The Blonde Superhero And Her Family: October 2013

On the 16th of October, my parents came and picked up Nigel and I to head for Washington. We were going to visit my favorite older sister, Sarah, and her family. The drive was hard for Nigel, but he did really well. We stopped in Baker's Town, Oregon that night. Nigel was very happy to get to the hotel. Then on Thursday we drove the rest of the way up. Sarah and Andrew had recently bought a house and it was beautiful. Nigel and his little cousin, Rachel, had fun together. They were very cute.

Nigel sure loves his Grandpa!

Binkie and a crochet hook in his mouth? At least he is entertained.

Playing at the hotel!

Nigel really loved stopping places and stretching his legs. Me too!

Nigel discovered how amazing ketchup is. He would lick it off his fries then dip it again.

Nigel finally fell asleep just half and hour or so before we arrived.

Happy Rachel at the park!

Nigel had so much fun, he loves climbing on play grounds.

Nigel also enjoys crawling through these tube things.

Two cousins all ready to go grocery shopping.

Nigel got so much stair practice. He is pretty much a stair master now.

Cute cousins in the bath!

Nigel and Rachel in their cute new pajamas! They had to crawl all over the air mattress and cause a ruckus.

On Friday we all went to the zoo. Nigel had so much fun! He always wanted to get out of his stroller and look at things better, which is understandable. So I didn't have him buckled in so it was easier to get him out and in again. Then he decided to leap out of the stroller while we were walking. He ended up face planting and biting his lip. It wasn't too bad, but he sure was upset about it. Poor little fellow. On the positive side, my not-so-cuddly son cuddled with me for ten minutes while he cried. In the evening we ate at a restaurant called The Flaming Onion. It was delicious. We also looked at a cool toy store, which Nigel loved.

It was a very cold and foggy day at the zoo.

Hey, cute babies!

Nigel looking at the baby jaguar.

Nigel just wanted Grandma to hold him in the rainforest building. They had fun looking at animnals.

Nice gorilla, Rachel!

Nigel had a nice nap after his face-planting experience.

The orangutan was cold and had wrapped a sheet around himself. What a clever ape! And what a cute Rachel!

My awesome mom next to a komodo dragon. Those things are huge. The largest reptiles on earth, in fact.

Me striking an epic pose on the cement komodo dragon.

BABY OTTERS!!

Nigel's little bit lip. Poor little fellow.

My goofy dad 'feeding' the brass otters.

Nigel enjoyed playing with his straw at the Flaming Onion.

Nigel loves to push things around and was very thrilled to find a shopping cart his size at the toy store.

Saturday was another fun day. We went and walked along the beach a low tide. We saw a lot of barnacles and a couple anemones. We also looked at the lighthouse nearby. Nigel loved walking all over. After that we all went and rode a ferry. Nigel thought it was so amazing, he just sat and watched the water out the window the whole time. It was pretty cool. That evening we had an early birthday celebration for Rachel. So much fun!

Holding a dead crab's claw. There were barnacles growing all over it.

Nigel had fun walking along the beach.

Grandma with Nigel.

Nigel wasn't up for posing with the beautiful ocean back there.

We found an old exoskeleton from a crab. It had grown out of it and it was still all intact. It was really cool.

The lighthouse and a ferry. Such a foggy day.

Sarah and Nigel ringing the dinner triangle. It sure was loud.

Nigel sleeping while we walked to the ferry. Sarah said he looked like Frodo all wrapped up in Shelob's webbing. This is partially true.

Rachel was having so much fun! She's such a happy girl.

This was hilarious because Rachel was giving Nigel and huge smile and he was just looking at her like she was crazy.

Eating chips and looking out the window.

Sarah, Andrew, and Rachel. Such a fun family!

Grandpa with Nigel, Andrew with Rachel, and Sarah in the back.

Titanic pose!

Cute momma and a cute girl!

Rachel did much better than Nigel did at opening presents.

Rachel and Andrew with their cupcakes!

Nigel was so confused when we started singing 'Happy Birthday.'

Brushing their teeth in the tub.

Sunday morning we left. It was a short vacation, but it was a lot of fun. We stopped in Seattle on the way back, which was pretty awesome. We drove for the rest of the day and stopped in Boise. Nigel did so great. He discovered, on this trip, that Cars is his favorite movie ever. We watched it three times on the trip. We also watched the first 4 discs of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was spectacular.