Book Review - The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

 

Susie Finkbeiner's book, The Nature of Small Birds, first caught my attention because it deals with an adoptive family, and I am an adoptive mama.  It is told in three voices: dad Bruce, mom Linda, and big sister Sonny, and there are three different time frames woven into the story, so it switches between 1975, 1988, and 2013.  I did feel that all three voices were distinct and realistic.  I liked Bruce's parts best overall, although my favorite scene was when Chris met Minh, as told by Linda.  It is a good story, but more a bunch of memories woven together.  Many of the characters were well-drawn, although the youngest daughter was on the periphery enough to seem unnecessary.  It did feel like pieces were missing, or only hinted at.  Overall, I enjoyed it.  I just wanted more.   

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

New Flowers

 Along with all of the vegetable seeds, I grew lots of flowers this year.  Some didn't grow well, and others (sunflowers) were pretty much devoured by the deer, but there were several successes.  I always grow zinnias, and my Mexican sunflowers, but I tried some new things, too.  

This first one is gomphrena, and its flowers are almost neon.  It's really stunning.  The one below is peppermint stick balsam, which really makes a nice statement. 

I've been getting lots of green beans in the garden, and a few cucumbers.  I am still waiting to really get tomatoes.  I harvest some cherry tomatoes every day, but some of the big ones rotted before ripening, and most are healthy but not ripe.  Sigh.

Here is Malachi, the thinker.  Next, Nathaniel and I on our date walk in the woods.  Finally, baby Eleanor, because everyone needs to smile at a precious baby.

Back in the Garden

 It's been a while since I've done a garden update.  I'm starting to get some produce, but no tomatoes yet.

The hydrangeas look beautiful.

Beans are starting to come on.  I've got both pole types (Kentucky Blue and Golden Crescent) and bush types (Provider and Dragon Tongue).

I even have a few little cantaloupes growing.  

Also, I decided to make Lydia in charge of "gym class" for the boys every day.  

It seems to be working pretty well so far.  Today, they did various moves like animals (pounce like a lion, scamper like a squirrel, etc).  I told her that she has tomorrow off, since we will be swimming, but that she can make her lesson plans for Wednesday.

Rocks and Cliff Dwellings

One day, I took the bigger kids to Garden of the Gods park for a little hike.

It was a really beautiful day, and we had a nice time.

Then, we headed to the Manitou Cliff Dwelling Museum.

We had fun climbing in the old adobe houses and checking out the museum, but the kids really had a great time in the gift shop.  They all spent money there, and we had a lot of fun exploring all of the neat things in the store.

 

Dinosaurs and Animals

We visited a really neat dinosaur museum.  It even had real bones we could touch.

After the museum, we enjoyed a really good bratwurst at the German pub next door.

The next day, we ventured to the zoo.

The zoo was in the mountains, so we got a work out.  There were lots of fun animals, and we had a good time even though it was crowded.

And this guy had a birthday that we celebrated with my family just a bit early while we were in Colorado.  It's really hard to believe that he's already nine years old.

 

Panning for Gold

We had fun at the Ghost Town Museum, which is a little western town reconstructed in a big building.  

Out back, the kids enjoyed panning for gold.

We had a lot of fun here.  It was pretty inexpensive, and it kept us occupied for an hour or two.

Then, we went to the house.  My parents rented a house for all of us, and it was huge and amazing.  This was the view from the porch:

When we first pulled up, it was cloudy, so we didn't even see the mountain in the distance.  We are pretty sure it is Pike's Peak.

 

Denver Aquarium and a Church with a View

 While we were in Denver, we visited the aquarium.  Some of the kids had never been to one, and for the others, it had been several years.

We attended Mass at a church in Castle Rock, Colorado.  It sat high on a hill with a fantastic view:

Lydia wanted to get a picture of the bear sign there, too.  

At the Reception and Red Rocks

 The rain cleared off at the reception, and we enjoyed the inside and outside.  

Mamaw made the trip!

The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins, and later, some really enjoyed the dance floor.  Others were more into the late-night snacks (which were really yummy!).

The next day, we checked out of our Vail hotel and headed toward our Denver hotel.  On the way, we went to Red Rocks.

It was really pretty.  We didn't stay too long, though, because we had a reserved time to enter the aquarium.  Still, we enjoyed the views!

Colorado Wedding

 We had a massive trip - we took all six kids on planes to Colorado.  The flight went pretty smoothly, and then we drove to Vail for my cousin's wedding.

The wedding was on top of the mountain, after riding up in the gondola things.

The weather was rainy, and we were prepared with ponchos, although we were still dressed up underneath!

Inside the gondola ride.  Gyunay absolutely loved it.  The teens were a bit unsure.

At the top of the mountain, the oldest and youngest in our group had a little rest before setting out for the wedding site.  It was also a brief respite before the rain.

The wedding itself was rainy and windy.  We got good use of the ponchos and umbrellas.

Afterwards, when we got to the reception site, the sun came out and was beautiful!

The kids all enjoyed the reception, which was really lovely.  The food was good, too, so we were all pretty happy!  We had to pull some kids from the dance floor to leave, but others were so exhausted and half asleep standing up.  

There will be more Colorado posts later!