Stopping by the river after strawberry picking

Happening these days in and around the purple house

(Thanks for the good gear, Tim and Eric!)

(look familiar, Jules?)

(Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem doing songs from "Ranky Tanky"--a current fave)

(Julie, once we'd talked about it, it had to be done immediately!)

Great blue herons to the rescue

We conquered the sleep-deprived grumpies today by getting out into nature.  (Is it just us, or do full moons drastically affect sleep in your house, too?)

A friend recently told us about a hike we had to take, to a great-blue-heron rookery, from a downtown neighborhood, of all places!

The last time we went (a few weeks ago), we saw the herons building their nests.  Today, Lucy and I returned and found them all sitting on the nests.

It's so bizarre to see these big huge birds perched high in the trees like that!

Right next door to the herons is a bald eagle, also nesting.

It's a truly amazing sight.

Closer to earth, we saw a garter snake,

 a tuft of unidentified fur (a mystery to ponder), lots of animal holes, big fat bumblebees, some butterflies, red-winged blackbirds, wood ducks, and heard many, many different bird calls.

 It was amazing to see that the brown woods we'd visited so recently was now lush and green. (And completely full of poison ivy!  We kept our bodies small and centered on the path.)

Later, we went out to dinner with friends, followed by dessert and dandelion-blowing in a little park in the center of our town.

And when bedtime came and went by an hour, with no sign of sleep, I got Lucy back out of bed and into the car and we went in search of the "supermoon."  We caught glimpses of it through the trees in all its huge orange glory, and continued looking for a good viewing spot as it rose, lightened, and got hidden by clouds.

It was well worth the extra-late bedtime.

My best cure for a difficult day--take it outside and breathe in the wonders of nature.

Scenes from a long weekend

Time to tap the trees! (Actually, with this strange winter, I think we could have been sugaring for a long while now.)

Reach,

snatch,

slurp!

Repeat.

An afternoon walk with Alexa, visiting from Michigan.

With gliding!

A morning at the children's museum, especially to see the ambulance (a current interest of Lucy's):

With climbing,

and big bubbles.


How was your weekend?

Reserved for family

There hasn't been much time to write lately, but that's because we're been spending our free time with family.

My mother moved from four-hours-away to only half-an-hour-away this past year, so Lucy and I are able to spend at least a morning a week visiting with her.

And this past weekend, Lucy's paternal grandparents were in town, so we spent lots of time playing, hiking, and eating out with them.

So there's been a lot of flexing schedules, messing with naps, and traveling around when it would be easier to stay at home.

But family is worth it. I'm so grateful for this time together, and for Lucy's opportunity to know her grandparents.

Please excuse our absences now and then.

This moment is reserved for family.

A little winter hike