Odin's Temple of the Tiger

WELCOME to my new Follower, Dixxe, My Life My Art.  You have gorgeous photos on your blog! Thanks for joining my journey, hope you enjoy following along! :-)

As I said in my September 13 posting, my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids took me to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.  I had never been there before (they have season tickets and go often), and as we walked around, I couldn't believe all the rides and exhibits and animals--that's where the butterfly conservatory was, too.

They have over 30 animal attractions, over 100 different species, and over 500 animals.  We saw giraffes, dolphins, alligators, sharks, stingrays, elephants, tigers, and butterflies, and many, many more.  It's definitely a full day.

According to their website, "Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has been the home of tigers since 1968, advocating conservation and awareness of these magnificent animals and educating the public about these critically endangered cats.  The park is home to 11 Bengal and Amur tigers."

They are very large, very beautiful, and very graceful.  To see a cat that large walking, running, and swimming was amazing.  They explained that they don't train the tigers to do "tricks," they train them to perform natural activities that they would perform in the wild, they just do the activities on cue for the trainers.

 Odin, white Bengal tiger

Again, per their website, "Odin's temple of the Tiger is an exhibit, stage venue and showcase for Odin, the park's famous white Bengal tiger, renowned for his agility underwater.  The show also features Fedor, Nalin, and Akasha in this untimate demonstration show."

We attended this show, and it WAS amazing. Here is a YouTube video of the underwater part of the show. The trainers throw hunks of meat into the water, and the tigers dive for them. 

There were all kinds of animals to see - unfortunately I didn't get photos of many, but you've seen them all before.  I did snap a picture of some camels.  Can't remember the last time I saw a camel.

There were lots of rides, too.  We stayed in the area for younger kids, and went on a lot of rides. Here's Andrew, Lauren and Daddy, Matt in a car that goes on  a track around the grassy area in the middle.  See the little building in the back?  It's a turtle house.  If you click on the photo, you'll see a large turtle (tortoise?) in front of it - looks like a large rock.  They have, I think, three turtle houses, and we saw two or three large turtles.

And, of course, the final animal. A large, hard-skined, orange-footed, smiling, two seater turtle, with a rather bored looking Andrew in the second seat:

From Me and My Dog, have a good evening, everyone! :-)

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Today is my youngest granddaughter's birthday - Lauren is Three!  When I was visiting in Vacaville, Lauren told me when she is three, she will be a big girl.  So as of today, Lauren is a big girl.

 Lauren's 1st Birthday Party

They are going to Chucky Cheese Pizza for her party this evening.  Lauren and her brother, Andrew, are probably already home and in bed. I hope they had a good time.

 Lauren visiting Grammy (me) a few days before her 2nd Birthday.

We made a little cake together, and Lauren decorated it all by herself.

When I called this morning, Kristy and Lauren were making cupcakes to take to Chucky Cheese for the party. They were waiting to pick brother Andrew up at kindergarden so they could all decorate them together.  I asked Lauren to have Mommy send me pictures of the finished cupcakes. 

Lauren, the Big Girl, 3 years old

Lauren just LOVES Katie.   When we'd leave Katie home to go somewhere, out of the blue Lauren would say, "I wonder what Katie's doing now."  I'd say, I'll bet she's sleeping.  Lauren would say, "I think she's waiting for us to come home."  And of course, when we'd get home, Katie would be waiting right by the door, so Lauren probably thinks she's been standing there waiting for us to get home since we left.  Her mom and dad told me she talks about Katie a lot.  

This photo was labeled "Lauren's first slumber party" on her mom's face book page, so cute!  She sleeps with her babies and animals every night in her little bed.  Not always this many, though.

So, Lauren, I hope you had a Very Happy Birthday and lots of  fun at Chucky Cheese.  Sleep well, Baby Face.  (To which Lauren always says, "I'm not Baby Face!")

From me and Katie, have a good evening, everyone!  :-)

Sleeping in at an RV park, and cute cats

WELCOME, Susan S!  Thank you for following my blog, I enjoyed reading yours, and hope you enjoy following along with me and Katie!

This is something I've been thinking about:  How easy is it to sleep in when staying at an RVpark?

