Is it summer yet?

 I have been getting excited about summer on its way. Winter hasn't been bad at all out here, but I am excited for all the green to come back.  It is starting to peek in on the trees here and there, but with how many trees there are around here, it is still looking pretty bare on all those trees.  We have had some fun new wildlife hanging out in our "backyard" that has been nibbling at the new greenery and Katelyn and I have been fascinated by them.  We are used to birds and squirrels but not much else.  We have had those nasty bugs that I wrote about last week, so these critters and animals are much more welcome.

I am guessing this guy is a gopher or groundhog (are they the same?)  He comes to visit every other day and nibbles on the grass.  We watched the Bill Murray movie Groundhog's Day  a couple weeks ago and then this guy showed up.  I think I remember in the movie that the "real" groundhog is in Pennsylvania...not too far from here.  Maybe this is the real thing?!  Kidding!

 There are lots of birds that pick around in the yard and it seems like they are gathering stuff for nests.  Most of them look like the regular robin.  But there are these two that are different from the rest.  I am guessing this is the girl (aren't the female birds less bright and bold?).  She as  a little bit of red here and there, but the other one looks really cool.

 He is almost all red and stands out from all the tree branches really easily.  I like how red he is!

The other fun animal that we get to see all the time is these deer.  There are about 8 of them that come around once or twice a week and they are fun to watch.  There are a couple of little ones that make an appearance occasionally and I may or may not have left some apples out for them so they will keep coming back :)  Here is a little video of the deer.  I made it play back fast because it is just the deer and then shots of Katelyn watching and yelling at them.


We like the wildlife and hope they keep coming back.  As long as we don't get any bears or cougars or scary animals, I will enjoy having all this wildlife.  I think now that they are coming around and the birds building nests, and the baby deer coming around as well, I have got excited for spring and summer to come.  I think I might regret saying this when the humidity hits full force, but summer is always a fun time.  We have fun stuff going on this summer so I am excited.  And...we have a pool here and Katelyn and I will go swim often!  There is a DownEast swimsuit giveaway that I wouldn't mind winning over at this blog... Simply Sadie Jane   I love that round belly and chunky legs of hers and it is so cute in a swim suit.  Me on the other hand...swimsuits are fun and cute, but I have some running to do so I don't have a huge round belly too :)  Sometimes the whole mother-daughter matchiness isn't cute, and round bellies and chunky thighs are definitely one of those things.