Lucky's Turn

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Mommy, Look

Isn't it great that we're really entertained... by boxes?

John James Audubon's Birthday

April 26 is John James Audubon's Birthday.  As birders, how could we not celebrate?
So Jeremy and I took the little boys out for a drive in the rain today.  Lots of rain.  But there were times when it wasn't raining as hard or stopped for a little while.  The rain and overcast skies made things fresh and beautiful.  We were able to take lots of pictures from the van.

One place had so many yellow-rumbed warblers.  Here are some of their pictures.

We saw some more familiar friends

Killdeer and White-crowned Sparrow

Swainson's Hawk

and found some new ones.

 This is a hermit thrush.

I'd say it was a successful way to celebrate John James Audubon's birthday (and we didn't even have to shoot any birds to do it).

Describe The Perfect Date

We went to the library today and had to pick up the movie, "Miss Congeniality."  There's a part in the movie where one of the characters is asked to "describe the perfect date."  She responds by saying the perfect date would be April 25 because it's not too hot and it's not too cold.  "All you need is a light jacket."  Since today is April 25, that's why we had to get that movie.  Tee Hee.
Speaking of dates, a nice date for me would be going out in nature with my husband, maybe around sunset. 

(or moonrise)

We had that opportunity last week.  We went with a group of birders to several birding places and saw quite a few different birds.  Some were birds we'd seen before,

Swainson's Hawk

some were birds we hadn't yet seen this year,
and some were birds we'd never seen before.

  Willet

Virginia Rail and Marbled Godwits

Some we never would have found on our own (or with little kids who just couldn't handle being so quiet and waiting).
It was great.  And it was different for both Jeremy and me.  He got to see his first osprey and I got to see black-necked stilts for the first time this year.

It was also neat to go with other people who have more experience birding.  We learned a few things and the very next day Jeremy put in to practice what someone suggested and he was able to find a black-crowned night heron which he'd been wanting to see.
Another thing about dates is food.  Now, we didn't have food on our date birding, but tonight for Family Home Evening treat, Jeremy tried his hand at making fried ice cream.  Yum.

It turned out well and it was yummy.  Some of us even had caramel syrup on ours.  It's definitely something we'll have again sometime.

The KAT's Meow

Jr.:  I don't want to get dressed with other people around.
Mommy:  You can take your clothes and get dressed in the bathroom.
Jr.:  I want to get dressed in here where it's not too squishy.


Jr. Jr.:  Mom, you are beautiful and nice.
Mom:  Yes, I am beautiful and nice.
Jr. Jr.:  And you are not like evil Mommy.

Catch of the Day- Osprey

Oh, look.  There's a bird flying.  I wonder what it is.  O.K.  See it in the camera.  Focus.  Focus.  Follow it.  And... click.
Let's look at the picture.  And... that's an osprey.  And it's in focus.
*Squeal*  Jeremy's going to be so proud of me.

Fun With Friends

When you try to take pictures of a group of kids together who are all hams:

We got together with some friends from our early married years and their kids.  Their kids and our kids are all the same ages.  So fun.  We decided to take pictures of the kids and since they are the same ages as our kids, the kids took cues from each other.  Sigh.

General Conference Weekend

General Conference Weekend.  The kids picked out some quiet activity pages to work on during Conference and those kept them content for the beginning of the first session.  The rest of the first session, they were content with our traditional General Conference nachos.

During the break between the first two sessions, we went for a nice drive up Provo Canyon and tried a road we'd never been up before.  Squaw Peak Road.  We drove up to the overlook and what a view.  I never knew because as I said, we'd never driven up that road before.

During the second session, besides nachos, the kids kept themselves content with Easter candy.

Sunday, the power company decided that General Conference Sunday would be the perfect day to shut the power off to do some maintenance for hours.  Oh, well.  The power went off around 9am, so we packed the kids up in the van with snacks to go for a drive and listen to General Conference on the radio.
We stopped by home once during the first session, stayed home during the break between sessions, and stayed out during the whole second session.  So the power came back sometime between 2 and 4pm.  Yay for a working radio in the van.

It felt good to be out on a nice relaxing drive listening to the inspired messages of General Conference.  Nature and the Spirit.  They go so well together.

Sunday, April 3, was also Fish Fingers and Custard Day.  So we had our traditional fish sticks and vanilla pudding for dinner.

On an unrelated to General Conference note (and just because I'm falling behind in my blogging so I'm going to throw it in here), Monday, April 4, was Walk Around Things Day.  The kids and I went to the "space park" where they could walk around the "UFO" that spun.

I Got the Kids Again

Two years ago for April Fool's Day, I set gelatin in the kids' dinner cups with straws.
I did it again this year and surprised them again.

Lucky kept saying, "Mom, help please," when he couldn't get it to suck up through his straw.  He was the most confused.  He was too little when we did it last time.
I guess the joke was on me in the end, though.  The kids took forever to eat their Jello.  And we got a late start on dinner because we were out this afternoon for a drive looking at birds again.  Sigh.