Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Party

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Here’s Negra at the beginning of the party this morning, delicately sipping from her cup of pomegranate juice.

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Here’s Negra a few minutes later, when she realized that the other chimps were getting all the food.

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Actually, Negra was the big winner of the party today, as you’ll see in the video below. But everyone had a great time, thanks to Syd and Diane, Lisa, Steph, and all the volunteers.

I hope you all are having a great Valentine’s Day too! And if Valentine’s Day is not your thing, I hope you enjoy watching the chimps celebrate theirs. And remember – you can help keep the celebration going by Sharing the Chimp Love.

Big thanks to Debbie Redwine for her $500 challenge donation that was quickly matched by Bridget Lepley, and matched again by Adrienne Armstrong. Truly a day to warm our hearts!

Happy Lunar New Year!

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The CSNW party planners were at it again today, helping the chimps celebrate the first day of the Year of the Horse. Volunteers Patti and Stephanie brought decorations and food, as well as a special new toy for Burrito, and interns Larkin, Julie, and Whitney helped prepare for the party.

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The festivities began in the playroom after cleaning. Jamie went right to work opening the “firecracker” gifts, and Missy inspected the decorations.

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At lunchtime, the party moved to the greenhouse. Annie gathered snap peas from the party boxes.

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Negra filled her mouth with eggplant, then added a crayon for good measure.

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Thankfully, she saved a little for Foxie.

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Jody seemed to enjoy the lemongrass. We weren’t sure if the chimps had ever had it before.

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And Burrito was in his element. There is no purer form of happiness on this earth than Burrito with a mouthful of food. He started with the party boxes.

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Then he foraged for chow in the straw.

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He ended up with more food than he could hold on to. This made him even happier.

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For Burrito and the rest of the Seven, it doesn’t matter what holiday they are celebrating. Any day is an excuse for new toys, good food, and the company of friends. And lucky for them, our volunteers provided all three!

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The Chimpanzees’ 12th Man Blue Friday Seahawks Party

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The Seattle Seahawks have had a great season so far, and we decided the chimpanzees should be part of the 12th Man Blue Friday activities! Seahawks and chimpanzee fan Melanie Kelsey helped us out by buying some decorations that volunteer Patti picked up. The decorations were a big hit with Burrito, as you’ll see in the video below.

Perhaps on game day this Sunday, when the Seahawks play the Minnesota Vikings, the chimps will let out their loudest pant-hoot to contribute to the loud and proud tradition of the 12th man. Go Hawks!

Jamie Chimpanzee drinking from a Seahawks cup

 

Jamie Chimpanzee’s Hallowbirthday 2013

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At Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest we take parties pretty seriously, and on this day, we have two occasions to celebrate: Halloween and Jamie’s 36th birthday. Consequently, we went a little wild with the festivities today.

The chimpanzees are lucky to have some really great friends, and today we want to thank three of them in particular for making the day so special. Supporter Jayne Roepke mailed us several boxes full of the most fun and creative enrichment for today’s party (and treated the chimps to some delicious and festive party food!); Lisa Stuverud sponsored today in Jamie’s honor; and volunteer caregiver Stephanie brought some more party decorations, food, and enrichment, including this hand-carved birthday/Halloween pumpkin:

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The pumpkin was the star of the show, as you’ll see in the video below. But first, some photos of the party this morning.

Negra with a gift bag:

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and with a chunk of the giant pumpkin:

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Jody enjoying some cran-pomegranate juice:

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and deconstructing one of the cute ghost pinatas that Jayne sent:

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Jody also loved the giant pumpkin:

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Foxie with the giant pumpkin (are you sensing a theme?):

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Burrito taking a brief break from foraging:

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Annie drinking some juice:

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And if you’re wondering about Jamie, the birthday girl, she thoroughly enjoyed the festivities. Here she is looking cool with a party straw:

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foraging for berries:

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inspecting some new presents:

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and treating herself to a “martini”:

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One of the highlights of the day was watching the chimps dig into the pumpkin. They all eventually had their turns at it, but Negra was the first to enjoy the spoils.

If you’re signed up to receive our e-newsletter, you know that we’re holding a competition to see which chimpanzee can get the most Chimpanzee Pals by the end of the year. Wish Jamie a happy 36th birthday by signing up to be her Pal today!

Happy Jamieween, everyone!

Redfin Party Video!

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We had some awesome donations from Redfin left over from the party a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to throw a second Redfin party!

We managed to get some video too (see below). Negra was definitely the star of this party, and both she and Jody got the most out of the terrific house piñatas.

Thank you, Redfin for all of the party supplies and for making such a special day for the chimps not just once, but twice!

 

 

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Jody eating a house

 

 

Thank you, Redfin!

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Today the chimpanzees enjoyed a party sponsored by Felicity Wood and Redfin! The chimpanzees enjoyed lots of new enrichment to include a giant Lego castle and a fabulous red and white themed food forage. While the chimps are always up for a party, Jamie in particular seemed to enjoy today and much to our delight she found countless projects to engage in throughout the afternoon. And if you aren’t already aware, finding something to enrich Jamie is no small feat.

Here Debbie realizes her dream of adult size Legos as Jamie helps her with the directions to building the castle:

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The finished result of Jamie and Debbie’s hard work and two amazing house pinatas:

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Here’s Jamie investigating the castle:

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Annie checking out a giant red crayon:

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Jody as her beautiful self:

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Jamie enjoying a cranberry raspberry “cocktail”:

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Annie investigating a new bowling set:

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Thank you so much for your time and effort in giving the chimpanzees a fun and interesting day, Redfin!

A Gentleman’s Tea Party

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Today I brought in some new “garden tool” themed enrichment for the chimpanzees so we decided to throw an impromptu garden tea party in the greenhouse this morning.  JB and Diana contributed beautiful roses from their garden which the chimps love to smell and eat, and we brewed some berry tea to put out in teacups.  And in perfect serendipity, Zibby Wilder, a former board member for the sanctuary (featured in this video of when the chimps first arrived almost five years ago!), came for a visit and just happened to bring fresh grapevines which the chimps were very excited about!  Being the only fella at the garden tea party, Burrito had no problem problem joining in to enjoy the treats and he was the perfect gentleman.

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