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| 6/19/09 |
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| 6/19/10 |
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| 6/18/11 at her 2nd Birthday Party |
Monday, June 20, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Backyard Tweets
Some exciting things have been happening in our backyard that past few days. For one, we had a solid patio cover installed. The wooden lattice patio cover was rotting and the paint was flaking everywhere. In five hours, the builders had the old one down and the new one up, complete with a ceiling fan.
Excuse the lighting as I used my iPhone for all of these pictures. Anyway, it looks amazing, and it will be so nice to enjoy Spring and Fall days when it's raining, but not super cold. The fan will also make hot summer days more tolerable.
We also bought some new patio furniture now that we have a solid cover to protect them from the elements.
I love the way it looks, and it definitely goes really well with the patio cover.
The biggest excitement in the backyard was on Sunday afternoon, however. We came back from Home Depot, where we had purchased the outdoor fan and some tomato fertilizer for my tomato plant. I was filling up my trusty watering pail (see in the above picture), when I saw this little guy around the wooden play set:
I immediately yelled for Chris to stop watching the final game of the NBA finals and come help me. First, it was clear that this chick was hurt in some way. When we would get close to him, he would attempt to walk away, but would tip over sideways instead. We also had no idea what kind of bird he was until he started moving. His neck suddenly doubled in size, and my first thought was a great egret or some other wading bird. I also burst into tears because, next to him, was a seriously decomposed chick. Chris also said that he almost ran over another dead one earlier that day when he was mowing the lawns. I was just heartbroken because he was just so little and helpless and clearly his mother was no longer around. In any case, he had most certainly fallen out of his nest in the tree above the play set and was in need of help. Charlotte was also very concerned by the little guy and exclaimed, "Oh no! Quack quack fall down!"* She also tried to feed him grubs that I dug up, but given that the chick was so little, he probably needed the food regurgitated, and I wasn't about to do that.
But we had no idea what to do or whom to call. Chris was saying something along the lines of "this is life," but I wasn't willing to give up so easily. So I turned to Twitter. I'm not much of a Tweeter (Twitterer?), but I figured there's got to be someone out there who knows something about birds (read from the bottom up).
Then I found the Twitter account for International Bird Rescue, @IntBirdRescue, and tweeted a similar message. They responded really quickly and gave me a link of all the Wildlife Rescue organizations in California. They also sent out my message to all of their 3,000 plus followers to solicit more advice.
I located the number for the Sacramento County wildlife rescue, but when I called, they were already closed for the day and weren't accepting any drop-offs until 10AM on Monday. I didn't know what to do as I had to be at work by 10 due to a presentation I was supposed to give, and Chris was on his way to Portland for a work trip.
Meanwhile, I tweeted the above picture to @IntBirdRescue and asked if it was an egret. They thought it was and directed me to immediately put it in a ventilated box and get it to the nearest rehab center. Chris captured the little guy, and we put him in the box in our bathroom with the door closed, so Tandy wouldn't be tempted to have a midnight snack.
Luckily, we are very close to the El Dorado County border, so when I met up with my Playgroup Moms for drinks that night, they suggested Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville as many of them live in El Dorado Hills (just up the hill from Folsom).
All night long, I tossed and turned thinking about the poor little chick. I was told not to give him food or water, so I kept having nightmares that he had died. However, when I checked on him in the morning, he was fine.
I called Sierra Wildlife Rescue in the morning and I was put through to the "egret lady," who told me to get it up to Placerville as soon as I could. They were open much earlier than the Sacramento County one, so I hightailed it up there at around 8:30. The ladies were waiting for me when I arrived. They were very nice, and I found out that everyone who works there are volunteers (and they're open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week). I handed off the little guy, and all the volunteers ooh and aahed about how beautiful he is. One lady actually thought it was a blue heron. She asked me if we lived next to a rookery, as apparently herons like to nest in colonies. I said, it's just a nest in a tall tree in our backyard and to my knowledge there's only one of them (how crazy would it be if a bunch of herons decided to all nest in our tree?!).
Since the verdict was still out on what kind of wading bird it was, I turned back to Twitter this time asking the Audubon Society of California:
I got confirmation this time that it's actually a green heron. I had never heard of a green heron before, so I immediately did a Google Image search, and sure enough, that's what it is. It's not endangered in any way, but it is rare to see them as the adults are usually only active at dusk and dawn. This explains why we never saw the mother bird going to and from our tree (albeit the nest is up really, really high), and gives me more insight into the cracked teal blue eggs I found in the yard a few weeks ago (I was certain they were robin eggs). This might be boring to the average person, but I thought it was amazing to have such a beautiful bird nesting in our backyard.
