Eagle Adventure's

So the other day we saw this from inside our house:

A Golden Eagle, just sitting on this post for a good twenty minutes while James and I got ready with binoculars and all to go on an adventure to see him closer.  We watched him from inside until he flew away, but just down by the Silver Lake pond there was a Bald Eagle in the tree!  It made me want to go out to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area to see more Bald Eagles!

A few days later we decided to check it out. We have Oaklee with us on Thursday's and she was excited for the adventure too.  Turns out today there weren't as many eagles as other days, or we have to wait for them to come, but it was still fun.  Jack even gets in on it, he likes to see eagles and say "eagle" too.

We saw these two from the car

There is also a website: http://dickpritchettrealestate.com/eagle-feed.html 

There you can watch a live Eagle Cam on a nest with two baby Bald Eagles right now.  Everyday we have to turn that on and see what they eaglets are up to.

Then this last week, we got to see, as I was driving up in our neighborhood, the Bald Eagle mating ritual.  It is where the two mature eagles with lock talons while flying, then spiral towards the Earth still locked together, and then brake away.  We got to see them do it TWICE!  I was so excited, James couldn't believe that the eagles were "crashing into each other, whoa! And falling in the sky!", and then Jack was excited because we were and just kept yelling over and over "Eagle, Eagle, Eagle".  That was a bucket list item I wanted to see, and I got to see it from WHERE I LIVE! 

James and Oaklee Sledding

 One of James' best friends up here is Oaklee.  She is only two weeks younger, and they play really well together.  We watch Oaklee once a week and that works out great for both who want to play with a friend often.  One Saturday we took Oaklee while her family went skiing.  Both of those kids like snow sports, so the next best thing was sledding.

I'm glad that these two are good friends.

These will be great pictures to show them if they ever do date ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

We used the Young Women at the church to watch our kids, and we ended up making a lovely meal at home!  Mom Manwaring came out Valentine's Day and stayed the weekend, so it was fun to have a date night with them.  Unfortunately we didn't get a single picture from our dinner, but it consisted of tempura shrimp, a really good soup and sourdough bread, and veggies with chicken.  Thank you Nathan for cooking most of it.  I didn't want to :)

We did get the boys an awesome series that we grew up with, and we found it on Amazon.com

"The Magic School Bus", eight DVD's worth, and they are awesome!

I forgot how good that show is, and it is so educational, James is already telling me things he's learned from the show.  

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Airplane rides for everyone

The very last part of January, Dad Manwaring moved in with us while he started his new position at Equation Consulting.  Mom Manwaring will join us at the end of March.  Well, about a week after he got here, he had said that he would want to go flying sometime, and we were able to arrange that with Steve again.

 

 

He liked it!

Nathan and James got to go up also again.  And of course James loved it, and the "roller coasters" Steve does when he has the plane go up and down.

James always talks non-stop about those.

I was with Jack while he napped at home.

We love having Dad Manwaring here while they figure out where they will call their next place home (we hope that is pretty close to us, 

but even if it's in the valley, they've still moved 12.5 hours closer!!)

Jack in Febuary

Jack in Febuary.  

He already had a funny personality, but in the last two weeks, he's gotten even more of one.

He is a charmer, funny, has an independent streak in him, and he will now tell you "no" if he doesn't want to do something.

Jack and Mommy's "surprised" faces

Caught reading :)

Playing with cows

Still loves bathtime

  

 

A cheese face

He will look at the camera pretty well for me

Concentration...

He's reading one of his favorite books, a Diggers flap book where you have to find "pip the puppy"

James and Jack were reading in James' bed

 More cute faces

James in Febuary

I guess we've been busy enough that I haven't blogged in awhile. 

 Here are some cute one's of James from this past month.

Observing the footprints he's making in the snow

James and Mommy

I love how he wants me to play with him, and he'll find the specific thing to play, and it usually has me making something, ie: train track, marble tower, etc.

 Playing trains, and the trains were going through the "Wild Animal Park" in San Diego.

No, we've never been there, but he really wants to go.  Hopefully soon!

James loves the "How to Train Your Dragon" movie and shot films.

One short film is about the "boneknapper" dragon, and this bone is the one that the boneknapper is looking for.  One of the characters uses the bone as a belt buckle, and it is kept in a small treasure chest, before he gives it back to the dragon. I got the idea to make the bone for James out of an air light clay. I also had found this small treasure chest that looked so similar.

What a hit!  James wanted to wear his bone on his pants too :)

A new favorite game: paper airplanes

Another new favorite game: throwing kites inside like paper airplanes

I think he likes the idea of flying a lot right now.

Yep, as I'm going through pictures with James, most have something to do with flying.

James got to go flying again with our neighbor Steve in the Cessna plane again.

James Skis!

So James might not like swimming when he gets cold, but he sure does love to be in the snow.  We've been able to go a few times now up to Snowbasin to ski on the small little cat lift.  James is a NATURAL!  I had a feeling he would be.  I've gotten to take James up with some friends the Beckstroms, and Ericka is extremely talented and a great teacher.  James' friend Oaklee, who's his age, likes to go, so one of us will then take a small one down the slopes. James has learned to make his "pizza" out of skis for slowing down, and is now working on turning.  His favorite though is to go fast.  Watch out Bode Miller, James Manwaring might just be the next new face in skiing :)

Ericka taking James down the run.  He's learning his "pizza" here.

 Oaklee and James after a run.  He could have gone all day.  James never whined or complained that he was cold, only wanted to go more.

 James and Mommy on the lift going up.

James was too preoccupied looking at the other skiers and snowboarders to look at the camera.

I love doing this activity with him.

James' words after skiing on President's Day:

"I love skiing with you Mommy, it's my favorite"

Melts my heart :)