Some Needed Family Time

 My cute niece Ellery had her first birthday the beginning of October.  We decided to take a break from busy weekends to travel out to celebrate with her.  My boys love Ellery and are really cute with her.

 We met up with Ellery at the zoo near her house.  We had a great time at this zoo especially because there were so many animals to touch.

Gavin thought these elephants were fun.

 And this gorilla

 While waiting for the tigers to come out and get fed, we caught this hug on camera.  Like most brothers, they pick on each other (mostly Dallin picking on Gavin but Gavin is starting to figure out ways to annoy Dallin), but they are also the sweetest boys together.

Getting Ellery excited for the tigers

My sister-in-law Kara's parents were with us and Dallin found a new friend with Kara's dad.  Somehow Dallin convinced him to let him ride on his shoulders.  Dallin definitely isn't as light as Ellery!

 First time feeding a Giraffe

 Or touching one for that matter

 Besides the reptile house, this was probably Dallin's favorite part.

The birds really liked my brother...or his ear wax

The birds did not like Gavin.  They were smart enough to figure out that a two year old wasn't someone to mess with.

We saw this awesome bird show.  My brother held out his hand during the show with a dollar in it and a bird flew out to get it and hid it on stage.  Another bird brought my brother a bracelet instead of the dollar.

 Eventually one of the birds decided to be honest and retrieve the dollar.

This is a great way to make money at the zoo.  Tell the kids to give the bird a dollar and he will put it away for you.  I need to get me a bird like this to help with fundraising for our adoption!

I'm not sure if that is how I would react if I saw a snake!

 Being gophers

 

This statue got fed plenty of rocks

 The boys got to touch an opossum

 and a corn snake

 We were only gone over night, but I'm glad we were able to join Ellery for her birthday celebration!