Merry Christmas from us to you!

(written on 7-27-18)

*Author’s Note: The photographs in this blog entry are all my own. (except the one I caption as being from Google) I respect that it may be easy to save them and print them on your own. But they are copyrighted and use of them is prohibited without my knowledge and consent. If you wish to use them, please send me an e-mail and we can discuss their use or purchase.  Thanks for your cooperation.

MoonNStarMommy@gmail.com

~ Nissa Rae

This is one of the few years that we took the kids to see Santa at the mall .... well we actually did it twice lol...  I went with the little boys one day and we hadn't planned it... and then went with all four boys ...

We put up our tree ....  💚💚

Put up our stockings and some decorations....

Christmas Eve we went to Nana and Papa's and had some snack/party food ...

The boys played in the leaves and Ashley had drawn snowmen on the window with window chalk ....

When we went home ..... we drove around and we looked at lights .... 

Then we put our Gingerbread house together...  before bed, waiting for a special visit .....  

Whoa!!  Who's at the door!?!?!  It's SANTA!!!  (aka Papa!) LOL .... 

One of the things we got for Christmas this year - from Auntie Jenna and fam - is our very own Elf on the Shelf!  The kids named him Cookie ....  we're looking forward to next year and the fun he may be getting into ..... 

Christmas morning .... infront of Nana & Papa's tree ....

FOOOOODDDDDD!!!

NUMMY FOOD!!!!

Hunter Farms Pumpkin Patch

(written on 7.27.18)

*Author’s Note: The photographs in this blog entry are all my own. (except the one I caption as being from Google) I respect that it may be easy to save them and print them on your own. But they are copyrighted and use of them is prohibited without my knowledge and consent. If you wish to use them, please send me an e-mail and we can discuss their use or purchase.  Thanks for your cooperation.
MoonNStarMommy@gmail.com
~ Nissa Rae

HUNTER FARMS PUMPKIN PATCH 

Hunter Farms is a family owned and run working farm that has been in operation since 1889.

You can check out HUNTER FARMS <--- via their website. 

When we go there, we ended up in one of the overflow parking areas (right in front of the corn maze) ... Nathan found a leaf the size of his HEAD!  ha ha ha ha .. okay ... it was BIGGER than his head. 

Nana stepped up to the jailer and Bubba observed the transaction to make sure that neither party was taking advantage of the other ...  we went to check out the hay rides first, out to the pumpkin patch, which is a little bit on the edge of at least one part of the farm (I'm sure it's a lot bigger than what we see.)

Hanging out on some pumpkins while we're in line...

We ended up on the prison cart ... I mean the jailbird box....  shoooo ...  we were naughty....

We did see this barn in the distance and I thought it was pretty, and even caught a glimpse of a few cows!  Cows in three shades even!!  Hopefully that little one makes good chocolate milk someday!  Then there is the pumpkin flower and the leaves are changin' a little.

We made it to the pumpkin patch, luckily we got released for good behavior...

After deciding that there were better pumpkins already picked and in the store/front of the farm...  we decided to hitch a ride back.  Most the pumpkins still out in the patch had been out in the elements too long or smashed or stomped on ...

After we got dropped off from coming back from the patch ...  we had fun looking at all the gourds ...

FACT:
Pumpkins, squash and gourds are members of the enormously diverse Cucurbitaceae family, which contains more than 100 genera and over 700 species. They have been providing mankind with food and utilitarian objects since before recorded history. Various members of the genus Cucurbita are known as squash or gourds.
(taken from HERE)

Walking around we also happened to stumble on some animals... 

We also found an indoor hay bale maze that the three little kids had a lot of fun in.  At one point we lost Nathan, Dad had to go in after him...

The boys were all pretty tired when we were done.

The bottom picture was the arm band they were using for those who paid ...  Pretty cool!  Check out their PUMPKIN PATCH PAGE .... they are open from October 1 to October 31!

THIS IS SOMETHING WE WOULD RECOMMEND AND WE WOULD DEFINITELY GO HERE AGAIN (and we do). 

