Doris Mae is on the move!

Doris Mae is our geocaching travel bug. See that teddy bear up there? If you click it, it will take you to a page that will show you where she's been. We dropped her in a cache in Washington state when we were on vacation last fall. She spent some time in Canada and is now in Ketchikan, Alaska!

Zoo!

Bug & I went to the zoo yesterday with our neighbors. Bug was thrilled to find out that there was a baby (5 months old) lion cub named Leo Pold. Here's a short video clip of him playing with his mother.

Big tree!

The three of us went for a walk on the marsh trails yesterday. What beautiful weather! Bug remembered that there was a big tree that she liked to climb on. She was excited to find it and see how high she could get.



Bug is 9!

 Bug turned 9 yesterday. How did that happen so quickly?!

 She started the day by opening a few cards while still in bed:

Since she was going to go with her dad while he donated blood, I asked her if she'd like to take the ipod Touch with her. She turned it on and saw Capt. Jack Sparrow...this was her reaction:

Then she went to the next screen where it said, along the top, Happy birthday, Bug! She was stunned.

...and very happy!

This thing seems a bit dangerous...

 After she got up she opened some more cards. This one from her aunt made her laugh. A lot.

 While reading this one, she's trying to figure out who it's from.

 She couldn't figure it out. Apparently when the children's librarian signs her name without the "Miss" at the front, it means nothing to Bug.

She seemed to enjoy opening cards more than presents this year...pretty funny. This is the one from me & her dad. I think she likes it!

 

 She's usually quite good at crossing her eyes. She was just too giggly to do it this time.

 Every.single.time. that Bug sees these little Moleskine notebooks she pesters me to get some. Finally...I did.

 I made 2 cakes. They each had the Chinese character for "9" on them. This one was for her Chinese class.

We took this one to the Chinese buffet to share with the kids there. 

Make way for ducklings!

 Bug came running into the house yesterday, yelling something about ducks. I followed her outside. There was a mother mallard and 10 ducklings in the neighbors yard. We got to watch them for a bit, then it was obvious that she was ready to get them back to the river. We followed along, knowing that half a block away is a very busy street...which must be crossed if you want to get to the river. I ended up standing in the middle of the road (glad that it was a one-way street) stopping traffic so that they could get across. It was nice to disrupt traffic and get smiles & waves (all five fingers!) in return.

                                 

Piano recital.

Bug had a piano recital last Friday. She played Young Hunter along with her teacher. She was very excited and did a great job!







We were just out feeding the ducks...

Bug & I were just finishing lunch at the park when I spotted this guy who looked rather familiar. Know that Elton John is in town, I was pretty sure that this was his guitarist, Davey Johnstone. We fed a few ducks, then got back on our bike. Before long, I spotted him and we rolled up and asked if he was Davey. We chatted briefly, he asked Bug her name & age...told her that his youngest is 6 1/2. He was kind enough to post for a pic with Bug. When we got home and did some research we found out that it's his birthday on Friday. If we'd only known...Bug was thrilled when I told her that he'd played with Alice Cooper at one time.



Easter pics...finally.

Better late than never, right? Bug was quited excited on Easter morning. The hunt was on for the basket. Where could it be?

Success! She was thrilled to find the 2 birds from the movie Rio.

 This looks like a tasty carrot!

E.B.!

 Toe socks? It might not look like it in the pic, but she was VERY happy to get these.



Bug & her dad made the paper!

We went to an Earth Day event on Saturday. Bug very much liked learning about raptors. We were surprised when we got our paper the next day and saw this: 

Japan

Our friend, Takeshi, lives in Japan. He was on a plane at the Narita airport, ready to come to the U.S. to play so Irish music when the first earthquake hit. Here's an article/interview about his experience: http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2011/03/13/r_wg7iruous84x7vwrdqo3q/index.xml

Dinosaurs!

Bug & I headed down to the Children's Museum the other day. We hadn't been there since September! I'm not sure why it took us so long to go back, but we will be making it a regular stop again. Bug was excited because there was a new dinosaur exhibit. We'd seen the footprints on the sidewalk...


She practiced flying...


She made some new friends...


She did some construction work...



I left the museum with a Very Happy Bug!

The (Good) Advice Book

Bug started this book over the summer, then abandoned it for a bit. She finished it today and gave me permission to share. I thought it might be good for us all to start the new year with some (good) advice!




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Sledding

Bug got an inflatable snow tube for Christmas. The folks next door to us talked to us and when plowing their driveway have been pushing it all to one spot to make a hill for Bug.

She could hardly wait to get outside today and try it out.