Sweet 16

                                              Can you believe this little cutie turned 16?

Well she wanted a party so a party she got.  Morgan and 19 of her closest :-) friends celebrated this past Saturday.  We had the food catered from Chipotle and I have to say,  that was money well spent.  Not only did all the girls love it, but Chipotle literally provides everything you could need-lots of good food, bunsin burners to keep the food warm, an assortment of salsas, soft and crispy tortillas and all the paper products.

The other thing she asked for was a hot chocolate bar.  We found a really good mint mix that was clearanced for Christmas and then we also made a batch of the creamy crockpot hot chocolate and that was really rich and delicious.

 

 

  

 

And although she really didn't want a cake, I wanted one.  So she asked that it was nothing that screamed "sweet 16" and asked for an ombre cake.  That was kind of a challenge, but I think the bakery did a great job.

 

  

I told her that I had a surprise for the party, but didn't give her many clues.  As the party got closer, I got a little nervous that my surprise was not going to be a good one.  Turns out, it was a hit.  We had a henna tattoo artist here for about 2 hours and the girls just loved it.

                              Happy Birthday Morgan Olivia...may you have a sweet 16th year!

Safari West

Our last activity before break was over was a trip to Safari West in Santa Rosa.  We have been here once before, but I'm guessing it was 9 or 10 years ago.  The tours take place rain or shine and the first time we went it was pouring.  We came prepared, but I think we all preferred the sunshine.  Of course, that's a bit deceiving as the sun may have been shining, but it was cold.

Anyway, it was a great excursion.  The first part of our tour was a bit of walking around the property.  There are some caged animals, but the pens are large and it is a much different experience than going to the zoo.  Even the aviary is pretty spectacular and lots of birds we had never seen before.

Once on the tour, we got to see the larger animals.

These two boys were rough housing...guess it doesn't matter what species-siblings like to fight!

There were also lots of babies to be seen throughout the tour.

And what I surprise we had.  As the guide was telling us about sables, one of the other passengers on our jeep calls out, "Hey, I think one is having a baby."  And sure enough the calm and quiet mama sable was in the middle of giving birth.  Our guide let us peek in for awhile, but then it was time to move on and give the new mom and baby some space.  But that was quite a little bonus on our tour.

On the property on tent cabins where guest can stay the night.  Perhaps our next visit will be an overnighter so we can have a little more up close time with the animals.