Another Outdoor Day.

Once again we found ourselves heading outside often and staying outside for much of the day.  But, before the day was even supposed to start for a little boy and girl, the girl (with a new snotty nose) decided to get up and hang out with mommy in her room.  So that mommy could get some prayer in with minimal disturbance, Therese had some creative time on the bed, making her Godmother (LS Hallel) a picture.  Because of that, I did do at least one thing indoors today - I added a letter to the picture and got it ready to mail.

So... our first outing was to the mail box... which just happens to be a few feet off the path around the pond!  We went out talking about seeing the ducks, but we ended up seeing quite a few new animals today, and some pretty flowers!... it was quite exciting!

I think that previously we were just so focused on the feathered friends on top of the water, that we didn't take any time to look UNDER them.  I happed to do that this morning, and realized that there are HUNDREDS of turtles in the pond ALL OVER THE PLACE!  And the fish are also very visible all throughout the water.  So, Therese and I had fun pointing out every turtle that popped its head above the water, and when we fed the ducks some pretzels this evening, we noticed that we also had a pack of turtles and a swarm of fish feeding on our offering as well!

Oh, and we were very excited to see this:

Therese has been concerned that these little ducklings weren't with their daddy, because she knows (from experience) that a family just isn't whole if either mommy or daddy isn't there.  So, when she saw the family intact, she was very pleased.  In her words: "That is so nice!"

We did find a second batch of little ducklings this evening, however, that is still without a visible father figure, so Therese decided that daddy duck was at work.  She said: "He's a soldier duck!"

And I think the gazebo swing has become a permanent fixture in the middle of our walk... I like it!

Below you can see me, enjoying a long swing, provided by my two little ones, who happen to enjoy the pushing of this swing almost as much as the swinging!  Life is good!

It was absolutely beautiful this evening, but I wasn't sure how long our walk would take, with the ducks and turtles and fish and puppies that we meet along the way, so I secretly packed our swimming stuff in my backpack, and only when I realized that we did have enough time for the quick dip did I let them know.  So... we changed quick in the restroom by the pool, and Therese jumped in about 5 times, and was very pleased to then head home refreshed as well as having her full animal quota for the day!

Here are some miscellaneous fun shadow pictures from this evening:

 And today's game of "bowling for ducks"!

Oh... I almost forgot... speaking of animals, we were also there for the landing of the Canadian geese today!

Daddy Update

I have realized that I am very much treating this blog as a scrapbook, which will be great, because I know that I can actually print it out like that, and it would be great to have it as a momento... but the bad part about it is that I simply go through the day's pictures.  So... I often fail to speak of that which is not on my camera... specifically, DADDY!  So, I think I am going to try to end each entry, or at least whenever I feel it necessary, with a Daddy Update whenever Joe is not present.  At least then it will be a full family scrapbook, not just a partial family scrapbook!

So, for today:  Joe was able to make his usual 9pm call, but it was only for a moment, because he really needed to hit the sack in order to be in the best possible shape for their 10 mile ruck march in the morning.  It sounds like his Cadre is being pretty smart about it, and they should be marching on decent terrain, so he is not as concerned about possible injury as he had been.  Also, he is still only dealing with the cold, so far the flu that has been spreading to other OCs has passed him by.

He actually wasn't going to call tonight... at about 8pm he was dead tired and wanted to hit the sack, but he knew that a bit of news he found out today would be very appreciated by his wife to know as soon as possible.  It is actually bad news, but I'm glad that he stayed up to tell me.  He got word from leadership today that the possible off-post pass that they have been told about for this coming weekend WILL NOT be taking place.  Not only that, but their on-post pass will not begin until Saturday morning, not Friday night.  SIGH!!!  But, as I said, I'm so glad he sacrificed an hour of sleep in order to let me know tonight, because the less hope I have crushed the better the rest of my week and our weekend together will be.

So... now the main challenge in the end of this week will be to still clean the house, even though I know he isn't coming!  Thank God it is Lent, or I simply don't know if I could make myself do it!