Last Day

Well, my parents are probably returning their rental car at the airport as I type this, and will board their plane back to California in a few hours. I guess our visit is over. :( I tried not to think about it while they (and Gus' mom) were here, but it's so, so nice to have family around. And now we are so far away from everyone. We're making friends here, but it's not the same as having family close by. I really hope they come back soon (or that we can make it out to California sometime this summer!).

Anyway... our last morning was pretty low-key. We went for a walk on the Rail Trail, which was even greener than it was a week ago. Plus, we saw quite a few frogs hopping around, much to the kids' delight! Like this little fella:

I took some other pics, too, just for posterity.

On our return trip, we noticed this broken tree (and others like it). I call this photo "The Sign of the Beaver," after one of the books I used to read aloud to my fifth graders, haha! But this was definitely cut down by a beaver, though we didn't see any in the area. Our theory is that there were beavers there, but they were relocated elsewhere. Beavers are protected, here, and you have to hire a professional to relocate them if they are on your property. Our realtor's dad had an issue with this at one point, which is how I know all about beaver relocation. Interesting stuff! It was cool to see their handiwork, though!

After that, we came back home. Then my parents went to get some lunch for us, while I waited for the guy from the pellet stove store. We had a leaky seal in our vent line that was letting some smoke into the house, and he fixed it right up for us. After lunch, we played outside and enjoyed the warm, sunny day until it was time for my parents to leave. And once they did, Maya promptly fell asleep on the couch, and Nikos let me cut his fingernails. The house feels very empty and quiet, and I'd just call it a day if Nikos didn't have baseball practice this afternoon!