Empty Nesters

I checked the birds nest again the other day and they were all piled inside! Mama Bird was sitting on a wire waiting for me to get into my car and drive away.

 

Then yesterday we headed out to the parade and I peeked into the nest...

 

Gone! I'm so sad! But hopefully Mama Bird will be back next year.

Sharaya and Allie spent the 4th with friends on Treasure Island just north east of Tacoma yesterday. Diana is, of course, in Pennsylvania so it was just Chuck, Beth and I at the parade. Edmonds is a city of about 42,000 people but downtown, in the heart of the city they put on a small-town parade and we love it! 

We went down the night before and set out our chairs and each year it fills up earlier and earlier. But we found a good spot and staked our claim!

Beth and I happened to be at the porta potties when it started but we were able to cross the street and get back to our seats in just a few minutes. Whew!

There were the cutest little cheerleaders!

Of course, when it's a small town parade, you tend to know a lot of people in it. We have friends who are very involved in theater and they drove the truck and their kids handed out candy.

Our church has a men's residential aftercare program and they march every year.

The lady walking toward us is Cheryl, Beth's BFF.

When it got too warm, Beth would pull out her fan!

The Seahawks fan bus played some awesome music that everyone was singing along to. Even Beth!

 See her hand?

Yeah baby, she was jammin'! :)

Actually she really did begin to swing her shoulders and bob her head, she really got into it!

 

But I think her favorite part was the Star Wars characters! 

One of them even came over to talk to her but was too close for me to get a picture. She was pretty excited!

Then we came home, fixed burgers and had our usual jello and whipped cream for dessert. Red, white and blue of course!

I hope you had a great day celebrating our nations birthday!

Let Us Show You Around!

Two days and 1300 miles later, we're in Denver. Arrived last night after two days of driving; eleven hours each day. Warm weather, beautiful scenery. Had lunch yesterday in a small town in Montana. Population 3400. We drove hour upon hour without seeing a building more than 3 stories high. And most of those were the gorgeous homes perched on top of rolling hills. I wondered if the kids growing up in these small towns had ever seen a sky scraper? Had they ever visited 'the big city'? I grew up in San Diego and have lived most of my adult life in Seattle, so these small towns intrigue me. I love the quiet streets, the open country side, the relaxed lifestyle.  I wonder how my life would be different if I lived there.

We started having minor car trouble just outside of Denver last night, so Chuck has taken it to the shop. In the mean time, Beth and I are hanging out at the hotel. We had breakfast downstairs and then decided to show you around. :)

We always show Beth how to get to the room by herself.

She knows our room number and which floor we're on: Three.

(Doesn't she look thrilled? I think she ate too much breakfast!')

When you come off the elevator, which way do you go?

The hallways can be confusing!

When you step off the elevator, there is a small table with a mirror above it. We've told Beth she needs to smile at herself when she goes to our room. So she knows to go by the mirror! I do love that face!

There are two small arrows on the bottom of the room key. She knows to put those in the key holder.

And now you know how to get to our room too! :)

We are here for a few days to help Chuck's mom and sister with a few things in their condo. His mom will be 80 this year, is a cancer survivor and is struggling with her health. His sister suffered a stroke a few years ago and is paralyzed on her right side. There are things like changing light bulbs and reaching the rods in their closets that we are going to fix. It's going to be a lot of work but we really want to make a difference for them.

There's no one like family!