Up In The Air Junior Birdman

We were delighted to see that our fledgling chickadees chose the holiday (while we were home to observe) to spread their wings!  We noticed heads peeking out of the birdhouse early in the morning and by early afternoon they began launching themselves one by one...4 in total made it safely to nearby bushes and trees and I was able to keep the neighbor's cat at bay.  I feel just like a proud gramma!

In the Eye of the Beholder

One of our favorite yearly events in B'ham is the Welding Rodeo at the technical college.  No horses, cows, or cowboys involved, however.  It's a sculpture competition that takes place over two days.  http://weldingrodeo.btc.ctc.edu/

Saturday is the competion between the professional teams who come from far and wide, one team from Denmark competes every year!  I am always amazed at what these teams can come up with in just 8 hours.  Here's a few photos of my favorites from this year's competion:

 This was done by a high school team and won 2nd place in Friday's division!

 Not a male only event!

 First place winner in Friday's competion

 I love this one of Mt. Baker!

 We loved the concept of this one, but wish they had used something smaller for the trunk, it's too disproportionate.

Done at last!

May Showers Bring....

Bridal Showers!  I made a quick trip to Portland on Saturday so I could be a guest at Jessi's bridal shower which was hosted by her cadre of wonderful friends.  They did such a great job of decorating and hosting, it was a perfect event suited to Jessi.

 The food was scrumptious:  homemade crumpets with an assortment of toppings, a chickpea and chicken salad with pesto dressing and homemade tarts by the master baker, Molly!

 There was tea and someone even decorated the cream and milk containers...cute!

 And of course the opening of all the presents....

 and cards....

 and the ceremonial making of the "bouquet", masterfully accomplished by Katie Heater.

 Suitable for 5th Avenue, NYC!

And the whole crew....mother's-in-law-to-be are in the top left and right corners!  I'm so glad I was able to be there and to celebrate this special time in her life....even if I am the only one with grey hair! 

Birthday Bash

Once a year the whole Whitaker clan gets together to celebrate birthdays enmasse.  This year we rented the cabana at Kris' condo and had a great afternoon enjoying the one day of sun that we have had in the past 8 weeks...not that I'm whining or anything.  After enjoying the sun on the patio for a bit we chowed down on the plethora of enticing items to choose from:  spaghetti, ribs, chicken, salad and a multi-tiered chocolate cake from Costco which I don't have a picture of 'cause Terry didn't send it to me! 

This is Wayne, Wally's Dad.  If apples don't fall far from the trees, I'm in big trouble!

It's chow down time, Kris is making sure that Wally doesn't take it all.

There's a hot tub in the cabana and Ian and Becca spent almost their entire afternoon in there, only pausing long enough to eat.

And then there's the gene pool.....scary!

The bathing beauties.