Then Margie, (My Healthy Living Thru Weight Control), mentioned in her blog today that she and her husband, Bruce, set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. every day.  They are full-timers.  I work four days a week, and always set my alarm for those work mornings to make sure I am up on time.  Just In Case.  Since I've been doing this for so long now, I usually wake up before the alarm goes off.  But on the other three days, unless I have to be somewhere early, I NEVER set it.  I still usually wake up early, unless I'm really tired. 
 
I was always a sleeper when I was young, I always hit the snooze button over and over, and got up at the last minute. As a teenager I slept in as long as I could on weekends, 10 or 11:00 a.m.  Drove my mother crazy!
 
My grandmother was an early riser, one of those people who wake up and get up really early, like 5:00 a.m. - every day.  No alarm.  I always wished I could do that and now I can, kind of. 
 
Speaking of clocks and time, this little YouTube video is funny - a tiny bit off color, but funny:
 

 
My plan when I am a full-timer is to get up when I wake up without having to set an alarm.  I don't expect to be much of a sight-seer, I just want to park and live in different areas of different states.  I've wondered, though, how easy it is to sleep in when one is parked in an RV  park.  The rigs seem to be very close together, and unless I'm boondocking or staying in a relatively empty park, wouldn't the normal noise of people getting up, going out, moving around, starting cars, etc. wake me up, and everyone trying to sleep in?
 
Might seem silly, but this is something I've been wondering about. 
 
Speaking of silly, here's an April Fool's Day prank I read on-line.  Don't try this at home:
 
"I set the alarm clock for one minute past midnight so it was April 1st. The alarm went off, my husband got up, shaved, showered and then came back to the bedroom to get dressed, checked the clock and, well, he didn’t talk to me for two weeks."  LOL!
 
Even though I am a dog person, I have had cats in the past.  When I lived in Pollock Pines, CA, I had two cats, Baxter, a grey tabby, and Brady, an orange tabby.  They were the best cats, and I really miss them.  These are two photos I have of them, and I thought you might enjoy seeing them.
 

They were so cute together.

Baxter and Brady sitting on the back of the couch.

 

Judy, what kind of bird is this?
Baxter's favorite place on the deck.

This bird feeder didn't attract many birds!

 

From me and Katie, have a good evening, everyone! :)

Me and My Grandkids

Last night got pretty cool, and when I was sitting on the couch watching TV and playing with my laptop, Katie was sitting next to me shivering.  She doesn't shiver like a lot of small dogs, only when she is cold.  So I dug out one of her sweaters, she was so excited she ran and ran all over the house.  

Here she is - in a beautiful blue sweater with black polka-dot collar - what all the fashionable dogs are wearing. : )  And the shivering stopped.

My son, Tom, and his wife, Trish, are out of town for a few days and they needed help with the kids (my grandkids).  So, Friday I picked them up at school and dropped them off at home, where they have someone helping them with the kids.  I had wanted to spend some time with them while Mom and Dad were gone, but I've had a bug since I returned from Vacaville.  (I usually do come down with something when I get home from Vacaville, I think it's the change of weather.)  It's not too bad, but I didn't want to pass it on, just in case.

So, today at noon I picked up my grandaughter, Kennedy, brought her to my house for lunch and some playtime.  I always have my son's kids, who live nearby, come over for their birthdays and we bake a birthday cake for them, they get to help as much as they can for their age, and then they get to decorate it, and bring it home.

So, today when Kennedy got here, the first thing she wanted to do was bake a cake.  Not a birthday cake, an unbirthday cake.  I never bake anymore, unless the kids are here, but luckily I had a cake mix in the cupboard.  As Kennedy was putting it together and mixing it up, I realized I didn't have any "store bought" frosting, which I usually have on hand.  Out came the "encyclopedia cookbooks," remember them?  Sure enough, a ton of frosting recipes, including a simple white powdered sugar/butter frosting, just what I was looking for.  And boy, was it good!

Notice the Jelly Belly hat - I didn't realize I brought it home in the bag with the Belly Flops, and Kennedy happily wore it while baking.

