The red-winged blackbird.

I love this picture. I was so pleased to be able to get this close to this bird. There were about 4 of them in this tree and I was sticking my head right up there with them. They were singing beautifully and didn't seem to be bothered that there were lots of people around them. It was at the fish hatchery, so I guess they are accustomed to folks being around and paying attention to the fish rather than them. Anyway, I love that the tree is budding, too. I read about the red-winged blackbird, though, and learned that they will show off those red patches. The red patch can hardly be seen above this yellow patch, so I guess he was being pretty smug by not letting me get a good picture of his red patch. When he flew it was gorgeous, but I couldn't click quickly enough to capture that shot. Steve would have gotten it. I made this picture earlier in the week when we went to the fish hatchery with the kids.

The kids went home today and made it just fine. We sure miss them. The rest is good for us, but it's sure quiet without them! I've been working to find a cable to transfer files from my old computer to the new one; I found one (online) and it should be home soon after we get there. I can get the new computer all set up by next week, I think.

We moved to a little unit with only one bedroom today. We had originally planned to go home, but when we learned that Gina and Brian are coming tomorrow, we got 5 nights in this smaller unit so we can be here while they are. We're looking forward to seeing them. Their kids love cards, too, so maybe we can get in some time playing cards.

We thank God for the opportunity to get to spend another spring break with some more grandkids! Woo-hoo! We wonder what people with no grandkids do for this kind of fun! God has sure blessed us with grandkids!