Raptor on Streetlight

 
It was a freezing, rainy, misty day and I finally got a chance to snap a pic of a hawk. I see them all the time, but generally, I'm runnning from one appointment to another and/or don't have my camera.

I'm not a bird expert, but I think this is a Red Tailed Hawk. See its one foot tucked up, tufting its chest feathers up? It was really cold out there. 

Li Mei meets Rosie

 
Of course, one of the critical introductions when joining our family is to meet the tarantula Rosie at the Butterfly Pavilion. Jasmine was very interested in this little furry creature. Although it didn't have a tail (her favorite animal anatomical feature, much to our cats' chagrin), she studied it intently. That's my girl! 

Halloween

I adore Halloween, but the kids almost had me dreading it. That's not quite true, I dread the week leading up to the holiday. Kai and Rowan were so preoccupied with the thought of Trick-or-Treating, they couldn't seem to focus, listen or process any information other than the remain number of hours before they put on their costumes and extorted sugar from the neighbors.



We survived and all that remains is to work through the three moderately sized bags of candy. I hear horror stories about hyperglycemic kids the day after Halloween, but comparatively, my kids are much calmer now that the anticipation is over.




Jasmine seemed to enjoy riding around on my shoulders going from house to house and listening to the neighborhood kids running from lit house to lit house. It wasn't till she got home that I think she realized she was wearing something more than a coat. She discovered she had a tail when playing with her shadow and that kept her busy for another hour after we got home.



I think it did all finally catch up to Rowan. He crashed on the couch about an hour before his bedtime.