In any case, I am feeling pretty good about social media right now. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to find out exactly what to do, and I hope I saved a life. It's also really amazing to think that there are such kind-hearted souls out there who do nothing all day but nurse little animals back to health. Kind of renews your faith in people.
*Since then, Charlotte has gone outside each day asking "Where'd quack quack go, Mommy? Where'd quack quack go?"
Excuse the lighting as I used my iPhone for all of these pictures. Anyway, it looks amazing, and it will be so nice to enjoy Spring and Fall days when it's raining, but not super cold. The fan will also make hot summer days more tolerable.
We also bought some new patio furniture now that we have a solid cover to protect them from the elements.
I love the way it looks, and it definitely goes really well with the patio cover.
The biggest excitement in the backyard was on Sunday afternoon, however. We came back from Home Depot, where we had purchased the outdoor fan and some tomato fertilizer for my tomato plant. I was filling up my trusty watering pail (see in the above picture), when I saw this little guy around the wooden play set:
I immediately yelled for Chris to stop watching the final game of the NBA finals and come help me. First, it was clear that this chick was hurt in some way. When we would get close to him, he would attempt to walk away, but would tip over sideways instead. We also had no idea what kind of bird he was until he started moving. His neck suddenly doubled in size, and my first thought was a great egret or some other wading bird. I also burst into tears because, next to him, was a seriously decomposed chick. Chris also said that he almost ran over another dead one earlier that day when he was mowing the lawns. I was just heartbroken because he was just so little and helpless and clearly his mother was no longer around. In any case, he had most certainly fallen out of his nest in the tree above the play set and was in need of help. Charlotte was also very concerned by the little guy and exclaimed, "Oh no! Quack quack fall down!"* She also tried to feed him grubs that I dug up, but given that the chick was so little, he probably needed the food regurgitated, and I wasn't about to do that.
But we had no idea what to do or whom to call. Chris was saying something along the lines of "this is life," but I wasn't willing to give up so easily. So I turned to Twitter. I'm not much of a Tweeter (Twitterer?), but I figured there's got to be someone out there who knows something about birds (read from the bottom up).
Then I found the Twitter account for International Bird Rescue, @IntBirdRescue, and tweeted a similar message. They responded really quickly and gave me a link of all the Wildlife Rescue organizations in California. They also sent out my message to all of their 3,000 plus followers to solicit more advice.
I located the number for the Sacramento County wildlife rescue, but when I called, they were already closed for the day and weren't accepting any drop-offs until 10AM on Monday. I didn't know what to do as I had to be at work by 10 due to a presentation I was supposed to give, and Chris was on his way to Portland for a work trip.
Meanwhile, I tweeted the above picture to @IntBirdRescue and asked if it was an egret. They thought it was and directed me to immediately put it in a ventilated box and get it to the nearest rehab center. Chris captured the little guy, and we put him in the box in our bathroom with the door closed, so Tandy wouldn't be tempted to have a midnight snack.
Luckily, we are very close to the El Dorado County border, so when I met up with my Playgroup Moms for drinks that night, they suggested Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville as many of them live in El Dorado Hills (just up the hill from Folsom).
All night long, I tossed and turned thinking about the poor little chick. I was told not to give him food or water, so I kept having nightmares that he had died. However, when I checked on him in the morning, he was fine.
I called Sierra Wildlife Rescue in the morning and I was put through to the "egret lady," who told me to get it up to Placerville as soon as I could. They were open much earlier than the Sacramento County one, so I hightailed it up there at around 8:30. The ladies were waiting for me when I arrived. They were very nice, and I found out that everyone who works there are volunteers (and they're open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week). I handed off the little guy, and all the volunteers ooh and aahed about how beautiful he is. One lady actually thought it was a blue heron. She asked me if we lived next to a rookery, as apparently herons like to nest in colonies. I said, it's just a nest in a tall tree in our backyard and to my knowledge there's only one of them (how crazy would it be if a bunch of herons decided to all nest in our tree?!).
