Gramma & Grampa Congratulate Dave & Wendy!!

We went to attend Dave's graduation from residency, and enjoy all the accolades he received (Resident of the Galaxy, Scholar of the Brainiacs, etc.) and see all the appreciation he and Wendy received from all the big shots in attendance. It was great to see how so many other people understand what cool folks they are! Unfortunately I was busy corralling little ones and eating cake to get any photos, so you'll have to check Wendy's site for those. Though it may be a while as the day after all the medical festivities Wendy's new baby arrived all safe and sound, Stella Pearl, 8 lbs 7 oz, 21.5 inches--way to go Wendy!! And it was great Wendy's mom was able to be there in the hospital with her.



A real doll--takes after her mother and dad, not a stitch of resemblance to old grampa fortunately. Her big sister and brother dote on her . . .





In spite of the face she's making, Stella was the perfect lady while we were there--sleep, eat, repeat. It was soon apparent things could get to where Wendy wouldn't get the chance for much rest at home, for example:

so Dave thought we'd take an afternoon to get the young helpers out of the house for a while, a trip to the National Zoo. We saw many animals, and made the mandatory stop at the water park:



where Oakley and Peter had a great time with the other locals and the simulated tide pool. We also watched a little girl tossing her purse and the sea lion doing flips to follow it:





And we watched the elephant scratch his leg on the fence. And though I didn't get a photo of it, we were in a food court and a very strange looking bird wandered in, walking on stork-like legs--so we thought he was some sort of water bird. So he wanders around the food court tables, and the other little birds and pigeons are scrambling around grabbing dropped popcorn and fries and all of a sudden the stranger bird grabs a sparrow, snaps its neck, and swoops off into a tree with the carcass. He flew right behind Oakley and Peter as he took off for the tree. All the other birds were all of a sudden all in other trees looking over at the stranger, probably thinking 'who the heck is the new guy?!!' I think Dave got a photo but unfortunately I was up to my old self--watching Oakley's ice cream melt down her elbow.

It was a wonderful week we had--thanks Dave and Wendy for your hospitality and the great events we were able to share with your family in the birth of Stella and Dave's graduation.
Love, Gramma and Grampa