We spent two wonderful weeks in California. One week at Tyler's parents home and then a week at the beach in Monterey for Tyler's family reunion. My mother-in-law has always been a fantastic party thrower, and she went all out for us. Five cars drove down completely stuffed with food, movies, toys, inflatable swimming pools, balloons, party favors, craft projects, etc.
The kids had such a wonderful time being together, and thanks to all Grandma's entertainment, even the adults got to relax. Tyler's family has someone in every time zone of the United States, so we don't get together often enough.
Some favorite memories:
For the second year, a robin family has built a nest in the wisteria vine climbing up our downspout. The slideshow is from last year. Every few days, once the mother bird had flown away to search for food, I climbed on a chair and aimed the camera down into the nest, since it was built too high for us to see into. Right now the babies are at picture 4; tiny feathers are growing in, but they still have mostly fuzz.
This year's nest location is, unfortunately, not as secure as last year's, and the prevailing winds have made the wisteria rock back and forth until it loosened the cable the vine is trained onto. Vine and nest sagged down to an accommodating eye-level, but also started tipping a bit precariously. So tonight Tyler and I, sacrificing all gardening instincts, hacked the wisteria almost in half, and bungee-corded the cable to the rain gutter. Mom and Dad Robin watched all this somewhat suspiciously, but I think we'll all sleep more safely tonight.
