4th of July Fun

We had a lot of fun today. Almost the first thing this morning, Joseph came running into our room exclaiming that he saw a rabbit outside. Not that unusual; we see a rabit or two outside on most mornings. Even though I was still lying sleepily in bed, he seemed particularly excited, so I decided to get out of bed and enjoy some rabbit watching with him (and Michael too). Well, I'm glad I did, because not only was there a rabbit, but a red-tailed hawk! And the hawk was perched on a little iron plant hanger in the yard, only about 6-8 feet from the rabbit. I thought the hawk must be hunting the rabbit, and sure enough, a few moments later, the hawk made a go at the rabbit! However, the rabbit was much too quick. I think the hawk was actually a juvenile and not quite up to catching an adult rabbit yet, but it was fun to watch him practice right in our back yard!


Circled are the rabbit and the hawk. The blue arrow shows where the hawk was perching and the rabbit was in just about the same position when the hawk dove at it. We see a hawk fairly regularly too, but only perching in the trees, never so close to the ground and our house!

On another rabbit related note, a few days ago when we were observing rabbits in the yard, Joseph noticed another one behind a flowering bush. I looked very hard, (we were observing from my bedroom window upstairs) and I did see some movement at the base of the bush. I looked harder, and I was pretty sure that I was seeing a little rabbit foot stretching out. Since I was very curious to check it out, Joseph and I went outside to get a closer look, and there we saw two baby rabbits sitting together under the bush. They were so cute! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them.

Then later this morning, we went to the neighborhood's annual 4th of July parade and picnic. The parade was led by a police car, then all the paraders: kids in wagons, on bikes, scooters, families walking, dogs, etc. Then at the rear of the parade was someone's convertible, a vintage Citroen all decked out with flags and a fire truck! Joseph of course enjoyed the fire truck and was walking right next to it for a portion of the parade (even though everyone was supposed to stay in front of it.) At the end of the parade, the fire engine parked so that kids could get in and explore. There were also lots of yummy treats at the parade terminus. There were a few games and such for kids. Joseph found a fishing game comprised of a basin of water with plastic fish and a fishing pole and he stayed right there playing with that the entire time we were there which I'm sure was probably a good hour or more. I was very proud of him for sharing and taking turns when some other little kids showed up wanting to play too.

The boys this afternoon. It is very difficult to get a picture where they are both still long enough to get a clear picture!

Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty

Geoff even has a patriotic breakfast!

The fishing game where Joseph spent all his time this morning.


On the fire truck!


This is Joseph doing his "happy face" which actually made for a nice picture!

We are hoping to see some fireworks tonight... this was not a good day for Joseph to skip his nap Well, he's actually sleeping right now. He finally fell asleep on the couch at about 5:45pm. So hopefully that will work out well in the end.