Silly Squirrels

Hello!
School is out and Summer officially started today. It's been packed with quite a bit of fun already :)

Olivia and Quinn are both doing swim team this year. Olivia is in 8 & Under competitive swim and Quinn is enjoying Pre-Compet and learning all of the strokes, quite literally! They are both doing tennis as well.

Carriage Club Swim Team Members who are also on the Hockey Team!

Olivia and Quinn with Maxwell

Olivia (left) w/ Friend at 1st Swim Meet!

Quinn Playing 'Little Stars' Tennis 

We've been active outdoors trying new sports too like lacrosse (Spring teams for both Q & O) and also basketball. We've had some fun family 2 on 2 games after dinner these days trying out the new basketball goal we got for the driveway!

Shooting hoops after dinner

We have also been doing some home improvement projects in the back yard and on the deck. We are growing cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapenos, habeneros and tomatoes. Father's Day weekend, the kids had fun with Daddy assembling the new cooler for the deck as well!

Nice Addition to the Deck :)

Believe it or not, one of the highlights of the Summer so far has been watching the critters in our yard and trying to outsmart them, kind of like our own version of "The Great Outdoors"!  I think the kids get some of this tendency from their Dad, and it really cracks me up. Just the other morning, Olivia tore into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets. She then ran outside clutching a plastic tub and yelling "I'm going to catch that chipmunk, Mommy!". I'm not sure really what the plan was since she came up empty after stalking it around the yard for awhile.

The real story here is all about squirrels though... Actually birdfeeders but eventually we get to squirrels. So as part of the home improvement initiative, we decided to get a good bird feeder to attract more birds to our yard. For the past 12 years I've been in the house, we've had a cardinal that claims our yard as his territory. He fights off every other bird around to keep his home base intact. I think this is the year we're gonna change that.

We went to the store and bought a nice bird feeder, lots of seed and a "squirrel proof" dome for it. We installed this under a tree and quickly the squirrels converged on it, devouring all of the seed. FYI, we have what could be considered a squirrel infestation in our yard. Not kidding. In the morning, we routinely see what we call 'squirrel parties' in the yard which basically amount to 8+ squirrels all hanging out and squirreling around. There are massive squirrel nests in several of our trees.

So, since our squirrel proof feeder was immediately defeated, Quinn and Daddy decided to up the game. They went back to the store to get a pole and some wood to mount the bird feeder away from the squirrels. Then came the stake-out to see if the new plan was a success.

Quinn with the Newly Mounted Feeder

Well.... it was not exactly a success, but we're having fun with it! The squirrels figured out how to launch themselves from the fence to the feeder. Jason even caught this hilarious action shot!

Ready, Set, Go!

So Jason decided to move the feeder away from the fence.

This has to work, right??

Nope. At this point, I'm sorry to say that the score is Squirrels 3 - Cunninghams 0. And that's even AFTER Jason greased up the pole to hopefully keep them from climbing up it! See results of that experiment below...

Ninja squirrels showing off in our yard!

We do have a few more tricks up our sleeve such as putting a slinky on the pole and reinstalling the squirrel dome UNDER the bird feeder. We're not giving up easily and in the meantime, lots of critters like rabbits, birds and chipmunks are enjoying the seed on the ground around the feeder, so I guess in some ways its "mission accomplished"!

With the crazy heat wave we've had, we've been spending lots of time at the pool and just the other day Jason noticed in the tree behind us at the pool there was a squirrel hanging over the branch dead asleep! We'd never seen that before so we pointed it out to the kids and they all got a kick out of it. They woke the poor thing up and then it sauntered a few feet up the branch and passed out again in the crook of a branch all splayed out.

Here's a picture of my sleeping squirrels who love to bunk down each night together during the Summer. Don't even THINK of trying to separate them! They are best buds and the sweetest lovies to one another.

Sleep tight, My Loves! Quinn w/ a fresh drool spot + 3 layers of blankies.

We are enjoying the blessings of family and nature around here, and we wish our friends and family all the best. Hope you all enjoy these dog days of Summer!

Love Always,
Claire & Family