The Bunny

I took this video two weeks ago when Sophie was visiting Karen and Jack. We had the twins outside in the pool after dinner and our rabbits decided to come visit. There are two of them and they are pretty bold in that they will feed underneath the bird feeder while we are outside. I started shooting this video to see just how close they would let me come. But the reaction from Emily to Michael was something neither one of us has seen before. It was nice to see this side of her.

In other news, the birds are gone from their nest. I assumed they had flown away, but Terry said to him it looks like they had been eaten. Yikes! I thought the nest looked a bit messy when I checked it yesterday, and we do have a stray cat that loves our yard. However, we didn't see any other debris, so maybe they did make it to safety, I can only hope.

The Third Bird

Blogger has been giving me problems for three days now, the previous post I started on Monday. I finally realized that I would have to re-do the entire thing. Luckily I was able to cut and paste, so it didn't take too long.

But, now that we are back, I wanted to share this photo. The third egg hatched, and the birds are 1 and 2 days old in this photo. Sophie and Noah named them Charlie, Ned and Joey.

We are having some discussion over what kind of birds they are. Terry says he saw a female cardinal leaving the nest, but my other sources tell me these were wren eggs. It is hard to catch the mother on the nest, so I will have to keep observing the babies and see if I can tell as they mature. And, speaking of things in the wild, if you haven't done so yet, check out my brother Tom's big catch. An amazing fish for a very tenacious fisherman!

Father's Day Weekend

Last week Sophie went to Aunt Karen and Uncle Jack's for two nights, then spent a third night at Nana's. She had a great time hanging out at the pool, going to Monkey Joe's, taking a drive to PTC to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gould, and basically basking in the attention.

Michael and Emily don't have a preference for the bigger neighborhood pool or the one in our backyard, so we opt for the backyard when Sophie's not around. Emily's favorite activity is throwing everything out, and Michael never seems to mind picking it all back up for her.

On Father's Day we drove up to Nana's to pick Sophie up. We had not been up to her house in way too long, and the kids really enjoyed it. They got to fool around on the piano, and Karen brought a bocce set as well. Michael was more interested in retrieving the balls then in playing correctly, much to his older sister's annoyance.

And congratulations to my father, who finally won the "who has the most grandchildren" contest at the 5:30 Mass on Saturday. The prize was a gift certificate to Home Depot, which I am sure he will have no trouble spending. A very nice Father's Day all around.

Two Birds in the Bush

I have been checking our wren's nest daily, feeling guilty as I do because it upsets the mother bird so much. She flies away and perches in a nearby tree, making all sorts of disapproving sounds. I do make the visit quick and today was rewarded with this amazing sight.

There is still one egg remaining, we will have to keep an eye on it and see if it hatches as well. It was really neat to see these tiny creatures, they look almost prehistoric. It gave me a flashback to my own children's births, especially the last two. Their tiny proportions and helplessness so reminded me of Michael and Emily.

However, there is nothing tiny or helpless about either one of them now. Their newest trick is taking off their diapers in the morning or after nap, before I come to get them up. This morning I woke up to hear Emily telling Michael, "No take your diaper off!" When I got into the room, he looked at me guiltily, then showed me his dirty feet. He had not only taken the diaper off, but strewn it's contents all over the sheet and walked in it. I am considering duct tape.....

First overnight guest

Noah spent the day and night with us today. Sophie reminded me that this is the first time she has had a friend spend the night. They are sleeping in the guest room, with about 10 Webkinz between them. Michael and Emily really enjoyed having another "big" kid here all day. Especially Emily.

After we picked him up this morning, we went to the Y. I told them to hold hands in the parking lot and Emily quickly spoke up: "You hold my hand Noah?" He did, well mannered boy that he is.

Late this afternoon we had some rain with thunder and lightening. When Emily heard the thunder she ran right to Noah and said "oooh, funder, I skeed Noah, you let me sit by you?" And he did. Sophie looked at her and said "Emily, you might think you like Noah, but I have known him longer so I like him more." To which Noah, always the polite one, responded, "Well Emily I do like you too, but you know, Sophie is my number one girl, cuz she's my best friend." You just can't make this stuff up.

While the twins were napping, they played in our "pool" while I did yardwork. I showed them how to make a whirlpool, and they took that and ran with it. Remember Mrs. Castiglia yelling at us everytime we tried to make one in their pool? I remember doing it anyway.



Here's what I found while trimming the shrubs that divide our yard from our neighbor's.



I called the kids over and showed them; they were so impressed I had to take turns picking them up so they could see it. It was surprising to see a nest with eggs, I thought this was an early spring activity. We have blue jays, cardinals, brown thrashers, mourning doves and grackles that reguarly feed at our feeder, not sure what these are. Any help in identifying them is appreciated.

New Season, New Template

Since we are now 2 whole weeks into our summer vacation, I decided a new look was in order. For the blog, that is. I am not sure about all the colors, but will fool with it again.

So school is out, and summer is in full swing here in GA. Sophie had her first camp this week, and it was a winner. This was her first experience at Girl Scout camp, and she has loved it. The days are long, 9-3, and she comes home famished, tired and filthy. All good. Except for last night, when the meltdown finally happened. I had an inkling we were due for one, the long days and heat were catching up with her. Terry finally had to carry her inside screaming and kicking, and I gave her a shower under duress, then sat with her in bed until she could finally calm down. She rarely has tantrums, I can't even remember the last one, but at 6 and a half, they sure can throw a doozy! This morning, a different child appeared, so apparently it was a necessary evil. Here are some pics from camp; I hope to volunteer there next year.

Among other things, each camper had to bring in a clean pizza box, which they fashioned into these solar ovens. They have made smores and haystacks (chow mein noodles with butterscotch chips) all to great acclaim. Today's snack was "taco in a bag" which I think involves a bag of Fritos, taco meat and cheese and lettuce.

We are also making great use of our neighborhood pool, going a few evenings a week. Michael and Emily enjoy it much more than last year, and are even jumping off the side now, as long as Terry or I hold their hands. Sophie is fully independent, going off the diving board and paddling to the side without any help. That she can be in the pool unassisted is great, b/c the other two have entered the "must have one on one supervision at the pool" stage big time. It can get dicey when Sophie wants Terry to throw her and I am in charge of both little ones. That's when snacks come in handy to keep them occupied.

I love this shot of Michael and Terry, he loves to shave with Daddy, just like Sophie used to. Emily would rather stay clean.