I wasn’t feeling that well today, but that just made me think that getting out of the house would be even better for me. So Lea and I grabbed Mia and Willow and walked down to the lake. The lake isn’t far from our apartment, probably a few hundred yards at most. Willow rode her bike, Mia skated, and Lea and I walked. It was an overcast Fall type day, but was still nice.

In this photo Mia is getting a ride from Lea. Part of the walk back included her riding on my shoulders, as well. This is the downside to having a five year old who loves to ride her skates and run down to a lake–at some point she gets too tired to return. So Lea and I do our best to give her a break.

We had a heavy rain over the past two days, and it caused tons of snails to come out onto the sidewalks. Willow and Mia love nature and life, so they were worried about the snails getting stepped on. As a result, they organized Operation Save The Snails.

They went around and grabbed all the snails they could, tossing them into the grass and ground cover so that no one would step on them.

Willow and Mia enjoy a final swim before school starts.

Willow with Mint

We had dinner at Cafe Express a few days ago, and we were eating out on the patio, which features a nice fountain. The kids enjoy playing around the fountain, not just tossing coins into it but also dipping their feet and hands in. Well, during our recent dinner, Willow was watching the grackles play around the fountain when she noticed a few of the birds push another bird in. She ran over and saved it.

She held it for a while where it was surprisingly calm in her arms. It’s wing was slightly hurt, and it had a cut on hits head but was otherwise okay. Eventually, Willow let it go but immediately the other grackles attacked it! Willow ran back and grabbed it, saving it from the other birds.

It was pretty clear that the other birds were attacking this one because it was injured, so we decided to take it home and nurse it back to health. Willow named it “Mint,” and Mint now lives in our formerly vacant bird cage. She has taken to it well it seems, eating the food, drinking the water, and washing herself in the bird bath Willow placed inside.

So the Kerr menagerie has added a bird to our cats, bunny, and dogs.

The weather has been in the eighties for some time, so when the kids begged to go swimming today, I finally relented and took them to the pool. The water wasn’t warm like it is during the summer when we are facing weeks of 90+ degree weather, but it was certainly acceptable. Willow and Mia came along, while Zoe stayed home with Lea.

The good news is that Mia picked up where she left off last year and continues to look like a confident swimmer, even though you couldn’t consider her a swimmer just yet. She’s close, though. She can swim quite a long ways, pausing for breath along the way, but she also tires easily and if she gets frustrated or scared will simply stop trying. So I still need to stay near.

Willow, on the other hand, is an accomplished swimmer, and I could conceivably leave her alone in the pool. I don’t, however, but rather keep an eye on both girls, although Willow has earned more free time and less oversight thanks to her swimming ability. Still, you can never be too careful.

Personally, I can’t wait until the time when I can sit on the side reading a book, while the girls swim without my help. I can tell right now that we are, at most, only a year away from that.