the next five days!!!
Wheeeeee!!
I totally rock.