I have about 2 seconds right now; just got back from dropping Asher at summer school strength and conditioning class, and I have a ton of work to do.
So, just a very quick check- in on a couple things!
1- Asher and Ivan are back from Iowa. They left and drove there Friday morning (it’s about 5 hours). Asher swam a total of 12 events from Friday to Sunday, including some doozies…in addition to the 50 meter sprints in all 4 strokes, he swam the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 400 free, 200 IM, 100 back, 100 breast, 100 free…. Yikes. I’m tired just looking at that. He had a good meet overall and was happy/ semi-exhausted last night!
They had a professional photographer and I got these cool shots:
Neat, huh??
2- Ethan is off to camp! I drove him the ~1 hour away to check in yesterday afternoon. One thing that impressed me this year: He 100% completely packed himself! He actually told me, “I got it. You can go take your shower. I can read the packing list and do this.”
OKAY! He literally had the duffel bag packed and zipped shut when I came back out. I asked if I should review anything and he said nope. I quizzed him on a few “essentials”, just to make sure…and he assured me it was all there.
There are some nice things to kids getting older. 🙂
3- Sad news. The mama duck has abandoned her nest. Wahhhh. She actually abandoned it the second day after I posted about it.
The next morning when I went outside (but made sure to maintain a far away distance), I could see that she was there, but she immediately saw me, too, and flew out of the nest. She then sat in our neighbor’s yard for a really long time, just watching me water my plants, etc… Eventually I think she went back to the nest when I went inside. Later on, Asher went outside (again, nowhere near the nest, but on the driveway), and again, she was sitting on the eggs but fled in a bit of a panic when she saw him.
After that, we never saw her again. 😦 So sad. I read online that if ducks “feel there is too much commotion near the nest” that they may abandon it. I’m assuming this is what happened…. She must have felt it just wasn’t safe for her there, with people (aka giant animal predators, probably, in her mind….) around all the time.
I tried so hard to make it private for her!! But the fact is, the nest is in a really bad place. I guess she finally realized that. (The next day, the UPS truck came to a loud, screeching halt right next to the mailbox…I was actually happy she wasn’t there, because that would have probably scared the crap out of her.)
Anyway, I’m sad about it…poor mama duck!
Alright, gotta run! Enjoy your Monday!!
Quote of the Day:
My two favorite things in life are being with my kids, and not being with my kids. 🙂
(Oh, I love this! So true.)
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a very much needed quiet weekend while Ivan/Asher were away.
GRATEFUL KAE 
That is sad about the mama duck. I saw a really sad situation on Sunday when I took Will for a walk. I told Phil about it when he got home because it was so sad and I had to tell someone! But then he said – why did you tell me that? That is awful? It involves a mama duck and a dead chick. 😦 I won’t sadden you with the story but ugh. It bothered me so much!
That is awesome that Ethan packed himself!! Wow that must feel good. Since he had a checklist hopefully that means he didn’t forget anything. I have a checklist in my notes ap for weekends away but it doesn’t have everything – like nothing that we use daily, more things like sunhats, sunscreen, sound machines, etc. So last weekend, it turns out I forgot to pack Paul’s underwear! Whoopsies. Luckily there is a dollar general in town so I could buy some. I am usually an excellent packer but messed that up!
Oh and that being w/ kids and not being with kids IS SO TRUE. I am so happy when both boys are asleep but then will sometimes almost miss them and want to look at them while they are sleeping? It’s so bizarre.
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Oh and the photos are awesome! Especially of his butterfly! Look at those toned arms!!
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What a nice perk to have a professional photographer! Water shots are so hard to do!
Poor mama duck. That story makes me very sad. 😦
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very nice pic of Asher! so professional!
sorry to hear about the duck mama…. animals are so different than humans but they usually act for a reason and they are more resilient than humans. So don’t worry too much 🙂
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Those are some really cool shots of Asher…. and this is awesome that Ethan packed his own bag. If he did forget something, he can’t blame you 😉
I am so sorry mama duck abandoned her nest. That is really sad… but really, there was no way to protect her nest where she built it. You tried your best.
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My two favorite things in life are being with my kids, and not being with my kids. = Amen. This is SO true. I love time away from my kids, but then spend most of my time away from the kids talking about the kids (in a good way). I need the time away to miss them, but then I actually do (but not enough to not go away in the first place!!).
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