a hunting we will go...for elephants and cheeseburgers

Last weekend we very adventurously (did I just make up a word?) took our troop and met up with our cousins, aunts, and uncles, and went on a safari.

We knew it might be dangerous, but with 6 boy cousins among the lot (and one tiny little perfect newborn girl) we knew we were covered.

So we donned our best safari-attire and travelled to the great wild world of...Cabela's. :)

For those of you who don't know, Cabela's is a big sportsmans-type warehouse full of hunting, gaming, fishing, & camping stuff. It's a boys' paradise, I'm telling you. (or at least it's my brother-in-law Mike's paradise. I think he could die and be buried there a happy man) We like to go to play on the boats, look at the live fish, and take pictures with the animals.

Note: every single animal in this store is a real-once-was-alive-taxidermied (did I just make up another word?) animal. From fish to mountain goats, snakes to deer, polar bears to lions, and my favorite, the giant elephant. Pretty cool as long as you don't get grossed out by that stuff.

This boat was only $40,000. Let's get two!

Isn't he the cutest thing? I could just eat him up with a spoon.

Remember the baby I held 2 weeks ago? Meet her parents.

She's already bigger. And didn't make a peep the entire time we were at the store. Perhaps she'll be a boater/hunter/camper/fisherwoman.

It's fun to pretend, I'll admit it.

I love the huge walk-in aquarium they have going on there.

Lots of turtles-lots of little baby turtles. Even those can probably still bite off your finger.

This picture doesn't fully convey how huge these catfish were. Probably nearly as long as Ethan is tall.

Here, fishy fishy fishy . . .

OK so not all of us were ready and willing to take this picture.

Hello new little family. :)

What you can't see: the sign that says PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE BOATS!

We caught a goat just about ready to jump!

I think they had all just had a whooping stern talking-to about staying with our group and not wandering off. (Remember how Cameron gets lost each and every place we go? Yup, happened again.)

Here. Have some mousse.

You've been moosed!

Looks comfy, right? These hunting-camo beanbags cost nearly $100 each. They better be comfy for that price.

Reclining chair in imitation leather: $45

Bear-print cover: $25

Annoying-as-crap popgun: $5

Finally wrestling said annoying-as-crap popgun from 10 year old and chucking it far far away to never be heard from again: priceless

Seriously, how adorable is he? Those big brown eyes are gonna knock the girls dead in a few years. I love how the print behind him gives him cute little deer antlers.

Boys and video games. Seriously, we're not safe anywhere.

My one regret is that we forgot to bring a bunch of quarters so the kids could actually play this shoot-the-target game.

Bummer, would have been fun.

Just pretend you hit your target, Cameron.

Give Mummy a nice pose, boys.

Hello cousins!

Cute cute cute! (the kiddos, not the big bad polar bear)

Tell me that's not impressive.

Oh and where is Cameron you ask? This is when he went a'missing. For the second or third time . . . I have since lost count. I think I'm gonna have to put a microchip in his ear or an electric shock collar around his ankle.

It costs $5 to play this game once for one player!

Good thing we 'forgot' our money.

So after the terrifying thrills of the Cabela's tundra, we hit a McD's for some freshly-kilt burgers.

The kiddos played in the play place and the adults played on the sidelines sharing the baby, catching up, and eating ice cream. We're so lucky to have family close enough to hang out with on occasion. We had fun, guys! See ya next time!