Woodland Park Zoo Seattle Review and Hornbill Conservation Program

Recently we visited the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle to check out the bird exhibits. Since watching Rio the movie JJ has been really interested in all birds of any kind. We thought what a great way to have a fun family day while also incorporating a little learning along the way. I love outings like that!

Our first stop was the Willawong Station, a place where you can get up close and personal with some birds and feed them as well. You can buy a stick of food for a dollar and hold it up to the birds and hope that they land on it. I say hope because I am sure with people coming in and out all day long that at some point they are full. We were able to get a few birds to land on our sticks and that was so exciting! Even if they don't come to your tasty treat they are really cool to see flying around right above your head.

(The birds were beautiful)

(JJ and his Dad reaching up high)

(Here birdie, birdie)

Next we stopped off to see the Knobbed Hornbill. The Sulawesi Red-Knobbed Hornbill to be exact. The Hornbill and the Toucan look a lot a like so JJ wanted to check them out. Come to find out they are very different, Toucans live only in Central and South America; hornbills live only in Africa and Asia. Toucans are more closely related to woodpeckers, while hornbills are more closely related to kingfishers.

(My boys reading facts about the Hornbill)

The Hornbills were a little tricky for us to find so here is the info from the Zoo's web site: Sulawesi red-knobbed hornbills are on exhibit in the large enclosure north of the Conservation Aviary in the Temperate Forest. The Temperate Forest also includes the Family Farm, “Bug” World, Wetlands, and Asian Cranes. Other birds on exhibit in the Conservation Aviary include: various pheasant species, curassows and trumpeters from South America, and several softbills (jays, laughing thrushes, turacos, whistling thrushes, birds of paradise, mynahs).

(After many attempts to take a picture of this guy this was the best I could get)

(Here is a better one from the Zoo)

While at the Woodland Park Zoo we enjoyed all of the other animals as well. JJ loved the Family Farm where he could pet the goats and other animals. Baby L, not so much but he loves to be carried by his Dad no matter what they are doing. It was a great day to enjoy the sunshine and all that the Zoo had to offer. We go at least a few times every year and every time we leave we always talk about what a great day we had.

You can find out more about the Woodland Park Zoo on their facebook and twitter pages. For more about the Hornbill Research Foundation and how the people of Thailand in the birds natural habitat have worked to protect the birds from poachers and illegally logging you can visit the site.

There is also a very neat Adopt a Nest Program where you can donate money to help protect Hornbill nests.
For $150 a year you and your family can adopt a nest. The donation helps to:

• subsidize local villagers in their efforts to conserve hornbills
• funds studies of the biological and ecological aspects of hornbills
• allows villagers to collect data on hornbills for research and  monitor and secure long-term hornbill populations in the area.

* I was not paid for this post. My family and I received passes to visit the Zoo for the day and feed the birds at the Willawong station. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others.

My Spin on Chilly Cheese Fries with Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries #OreIdaFries

 Meal time in my home can be a bit of a whirlwind. I am not the greatest cook although I am making attempts to learn more now that I have my son to feed. We do our best to make sure we at least all eat dinner together. Since my son is only 20 months old I tend to make him a "baby" version of what ever I will be having.

One of my favorite things to eat is chilly cheese fries. Lately they have been a bit same old same old as far as flavors. I have tried different toppings to make them tastier but never did I think to try a different type of fries!

I have noticed in the stores over the summer the emergence of Sweet Potato fries. I have been very curious to try them but my reluctant husband has said we probably would not like them. Wow was he wrong, and he will admit to it too! I was surprised at how delicious they are. My son gobbled up the Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries faster than our regular Ore-Ida Extra Crispy fries. But this is the ending to our fun story about #OreIdaFries.

To find Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries we searched for them at a few Sam's Clubs. We have been Sam's members for at least 10 years now. I love going there to get great deals on products we use daily and to find new products. I once tried a fudge on sample day that was so good! This day I was on a mission to find the Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries by Heinz to swap out my regular fries.

When we first got into the store my son immediately noticed the Big Screen tvs playing one of his favorite movies Rio. We stood there for a few minutes dancing to the songs then continued shopping. We went past the snacks section full of tempting treats, but I was sticking to my plan of trying to make it a healthy shopping trip.

We headed to the Frozen Foods section to find our Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries by Heniz. They were super easy to find under the "Potatoes" label. We found them right next to the Ore-Ida fries we usually purchase.

We grabbed a bag to put in our cart and continued to shop around. We went the juice section to see of they carried a brand my son loves, no luck there. We spotted my once favorite Naked Juice but opted to wait to get Fruit Simple instead.

We had to visit my favorite section where they place the holiday stuff. We found great Halloween items there. Its a fun reminder that the fall is just around the corner! We then headed to the Back to School supplies for any great deals that were a must have.

Then I remembered I needed to find beans for my chili cheese fries. I first looked for the brand I like to buy, S and W then for the type of bean I was trying to find, black beans. I did not find black beans but I knew I could get them on the way home at Walmart.

Since we were just at Sam's getting household supplies and food a few days before this all we needed for this trip was our #OreIdaFries . As we headed out I resisted the temptation to get a pretzel and an icee since I did not want to spoil our appetites.
The check out lady was super sweet and drew a smiley face on our receipt. The door attendant was also a nice woman who commented on how beautiful my son's eyes are and gave him another smiley face on our receipt. Great way to leave a store, flattered and with exactly what we came for in our cart!

