It was a ZOOishly fun weekend :)

The Nichols' just returned from a fantastic (if wet) visit to Portland. We decided that we had been depriving the boys of the cool experience of going to a Zoo, so that was the highlight of the trip.


The adventure began at Powell's Books in downtown Portland. The boys had never seen a book store like this, it just goes on forever...


Wesley is absolutely hooked on staying in a hotel. Ever since Disneyland he has thought they are too cool. Of course Mom agrees, it's not every day that the bed fairy comes and makes your bed and tidies your room :)


And we were off to the Zoo on Sunday morning! In a downpour! We arrived around 9:30 am and didn't leave until about 4:30 pm.


The Great Northwest exhibits were fantastic, we always love learning more about this beautiful part of the country we are privileged to live in. Fish exhibits are always popular with the Nichols' men.


Then we found the very, very, very BIGGEST highlight of the weekend, the Amur Leopard. The boy's school, Lincoln Elementary (the Lincoln Leopards), adopted the Oregon Zoo's Amur Leopards this past February and held a fundraiser for them. There are only about 40 of these cats left in the wild, and only six are female, so it is pretty cool that the Oregon Zoo has two. It was great fun to meet the cats that we learned so much about this past winter.


We got a close up view of one of these amazing cats, he was just trying to stay dry (good luck with that!).


Wesley had a blast in the Lorakeet exhibit, he really enjoyed feeding the birds "nectar" (apple juice).


We went for the whole enchilada on this trip and purchased tickets for the train ride out to the rose gardens.


We didn't actually spend time in the gardens (not enough hours in the day), but we really enjoyed the train ride!


The elephant trike was lots of fun.


Wesley's vacation spending money went to a couple of very cute and cuddly Amur Leopards.


Cameron opted for a soft penguin, now named "Peng Quin" (according to Cameron, he's Chinese!). Cameron spent the rest of his vacation money on a book entitled, "The Encyclopedia of Immaturity." As you can imagine from the title, it is filled with endless pages of silly, irritating, weird, and immature things that kept the boys engrossed all the way home.


The bears outside the gift shop made for a fun photo opportunity. They were huge!


Wesley had to be sure to get both of his Leopards in the picture...


Wesley doesn't know Mom snuck this picture, it was too great to miss...


Peng Quin is ready for the trip home.

We had such a great time and feel to blessed to live in such a beautiful place!