The Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary

We went to the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary on Saturday morning while visiting Ben's parents this past weekend.  The zoo opens at 9 so we got their a little early (since the temps are very hot in the afternoon) and let Chelsea run around a playground before the doors opened.  The last time we visited, Chelsea was only 3 months old and slept the entire zoo visit.  This time she was wide awake and enjoyed checking out the animals in Grandma Jane's arms.  No stroller needed!

I really enjoy this particular zoo.  It's a zoo, but it's really a rescue sanctuary. It's very small and is very basic, but is the best zoo I've ever been to because of being a rescue sanctuary.  All the animals living there have been found in the wild in need of some sort of help, medical attention or would have been euthanized if the sanctuary wouldn't have taken them in.  Everything from Bears and mountain lions to squirrels and deer call it home.

I didn't get too many animal pictures, but I did take a few.  I also took some pictures of the plaques telling you the animal's name and story.  I really really really appreciate what the Folsom City Zoo is doing for these animals with no voice and no one else to help them.

Chelsea running around the park before the zoo opened.  We went out to breakfast before the zoo and she had her first ever pankake with syrup and whipped cream!  Needless to say, she had some energy to burn.

In the zoo sanctuary

Up close to a Tiger!

What a friendly deer!  He liked licking our hands!

Some of the black bear plaques

Someone isn't a fan of posing as a mountain lion

Two of the bears stories

Even squirrels are cared for!

There are peacocks EVERYWHERE on the zoo grounds

The wolf plaques

Artic (??) wolves

The wolf / dog hybrid plaques.  Pardon my language, but what Dumb Ass people feel the need to mate wolves and dogs?!!  IDIOTS!

Guarding dogs.  These dogs protect the pigs and other livestock

A little info about the zoo.  If you click on the pictures you can make them bigger and can read it easier

We decided to go on a 'train' ride upon leaving

A rescue bunny.  They are building a home for it in the zoo, but until then, he gets to visit daily.

I don't think I want to touch that bunny...

A drinking problem??

Chelsea absolutely LOVES water!  She can't get enough of it to drink.   We are blessed that she loves her milk and water so much that we don't have to supplement her drinks with sugary juice beverages.  She gets juice or lemonade as an occasional treat (usually when we are out to eat) and of course, loves it too!

We handed Chelsea a plastic water glass with water in it and she went nutto over it!  She kept asking for more and we finally had to cut her off :-)

I make herbalife shakes almost every morning and I seem to never get the entire thing to myself.  Chelsea runs over and demands that I share with her.  Usually she ends up getting most of it :)  It's probably time to submit an order and order her her own kid shakes. 

Here are some pictures of her making a huge mess out of herself while helping herself to my chocolate shake. 

messy girl!

She wanted so much of the shake that we ended up putting some in a water bottle for her to feed herself!

Time to 'wash off' the shake!

Here is a video and a couple pictures of Chelsea drinking out of the wine glass.  She made grandma proud :)

http://youtu.be/m9QM_c4X_cs

Chelsea's Heaven on Earth... a splash pad!

Grandma Jane recommended that we take Chelsea to a splash pad near their home.  I had no clue what to expect and hadn't ever even seen one before.  This park was beautiful!  It's a huge, free playground and splash pad area for kiddos. 

Chelsea ran around non stop!!!  It was so cute to see her zooming around, laughing, squealing and hunched over with her arms behind her while running.  she does this now when she gets excited.. it's almost like she is getting ready for take off!  There were lots of kids and moms hanging out.  Some mom's even had tents set up to sit under while watching their little ones play!  I SO wish that we had something like this close to our house.  I'd bring Chelsea there all the time.  The closest one is in St. Louis Park so we'll be trying that out soon. 

Video of Chelsea running around the splash pad:  http://youtu.be/qKXFCh4rgBk

Another Video:  http://youtu.be/TS3mPe1G-MQ

Strike a pose!

Grandma and Chelsea

Daddy and Chelsea

Her 'bird' pose

The playground area

mom's 'camping out'

15 weeks

I am now 15 weeks (feeling and looking like I'm at least 20!) along with bundle of joy #2!  It's amazing how fast this pregnancy is going in comparison to my first.  It's nice that I have Chelsea to tend to instead of just focusing on being pregnant like I did the first time around. 

All in all I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm feeling REALLY BIG, even though the scale is only showing an 7 pound weight gain.  My tummy expanded very quickly this time around.  I'm nervous I'm going to look, and feel,  100 weeks pregnant when I'm full term!  I'm also getting nervous that I won't be able to finish out Summer VBALL this time around.  Last pregnancy I played into my third trimester but playing in the sand with this expanding belly may pose more of a challenge in the next month or two.

I'm also pretty sleepy.  I'm getting more energy back but still haven't felt the second trimester bliss that I did with Chelsea.  My food cravings aren't as interesting this time around either.  With Chelsea I loved donuts, tacos, buffalo wings, oranges and pumpkin spice lattes.  Now I'm craving fruit and salad.  Pretty boring! 

I hit the 15 week milestone while we were in CA visiting Ben's parents.  Here are some pictures :)

California Girl!

This past weekend we (Ben, Chelsea and I) went to visit Ben's parents at their home in Folsom, CA. We took lots and lots of pictures so I will be writing blogs over the next couple days and posting the pictures in groups. 

We flew out on Thursday morning and came home Sunday evening.  The flight out was very stressful due to having a medical emergency on the plane.  We were in the air for about a half an hour when we had to turn around and land back in Minneapolis.  Upon landing the pilot informed us that we had to deplane and board a new plane.   Chelsea fell asleep on our decent and she napped for a bit in the airport but woke up just in time to board the second plane.  Needless to say, it was a long flight.  The good news is the man that had the medical emergency (heart attack, stroke, diabetic reaction???) ended up walking off of the plane and it looked like he was doing OK. 

We had a wonderful time during our visit and I really enjoyed watching Chelsea participate in new activities, take in her new surroundings and interact with Grandma and Grandpa Fisher.  She doesn't get to see them a whole lot so it was great to get them all some bonding time.  I will go into more detail about our outings in each blog :-)

The first day we were pretty wiped out from the flight so we spent the day hanging out at their pool.  We arrived around 2pm on Thursday and laid low for the day.  Chelsea also got to hang out with Uncle Jon since he was visiting until the next morning. 

Two cute videos of Chelsea swimming with daddy in the pool!

Video 1:  http://youtu.be/hOsM-FeRaDo

Video 2:  http://youtu.be/fahRYBKT-c0

Protecting Chelsea from the hot CA sun!

Chelsea was very cautious around the pool.  We were very releaved that she didn't run like a crazy woman towards the pool.

Water baby!

Chelsea is at her happiest in water!

Chelsea with Uncle Jon

Sleepy mama and baby

You want me to do what Grandpa?!

Grandma and Chelsea

Chelsea loved sitting in the 'big girl' float on land.  She didn't want anything to do with her toddler float

Chelsea playing with Ben's old toy on the deck