As soon as we got home I pre-heated the oven and got all our ingredients to do my spin on Chilly Cheese Fries using Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries by Heniz. I used black beans with tons of freshly ground pepper for the chilly part. I know its not regular chilly but it something my son and I love to eat. I buy the 50% less sodium cans when my son is going to be eating them too.

After the #OreIdaFries were done I left them sit for a bit while I made the beans. I always drain out all of the water from the can and even put in a bit of water and swish it around to get out all the starchy water that is in with the beans. I find it to taste better when you do that. I put the beans in the saute pan with a bunch of pepper and warmed them up. For my sons part of the dish I smash up his beans and mix the cheese into the bean mash. He will eat every bit of the healthy black beans if I do it this way. Its not the prettiest way but he loves it. For me I left my beans whole. After the beans were hot I poured them over the Ore-Ida Sweet Potato Fries that I had sitting in the pan. I left them in the pan to make it easier to warm everything up. Then I added shredded cheddar and  I added red onions to my side of the meal. I placed it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the onions.

I loved how it tasted! It gave my regular chilly cheese fries a whole new flavor. I will definitely be buying this again.

 Since we had our Sweet Potato #OreIdaFries I have had them with fish and green beans. We had family come over for the evening and with kids and adults both here I served a big plate of the Sweet Potato Fries with ketchup and ranch as dipping sauce. They were a huge hit and no one knew they were getting their beta carotene!

*This project has been compensated as part of a  #OreIdaFries shopping mission for Heinz with #CollectiveBias. All opinions are my own and may vary from others.

Four Seasons Seattle Art Restaurant Larry Gets Lost In Seattle Menu Review

On Sunday we spent the day in our favorite city, Seattle and while we were there we went to the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences for Brunch. Now I know what you may be thinking, you took two small children to the Four Seasons for Brunch? Have you lost your mind? You might be thinking the Four Seasons is pretty fancy and luxurious place to take your children to for brunch, I know I used to. I guess I thought that the Four Seasons was a place for the executive type and with two little boys we do not fit that bill! I was so wrong.

(Here we are outside of the hotel, on the streets of Seattle)

The Four Seasons Hotel has collaborated with John Skewes, the creator and illustrator of the successful Larry Gets Lost™ picture book series to create a creative kids menu. Remember in March when we did the book review for Larry Gets Lost in Seattle? We love Larry and when we heard the news that the Art Restaurant and Lounge loves him as much as we do, we were dying to check it out!


When we were seated the first thing we noticed was the set up for the boys. They each had a fresh bowl of fruit, a cup of water in a cute cup and a berry smoothie with a straw! I have to give the Four Seasons credit, they know how to start a meal off right for kids :) As you can see the smoothies were a HUGE hit!


The place mats had Larry and Pete on them and the menus were just like the book but with coloring activities as well. JJ and Baby L were "reading" their menus like good little boys.




Larry's Menu for Kids had a lot to choose from but as soon as JJ heard pasta that was it. He knew what he wanted. On top of pasta being his favorite meal, the pasta was in the shape of the Space Needle, a tourist spot in Seattle that he learned about from reading Larry Gets Lost in Seattle. Perfect. For Baby L we ordered the PB and J sandwich, another perfect choice for a 1 year old.

(Here are the Space Needle Noodles with cheese!)

(Baby L's PB and J, look how cute they cut off the crust!)

(JJ and I after his meal arrived, he was so excited!)

For brunch I had a sausage skillet and my husband had an omelet, both very tasty but I guess this is about the kids right? The boys both ate up their food and were perfect gentlemen, well except Baby L may have been ready to go as soon as he was done. But all and all the boys were very good. A lot of that was do to the wait staff. Everyone was so nice to us. This is our cute and super sweet waitress Tamara, she was so good talking to JJ and really made him feel special.

(Our server,Tamara presented JJ with a Jones Soda that featured Pete and Larry. Awesome)

(We love Larry!)

Part of our little outing was to celebrate my birthday as well. So for the occasion we ordered the Space Needle Sundae from the Larry's Sweet Stuff off the kids menu. They were not joking when they said it was a Space Needle Sundae. The giant Space Needle was made out of shortbread cookie, with Apple cotton candy around the Needle to represent fog, and inside was chocolate and vanilla ice cream. YUM!!! We shared/devoured it. What a clever way to incorporate the beautiful city we were in.

As you can see JJ LOVED it!

To be honest at first I was a little apprehensive about taking two small boys to the Four Seasons Restaurant even though they do have a kids menu. I thought for sure we would be booted out of their for even thinking about dining there! Haha I was so wrong. Not only does the lobby have a really cool fire place when you walk into the lobby, the restaurant has beautiful views of the city, the staff is amazing, you really do feel welcome there. I loved everything about our experience. I would bring my children back here any time knowing that we are always welcome. Thank you to the Four Seasons Seattle and the Art Restaurant for making this experience great for my family and for letting us know that even though we have small children, we can still go to a "fancy" restaurant and enjoy ourselves. 
 

*We were guest of the Four Seasons and Art restaurant for the Larry Gets Lost in Seattle Menu promotion. We were not paid for our review. The opinions are 100% mine and may vary from others. We were provided a meal from the PR company that represents them.