One day I was birding at the J Street Marsh when I met a gentleman who was kind enough to grab his scope to give me a quick (which turned into an hour-long) lesson on gulls and shorebirds. When he mentioned that he birds the Salton Sea regularly, I did something crazy. I asked a total stranger to take me with him on his next four hour round trip drive to the Sea! Of course my husband was not happy. I told my birder friend, Nicole, about it and it turns out that she also went with him when she was in San Diego a few months ago and oh by the way, Guy McCaskey literally wrote the book on "Birding the Salton Sea"! What luck!
We left at 4am while it was still dark, so we'd arrive just before sunrise. Not only did he take me to the Salton Sea, we also birded the Imperial Valley area including farms and homes where he knew certain species would be. I saw a gorgeous vermillion flycatcher at a horse farm, woodpeckers at a park and a merlin down a side road. Everywhere we went, people knew him. When we stopped at the Salton Sea Visitor Center, I caught a glimpse of his book behind the desk. That day was my biggest birding day ever. We saw more than 100 different species, including 21 lifers (birds I had never seen before).
This is where our twins turned FIVE and a day later, I entered the last year of my 30s!
The kids had chosen to celebrate by having a couple friends over for cake, then to the Coronado Library for craft time. The kids made pirate ships and then played at the playground across the street.
Asher and Journey were so happy that Brynn and Avree could celebrate with us.
The next day we continued the celebration with breakfast donuts
as big as our heads from the famous Donut Bar in downtown San Diego.
Journey made the big decision to cut her hair for her birthday. She was done with the pain of brushing her hair, it was time for a quick, easy style. She'd only had two small trims before, so her choice of a super short cut was a very dramatic change. She ended up with a cute cut and donated more than a foot of hair.
The kids had chosen to celebrate by having a couple friends over for cake, then to the Coronado Library for craft time. The kids made pirate ships and then played at the playground across the street.
Asher and Journey were so happy that Brynn and Avree could celebrate with us.
The next day we continued the celebration with breakfast donuts
as big as our heads from the famous Donut Bar in downtown San Diego.
Journey made the big decision to cut her hair for her birthday. She was done with the pain of brushing her hair, it was time for a quick, easy style. She'd only had two small trims before, so her choice of a super short cut was a very dramatic change. She ended up with a cute cut and donated more than a foot of hair.
That night I chose Outback Steakhouse, of course, for my birthday dinner. The kids so thoughfully slept thru the entire dinner so it was kind of like a quiet date night. Ha!
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