Whale in my Back Yard -- March 26, 2011

Gray whales migrate 12,000+ miles from California to Alaska. They have the longest migration of any marine mammal. This one made its way into the Puget Sound and into my back yard. It was digging into the bottom sediments looking for shrimp, worms and other bottom dwelling invertebrates. The whale rolled on its side, sucking up great volumes of food and using its powerful tongue to push the water out through the baleen. We could identify the gray whale because they have 2 blowholes. It was the most amazing sight to behold -- and so close. You can see that it was about 30 feet from shore. I took this first photo from my deck.

My neighbor, Maria, took these pictures. She was on the beach for over 2 hours watching and photographing it. She even got the blow hole picture! "Thank you God for the beautiful display of your creation -- right in my back yard!"

Hello Mommy -- Hello Daddy

Carson and Ruby stayed at Grandma Carrie's and Grandpa Ray's this weekend while Kristin and Casey were in California. This sweet photo was taken by Carrie while they were both talking to their parents on the land-line. I love it!

Thank you G.ma C and G.pa R for taking such great care of the kiddos. I know they had a blast at your place. I hope you did too! I heard they got to ride on the tractor with G.pa!

Meet Miss Lydia Marie

My niece, Megan, gave birth to her second daughter, Lydia Marie, born 2/13/11.

Here BIG SISTER, Emma, is meeting her baby sis, along with Nana and Papa.

Emma has her own baby and carrier and is all ready for a walk!

Little Fruit Eater

Little man enjoyed a pear this morning -- the WHOLE thing.

Literally, there was just the stem (in his hand) and 3 seeds left!

Good job Carson!

Jesus's Promise

Nanny Rachael has taught the twins about rainbows and how they are a promise from God. They call them "Jesus's Promise".

We have had really wild weather this week -- sun, rain, hail, thunder/lightning, snow, and more sun! The glorious by-product of wild weather is rainbows. I have seen numerous ones this week. I LOVE looking at God's handiwork. This double rainbow was so close to my house that I couldn't get far enough back to photograph it all in one shot. The colors were brilliant!

Conversation Overheard at the Breakfast Table

RUBY -- "Carson, you happy today?" "I need you to be happy today!"

CARSON -- "Nope!"

RUBY -- "Carson, you be my best friend today?"

CARSON -- "Nope!"

First Art Class

Today Nanny Rach took the kids to their first art class at the Portland Children's Museum. Doesn't this look like fun? They are so attached at the hip that they needed to work on the same piece of paper! Kind of a joint art effort! They were also able to enjoy the new Curious George exhibit at the museum and that was a barrel of fun, too. Thank you Nanny Rach for giving the kids so many fun experiences. They are growing with leaps and bounds under your tutelage.

Ahh, Ruby!

The process of giving up the binkies has begun! Nanny Rach told me yesterday before she put them down for naps she had a conversation with the twins about what big kids they are now and they are not babies. Binkies are for babies, so they don't need them anymore.

"Yeah! We are not babies anymore! We don't need binkies!"

(spoken with complete confidence)

So the binkies were left downstairs with the baby dolls (who needed them).

Rachael snuck upstairs to listen after she put them down for naps. As Rachael said "the binkies sort of worked like a mute button", so without them there was a lot of chatter going on. Rachael listened at Ruby's door and heard this conversation (or maybe it was a prayer).....

"Jesus, I need my binky. I know I'm not a baby, but I need my binky. Those babies downstairs don't need a binky. I do!"