Seasonal Visitor

Lately there has been an influx of postings to the Wisconsin Birding Network with the return of early spring migrants. Spring is a perfect fix for my cabin fever, as the season brings me hope of new and exciting times and renewed interest.

Spring is the highlight of Wisconsin birding, as an ever changing group of migrants populate the state. Some species are returning for the breeding season, other species are just passing through. The end of April and beginning of May are the best weeks for warblers and other passerines. Birding by car today I saw 38 different species, with the number of hawks being noteworthy. I saw 8 American Kestrels (including this cooperative female), 3 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 Northern Harriers, 4 Bald Eagles, and 6 Rough-legged Hawks. This light-morph Rough-legged Hawk was found on the Mead Wildlife Area. Rough-legged Hawks visit during winter from the north, and soon will be gone again until next winter.

Michaela's Birthday

Here is a slideshow of pictures from January 29th-Januar 31st! All four grandparents, Great Grandma Betty and friends visited for Michaela's 4th Birthday. We all appreciated our families taking time to come and visit. The girls always enjoy having visitors at their house and love to show off their toys and show them the things they like doing. So thank you Grandma's and Grandpa's for making Michaela's birthday a special time.

Therapy

The last couple of days have been therapeutic. I'm feeling very uncreative today and feel my inner narrative is still sleeping, thus you get a chronological list of recent events.

1. We missed Chandler's wrestling on Friday, arriving late coming from a conference in Appleton earlier the day. :(
2. Saturday we played a few games of cards and were lucky to spend time with Gary, Chris, Nick, Matt, Bud, Gay, and my parents at the hotel before heading back to Marshfield.
3. Danielle and Michaela went with my parents and are visiting both grandparents in Minnesota. :)
4. Christine and I were able to sit through an entire church service together, likely the first time in a long time.
5. We slept in until 9!!!
6. Last night we had a drinks and appetizers at Applebee's with a few campus colleagues. Christine and I both enjoyed ourselves, which as many of you know can be a challenge considering our introvert natures.

A great thanks to friends and family!

Cultural Fair

This past Saturday we attended the Cultural Fair (Click on link to open video in Google Docs) on the UW Marshfield/Wood County campus. The girls enjoyed story time, the puppet shows, face paints, puzzles, the camel, and of course ran wild through campus. It was wonderful seeing many coworker families in attendance!

Countertop at the Gold House

With a sunshine filled day it is easy to think of upcoming spring, but today I was reminded of Christmas. You may ask how so...well here is a picture!

No this is not the recipe for a major party, rather it is the next round of Vanilla! If you would like more vanilla this coming year for Christmas save the bottle, we'll fill them back up!

Raspberries, Blueberries, & Strawberries

After eating last night Michaela and Danielle wanted to play. A bit of hide and seek, horse rides, and piggy piles quickly turned to tickling. My whiskers serve as a perfect tickling tool, when I nuzzle into either of the girls necks and blow a raspberry they giggle, squirm, and laugh. Michaela was jealous when I did first did this to Danielle, so of course I obliged her and tickled her as well. But then, they decided to turn on me as a team and blow raspberries on my stomach. Michaela would say, "Blow Raspberries" and Danielle would repeat it. After a couple of rounds each I realized Danielle was saying "Blowing Blueberries" instead.

Clarifying that fruit is not equivalent vocabulary to making a weird noise with your mouth is challenging!

Danielle tried to change what she was saying, but would alternate between raspberries and blueberries. After another 30 seconds I heard "blowing strawberries" coming from her as well. Of course Michaela, Christine and I chuckled about that...only to find out after the fact that blowing a raspberry is the same as blowing a strawberry! Who new?! If Danielle was old to know her wisdom I bet she would be getting the last chuckle still today.

What to do when the to-do list is long

My semester is in its fourth week, with my accelerated hybrid class halfway done tomorrow night. I am unfortunately already back into a semester's routine, which I am slowly noticing as being unhealthy to the rest of my life. Case and point, only last month did I finish editing Christmas 2009 pictures. We have nearly a year and half of pictures yet to be archived and edited.

Fortunately for me we've been busy during the past weekends, which has forced me to stay away from work. A month ago the Friends of the Mead had their annual meeting and the girls visited Mobly the Owl.

The past two weekends we've went to Stevens Point and got a membership to the Children's Museum. The girls have enjoyed their time there, and with it only being an hour away the Museum is a wonderful place to get out and play on cold or rainy days. Here is a video of our trip two weekends ago.

Two weeks ago both Grandparents visited for Michaela's birthday. The girls especially enjoy the extra days of attention from them. Between play dates, neighbor girls, and friends visiting the girls seem to be very busy. If anyone wants to see some photos, we've uploaded old photos from a year ago, new photos from the past couple of months, and some photos from in between including the summer trip.