Amazing!

I really can't think of a better way to describe our recent family field trip other than amazing! Let me start with how we ventured on this one time day of homeschooling.

For those of you who know G-man, you know that he is very, very, very fond of our feathered friends the birds. Most particularly raptors. This is the boy who has been both a bald eagle and a harpy eagle for Halloween (now those are easy to come by at Target). This obsession started at the age of 4 and although he has many other interests, this is one that seems embedded or possibly pre-programmed in his little brain. In any case, I was at a fundraising event quite some time ago and happened upon a lovely little auction item titled, "A Day in the Field to Band Golden Eagles." No shit!! What would G-man do if I told him he could go band golden eagles for a day! Well, I was not with my significant other on this particular night so to get up the guts to bid on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I drank. I drank a little too much. Not so much to make me do embarrassing things to hear about later (other than bid on live auction items) but just enough to bid on and win the said auction item. Needless to say, EJ wasn't amused. Most especially when I tried for over a year to schedule this banding extravaganza at which point, I was convinced was just a great donation to our local children's museum with no goods or services received (tax donation at this point please?). Just when I was about to give up, Raptor Guy called and left a message to schedule our long overdue raptor banding trip. Schedule we did, about 6 weeks in advance with all directions and checklists finalized. The date to anticipate, September 16.

I must say, I can be a little of a half glass empty kind of girl at times. I like to believe it's my mental preparation for things going poorly. Not that things often go as such but if I plan on trouble and all is well, I am pleasantly surprised! Let's just say, I often plan for worst case scenario. With this in mind, we set off for our day trip at about 6 am for an hour and half drive to meet at a gas station in a small Montana town. I was honestly a little sceptical that this was really going to happen. But happen it did and after a little more driving and 4-wheel shuttling, we were sitting in a trapping blind waiting for our first bird by 10:00 am.

This is when the waiting game began and although my initial glass-half-empty-thought was "OMG, what is Roo going to do this entire day? He's going to drive me crazy! I should have brought some little toy guys or cars or something for him to play with!" So I started feeding him. "Roo, do you want some cheese? How about a cookie? Fruit leather?" I just fed him and fed him until he was bored with it. Then they went out and fed the lure birds, then at around 11:00, we experienced our first catch! A beautiful Cooper's Hawk with shimmering golden eyes and beautiful feathers. Raptor Guy gently placed the bird in EJ's care and we took it down to a separate tent to measure, weigh, and band the bird. Then to my amazement, Raptor Guy passed the precious cargo off to G-man to release. I think the boy had died and gone to heaven! His mantra the remainder of the day was, "This is the best day of my life!" After 4 more catches of 3 Sharp Shinned Hawks and a Red Tailed Hawk (all of which he released but one that he kindly allowed Roo to do), I think I believe him. And with no Golden Eagles on our trapping list...we have an invite to try again in October. I won't hold my breath, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

EJ and boys with a Cooper's Hawk

G-man preparing to release the Cooper's Hawk

Roo palm releasing a Sharp Shinned Hawk

Raptor Guy passing off the Red Tailed Hawk for G-man to release.

May the Force Be With You

I like Star Wars. I do. I've seen 4 out of 6 of the series and as a child I saw the three originals in the theatre. EJ and I even went to the re-release of Episode IV in 1997. Growing up my brother had all the cool toys. All the ships, fighters and characters. I had to be Princess Leia, always. I wanted to be her. I wanted her dress and bagel bun hair and to be captured then saved by Luke and Han. It was all really cool and we had fun with it but it's not the kind of thing that consumes my thoughts every waking minute. I don't really care all that much about Clones, or even what they are. I don't really know the names of all the characters or what their purpose is. Again, I don't really care and I'm not all that worried about the fact that I haven't yet seen Episodes II and III. I've planned on seeing them someday.