Since the verdict was still out on what kind of wading bird it was, I turned back to Twitter this time asking the Audubon Society of California:
I got confirmation this time that it's actually a green heron. I had never heard of a green heron before, so I immediately did a Google Image search, and sure enough, that's what it is. It's not endangered in any way, but it is rare to see them as the adults are usually only active at dusk and dawn. This explains why we never saw the mother bird going to and from our tree (albeit the nest is up really, really high), and gives me more insight into the cracked teal blue eggs I found in the yard a few weeks ago (I was certain they were robin eggs). This might be boring to the average person, but I thought it was amazing to have such a beautiful bird nesting in our backyard.
 |
| Picture of Green Heron and Chicks from PointsinFocus.com |
In any case, I am feeling pretty good about social media right now. Thanks to Twitter, I was able to find out exactly what to do, and I hope I saved a life. It's also really amazing to think that there are such kind-hearted souls out there who do nothing all day but nurse little animals back to health. Kind of renews your faith in people.
*Since then, Charlotte has gone outside each day asking "Where'd quack quack go, Mommy? Where'd quack quack go?"
Monday, June 6, 2011
Planes, Trains and Weddings
This has been a strange and busy past few weeks. Strange in that it's June, and it feels like February. We've had rain for days, mixed with some days of thunder, lightning and hail. There have been days where the temperature didn't get up above 65. In late May and early June. This is unheard of! Where is summer? At this rate, our pool will never be warm enough to swim in.
Okay, moving on.
We had a great time during our trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan for my cousin Shannon's wedding. Traveling there was a little tough because our flight was at 6AM, and Charlotte napped for a total of one hour on the plane. She was pretty upset when we first got to the rehearsal dinner, but once she had some food, she rallied and made friends with everyone.
The day of the wedding was gorgeous. The ceremony was at a beautiful old church right off of the University of Michigan Campus. I was worried about how Charlotte would do with the time change and a morning wedding, but luckily they had childcare during the ceremony. Here are a few pictures that the babysitter/photographer took of Charlotte and two other young wedding guests (one is Shannon's cousin Sawyer).
I was a tad annoyed that they let Charlotte play in the mud sand as it got on her shoes, but luckily not on her dress. However, it sure beat a wriggling toddler during a beautiful wedding ceremony.
The reception was at a country club close to where Shannon lives, and it was really fun as well. It was great to see old friends of the family (I haven't been to Michigan since I was in high school), all of whom doted on Charlotte. They had a photo booth set up, which was a blast. I let Charlotte choose which hat for each of to where, and this is what she chose:
Charlotte did really well at the reception, and eventually we got her to take a nap in her stroller for about forty-five minutes. And because it was an afternoon wedding, we were able to go back to the hotel, swim in the indoor pool, eat dinner at a loud but yummy German restaurant, and have Charlotte sleep in my parents' room while we saw a 10 pm showing of Bridesmaids.
And of course, how can I not show a picture of the radiant bride and her new husband, Joe? They just looked ecstatic all day long.
The next day we walked around the U of M campus. My mom and I wanted to get Charlotte some Michigan clothes, but Chris wouldn't allow it. He likened it to someone giving me Stanford apparel, so we had to pass.
We had about 10 minutes to grab a few snacks at the famous Zingerman's Deli before rushing to the Amtrak Station to board the train to Chicago. Charlotte loved the idea of being on a train, and once again, barely got any sleep at all. When we left Ann Arbor, the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm. When we got to our stop in Hammond, Indiana, Chris' mom was waiting for us, and it was pouring down rain and hailing, some hail so big it was at least golf ball-sized. It was pretty crazy getting Charlotte, and all of our luggage off the train in the pouring rain. We were all soaked and recovering in the car while Charlotte shouted "Bye bye choo choo. Bye bye choo choo."
Our time in Chicago was brief, but also a lot of fun. Charlotte immediately took to Gamma and Gampa, and has been asking where Gamma is ever since we got back. We went to the park, and saw the ducks. We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry, where Charlotte saw more Choo-Choos and planes up close. MSI is normally a lot of fun to visit, but it was overrun that day by school children. Imagine hundreds of children, who can literally taste the start of summer vacation running around with a handful of chaperones. To me, it was a nightmare. I get really uncomfortable in crowds, so it was a relief to escape to the under 10 Idea Zone (we have pictures, I just haven't uploaded them yet) where Charlotte actually had room to run around and explore without fear of getting pummeled by a bunch of tweens. We also had a little time to visit with Charlotte's Aunt Jennele and Cousin Anya who adored seeing Charlotte.
