and baby makes 6!

Tuckered out

Skimmer mama

Photographing this was dangerous I tell ya. These birds are fiercely protective of their nests (look at those beaks!), so I pulled the van up next to the nesting area and photographed them out the window. Still, the parents flew frantically around the van, shrieking and complaining and letting me know that I was intruding on their nesting vibe.

I grabbed my shot and left them to their littles.

I had a lovely comment from a reader named Joan on my previous post. She was on vacation with her family to our neck of the woods, and ended up on our marina. It was a busy weekend on the docks, and it was literally packed with people. We had come to the boat to hang out, grill some sausage and swim. Joan happened to notice my daughter coming out of the marina store with her brothers and she recognized her from my blog.

Wow. That’s about all I can say. To have someone recognize my kids from my blog is a bit strange and unnerving all at once. I really love to meet new people, don’t get me wrong. If Joan had grabbed me and introduced herself, I would have bought her a beer…right after she shoveled me off the dock that I melted into.

But, someone recognized my kids from the internet, folks. Thank goodness it was someone real and valid like Joan. We spoke via e-mail etc and I do not feel in the least unnerved about HER at all…just about the concept.

How does this make you feel? What if it happened to you?

I think I can empathize with the little Skimmer mamas. “My babies, my babies. Eeeek!”

Siesta

No electronics allowed

Shark!

The dinghy becomes a playground once we anchor. The kids have invented a game called “Sharks” on it. The rules are simple: you must jump off the back of the boat and get in the dinghy as fast as you can to avoid the sharks. Whoever is in the dinghy, rocks it back and forth violently as you try to climb in all the while screaming “shark”. Hilarious laughter and splashing are part of the rules.

Yes, I prefer this break to the endless Wii, TV and computer games.

And no…..real sharks were not included.

Changing gears

My husband can’t sit still.

He is a man of movement and is always doing some chore or another. At home he does laundry, cleans, mows the lawn, and somehow always finds something to keep himself preoccupied.

It really is no different on the boat. There is ALWAYS something to tinker with. No sooner had we dropped anchor was he in the water cleaning the hull. He ended up doing 3/4 of it and I finished the rest.

The interesting thing is, even though he is a man of motion, he can break his stride in a heartbeat and slip right into the laid back life of vacation on the boat.

Me? It takes a bit longer to shrug off the everyday stresses and get acclimated to life without distractions. I have to ease into it.

Jumping in the water and cleaning the hull refocused me and when I came out of the water, I believe I had left the distractions behind.

Anchorage

This has to be one of my favorite places. The water is always cool and clear, and it is not unusual to be the only boat there. We spend our days swimming, napping, fishing, reading and rowing around with the dinghy.

It always pleases me to see the transformation that occurs when we get away from real life and all the distractions of the phone, TV, computer and all the conveniences of civilization. The kids all mesh together and get along. Bill and I relax and unwind.

We are on Mexico time. It is a different clock than the rest of the world. It is a lifestyle that our society just can’t seem to grasp. I know I have said this very thing numerous times, but it is so true!

Being on a boat takes Mexico time to new levels. We become one with the tide….the boat swaying back and forth following the wind, tugging against the anchor in protest. It wants to break free and go where the wind will lead it.

Yes, it was hot. There were mosquitoes. At one point, around 1 a.m or so, I broke out the mosquito netting, covered the hatches and went up on deck with my pillow to try and catch some breeze and some Zzz’s. The 2 oldest boys were asleep in the cockpit. Honey was curled up in a ball with them, so I moved some legs over and curled up at their feet. The full moon was up. There was not one cloud in the sky, and the stars were out in all their glory. I lay there staring up at it all, wondering how I was going to go home and have plaster for my ceiling again.

I empathize with the boat. Sometimes I feel myself pulling at our anchor. If we hoisted it, I wonder where the wind would take us?

She’ll follow them anywhere

We spent the weekend out in das boot, all 4 kiddos and the Hun Bun wowie. It was hot, fun, gorgeous, and we are all very, very tired.

One high point was watching a blazing red sun set off our stern, and watching a huge, bright red moon rising off the bow. I applauded, as it felt like a show, put on just for us.

Tunnel vision

We have been waking every morning at 6am for the entire summer. Two words: swim team. ‘Nuff said.

But it is now over, and the sleeping late has BEGUN!!!! The above sunrise is the last one I plan on seeing until Bill and I enjoy one with coffee on the boat…in some unknown little cove.

The blog has morphed again, and archives have returned. I am slowly going through them and adding the pictures back that Flickr ate. To be honest, I am glad it happened as it forced me to host my own images, which is something everyone should consider.

