Northwest Trek

Last Saturday we took Mercy to the Northwest Trek wildlife park. Mercy really enjoyed seeing all of the animals native to the Pacific Northwest. The best part was the hour long tram ride through the park, where we were able to see elk, deer, mountain goats, big horned sheep, moose, and bison.

On the tram

Looking for buffalo

Looking at bald eagles

Watching river otters swim

The elk were still in their rut season, so they put on a good show. They were very active and a bit aggressive.

Randomness!

Aren't they too cute?

Mercy LOVES playing in our new backyard. And, as you can see, torturing Moose is one of her favorite outside activities! Moose is a pretty good sport!

Even though we're into fall now, we're still getting some warm sunny days. Mercy recently enjoyed playing in the sprinkler!

Waiting for it....

Woohoo!

Doesn't she just look as cute as can be? Mercy loves her dress shoes, especially the ones that make a clicking sound on our hardwood floor. She calls them her high heels!

This morning we watched five deer in our front yard. They sauntered off when they heard me open the front door.

Doing the Puyallup

We attended the Puyallup Fair the first Saturday it was open. It was such a beautiful day for it! This year was so much more fun for Mercy. She loves being out and just seeing things, and the fair gave her plenty of opportunity for that! The farm animals were a huge hit this year. She just loved looking at all the cows, horses, sheep, rabbits, and chickens up close. She was still too short for most of the rides, but she did try the carousel and she rode the train. It was a great family outing!





Mercy enjoyed looking at the cows. While we were in the cow barn, she began exclaiming, "There's a scarecrow, there's a scarecrow!!". By the time we realized she was pointing to an elderly lady in a huge straw hat, it was too late. We're pretty sure she heard Mercy calling her a scarecrow, ha! It gave us a good chuckle!

Mercy petting the little pony.

She was too distracted by the ponies to pose with me!

The carousel horses scared her, so she tried just sitting on the bench. She still wasn't too sure about it!

Mercy seemed to enjoy it by the time she did it a second time, but she still didn't want anything to do with the horses!

Mercy really liked the train. It went around the children's part of the park and through a tunnel. She loved the tunnel because it had dinosaurs in it!

A quick shot as they rode by me. I couldn't take her on the rides due to my being hugely pregnant!

Mercy's 2nd Birthday Part 2



She always loves looking at cards.



Ready to open the presents from Mommy and Daddy!

Building with her new blocks.

Coloring in her new coloring book!

Mercy's birthday cake!

Trying to figure out how to blow out the candle.

Mmmmm, good cake!!

Playing with her new puzzles.

Being silly!

That fish tank was a special birthday gift from her Daddy. She got to help pick out the fish and tank decorations!

Mercy got to video skype with Grandma and Grandpa while she opened the presents they sent her.

She loves her new baby doll, baby swing, and stroller.

Mercy loves taking her doll and her stuffed animals for strolls around the house!

Mercy loves the puppy pillow Grandpa Randy sent!

And the Little People cars were a big hit, too!

Mercy had a great 2nd birthday, with celebrations over several days!

Mercy's 2nd Birthday, Part 1

Mercy turned two on September 13th. We celebrated in many ways. Her birthday celebrations were spread out over a week or so. First, her granny came to town to visit about a week before her birthday, so we celebrated with her. Mercy got to open some presents from her granny, pap, and aunts. She also got to have a special dinner at the Rainforest Cafe!

Granny brought some neat presents for Mercy, including a puppy dog puppet she named Bow Wow.







Mercy showed Granny how much she likes the swing at the Orting park.





These super cool sunglasses came from Aunt Cia. She also sent Mercy a rockin' outfit to match.

Pap gave Mercy a Mr. Potato Head for her birthday. She likes the 'tato head' parts, but isn't too sure about the whole thing just yet!



While Granny was visiting, we all went to the Rainforest Cafe for a special birthday dinner. Mercy loved it! Though you can tell from the look on her face that she was not really into the animated gorillas behind us!



Mercy really enjoyed spending time with Granny while she was here!

Mercy was so excited to be at the Rainforest Cafe, though it was hard to keep her in her seat for dinner! She wanted to look at all the animals and fish.

She absolutely loved the giant fish tanks!

She loved the water fountain too! This picture makes me smile- we have the same look on our faces!



After dinner, Daddy let Mercy pick a toy from the Cafe gift shop. She looked through all of their stuffed animals, and picked this turtle from the bottom of a barrel. She said he was "Franklin in the Dark!", a character from one of her books. She snuggled him and kissed him the whole way home.



A new purpose

I quit blogging a while back because I felt like it wasn't needed. Previously, I had used this blog to stay in touch with family and friends. However, it seemed facebook was meeting that need. I think though, that I would like to continue blogging, just with a different purpose in mind. I'd like to use this blog to journal family life. I am horrible at scrapbooking, so maybe this will allow me to be better at documenting all of the important (and not so important!) moments we share as a young family. Anyway, in case there are any followers out there (ha!), now you'll know what's going on with the Bryant Family blog! :)

Just popping in to announce that we had our 20 week ultrasound today and................it's a BOY!!