Exploring the Great Outdoors

Last weekend we were in Minneapolis and found a bird's nest in Charlie and MaryBeth's tree. Morgan was fascinated by it. Not 5 minutes later we got to show her live Garter snakes! To bad no picutres. But we wathced 4 snakes warming themselves on the rocks at the front door. Morgan didn't want to get to close, but was willing to kneel on the steps and peer over the edge to stare at them, but constantly said, "I grab you mama", which is her way of saying hold me or pick me up. She loves birds and loves listening to them tweeting and cawing. She is now able to discern the difference between a raven and sparrow by their call. She also loves to watch birds fly - we have a budding ornathologist!

31.8 feet

We can't get to the river today - earthen dikes and sand bag dikes are cutting off access to the park where we were taking pictures.

Fargo reached 1 million sandbags this morning and we are now in stand-by mode as we wait for the last 8 feet. The high school kids in the area are the true heros this go round - the colleges are on spring break, so the our kids have been excused from classes to be on the bagging lines. The middle schoolers who don't want to be left out are at sand-bag central (Fargo Dome).

School has not been cancelled so Jim's and my life have been very normal - minus a few students. It feels weird and very uneventful since our lives are remaining so normal. It's amazing to see some of the photos from the overland flooding that is occuring.

The Mighty Red

I thought I would try to document daily the rising of the river. Morgan is getting into it asking me today if we were going to the 'Wiv-uh to say cheezee'. Last Friday the river was at 18 feet, tonight it is at 28 feet and it is predicted to crest on Sunday at 38 feet - 2 feet shy of last year's 500 year flood. The fight is going well and folks are treating it like a normal thing - nobody is getting too anxious, just working hard. Flatbed semi trucks full of sandbags are getting police escsorts through town. If motorists do not give way to the convoy of trucks the Mayor has promised to shut down all non-essential business to get people off the roads! You Go Mayor Walaker!

In the picture where Morgan has on striped pants there is a rock on the side of the road just over her left shoulder (2 O'Clock), now notice today's pic - then rock is under water. Plus you can see how much snow melted in 24 hours from around the rock she is standing on.

The Red is Rising!

Last Thursday one of the roads I routinely take to work was closed with the river coming within 5 feet of the road. Here are picks of the road yesterday and today.

Just like Daddy - readin' on the couch

Morgan loves laying on 'Daddy's Couch'! She was so excited to have her own mad-zine (magazine).

YO DUDE, no I LOVE YOU, no FASHIONISTA - Yes!

Morgan is developing the fine motor skill to sign I Love You, but the trying to catch it on camera was hilarious! And she has the fashion sense of a runway model - am I right!?

'Spring' Fun

Morgan and I had fun playing in the front yard last night. It was light enough (6PM) warm enough (36 degrees), no wind (rare for Fargo), and lots of slush to stomp (see movies).

We had taken the dogs for a walk first, so she was in the backpack. We talked about the color of houses (she has a thing for leh-loh houses - yellow houses), fences (that was a new word and idea) and bakis-ball-poops - how she says basketball hoop. I hope someday to catch her on the camera saying bakis-ball-poop! She also talked about ice-poop. I think she was trying to talk about icicles.

Utah is doing well and really enjoyed the walk. She appears to be adjusting well to no longer having depth perception.

You can see we still have lots of snow. Many are predicting flooding to be major (40 feet - 3 feet lower than last years high) to surpassing last year. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a very long, slow spring, no more snow and NO rain!

Every year the bottom of our driveway develops 'Lake Keal'. Morgan was fascinated with the water and ice. This summer though we will be getting a new road so this will be the last of Lake Keal. But, Oh the fun this summer with the big machines!

Fashion Statement

For the past few days she's been
recognizing and commenting
on patterns, mostly plaids and stripes.
I dug this hat out again because we
need some bright colors in our lives;
it's getting pretty dirty and slushy
and brown outside.

Morning before surgery

Utah's eye was not going to heal so we made the decision to have it removed. This video is from Thursday morning, before surgery. You can even see in the picture that her left eye is more swollen than her right.

It is now Friday evening and she is 30 hours post-op. She is doing incredibly well - no rubbing at the staples, no whinning (she is still on a lot of pain meds). We did have her wear a cone last night just to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself, but I'm not sure she laid her head down all night. So tonight we are going to trust she will be a good girl.

Even Puck did well being alone in the house for 6 hours! He didn't chew up anything. He was locked in our bedroom, he probably didn't move off my pillow all day.