The Zoo

 A while back we took the kids to the Chahinkapa Zoo.
The first thing we came upon was this large orangutan.

Walt thought he was pretty neat.

He also got a kick out of watching this otter splash around,

and even Ruby was amazed looking at these monkeys

 and watching them play.

They were cute little buggers,

but not as cute as these 2 monkeys!

We saw some bald eagles -

 

and Walter measured his wingspan,

before we headed over to the farm animal section 

where we could feed -

and pet the animals.

Walter fed this large swan -

and jumped back and yelped 

when its beak clamped down on his hand!

 

He recovered quickly and was back to having a great time!

 

We continued making the rounds,

 

and seeing the sights - 

 and then I piggy-backed Walt around for a bit 

once he started to get tired.

 

 

Both kids enjoyed watching this giant tortoise splash around 

in a little pool of water.

 

We saw bison,

 

and tigers, 

and bears - oh my!

 

I think the highlight for Ruby

was when we were looking at fish inside.

 

That little clown fish swam by 

and Ruby start shouting "Nemo!" "Nemo!"

It was adorable.

We took a ride on the carousel before we left.

Ruby hung on for dear life, but did great.

Walt wasn't too sure about it at first and wouldn't ride a horse,

but as this face shows -

he had a lot of fun too!

We had a great time at the zoo.

 I'm sure we will visit again.

Business-iversary

On this day last year I took a big leap -

I opened my own office and haven't looked back.

It's been an amazing year full of challenges and self discovery,

and while it hasn't always been easy, 

 I can say that things have gone remarkably smooth 

and I have been blessed with many opportunities.

So today on my one year business anniversary,

I am incredibly grateful for the help of friends 

and support of family,

without whom I wouldn't be where I am today.

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

If you ever need a dessert in a pinch

make these easy cake mix cookies that are always a hit.

All you need is 5 ingredients:

oil, eggs, a cake mix, 

almond extract, and chocolate chips.

 You can use any flavor cake mix you want -

I had Devil's Food on hand,

but I've made it with all varieties: 

chocolate, fudge, german chocolate, whatever.

I even use white cake mix when that's all I've got,

but I prefer a chocolate variety with chocolate chips 

because the double chocolate chip cookies are so soft & delicious.

They're also simple to make -

just mix all of the ingredients together and bake.

 They're best warm and gooey, right out of the oven.

Cake Mix Cookies

1 box cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1 tsp. almond extract

1 bag of chocolate chips

Ignore the directions on the cake mix box and mix only the above ingredients in a large bowl. Bake at 350 for approximately 8 minutes. Enjoy with a large glass of cold milk!