Christmas Birds

Photo Op for the birds

Gramma Camp

Day One:
We went straight to the park and played a "round" of golf, (with rules adjusted slightly), raced so many races Mogli decided he was "done with races gramma!", scaled all kinds of play ground equipment, and went home so Rafiki could take a nap.

While Rafiki napped, Mogli and I made all kinds of noodle necklaces, played a few games, and watched Stuart Little. Rafiki woke up and Mogli fell directly to sleep!

When everyone woke up we went in search of hot dog buns and bird seed. After baths and family prayer Rafiki went to bed and Mogli and gramma made wild bird feeders.

Today (day two) we got up (6:30!), ate Mickey Mouse pancakes with "French Toast stuff (confectioner's sugar) instead of syrup please", dressed, and made a trip to the car wash, which was closed, grrrr. So off to the fish hatchery! Neither had been there before and let me tell you- they were amazed! We strolled up and down each isle and saw how they grew from tiny baby fish into big grampa fish! Lucky us, we also got to meet the workers as they were in the process of cleaning the "tanks". Interesting at any age; the only problem being that once the machinery had dredged through a "tank" it was very murky and difficult to see the individual fish. Luckily we had seen most of the fish before it got to that stage.

Back home for Rafiki's nap and then back to the park in the afternoon. We hung our bird feeders in the lowest branch we could find (gramma is practically a dwarf, small limbs make it difficult to reach the taller branches). Then we filled a jug with water and set out to make a sand castle! The wind was particularly strong this afternoon, so we plan to try again tomorrow morning. Instead we worked through the equipment again and met some other children who were waiting for a bus transfer. They kids had a blast and ran poor gramma to near extinction!

We coloured pages and pages, made a few other things, and had "yo-grit" at snack time. Read a couple (dozen) books, sang songs and did a bit of dancing. Bath time, phone calls to mommy and daddy, and tomorrow we start it all again.

We've done three loads of laundry in two days and finished off the oatmeals cookies and a fair share of strawberry milk straws. The best thing of the day today? When Mogli sneaked off down the hall to look at the family hand prints. Measuring each one he found a perfect match...his own daddy's! He was so excited they fit and he insisted on a photo moment, which of course we did. So cool.






Bird-feeder Update: We went back to the (freezing) park this morning and the bird feeders resembled a Denny's in Sun City on a Saturday morning! There was actually a small line of birds hanging out at the Giant Claw machine, just waiting for their table to open up. As we left I think I heard a pigeon shout: "Quail, party of three, Quail, party of three..."

It's Spring and love is in the air, or on top of the pillar.

One the first day of Spring (last week) I noticed that our doves had returned to nest. The top photo is from this week, the bottom photo from last year. They chose the pillar furthest from the front door but more exposed to the elements. Last year, after successfully laying eggs they tended them for a a week or so before they were destroyed by a larger bird. I am hoping this doesn't happen this year.