Summer bullet list:
-Cody finally got his cast off and SWAM for the first time this summer. He claims his entire summer was ruined, regardless of the fact that he still has more than 1/2 of it left. His arm is as good as new, despite the severity of the break. How severe was it? Well, let’s just say that it was so grossly deformed upon impact (fell off the monkey bars at school) that Cody reached down and, with a scream, BENT HIS ARM BACK INTO PLACE. The assistant principle was standing a few feet away and watched Cody reduce his own fracture. He said there was about 8 seconds of screaming panic, and then Cody just reached down and bent it back in line and said “I need to go to the nurse now”. (shudder)

-I am now run/walking 4 miles a day. 3/4 of it is running, so its good. I have consistently kept it up daily since the end of May, so things (body areas) are moving back to where they should be and I am pleased.

-In the last couple of months I have had a CAT scan, an US and just over $500 worth of blood testing. All are negative. So, the discomfort I am experiencing in my thoracic region and upper right quadrant of my abdomen have no diagnosis. Bill said “You have rocks in your gizzard”, which is something his physician grandfather used to say about people who had a smidge of “the crazy”. I have plans to throw him overboard while we are on the boat alone…..no one will ever notice, right?

-Mia has recovered from Peeps demise, but daily she reflects on missing him. His sister, who kept her hind end in the nest, survived the toddler days and became a fledgling and flew away. We watched her every day and photographed her growth, so it was nice to see her make it to adulthood.

-We have had many more snakes in our yard. Lots of non-venomous snakes I might add. But snakes none-the-less. We catch them, photograph them for our log and release them. It is amazing how much wildlife is here. We were having a beer on our back deck last night, and Honey was barking at the fence so we got up to take a look. It was a deer. She was about 3 feet from the fence and when she saw me, she just stood there and studied me. I talked softly to her and then left her to graze. Loveliness that has no words. It is just magical here.

I have tunnel vision right now, and my focus is on the boat trip, hence my absence here. If I find some WiFi along the way, I will ping you all a pic of my idea of paradise. The thought of being alone on the boat with my husband has me day dreaming. Don’t get me wrong…..I will miss the kids and Honey….I am just ready to have Bill all to myself. Every couple should find the time to be alone with each other. If you have not done that in a long time, do it. Find a way. Get out of the house with each other……closing the door to your bedroom and hearing children knocking and asking “Can we come in yet? What are you DOING in there?” just does not cut the mustard, folks.

I won’t be day dreaming soon…………

You’re a song
Written by the hands of God
Don’t get me wrong cause
This might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place
Where all my thoughts go hiding…….

When the friends are gone
When the party’s over
We will still belong to each other
~Shakira

Finding that one particular harbor

We have a numerous irons in the fire right now. Vacations with kids (5′er and boat), vacations without kids (boat), so there will be lots of fun, new pics coming soon.

The boat trip with just Bill and I will be a well deserved bit of couple time. We are not sure which direction we are heading, or for how long, but rest assured we plan on finding some isolated anchorages. There are a ton of little islands and deserted areas between here and Mexico, and hopefully we will find that one particular harbor to restore our minds and bodies.

The 5′er trailer trip is at the request of the kids and will not involve the ocean, again at their request. They want rivers and hills and such, so northwest..ish is the direction we will head. I am really, really looking forward to being in the 5′er again. Every single time I go to check on it in storage, I cry. I open the doors, climb in, and the smells of happiness, fun times and dreams yet to be fulfilled intoxicate me and I am ready to hitch it up and head off forever. (sigh)

Until blast off time, I am busy with lists, finding charts, researching anchorages, finding trailer parks etc etc.

Parents Gone Wild On a Boat tales coming soon.

Can you hear it?

Our town does a fantabulous fireworks show. It’s on the bay, it is huge, and this year we had our boat and could motor on out and view it at anchor.

But we didn’t. Instead it poured rain all day, only clearing up in the late afternoon, so we stayed home and cooked. I made Chris’ potato salad, and this Flag cake, cupcakes, some BBQ ribs and baked beans. We stuffed ourselves, and then everyone showered and got in their jammies………well, not everyone. Let me rephrase that. I got in my jammies, and Bill and the kids went out front to wait and see if they could see the fireworks from our yard.

Bill called me outside as the sun was setting and told me to bring my camera. The sunset was just stunning. Red skies at night, sailor’s delight. I clicked away.

We never did see the fireworks…….the majestic coastal oaks blocked our view.

Then again, we might have been disappointed after seeing the Masters show……there was no music, no rockets, no bangs and pops.

But if you listened carefully, you could hear Creation sigh.

Meet Peep

Not only does Peep have a Mohawk, which makes him the stylin’ nestling on the block, but he also loves sky diving from 15 feet in the air.

Peep has no fear. You can have your well-dressed-for-work husband climb the huge ladder at 6:30 a.m. and place Peep the Cardinal back into his booby trapped nest in the twig filled oak tree…..but before your husband can glare at you as he steps off the last rung, Peep will come hurtling through the air and make a soft landing on the thick grass. And he will then peep.

