Nine years ago, I took Lester on a week's vacation to Alaska for his 30th birthday. He flew in a single-engine bush plane over Mt. Denali while I hiked in the national park. (Hiking was the safer route; I'd likely get sick in the bouncy-bumpy puddle jumper.) Lester watched from above as thousands of Elk herded in the Alaskan Wild. I ran into a bear (almost literally) and her cubs, and had to hike miles back along a loop trail to avoid any trouble. I also felt the warm, stinky breath of a moose, who was hiding so well I could only hear and smell him breathing in the nearby brush.This was long before little Bean, obviously. However, this birthday shared a few characteristics with the one nearly a decade ago; they both were entirely spontaneous and both involved animals in their natural settings.
On Saturday, Lester's 39th birthday, we first met up with Zinta and the crowd. It had been too long since we had last seen them. Also, we missed Imants' birthday a few days ago, so a visit was certainly in order. Guy and Cara met us at ZAGI Headquarters, where a big playdate kept all kids occupied for hours.
Guy and Cara, joined us on a trek to Monroe Elementary School, where thousands of birds circle above before swirling into the chimney all at once. Liam said (and signed) bird, and caw-caw, over and over.You can't really see the birds here because of the low light and small image size, but you do see the crowd, the sunset, and the school. Watch the video (link below) and you'll see why this was so amazingly cool. This video gives you an idea, but I think it was filmed at a school in Portland. The same thing happens in Monroe.
This article is from last year, but it explains the event:
Swifts by the thousands target Monroe chimney
Monroe is only a few miles north of Joya & Wiley, so afterward, we stopped for a few minutes to say hello. Liam slept in the car the whole way home. With such a busy, fun-filled day, he was exhausted!
The wonderful day started me thinking about what to do for Lester's next birthday; the big 40! We could take another spontanuous adverture together, with or without Bean. (It would be more difficult for different reasons either way.) We could relax on the beach somewhere, but that's not Lester's preference. Plus relax=beach+Liam is an invalid equation. We could hear back to our roots, and have a stale roll and a pint of whatever at the Inn-Complete. I don't know if alumni are allowed in. Heck, I don't even know if it's there anymore. Only time will tell, and I have 362 days to plan.
On September 5th Liam weighed 26.8 pounds and was almost 32 inches tall.
