Little Birdie

I saw this little bird on a walk a few weeks ago. I kept taking photos and getting closer and closer. I could not believe how close he let me get! I used the 'flower' close up setting on my camera.

He makes me happy:). Does anyone know what kind of bird this is and if, in fact, it is a male? Thanks!

Being Here Now

It's that time of year when I especially miss her. But now, all the firsts are gone. The first grandchildren, the first college graduate, the first of every holiday, the weddings. We have a new normal without mom being here. And this week, I relished in what our family is now. Her importance, love and wisdom will never be forgotten. I am proud of my dad and my sister and myself, for who we are now. I am proud of my husband, my brother in law and my step mom for becoming an integral part of our family, and us being integral parts of their families. And I'm proud of my little boys, for millions of reasons.

Happy Mother's Day.

Random Thoughts

Just some random thoughts and observations from our adventure!

1.We went through something called a 'Coyote Wash' in AZ. This amused me. Can you also get your coyote dried and fluffed? (I know, I know *bad joke*.)

2.Brian Fellows impersonations are only funny for about 5 minutes, once a week. I went way over that limit.

3.Is alien jerky made from illegal aliens, extraterrestials, or road kill?

4.A small bag of petrified rocks will make it just fine through the washer.

5.Loose, looser, and loosest slots: this just doesn't seem like a good thing to me! All the more reason for your money to disappear! And the signs were always next to some hot chick.

6. Gilda Radner is hilarious. Not kid appropriate.

Gaslamp District, San Diego, CA

We spent most of our trip just outside of San Diego. We visited my husband's 85 year old grandmother almost daily, and spent time with his aunt and uncle, his two cousins and their families and his dad and stepmom. We went downtown one day, to go to Horton's Plaza, and found ourselves in the Historic Gaslamp District, which I loved.

I heart San Diego...:)

Flagstaff, AZ

In Flagstaff, we managed to pick the same restaurant as Alan Jackson's crew. There ended up being three trailers with his name on it, as well as two tour buses. We ended up sitting next to some of the drivers and one gal thought they were huge celebrities. I was highly entertained.

Grand Canyon

I'm having a hard time readjusting to life in MN after the trip!!


I am so glad we got to go to the Grand Canyon but will be honest that I'm disappointed we didn't have much time there. I feel like I need a good week there to explore and sit and think and look. But it was good.

The Tuesday before we left, I went with my 8 year old on his field trip to the MN Science Museum. We watched an IMAX movie about the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Very cool and glad we got to see such an interesting view point on it right before we went.
I found a trailer:):


Photos never seem to be able to do the Grand Canyon justice. The thing that struck me the most was how QUIET it was. No birds or animals, and where we stopped, we were the only humans there. It was beautiful and amazing.

Five Years Time

Noah and the Whale's 'Five Years Time'

I love this song. It's got a ukelele, it's cute and quirky and happy, and makes me want to watch 'The Royal Tannebaums'.

We have also been discussing where we want to be in our lives in 5 years. I've never really done this, because I'm fairly spontaneous and hate planning things. But goals and vision certainly do need to have things done to get to them. I still want to go back to school within that time, work in an educational/creative way.

What about you???