Woodland Park Zoo

*Author’s Note: The photographs in this blog entry are all my own. (except the one I caption as being from Google) I respect that it may be easy to save them and print them on your own. But they are copyrighted and use of them is prohibited without my knowledge and consent. If you wish to use them, please send me an e-mail and we can discuss their use or purchase.  Thanks for your cooperation.
MoonNStarMommy@gmail.com
~ Nissa Rae

The Woodland Park Zoo actually was once a private residence owned by Guy Phinney - not as a zoo of course, but as an estate with a traditional English park with a formal rose garden on his land at the shores of Greenlake in Seattle.  However he did design a deer park and at the time of his death in 1893 there was a small established herd.  He had built a large house on the land, that also had a pump house to bring water from Greenlake to water his impressive gardens. 

The property was turned into the zoo and changed, added on, becoming more impressive and focusing on the animals and giving them good lives.  You can read about the Z

My Littles were the tour guides ....  

We stopped at the penguins and I got some of the best penguin pictures of my life (still in 2021 when I'm actually writing this - I adore these photos) 

Our biggest reason for going to the Zoo this day was to give my dino lovers the great experience of the DINOSAURS exabit ... when we paid our admission - we all got a little dino stamp ... the boys were impressed and scared and my Noah and Nathan were beaming at the movement and sounds.  My littlest one, Kaedyn - would ROAR right back - as you can see animated in the bottom right photo ...

I loved the dino eggs (above) and the kids were a bit terrified of the T-Rex (below) 

At the end - they got to sit on half a dino ...  LOL ....

We stopped to see the tigers....

Snow Leopard and the Porcupine 

My little Kaedyn feeding one of the birds in the bird exhibit .... and Nathan feeding one below that.

We also checked out the Wallabies ... soooooo adorable ...

We got some amazing photos of the Gray Wolves too....

This is Selat, Woodland Park Zoos' resident Komodo Dragon. 

In 2019, Selat lived 19 of his 20 years of life at the zoo.  He was beloved and irreplaceable.  He ended up dying on March 26th, 2019 - being humanly euthanized due to medical conditions brought on by his old age.  I have included a link to an article at the  bottom of this entry. 

We have the Anteaters and the Meerkats - those three humanish looking Meerkats were new additions to the zoo!! 

Oh my goooooodness - the Flamingos .... so pink and floofy and .... well they were grooming a lot....

We hit the African Savanna and they have a classroom that you can actually learn a thing or two.  Calahan was reading some terms on the blackboard ... 

There are bags of feed hanging from the trees - and we caught one of the giraffes feeding from there... the other one - well - just acting a fool.... 

You can see my mom, my (ex) husband, Noah and Kaedyn .... in that top left photo - in the Savanna classroom at the window where you can observe the African animals...   the statue is one that was at one of the food kiosks and I imagine it's some sort of fertility statue zapping unsuspecting people - not me though ... no more babies for me!  The elephant carving was really cool and my crying melting down Autistic child was announcing he was done peopling and animaling and wanted to leave - like - ten minutes ago.... I tried to give him libation and sustenance but that was useless ....

On our way out of the park.... we caught the elephants, the big bear.... the antelope and the majestic tigers ....

Also the HIPPOS - Oh my gooooodness .... so wet and wrinkly ... the poison frogs and the ...turtles - don't worry - they aren't procreating.... I don't think.... [ sideways head tilt ] ..... 

THIS IS SOMETHING WE WOULD RECOMMEND AND WE WOULD DEFINITELY GO HERE AGAIN (and we do). 

..... SAD NEWS .....

Seattle Times: March 28, 2019 

150-pound Komodo dragon at Woodland Park Zoo dies

 

By 

Laura Schinagle

Seattle Times news producer

Selat the Komodo dragon lived a long life, by Komodo 

dragon standards.

The 150-pound geriatric reptile lived almost 19 of his 

20 years at the Woodland Park Zoo, where he was euthanized

 Tuesday due to osteoarthritis and joint deterioration. He was

 in the top 10th percentile of oldest Komodo dragons in the 

North American population.

The Woodland Park Zoo had been working with SOUND 

Veterinary Rehabilitation Center to care for Selat as his 

age-related health issues worsened.

Selat’s health-management plan included laser treatments 

and massage therapy, which he received with a calmness 

that belied his species’ reputation, according to a Seattle 

Times story that detailed his treatment.

Selat continued to receive veterinary attention until the end,

 but caretakers said his condition deteriorated rapidly in 

recent days.

“The quality of Selat’s life was compromised, so we made

the humane decision to euthanize him,” the zoo said.