Kiki On Safari

JBRJ got us a 1-year family pass to the Seattle Zoo and yesterday we finally made it happen. Annie had a Shower to go to, so Kian and I hooked up the Chariot to the bike and headed West a few blocks... its a 10-minute bike ride.

When I purveyed the zoo map we were in the vicinity of the African Savanah and I was stoked that Kian's first animal sighting could be the Hippos, but they were a huge, HUGE disappointment: they just lay there in the mud and Kian even noticed them. So we moseyed on over to the giraffes and that was a HUGE hit. Then the lions, the tigers, the hyennas, the flamingos and the reptilians. It's just a ten-minute bike ride, so when the hunger knocking started we busted home and were eating lunch before the bonking started.

Daddy, let's go this way!

Squeezing in for a front row view: Orangutangs are the coolest!

Some of these animals are boring.

The Latest From the Land of Snows

Maybe not an apt title for the Northwest this winter, but there is still enough snow up there to make for some really nice nordic skiing. If set and groomed right, I'll settle for 3" if I have to.

Since back from our SW-Baja Trip we've been weekends on the Chiwawa and at the Stevens Nordic Center where we are "hosts": we check for poachers and scammers and other tricky bastards, we direct skier and snowshoer traffic, we chat and schmooze, and we ski our butts off. We love it, and its like family up there so we have a good time. I've worked and hosted up there now for 6 years straight and at this point I couldn't afford a pass, so this volunteer job is a must. A no-brainer must.

I think I have some pics from a few of the weekends.

Rise and Shine, Kian, we're going to Nordic!

Yeah!

Putting on those all important base-layers.

Hard at Work: Sorry folks, no ticket, no ski.

If Mike Power has got a loader, I want a loader.

You can't catch me, Rob Dilling.

Hard at Play: Finally, now its my turn to ski!

Kian's first time on skis, Jan '010.

From Annie's Cam

First day at the big O.

Okay, thumbs everybody!

Lets try this again. Yea, thumbs!

Hey Kian, we're doin thumbs. Hurray, thumbs!
My fault, I'll photoshop my thumb up.

More biathlon shot shots.

Das Norveegens vent cavazy.

Kiki on patrol in Vancouver.

We skied. A lot.

Team Blackistan: zero in the medal count, but
won the Platinum medal in fun.

Biggest hockey fans ever.

Mayhem at the rings: we were consumed.

The medal ceremony with the Norwegians, the Russians, the Swedes....
Miga and Squatch?

Every night in Robson Square at 930 the fireworks went off. I will
try to post the accompanying video, see below.

Down!

Up!

Ruuuuuuuuun!

More Olympictures

Here's a few pics poached from Facebook, so I'm unsure who should get the copyrights for these but I'm also unsure how the quality will be of these online -- probably not good for the exploding view.

At the Olympic Rings in Whistler.

At the Omega bobsled in Whistler: Kian, Mandie and I riding
shotgun in the 6-1/2 man bobosleigh (In French, the 2-man
bobsled is called Bob-a-deux).

Yuck-in it up with Michael Black.

Oooot and a-boot in a toque in Whistler

(let it be known that the scarf is mine, not Kian's:
it doesn't say "I love beer foam", does it.

Just a little tipsy.

U-S-A is Numero Uno (at the time): here we are in the village
celebrating amidst thousands of rabid Canadian hockey fans while
crushing them at the first meeting. Only feared for our lives a little bit.

Kian can say it: poutine!

The Seattle-gang makes the trip to the 4x10 relay. Watch it here
without commentary from the NBC boobs.