If April Showers Bring May Flowers...What Do May Showers Bring?

Humidity. And more Flowers!

( Almost) Wordless Wednesday

We spent a beautiful sunny day in Downtown White Bear Lake, meeting Rich for lunch at the Marina, then walking the streets and the parks. In the evening, we met up with all 5 Grands (sans parents) for swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub. Luke and Sophie stayed overnight with us, embarking on a 10:30 P.M. hike to McDonald's in our pajamas, and a breakfast buffet at 9:30 A.M. in our pajamas the next morning. That was followed by more ...... swimming! A good time was had by all.

Empty Nest Times Two

The last of the Quads.

Sophie spotted this baby and kept watch over it until it could fly.

The Empty nest.

Awwww! Gone!


But that's not where this story ends. While I was downloading these pictures, Shadow (the babysitter) picked up the baby Robin from the backyard and brought him in the house to me! The baby was screaming his little head off but unharmed.(Thank you Shadow for using your "soft mouth." Good Girl.) I took him back outside and held him until he calmed down. Mama and Daddy Robin were watching when he finally flew up to the tree to them. Disaster averted this time, we didn't want to take any more chances. Baby birds are pretty vulnerable for about 3 weeks to predators (or even well-meaning babysitters, like Shadow.). So our neighbor Andrew, the bird-man, came over and took the nest. He held it out until Mama and Daddy were watching, then moved the nest to his cat-less house next door. They checked it out in it's new location and seemed satisfied. According to Andrew, Robin families have 4 hatches of 4 eggs each in a summer. Hopefully our little ones will live a long happy birdy life.
I know just how Mama and Daddy Robin feel. Our own baby girl , Hannah , is moving to the East Coast in August for Grad School. I hope there is a Bird-man out there to watch over her when I am not able to. So for now we are once again, Empty Nesters. To quote Sophie " Awwww! Gone!"

Bigger. . .

Where does the time go? Soon, they"ll be all grown and won't need a sitter at all!

Happy Mother's Day

We got together at the Wild Onion on Grand for a Mother's Day lunch and a little shopping! It was a beautiful day to walk the Avenue.

The whole group of "Mothas and Othas". From Left: Molly, Diane, Andrew, Maddy, Caitlin,Jill, Hannah, Jody, Zach, and Twylla.

Three out of five ain't bad. These are my favorites, anyway. Shh. Don't tell the others.

The beautiful bouquet of pink roses from Hannah and Zach.

********************************************************************************************************* Thanks everyone for a Grand Time. Happy mother's Day to all!

Wordless Wednesday

They're HEEEEERRE!

My oh-so-cute little fuzzyheads appeared sometime before yesterday. I had to get Bob to hold the ladder before I could get a closer look today.

Shadow is sooo excited! She will make the BEST.BABYSITTER.EVER!

A Boy And His Toy

We're (Almost) Famous

We were published in today's St. Paul Pioneer Press in the Bulletin Board:



Grandma Jody: Seven-year-old birthday boy Luke (AKA Boy Genius) dropped by today to spend time with us. As soon as he stepped through the door, Grandpa and I loudly sang Happy Birthday to him, awkwardly accompanied by Grandpa on the drums. He buried his head in the crook of his dad's arm and said not a word. Later when we were out to lunch with him, I asked him about it.
Luke: " When you did that it was so....so....so...."
Me (thinking): Surprising? Delightful? Fun?
Luke: "so....Irritating!!! Wow! I've never been irritated on my birthday before!"

Grandpa turned to me and said, "Bulletin board." We love to share new experiences with our grand-kids, but this isn't exactly what we had in mind.