Winter Friends and a Swimming Update

We're very blessed with the place we live in.  We have a great house, an amazing view, and plenty of live entertainment.  The yard has been full of deer lately.  There is one particular plant that grows in patches around our yard that they especially love.  It reminds me of clover, but it's bigger and bushier.  And when it dries out the seed pods rattle like the sound of a rattlesnake.  No idea what it's called, but the deer love it.

This young buck stayed to visit all day a couple days ago.

 This picture was taken from our master bedroom on the third floor, looking straight down over the deck.  He was within 12 feet of the door downstairs.

 The ten year old took these pictures of the bunny.  We have lots of rabbits around here too.

 He was right outside the downstairs door - closer to the house than the deer was.

 The ten year old also spotted an eagle flying over our yard one of the days I was in town taking care of Papa.  He got some great pictures.

 These three are Magpies.  I love their coloring, but most people around here (especially ranchers) think of them as a nuisance).

Here's a picture of the eagle with a magpie.

 Swim therapy for the 6 year old has progressed amazingly well.  His instructor asked for the brothers to come too, and that has helped him to loosen up and be more comfortable in the water.  And the brothers are loving it too.

 He's still afraid to get his face wet, but with the goggles on, he will look under the water.  We had great success Monday when he didn't have his goggles on, and willingly got his lips wet twice.  Lol. We celebrate small victories here as well as big ones.  He will also lay back and get the back of his head wet (very cautiously and not for long - ha.) But considering when we started, he was terrified to even touch the water, this is huge progress.

 The three year old is fearless.  He makes me nervous.  He'll march right out to the deep water with his brothers, with no concern for whether he'll be able to touch or not.  He's so small the slightest current or disturbance knocks him off his feet.  I haven't been swimming in the mornings because we're there for such a short time, and I have a very small window between the time the lesson ends and the time the bus arrives.  One of these days, I'll get the guys together earlier and we can swim before the lesson.  Hard to do when the lesson starts at 9, and the boys are not early risers.