Peep will spend the entire day doing this, until you come to your senses as you stand on the top rung, on the “DANGER: DO NOT STAND ON TOP OF LADDER. YOU MAY LOSE YOUR BALANCE AND FALL” sign and decide that if Peep needs sea level, Peep will get it.

Peep takes up residence in a decorative, old bird nest that your father found over 13 years ago. At first, you try placing the nest in the lowest branches of the tree (Duh). He continues to leap.

Your children watch him peep on the ground and they cry and rip their clothing in grief.

You KNOW that the parent cardinals are there, watching over their reckless youth. You have even seen them feed it a time or two, shake their heads and cluck “Tsk, tsk tsk…can you believe YOUR son”, but as the afternoon wears on, Peep gets a bit dehydrated and lethargic.

You load into the car and head to the local pet shop to buy Exact Hand feeding Formula for seed eating birds because Peep is a Cardinal, and they are way above eating bugs. Only the best mush will do.

As dusk settles in, you end up bringing the baby in and with the little nest, you place it in an old canary cage that belonged to your grandmother. Peep starts, well, peeping, so you mix the mush and give it to him via a syringe. His crop gets full, and he stops peeping and closes his eyes. You turn, walk to the sink, rinse the syringe and mixing bowl and as you set it down the peeping begins and the whole process starts over again.

Your husband makes it clear that if that keeps up all night, out goes Peep.

Peep only becomes quiet as night falls. The cage is covered, the kids are bathed and you ready yourself for bed. You stop at the cage to make sure the very quiet baby bird is still alive and you notice….something funny about his beak. It appears, in the dim light, that he has grown a second beak. The cage is taken to a bright light and the horror that Peep is silently tolerating becomes very apparent.

(changing to first person)

Peep had a worm crawling out of his left nostril. Yes, a worm. I had to stare at it for a minute before it moved, but move it did. Which left me in a very unusual position. I could either leave the large worm hanging out of the nostril (no, I did not get my camera) or I could get some tweezers and pull it out.

Yeah. I pulled the worm out of the baby birds schnoz with the tweezers. What about it? The little bird was so relieved. It was beyond gross, and I keep reaching up to rub my left nostril in sympathy for Peep.

I threw the worm out, along with the tweezers and when I came back in the house, Bill said “So, do you still want to keep the bird in the house. Yeeeeeah! Wouldn’t that be special to have a worm like that”.

Yes, Peep was promptly taken outdoors, and he and his little nest were comfortably deposited in the branches of a tree for the night.

Which brings us to today. The bird is still alive. We fed it outside all day, along with the parents (it does take a village, you know) and his feathers appear to be turning Cardinal red this evening.

No more nostril worm sightings, but there is still time before he is officially a fledgling and will hop/fly away.

In the meantime, it is that time of year. The babies are getting too big for their britches and the nestlings are acting like fledglings. The difference between the two is that a fledgling is supposed to do this, and a nestling is supposed to, as the name implies, stay in the nest.

If you see a bird with full feathers, hopping around on the ground and flying very short distances, this is okay. They are supposed to do that at this fledgling stage. They are not supposed to sleep in late, and borrow the car and money until they are 30.

Nestlings on the other hand can’t fly short distances. They are much more vulnerable to predators at this stage, so try and place them back into their nest.

If they are hell bent on hitting the pavement, and they are in a safe location free from dogs or cats, the best thing to do is leave them to their parents. Try placing them in a makeshift nest in the lower branches of the tree. The parents will continue to care for it. It is a HUGE myth that touching a baby bird will make its parents reject it.

Although I have to wonder if they would be inclined to if they saw a worm crawl out of their preshus baaaybeees nose.

**edit to add that this was written yesterday, and Peep spent another restful night in his makeshift nest in the tree. No guarantee that this little guy will make it, but so far so good.

***edit to add that we had a huge downpour of rain and as it started, went out to get Peep but could not find him. We spent forever combing the yard and he was nowhere to be found. We looked everywhere and finally gave up and went in, thinking his parents shooed him to safety. When the rain let up, we went outside to look some more, and finally found him. He had climbed into a low lying plant in our flower bed…..the same flower bed that floods. The poor, sweet little thing drown. We are so upset and sad. Mia especially. As I type this she is buried in the covers next to me sobbing. (HUGE SIGH)

Dancing with water

While my friend was here visiting from up north, I had the pleasure of getting to know her 2 girls. You will never meet a sweeter pair.

What I loved was watching them with Mia. It struck me over and over again how different little girls are from boys.

My boys would charge, full steam ahead, down the beach screaming and literally attack the sand and water with all their might. Everything was something to pounce or stomp on….sand castles were not safe and neither were plaster casts (yes, Cody got it a bit wet).

The girls, on the other hand, tippy toed down the sand to the water and started dancing with the waves as they splashed up onto a beach, transformed into gold by the setting sun. Prancing little fairies, captivating everyone.

Yin and yang, snips and snails, sugar and spice. I love what they are all made of.