The California Wedding

Two distance weddings, the first two weekends in June.  The first one was Jason's brother, Brennan's, wedding to Nicole in Chico, California.  We spent five days there and I have a bunch of pictures, but will share pictures from the wedding first!  Jason was the best man and Elise and Anja were flower girls.  It was a beautiful, outdoor wedding.

The morning of the wedding, Elise and Anja got a little princess treatment to get ready for the big event.

Toward the end, the stylist said "you have so much
hair I don't know what to do with it all!"  Obviously
she figured it out, because it turned out beautifully!

Anja always impresses stylists with how quietly she
sits and will let them do anything.

Gorgeous!

The three flower girls:  Elise, Paige, and Anja.

Elise and Paige were the same age and really
hit it off.  They played together the whole night.

Anja and Jason kept an eye on things
before the wedding.

Putting on some finishing touches.  High-five, Kayden!

The Best Man waits patiently :)

They kind of look like they are watching a sports event.

Woo hoo!  Wedding is over, let the party begin!

Brennan, Dolores and Jason...nice looking family!

Let's get this party started!

Another beach beauty!

The wedding venue had koi, providing lots
of entertainment for these nature-loving girls!

Mmmm, the cupcakes are delicious!

Dancing princesses

Paige and Elise had a ball!

It is very hard to get a good group picture with a toddler, but this
one isn't too bad!

Jason took one look at this picture and said "can you tell which
kid lives in California?"   Yes, we are liberal users of sunscreen :)

A Visit to the National Zoo

Being 50 miles from Washington, D.C. gives us opportunities for all kinds of great things.  Last weekend we drove up and visited the National Zoo!

Elise and Anja are animal lovers and they enjoy anything having to do with animals.  They prefer hands-on animal activities, but still get excited about a visit to the zoo.

Pandas!

The biggest attraction at the zoo right now are the pandas.  Last summer a panda cub was born at the zoo, and people have been pretty excited to see Bao Bao, the baby.  We headed to see the pandas first and were fortunate to find them outside!

The mama, Mei Xiang

Mei seemed to be looking for her baby.

Baby Bao Bao was hiding down below the ledge,
so cute!

Lions and tigers and wolves, oh my!

We got to see some tigers from a distance, and outside the exhibit the girls compared their hands to the huge paws of a tiger.

So much to see and do

We made plenty of stops for snacks
and treats.



The view is better from on top
of Jason's shoulders.

AAAAAGH!  Elise is being eaten by a dinosaur!

Anja found the dinosaur much less threatening.

That dinosaur footprint is HUGE!

Anja got a lift from Grandpa
when she got tired.

These girls love amphibians!

Getting a closer look

Taking a ride on the carousel.

Otters!  The real ones were
fun to watch.

A very happy girl.

This is in the Amazonia exhibit.  There were even
bigger fish in the tank, but I didn't get
them in the picture.  These fish are huge!
It made me decide I never want to be in any
water of the Amazon.

The National Zoo is pretty large, and we visited as many animals as we could before we got worn out and headed home.  We didn't feel too bad about not seeing them all, as the National Zoo is free and we will certainly go back again.  Whatever we missed on this trip we will see next time!