Arizona's Petrified Forest

We made an impulse stop at the Petrified Forest National Park after I saw it on the map. My dad had taken a road trip a few years ago and I remember him showing me pictures of this place. It was pretty neat! All these trees had gotten buried in mud during the Triassic period and silica formed inside the cell walls of the trees, making it into quartz.

It was surprisingly cold today in the southwest. I figured it would be warm since it's so sunny, but once we reached Albuquerque it was below freezing. I guess I can't escape the cold!

By the way, I'm loving my new palazzo pants and Pendelton wool purse! I've been splurging on new clothes, not just because I need maternity clothes, but also because I haven't gone shopping for anything new in a while and I needed a closet refresher. Nothing like moving to a totally new climate to inspire a shopping spree!

Baby Bump - 27 Weeks!

Name: Ellie, Ellie-Bear and "Ellie Belly." Thinking about "Violet" as a middle name, but Joe isn't so sure about it. I really need to sit down and take a look at Nameberry!

Belly Button? Innie still, but Joe predicts it will pop out in two weeks. Yucky!!!

Feeling: Pretty tired after the road trip. I have a sore spot at the bottom of my ribs most of the time too.

Food I'm Missing: Deli meats. I missed out on some nice sandwiches at Which Wich!

Movement: Joe and I still like to watch her punch my belly.

Dreams: Nothing unusual.

Listening to: Iron Maiden, courtesy of papa-bear. 

Looking Forward to: Our new house! Well, technically it's an apartment... but thats okay. I'm so sad our road trip is over but I'm glad to be at our final destination. Mrs. Peacock is happy too, but she is still suspicious that we will leave again. She keeps getting into her carrier in the morning when we wake up and start to get dressed. Soon she will have her favorite kitty-tower back to take naps in and she can relax again.

This picture was taken in Roswell at the UFO museum! I cheated since this was technically taken on the very last day of week 26. Oh well! I'm too tired from all the travelling to actually get myself together and find a nice place to take another photo. I will be posting some more pictures in a couple days of the museum. It was pretty fun!

The Happiest Pandas - San Diego Zoo

I promise I won't show too many more posts with zoo animals, but the pandas were just too awesome! Pandas are Joes favorite animal and it's the reason we first started calling each other "bear." These pandas were the entire reason we went to the zoo at all! We had to wait in line to see them for about 45 minutes and some crazy guy was trying to throw popcorn in the exhibits... but anyway, we waited and waited, taking a goofy touristy photo and then passing by the Red Pandas (which are SO cute!) and some kind of smelly animal (sorry, smelly guys... I forgot your name) and when we were almost there to see them the line stopped! Ugh! We were getting annoyed because we were so anxious... but it turned out we were lucky the line stopped since they were bringing out the bamboo! Oh boy, these guys were munching happily! Joe was more excited than I've ever seen him.

Papa Bear with the other papa bear, Gao Gao.

The happiest panda you ever saw!

Mama Bear and Cub with the other mama and cub, Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu.

Birds at the San Diego Zoo

I couldn't believe how awesome the flamingos were! I guess I've never really seen them in person before. They were just beautiful. Joe did a great job taking photos of all the animals!