The very first thing we did upon arriving home from church camp Thursday night was to check on the duck. This is what we saw: one egg shell. According to the 27/28 day incubation time we found, our duck wasn't due until next week. I hoped it wasn't a bad sign, and no one had attacked her while we were away.
But, look what Michael saw the next morning:
Aren't they the cutest things??!!! Yes, the ducklings hatched just hours after we got home. We are pretty sure there were 7 ducklings.
Mama Duck kept the babies carefully hidden in the nest and occasionally, if the coast was clear, let them wander a foot or two away into the garden. Michael's office is, fortunately, right there by her nest, so he could keep a close eye on them.
About 2 o'clock Michael alerted us that the ducks were on the move. This was the part we had been waiting for all these weeks. It would be our only chance to really see the ducklings because once the mama took them from the nest to water she would never bring them back.
Carefully, with furtive glances, Mama Duck led her babies across our doorstep and behind the bushes on the other side of the house to the edge of our property.
Then it was a short distance across the grass to the neighbor's garden. Up, over the little wall the ducklings poured:
Except for two that had trouble. After a few cute jumps, and the Mama coming back for the last one, they were all over.
There's Mama Duck, resting the ducklings and looking out for danger.
From the flowers they waddled across our neighbor's driveway,
and along the edge of her house:
Then there was a long stretch of grass to reach the next neighbor's lawn:
Across their lawn:
to another set of bushes:
And from there, across the sidewalk to the road: (I was hoping no cars would come!!!)
And then across the road:
safely to the otherside and into a clump of bushes beneath a tree. They stayed here for some time and we finally left as I think Mama Duck did not want us watching anymore.
Fifteen minutes later the ducks were gone and I think they headed between the houses and out these gates to the woods and the water beyond.
Upon arrival home this is what we found:
We tried "candling" the egg and decided to agree with Mama Duck that it is indeed a dud. We are leaving it in the kitchen for the inspection of the relatives tomorrow.
And so our duck saga is at an end. We all find it amazing that Mama Duck chose our busy house to have her nest. And I find it a special gift from God that we were able to enjoy this close touch with nature. I hope the kids always remember it. Can you believe we nearly missed the ending to this story?! I'm so glad we made it back in time.
And now today is David's 4th birthday and we are having a day of celebration!
We think she's actually getting a little bit bigger :)
And, she's just about grown out of the newborn clothes size!
She is still a very happy baby and sleeps quite well.
And I think her hair is coming in just a bit more. (It's actually quite red by her ears!)
Baby hands are the sweetest!
Keep growing little girl!!!
Then it was time for present-opening. I made a birthday hat out of felted sweaters and hopefully we can reuse it for the other kids.
Playmobil was the theme of the presents. I found a fisher price pirate ship at a garage sale and that was the centerpiece.
Of course then it was time to PLAY with the playmobil.
David requested a trip to West Park where they have some water features. It was a hot day, but the kids had fun. It's pretty obvious the kids are "stairstep children":
Then it was time for chocolate-zucchini cupcakes with Grandma:
We had pasta for dinner on Saturday and then the family came for lunch on Sunday. David requested cheesecake and Auntie C made it. Doesn't it look good!!! It was!
David and Grandma are only 4 days (and a number of years) apart. So we celebrated both birthdays together:
Out they go:
David informed me that he is "no longer cute now that he is four." I guess that means he's handsome now. :) 
Life is so busy around here just now that I hardly have a chance to think about blogging. Here's some of what we've been up to:
But, look what Michael saw the next morning:
Aren't they the cutest things??!!! Yes, the ducklings hatched just hours after we got home. We are pretty sure there were 7 ducklings.
Mama Duck kept the babies carefully hidden in the nest and occasionally, if the coast was clear, let them wander a foot or two away into the garden. Michael's office is, fortunately, right there by her nest, so he could keep a close eye on them.
About 2 o'clock Michael alerted us that the ducks were on the move. This was the part we had been waiting for all these weeks. It would be our only chance to really see the ducklings because once the mama took them from the nest to water she would never bring them back.
Except for two that had trouble. After a few cute jumps, and the Mama coming back for the last one, they were all over.
There's Mama Duck, resting the ducklings and looking out for danger.
From the flowers they waddled across our neighbor's driveway,
and along the edge of her house:
Then there was a long stretch of grass to reach the next neighbor's lawn:
Across their lawn:
to another set of bushes:
And from there, across the sidewalk to the road: (I was hoping no cars would come!!!)
And then across the road:
safely to the otherside and into a clump of bushes beneath a tree. They stayed here for some time and we finally left as I think Mama Duck did not want us watching anymore. 
Fifteen minutes later the ducks were gone and I think they headed between the houses and out these gates to the woods and the water beyond.
We tried "candling" the egg and decided to agree with Mama Duck that it is indeed a dud. We are leaving it in the kitchen for the inspection of the relatives tomorrow.
My garden is doing so much better this year than last. Little by little the dirt is improving. It will still be quite a few years before I can say I have good dirt. I love the fact that we now have so many birds in our backyard because of the garden. The gold finches make me the happiest, and the humming birds.
I have two volunteer sunflowers in the garden this summer -- kindly placed there by birds using our birdfeeder. This sunflower has about 5 different heads on it and is adorable. We finally ate dinner out on our back patio on Monday evening. With the sunflowers in the background, I pretended we were in Italy on vacation. :)
Rachel and Andrew both finished knitting projects this week. Andrew's been working on the pink hat for Laura for a few months and was very pleased to finish it this week.