Fun with family

Abel is leaving in a couple of days, and we are trying to get as much sightseeing done as we can. I had a long list of places I wanted to take him, but I asked Abel to choose a couple out of the list, so we could plan accordingly with the time we have.

First stop today was Jelly Belly Factory. Although my kids had been there before, they still loved trying new and old flavors. Best of all, they enjoyed being with Abel and Rebekah. As for Abel and Rebekah, they had a good time learning about the Jelly Belly Beans at the tour offered at this factory, but you should have seen them shooting like a lightning bolt toward the store as soon as the tour was over. When I asked the children what they liked the best about the visit at the Jelly Belly Factory, James answered that he enjoyed being with Abel and Rebekah; Jefferson said he liked trying all kinds of Jelly Belly Beans; and Gillian said that she liked learning about the different flavors and then trying them on. She became an expert on recognizing the kind of flavor a particular jelly bean had just by looking at it.
We had some lunch before we left the Jelly Belly Factory, and then headed toward the Oakland Zoo, a cheerful place that welcomes children of all ages, as well as their moms. We started our zoo experience by getting on the Outback train. There were banners everywhere about how great this new exhibit of Australian animals was, and so it wasn't our fault that we all had high expectations. However, after we stayed in line for twenty minutes, we finally got to see this great new exhibit. To say that we were a bit disappointed is underrated. Let's just say that we felt exactly what Gillian said about it later, bored. The ride was just ten minutes long, and the only Australian animals they had were a few emus and wallaroos. The truth of the matter is that it was really fun seeing these animals up close in their natural habitat and not closed up in some cage. I have never seen wallaroos in real life and it was rather fun to see them hop around as the train passed by. But to say that it was a great exhibit, I think it was a bit exaggerated. The only thing I can come up with is that the Zoo care takers were a bit exited to have some outback animals in their zoo, even though there were only two kinds.

Charlton really liked looking at the emu birds. I learned that these birds, although they have capable wings, they don't use them. They don't need too. They could run anytime at 40 miles/hour.

After the train ride, we headed toward Rebekah's favorite animals, the giraffes. The giraffes were in an entertaining mood. A lot of them were very close to us, eating, chewing, standing, sitting, and our favorite, sticking their long tongues out at us. Two of them were even showing their courting moves to all of us.


Among all the animals we usually see when we go to the Zoo, today I captured some shots of a hummingbird fluttering his wings on his way to getting some nectar, a whole family of mere cats just putting a show for all of us, and a mischievous look on a crocodile's face.

The children played around at the children's zoo, while Rebekah and I attempted to relax for a moment or two. I know the children will truly miss their uncle, Abel, who played with them all sorts of games.

On the way back, I decided to take Abel and Rebekah to the Oakland Temple. I've been meaning to take Abe there for quite some time, and I decided I couldn't let him leave without feeling the peace and beauty that the temple grounds offer. The children and I always go up at the temple terrace and enjoy the view of Oakland and San Francisco from up there, as well as the myriads of gorgeous plants that surround the grounds.

We had a busy day sightseeing, but I think we all enjoyed being with each other more than anything.