Apparently, that someday is coming very soon. My boys are obsessed with Star Wars. It started about a year ago when they decided to be Jedi Knights for Halloween. It was cute, they had glowing light sabers and played in character for months afterward. Then over the year we allowed them to watch Episode IV, the obsession grew. Then Episode VI (yes we skipped V). The obsession grew more. Until finally the viewing of Episode V was allowed. In the last month they have checked Episode I and II off the list and have passed EJ's and my viewing experience. The only remaining episode is III. It is THE Episode. Although haven't seen it, I can summarize the story pretty well at this point. The main point being that Anakin Skywalker transforms into Darth Vadar. Big stuff! But we won't let him watch it until we've seen it first.

Now, when this movie was released in 2005, G-man was at the sweet age of 5, attending Kindergarten and still fairly naive to the more intense PG-13 movies. However, many of his friends were allowed to see the movie in the theatre upon release. Although G-man knew about it, it wasn't troublesome to keep him away. This decision was strengthened after his friend's parents informed me that seeing it was a big mistake! At the time it was the right decision and I have stood by it now for 3 years. So here I am with an obsessed 8 year old boy, who as far as I can tell is the only one of his friends still not allowed to see Revenge of the Sith because 3 years ago it was too scary for a 5 year old.

Then there is our current 5 year old Kindergartener who tends to fall into the category of, "Okay, you can watch it because your brother is." Roo has had to wait a much more minimal amount of time to see movies than his brother. He is equally obsessed and adamant about wanting to see this movie. At this point, I suspect this sweet 5 year old will be the one filling in all his friends about Anakin's transformation to the dark side and giving their parents a headache as they beg to watch Episode III.

I leave you now with G-man quizzing his current play date as to which Episodes he has seen and trying to talk him into watching one now...on a beautifully sunny fall day.

First...

First, let me say this. I never promised to consistently update my blog. There. This is my second defense of the sort and I stand by my desire to only blog when I want. And...I was at the cabin, lots. And...there is no Internet service or computer at the cabin. Only water skiing, swimming, hiking, running, biking, lounging, reading, and now sudoku-ing (kind of fun when sitting on a porch swing). So with that said, there are other firsts occurring this week which did keep me from blogging sooner.

This Week's Top Ten List of Firsts

10. FIRST day of school

9. FIRST checker boarded backpack

8. FIRST day in a long time that boys are wearing clean, unripped clothing

7. FIRST day of third grade

6. FIRST time there have been textbooks sitting on the desk of one of my children

5. FIRST day of kindergarten!

4. FIRST time riding the bus!

3. FIRST time eating hot lunch!

2. FIRST time I cried while telling a friend about his first day of school!

1. FIRST time I am working full-time since the boys were born!

It's true, G-man has textbooks. A pile of them at that. Roo started school all proud and happy and thrilled to death with his teacher (who he may secretly have a crush on). And I am officially a full-time participant in the work force. I really don't want to. I really wanted my day off to be all about ME. Not home doing laundry and going to playgroups but doing what I want to do. Like ski or bike or run. To get up, get the kids off to school and drink my latte slowly while listening to NPR. Who knows, maybe I'd even blog. But no, I'm working full-time. My friends and family think I'm crazy, and I possibly am. All I know is that for my efforts, I got new bedroom furniture! The first time since middle school! It's amazing to think that EJ was okay with my childhood furniture for 15 years! But now it's gone with a new location at the cabin. So now a teaching friend tells me I can call my room my "Tuesday Room" because I gave up my Tuesday for my new bedroom. Now you may think that personal freedom may be more worthwhile than furniture and I will tell you that you are likely correct in that assumption. However, there is another aspect to this story. You see, one of the other preschool teachers had a baby in December. She took her leave and came back for the end of the school year. Like most new mamas, she wanted to work part-time so she could have some time home with her bebe. So we switched FTE which gives her one day home and me money to redecorate my house. So you see, I would love my day off, but it was time to pass the torch to a new mom who needs time with her little one. I know I loved mine.

FIRST DAY