Animal Planet and other fun pics....

This is kind of hard to explain, but we have this little "tunnel" for our furry family friend, Bianca. The tunnel is the bane of my husband's existence! It is about 5' long and spring loaded and whenever we take it out, it is a nightmare to put away! It takes two people to squish it all back together and shove it between the wall and our shelf on the back patio. Since Bianca is an indoor only kitty, Emerson LOVES her to come outside and "play" with her while in her tunnel. A few weeks ago, we went outside to play and Emerson wanted to bring Bianca out. I went to go grab the tunnel and was shocked to find a bird nest on top of it! After closer inspection I realized that there were 4 eggs inside. It was amazing how quickly all three of us became attached to the Mommy and Daddy birds who were tending to their nest. We tried to avoid going on the back patio so as not to disturb them, but that was difficult with a child who loves playing outside. Eventually Mommy and Daddy bird realized they could trust us and continued flitting back and forth even when we were sitting just a few feet away from them. It was so exciting each and every day to dash outside and check on the baby birdie eggs. Finally, after a few weeks they hatched! They were so darn cute!! Mommy and Daddy bird brought them yummy grubs, worms, and bugs all day long! I snapped this picture in between "feedings" while the baby birds were taking a nap!



We went out of town this weekend and when we came back Sunday, we all ran outside to check on the baby birds, and they had flown the nest!! We were so proud!! I couldn't believe how sad we all were though to see them gone. What we aren't so pleased about is the mess they left behind! Our back patio is now COVERED in baby bird poop!! Of course, Florida was in the midst of one of the worst droughts in years, but moments after we arrived home Sunday, it started raining and HASN'T STOPPED!! So, cleaning the back patio is on the agenda for this coming weekend **SIGH** at least Bianca will be happy that she can finally use her tunnel again!

We now also have a family of bunnies living under the neighbor's canoe in the backyard. I am amazed at how trusting these bunnies are, they just hop right out and munch on grass and bushes while Emerson is running around playing. It doesn't seem to bother them in the least even when she is only a few feet from them! Let's not forget the family of lizards that live under the tunnel where the bird's nest was or the pack of armadillos that sniff around our yard all day and night!

I also wanted to share a couple pictures I snapped of my baby girl last week. The first was taken while I was in the midst of laundry and other cleaning. She came across some Disney Princess fabric I had purchased to make her some simple twirl dresses to wear to school and asked if she could play with them. I came back in the play room about 20 minutes later to find her "decorating" her chair! She is definitely a budding designer. She had carefully arranged each piece of fabric over her chair to make her own personal Disney Princess Chair cover! It was so cute!!



And lastly, this one was snapped the next day after I found my little super model perched on the bathroom counter painting her finger nails! So sweet!!