I couldn't find my usual cake pans, so we used a large shallow pan, and I cut it up into squares so they would be easier to carry home with Kennedy.  Also, she got to decorate four cakes instead of one.  First frosting, then marshmellows, jelly beans and lots of sprinkles.  Great Job, Kennedy!  :)

Close up of these beauties:

I have a second bedroom that was my guest bedroom, then it was my office. Then it was my sewing room.  Now it's my craft room.  It has everything you can think of - that I haven't already sold on Craig's List - for making paper type crafts.  Kennedy is 7 1/2, and very creative.  She wants to be an artist when she grows up, and whenever I set her up at one of my tables with my supplies, she always comes up with something pretty great.  Here she is seriously concentrating on her work:

Here is the picture so far...we had to leave for "cheerleading class," so we left everything out so she can finish it next time.

A bit blurry - here's close ups of the parts:

She used lots of 3-D elements that were pretty cute - a bell over the roof of the house, a wooden sign on a post that says "Home Sweet Home," a ladybug on the flower.

Of course, palm trees for a San Diego house.

A pink cloud and "Kennedy."  So cute.  But not finished yet...

After cheer class, we picked up Kennedy's brother, Gavin, who is 5.  He was at his Little League game when I picked up Kennedy, and then he stayed to watch his friend's game, too.  The friend's parents brought him home, and we picked him up and went to McDonalds for dinner.  They also have a little brother, Graydin, who was two in April.  He's my youngest grandson, and stayed home today with the Nanny, while the other two were out and about.

I have five grandchildren - two are my daughter's kids, in Vacaville, and three are my son's here in San Diego. They are such cute kids, enthusiastic, smart, polite, and so much fun.  There are all the best!  But they do wear me out - so I am now going to get little Katie and we're going to bed.  Looks like she's ready!

 From Me and My Dog, good night everyone! :)

Droid2 and Picasa

Good Grief!  I forgot to WELCOME my two new followers yesterday.  Too excited about my new phone.  So... a belated WELCOME to Heidi and Freely Living Life!  Thanks for following Me and My Dog, and I hope you enjoy the ride!  We're happy to have you along.

Still working on setting up my new Droid2.  I went in this morning to the Verizon store. They said on the phone it was a class from 8 to 9 am., so I was there at 7:50 - of course, early!  They opened the doors at 8:00, and their were a few of us.  It's not actually a class, just a tutorial of whatever questions you have.  They had 4 or 5 sales people there to help, so it went pretty fast for all of us.  I bought the screen cover - a thin plastic sheet that goes over the screen so it won't get scratched - and a cover for the phone.  I was going to get the leather cover, but a man next to me recommended the rubber, or silicon, cover, which he said was easier to hold onto, so that's what I got.

I've got all my contacts in now, with photos by their phone numbers so when people call me, their photo comes up and I can see right away who it is.  At least for my family and friends.  I always go around the house and take photos of photos with my phone.  Then I transfer them to the contacts.

I downloaded a few free apps - games mostly.  Organized the home page with the apps I will use the most.  It's a pretty cool phone, and I think worth the money I paid, $150.00.  (I can't believe I spent that much, but I did.)  At least my company will pay the phone bill until I retire - that's a great benefit of  my job, my boss pays for my phone and my gas.   (Not total freebies, the reimbursement for phone and gas was in lieu of a higher salary, so it's actually part of my pay every month.)

I downloaded Picasa again, I haven't had it on this laptop, and it did it's thing finding all the individual faces and putting them together in separate files.  Love the way it does that face recognition.  I'm wanting to put together a video of my granddaughter, Lauren's, first gymnastics class - she was so cute and loved it so much, I pretty much videotaped the whole 45 minutes.  There's a lot that needs to be cut out, so I need to find a program to do that.  I've never worked with video before, so between the new phone, playing with Picasa, and learning how to cut the video into a movie, I've got my work cut out for me.

I spent a good part of this morning adding names to the photos Picasa didn't recognize.  Then I made a collage of some photos of Andrew, my grandson.

They are such cute kids, smart, athletic, good looking, sweet, well behaved, and they love Grammy and Katie.  What more could I ask? 

Have a good evening from Me and My Droid...I mean Katie! :)