January 12

We ended up skipping church this morning. We've had enough sickness around here, and for once the children were all healthy and the sun was shining. Who wants to ruin that?

Actually, it turned out that we made a wise choice, because Miss Lily ended up sleeping until 9:45. Poor girl needed that sleep, because even though she woke up in good spirits, thirty minutes later she vomited all over herself. Poor girl! I was thankful she wasn't in the church nursery when it happened - 10:15 is right when all the babies start to get fussy because the service is nearly over, and the nursery workers always have their hands full. At least they didn't have to deal with our puking baby!

But aside from that incident and some weird diapers yesterday and today, she's been fine and in a great mood. So we proceeded with the adventure we had planned: Lone Elk Park.

Chris and I hadn't been there for at least ten years, so we were curious to see what we'd find.

We ended up finding an adventure right away! Caleb and Daisy were so excited to climb this spiral staircase, but by the time they were halfway up,  their enthusiasm waned. I don't blame them. Open staircases freak me out. But we scampered up to the top, and were rewarded with a lovely view. (I love how the photo above captures their dynamic. Caleb looks cheerful and excited, and Daisy looks wary but is following her brother's lead. Too sweet!)

Can you believe it was nearly 60 degrees today? Crazy, I tell you.

They were so curious! They were also terrified to go back down. I ended up carrying Daisy down, then going back up to get Caleb and carry him down. But again - I can't say I blame them!

And we got down and found our first elk, right in the middle of the road! It was pretty cool, and helpful because the rest of the visit involved driving around in the car. The kids were able to see some elk and bison through the windows, but it was nice for them to see one like this first. (Don't worry, Mom. This was as close as we got, and the elk was stationary and completely uninterested in us.)

Then, since we were right there, we headed to the World Bird Sanctuary. I attempted to nurse a completely-uninterested Lily in the car (it had been seven hours and a vomiting session since her last feeding, but apparently she didn't mind) while Chris and the big kids explored. When I realized that Lily was just playing, I popped her in the Ergo and we ventured out to find this: 

That would be Daisy, the bald eagle. She was so excited!

And Caleb? He was so ready to run. This boy is a ball of energy. Perhaps he has been Fussy McFusserton lately because he has been cooped up inside?

Then we found a life-size replica of a bald eagle's nest. I coaxed the kids into the nest, and Daisy was totally into it. This is her pretending to be an eagle and flapping her wings. Caleb, however, was not convinced.

Then I asked them to pretend they were mommy eagles, sitting on their eggs. They each found a big rock in the nest and, like good little eagle mommies, sat down to warm them. How funny are they?

Then Chris was the Daddy eagle, keeping his eaglets warm.

And then I got to be Mommy eagle. 

(Side note: have you noticed that Chris has a natural ability to take really good pictures? His lighting and composition and focus are always spot-on. I am simultaneously jealous and proud that he's mine.)

Since we were right there, we stopped by our beekeeper's house and picked up a gallon of honey (yes, we buy honey a gallon at a time. Don't you?), then headed home. The trip home ended up taking maybe 45 minutes, and our adventure put us home well after naptime. But as soon as we unbuckled Caleb, he announced, "I'm not ready for nap yet. First, I need to run!" Can't argue with that. 

So he and Chris took off down the street.

I got my camera out in time to capture their post-run victory stretch.

And I also captured this: 

My two angels, fast asleep. 

Things that kill me about this: 

the matching angles of their heads

their matching rosy cheeks

the fact that Daisy still has her sunglasses on

the blond curl in the middle of Daisy's eye

Of course, it didn't last. But it was beautiful while it did!