Duck, Duck, Goose ... x 2

Time for a 2017 edition of the Blackham Backyard Birds.

Part 1 "Duck, Duck, Goose ... x2"  

(parts 2 and 3 will come later)

Starting with the Spring set.

Duck eggs in the incubator. Of the seven started, four eventually hatched. This set of four was a little more feral than other ducks we'd raised in past years. They were wild, not eating from our hands or even coming that close. Admittedly, we were a bit distracted by the geese (their story below) who were extremely interactive. These four seemed very petite ... we wondered if we had four females, but they flew away before we knew for sure. They sure didn't stick around for long.

 ... while we were waiting for the duck eggs to hatch, Grayson bought two baby geese from a breeder. About twice the size of a  duckling, they were adorably off-balance (they would easily topple over before they found their feet, and their swimming was not nearly as graceful... they ended up going backwards most of the time). These babies loved human interaction and would eat out of our of our hands and snuggle by our feet. One of the babies (a few weeks old at that point) got under the fence and into the front yard just as a little girl was riding by on her bike. Little goose girl followed the her all the way around the neighborhood (we did track them down and brought Goose Girl safely home). 

I know Canadian Geese have a reputation for being mean ... but not these two. They were so sweet and just wanted to play (and to be fed). They would hang out on the back porch, peeking in the window, and even came into the house a couple of times, They loved lettuce and greens more than our ducks ever had. They pooped everywhere. They grew so fast and outgrew our backyard so they had to move onto larger, greener pastures. We sure missed them when they were gone. 

Here's a video montage of the Spring experience ...

Callahan ~ School Snapshot

Pre-K through 12th grade ... that first picture is pre-preK. I had taken Landon in for Kindergarten pictures, and hadn't really planned on getting the two little boys done too, but went ahead and got that classic Callahan photo. So cute to see how he changed and how he stayed the same through the years. Can't tell when he got his braces off for sure, with that closed mouth smile for several years. Love the spikey hair! Sometimes he had such a ridge there at the front, that he gained the nickname "shark-boy" ...

He attended Columbia Elementary, which was our boundary school. Supposedly walking distance, no buses, but it was a long and unsafe walk (I would walk it with Colton in the stroller during Cooper's Kindergarten year) so we carpooled for dropoff and pickup. Callahan had his older brother Landon a few grades ahead, and Keaton coming up behind. He had a couple years with both brothers there.

Callahan made some friends during basketball, and because of that we decided we wanted him on a path to Copper Hills High School (the boundary school when we moved in, but then the boundaries were changed ... a majority of kids in the neighborhood still planned on CHHS). We put in a permit to West Hills. It was the same distance as Elkridge (where Landon had gone) and Joel P (boundary school) and as we still weren't considered in the bus route, I would be driving him to/from school regardless. No carpools to WHMS though. As Callahan and Keaton overlapped, Keaton also was on the West Hills/Copper Hills track with permits. Callahan played on the 9th grade basketball team at West Hills, and on the Copper Hills team in high school. It was a West Hills and Copper Hills that he would meet his future wife and make lots of great friends!

Here's a look back at the school pictures from elementary ...

... I've tried to hang onto his yearbooks from middle and high school, as he just doesn't seem that interested in them. He might someday ... but he and Kate do have duplicates, as they went to school together all those years.   Check out the "school" label for more peeks at the past!

Callahan and Copper Hills Graduation

 It's time. For the Tassel. 

We ordered the cap and gown and made up an announcement ...

Graduation.

I snagged a couple shots in the cap and gown before Callahan left. The graduates needed to be early. While Landon's graduation had been downtown at the arena there, this year Copper Hills was at the Maverick Center in West Valley. Initially, I thought I'd like it better. I don't do downtown ... but parking was NOT set up for his magnitude there in West Valley. Hubs and I ended up illegally parking at a nearby hotel and hoping we wouldn't get towed. We were a little late, but because of that, we caught the kids as they were waiting outside for their entry into the building. Photo op!

Inside it was crazy crowded. The Vivent Center had enough seating at least ... here, we weren't sure if we would find any. We ended up climbing over a wall to get into the box seating sections.

So many graduates! Callahan was close to the end, although it was hard to tell, even with the binoculars Maga had in her purse. 

Every previous year, there had been both navy and green for the caps and gown. The girls wore green. I guess someone complained, some issue about diversity "what is someone identifies as ..." so the school accommodated and changed the tradition. It will be interesting to see if they go back to two colors other years.

I'll admit ... ceremony and sitting and crowds, it's not my favorite thing. I didn't even want to go to MY graduation(s). We knew several of the speakers personally though. The Valedictorian lives in our neighborhood, as does the class president, so we knew both girls well. Cal used to go out with the VP so we knew her too. The principal spoke for quite a while, and of course the presentations of the diplomas for a class that size took a lot of time. A couple hours there ... and then tons of time in the parking lot. Oy, I wasn't sure we'd ever escape. Maybe that's how some kids feel about the whole high school experience *Ü* Now off into the big, wide world!

Celebrating America - Colton's 5th Grade Program

Ah ... elementary school. The end-of-year program is a tradition at Terra Linda. For the 5th graders, the theme is AMERICA. Songs about the constitution, patriotic ballads and even one I remember singing when I was Colton's age (Are You for Independence).

I mentioned to Colton as part of a singing group I was in (Carousel Kids) we'd sung that ... and I still remember most of it today! We'd also sung the "There was a Man" and "The Inventor's Song" and while they weren't included in this year's program, Colton said they were familiar to him too. I'm not sure how, but I had managed to find the tracks and add them to my Itunes library. Fun little songs!

I didn't record the entire program, just snippets of each song. 

Colton is always SO serious, 

but his friend sitting next to him managed to make him smile a time or two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkR9nKm-CrA

Many of the songs were also familiar,
as several were the same ones from Cooper's 5th grade program just a couple of years ago. 

https://youtu.be/M7Ijg0Fw9wQ

Now - Completely unrelated to school programs, but paralleling the patriotism angle and the flashing back to bigger Blackham boys when they were little, for Mother's Day, the boys re-created this classic flag photo from years ago. Isn't it the cutest?