The onlyreally crazy part of the trip was actually the return trip home. We got to the airport almost two hours before our scheduled departure. After waiting in the so-called express bag drop-off line and then the longest security line I've ever seen, we only had 15 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart. Without even putting on Charlotte's shoes, I grabbed her and quite literally ran past 25 gates, only to hear once I got to our gate that due to inclement weather, our plane would be delayed. And it was delayed by three hours because of lightning and our plane being diverted to Indianapolis. This actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because we wouldn't have been able to get food for Charlotte otherwise. She (and I) also burned some energy walking up and down the moving sidewalks about 20 times.
Coming up in the next few weeks: more wedding celebrations and someone's 2nd birthday! Now if only the weather would begin to act more like June (I know I'll regret writing this when it's 110 degrees outside a month from now).
Okay, moving on.
We had a great time during our trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan for my cousin Shannon's wedding. Traveling there was a little tough because our flight was at 6AM, and Charlotte napped for a total of one hour on the plane. She was pretty upset when we first got to the rehearsal dinner, but once she had some food, she rallied and made friends with everyone.
The day of the wedding was gorgeous. The ceremony was at a beautiful old church right off of the University of Michigan Campus. I was worried about how Charlotte would do with the time change and a morning wedding, but luckily they had childcare during the ceremony. Here are a few pictures that the babysitter/photographer took of Charlotte and two other young wedding guests (one is Shannon's cousin Sawyer).
 |
| Charlotte in her cutie dress |
The reception was at a country club close to where Shannon lives, and it was really fun as well. It was great to see old friends of the family (I haven't been to Michigan since I was in high school), all of whom doted on Charlotte. They had a photo booth set up, which was a blast. I let Charlotte choose which hat for each of to where, and this is what she chose:
 |
| Mimi and Cha-Cha |
And of course, how can I not show a picture of the radiant bride and her new husband, Joe? They just looked ecstatic all day long.
 |
| Photo by Mark Bogarin Photography |
We had about 10 minutes to grab a few snacks at the famous Zingerman's Deli before rushing to the Amtrak Station to board the train to Chicago. Charlotte loved the idea of being on a train, and once again, barely got any sleep at all. When we left Ann Arbor, the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm. When we got to our stop in Hammond, Indiana, Chris' mom was waiting for us, and it was pouring down rain and hailing, some hail so big it was at least golf ball-sized. It was pretty crazy getting Charlotte, and all of our luggage off the train in the pouring rain. We were all soaked and recovering in the car while Charlotte shouted "Bye bye choo choo. Bye bye choo choo."
Our time in Chicago was brief, but also a lot of fun. Charlotte immediately took to Gamma and Gampa, and has been asking where Gamma is ever since we got back. We went to the park, and saw the ducks. We also went to the Museum of Science and Industry, where Charlotte saw more Choo-Choos and planes up close. MSI is normally a lot of fun to visit, but it was overrun that day by school children. Imagine hundreds of children, who can literally taste the start of summer vacation running around with a handful of chaperones. To me, it was a nightmare. I get really uncomfortable in crowds, so it was a relief to escape to the under 10 Idea Zone (we have pictures, I just haven't uploaded them yet) where Charlotte actually had room to run around and explore without fear of getting pummeled by a bunch of tweens. We also had a little time to visit with Charlotte's Aunt Jennele and Cousin Anya who adored seeing Charlotte.
The onlyreally crazy part of the trip was actually the return trip home. We got to the airport almost two hours before our scheduled departure. After waiting in the so-called express bag drop-off line and then the longest security line I've ever seen, we only had 15 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart. Without even putting on Charlotte's shoes, I grabbed her and quite literally ran past 25 gates, only to hear once I got to our gate that due to inclement weather, our plane would be delayed. And it was delayed by three hours because of lightning and our plane being diverted to Indianapolis. This actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because we wouldn't have been able to get food for Charlotte otherwise. She (and I) also burned some energy walking up and down the moving sidewalks about 20 times.
Coming up in the next few weeks: more wedding celebrations and someone's 2nd birthday! Now if only the weather would begin to act more like June (I know I'll regret writing this when it's 110 degrees outside a month from now).
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