Mysterious Bird

Yesterday when I was outside with the kids I noticed a baby bird walking around. So we went back inside to not make the bird nervous. I went out to check to see if the bird was still there and I didn't see it, so I let the dog out. Of course the bird was blending in with the shurbs near the tree and Collin saw and it and attacked. He broke its wings and then wanted to play with it, but it was very spunky and fought back, even though it was hurt. So I went next door cause the neighbor had caught a bird like this one before and I wanted her to see if it was what she had, and it was. We thought it was a crane. So we called the game warden and they came out to take a look. The thought it was a crane as well. They told me they were going to put a call into the biologist out here and have them come take a look.

This morning at around 9am, I heard a knock at the door. They actually came and quickly, which is unusual for the army lol. The man went back and looked at what we have in the tree. We have 3 green heron nests in the tree. He told me they look like they are getting ready to leave the nest and that is why they are running on the ground. He told me that it is very rare to find them so close to humans. He told me that this may be a once in a lifetime experience. Then I told him that they were here last year and I had no idea what they were. He then asked how long we will be here. I told him at least til 2012. He then asked me if I could give him a call next spring so he can come back and take a look at them. He seemed pretty excited.

To me they look like ducks, but that nest in trees. I had no idea that they were herons. It is really cool that they are in my back yard.

Ciarrah's Last Day of School

She sure has changed a lot since the first day. She has become a big girl. I had no idea what they would teach her in pre-k. But she really learned alot. In just 9 months she has learned how to write her full name. And you can actually read it :) She was learned how to write all the letters of the alphabet. She can count to 100 with very little help. Yesterday she counted to ten in Spanish, didn't know she could do that. She uses a very broad range of vocabulary. She has learned about weather and all of the basic stuff. She is recognizing words in books, so maybe by the end of the summer she will be able to read a little. I was amazed at how much she is learning.

And she gets to do it all over again next year. Yep, she has to do another year of pre-k, because her birthday is not before the 1st of September. I am hoping that by the time school starts next year she will be able to read a little too. That is my goal this summer, to teach her how to read. The best thing about school next year is, we can walk to school. Its about 3 blocks from our house. This year we had to go to another district for pre-k and that was about a 30 minute commute twice a day. I am going to be so happy to be able to walk her to school next year. On top of the closeness, they start school at 8am instead of 730! Which means we can sleep til 7 instead of 615!! Thats great news!!

We hope everyone has a great weekend and bring on the summer!!

Parent's Visit

We were unsure if my parents were going to come down after their best friend died the day before they were suppose to leave. Since he didn't really have family they were needed to help with the funeral. But all of their friends told them to go that he wouldn't have wanted them to miss seeing their grand kids. So they left around 2 pm on Thursday and they arrived around 2 pm on Friday.

When they got here mom and I went shopping for the weekend. They couldn't believe how much Cooper has changed in 6 months, as he is now walking. Ciarrah has changed alot since they last saw her she is a big kid now!

On Saturday they wanted to go to the Harley Shop we have here. It's called Horny Toad Harley Davidson. They have a bunch of cartoon toads with names and they wanted to see them. While we were there it was there 2 year anniversary, so they had a band and a bunch of cool stuff. It was a fun afternoon. That night we bbq and played in the pool.

On Sunday, we went to the beach. We took Collin with us as well. We came to find out that he was not allowed near the swimming area. This lake has only one area where you can swim and they have lifeguards and all that. So we didn't stay too long. Poor Collin was having a blast in the water too and didn't want to get out. Now we found out that there is a different lake that they don't have these silly rules, so that is where we are going this weekend!

After the beach we came home and started getting ready for our bbq. Michael was making Korean Ribs and rice. We had potato salad and deviled egss. My friend Amanda and her family came over too. Everyone loved the ribs. Its him mom's recipe and now everyone wants it! It was a great bbq.

Since my mom and step-dad were leaving the next morning, Ciarrah was pretty upset. We took pictures of them with the kids and we did a family picture, minus my brother. We even got Collin to sit in the picture too! It was a great time. We put the kids to bed pretty late like around 9 or so and their bed time is 7. But it was the last-night that they were going to be with them for awhile.

We had a great time and it was sad to see them go. I am hoping that around August before school starts we can go for a visit, not too long of course, but long enough.