"It's so hard to say good-bye..." (to yesterday)

Buck, RKZ and I in front of the giraffe area at the zoo.
Our "july family." I love that SDJ knows how to pose for pictures - she puts her aunt to shame!
This is a beautiful eagle. I have mixed feelings about the fact that he is just sitting here in a cage, though.
New elephant enclosure at the Calgary zoo. Worth a visit, don't you think?
elephants x2.
A headless giraffe!! Marvels never cease at the zoo.
Both SDJ and Buck LOVED the hippos (Buck can say hippopotamus). SDJ even bought a stuffed animal hippo which she named Raquel. It has a baby hippo attached and RKZ insisted she name it after him (silly). She decided on Luke Shawn.
The sleeping hippos.

Well, today is SDJ's last day - and it is so sad for us!! Yesterday was a great day - we did our usual Mass/talk with friends routine and then came home to hang out. It threatened rain all day - which was a bummer because we were hoping for a last, long bike ride. Charlie came over to play (his mommy had to get a glucose test done) and it was a fun "break" for SDJ and I as the boys tore through the house (and tore it to pieces, literally). Boys....what're you going to do?

This morning, SDJ is packing as Buck takes his final hours to drive her crazy with his constant talking. He has already explained to her that she is leaving in "a big (h)airplane!" and that the "Backyardigans sing songs." Now, he is just hanging on her bed watching her pack her laundry and new stuffed animals into a 2nd bag (we were happy we're not the only ones who need to bring extra stuff home!). In a happy coincidence, Kent came home last night and Alex came over to say good-bye (last night). They will be here to send our beautiful girl off right.

The one consolation is that we all leave for Hawaii in 3 days! We will be with SDJ so soon again! I am glad because Buck has become so attached to her that the next 2 days will be filled with "SDJ come back..."He will not know where she's gone. It's a little sad when I think that Buck thinks that "big (h)airplanes" take all of the people he really loves away. It's amazing that he still really likes them!! Saturday will be a great day around here as we prepare to leave & Buck gets excited. We are not as excited about traveling with (basically) a two year old who doesn't have his own seat (we're still milking the "free until 2" thing). Thank God for the Joads is all that I can say. We meet them in SF.

Hello to everyone who is reading! We are VERY excited to see so many of you soon! I am especially excited to visit BC with the Duke and Duchess in September! We can't wait as we just finalized our plans! YEAH!