First, there was Easter. Easter is all about the bunny, right? Sam made his performing debut, at church. He was part of a kids group that sang two songs (that weren't about bunnies). Sam completely froze and hardly moved. But he was the youngest one willing to go up on stage. So that counts for something.
Next there was the zoo. We met Matt/Molly/Lillian and Melanie's parents at Columbia's Riverbanks Zoo. It was a great location -- a relatively short drive for all three parties. The kids (and adults) loved the animals. The highlights were the penguins, koalas, swinging chimps, and giraffes. Sam actually fed a giraffe by hand. Elizabeth's favorite parts were the train ride and the merry go round.
In our backyard, we have some wildlife news. A mother bird built a nest in one of our newly planted trees. Every day she laid an egg, until there were five total.
And then there are the cicadas. They show up here every 13 years, and 2011 is one of those years. They are everywhere, and you can hear their buzzing mating call all day long. They only live above ground for 6 weeks. They lay eggs in trees, the eggs hatch, and the newborns burrow into the ground and stay there for 13 years. Then they emerge and start the cycle all over again. The reason they wait 13 years is because 13 is a prime number. Dave would be happy to explain to you why that's significant, but I'm guessing most of you don't care. Anyway, cicadas are pretty big and strange-looking, but they are harmless to humans. In fact, you can walk right up to them and grab them with little effort. There are dozens in our backyard trees, laying hundreds of eggs. We'll give you another cicada update in May 2024.
In non-animal news, Sam is taking swim lessons, which he loves.
And Liz is getting a lot better at walking.
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