Ahhhhh, relaxation.

I went birding with Meghan on Monday morning. It was really cold and windy so we did most of our birding from the car. Most of the small ponds were already frozen over so we were a bit worried we'd have no waterfowl, but the bigger lakes at Banner Marsh and Emiquon were still open and we saw many types of ducks, geese and swans, as well as a large flock of white pelicans. We also saw plenty of bald eagles, lots of woodpeckers and a harrier. It turned out to be a pretty good birding day!

I dropped off Meghan and picked up Duncan from boarding at the vet's office. I was expecting him to be bouncing off the walls, excited to see me and go home. He wagged his tail a little, hopped in the car and slept through the 15 minute drive home. At home he curled up in my chair and slept until Gene and the kids came home and woke him up. He was happy to see them, but almost immediately found a quiet place to sleep and then slept the rest of the afternoon and evening with 5 kids tearing around the house. It was soooo weird. Duncan usually loves the car and plays with the kids nonstop! I'm guessing that he spent the entire 5 days of boarding on high alert, barking his fool head off. He was also really bony and really hungry. He normally just picks at his dog food and spends the entire day eating one bowl. He ate three bowls on Monday. I couldn't turn him down because he NEVER begs for dog food.

The kids have been having a blast with their time off. They've played and played with the neighbor kids, played video games, played with the pets and even played outside. Tomorrow we're planning a work day to clean rooms and go through some old clothes and toys. Bummer. What I really want to do is go to Chicago and look for snowy owls. I guess we can't have all play and no work. I wish all of my vacations could be this long and have this perfect mix of away time and home time!