Bird Watchers

These two.  

They've become quite the bird watchers over the past school year.  It all started with this book that we used to learn about a variety of birds during our simple study of the 50 states...

   

and then this little guy paid a visit to our swing set (this is what got me into bird watching, you see, we don't get cardinals around here, or maybe we do and I've never noticed, but I've lived here for 12 years and this is the first time I've ever seen one)

(I Man's cardinal)

and of course we had to draw them in our nature journals

(L's cardinal)

{Nerd fact:  7 states claim the cardinal as their state bird, making it the most popular!}.

And then, the book explained how to make a bird blind...

and L made a sign "welcome all birds!"

 a posed picture for mom

and the wait was on (I took these pictures without them knowing - love them!).  They took books and snacks and while they didn't last as long as I thought they would, they did report seeing sparrows and robins.  :)   

Other visitors to our yard this spring/summer include this American Redstart,

a goldfinch trying...

very hard to get the string off of our soccer net (he didn't),

and Mr. &

Mrs. Mallard

 

 who came for a swim in our ditch a few weeks ago.

Since then, Mrs. Mallard has been back several times

 and just this week, we discovered that she's nesting under a bush by our front step.  See her tail feathers in the center of the picture?  Look closely a little further left and you can see her eye. And while it might not be ideal for a duck to nest right next to your front door, we're all hoping she stays and that her eggs hatch, because seeing a mama duck with her little ducklings (just like in Make Way for Ducklings) would be the icing on these bird watchers cake! 

Oh, and no, we're not walking like the bird watcher in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (yet!)...

but we might have our noses buried in one of these books

and our hands full of robin eggs!

For my own records:  other birds we've seen in the yard, but have not photographed include sparrows, robins, chickadees, purple finches (which are actually reddish, not purple), a blue jay, an oriole (we think) and grackles.

the big ONE!

That's right!  This baby boy is ONE (does that mean I can't call him baby, anymore?  Nah!) and yesterday we celebrated his first birthday.  It was a day full of family, presents and CAKE!    

  

 (through the months)

(LJ wasn't sure what to do with the cake.  I had to put some in his mouth before he figured out to eat it...

he did all right, though, don't ya think?)

 

(bubbles - the best spring birthday party favor ever!)

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Our Vacation in 53 Pictures

Believe me when I say that 53 pictures is an accomplishment as I took 1200+ pictures in 8 days (yes, I know, I have a problem, ahem!).  We decided last minute (as in, we bought the tickets two weeks before we left) to join D's parents in Coronado, California for a week. It's a vacation we've taken before and every time we go we have such a great time!  This time was no different and here are just a few 53 of my favorites pictures...

 

 (There's a cheetah back there...

 see?)

 (Eek!  This baby gorilla was so, so cute!)

(La Jolla's Seal Rock)

 (Balboa Park)

 (Oh how I wish I Man were smiling in this picture...believe me, we tried!)

 (LJ scored his own seat on the flight from San Diego!)