Virginia Killdeer ....

Today was the start of our week long vacation to Tennessee.  My sister arrived from New York last night and she will be travelling down with us .... sadly her husband is not able to join us.

We are travelling to Tennessee to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday, which was yesterday. (Thank you for all the happy birthday wishes that you sent her way!)  My oldest sister and her husband flew to Tennessee last week and will be meeting us there ..... and my brother and his family who live in North Carolina will be driving in tomorrow.  And on Saturday my Mom and niece are arriving from California!  We are coming from all over the US to celebrate!

We drove as far as Roanoke today and will continue the rest of the way tomorrow .... with a final destination in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee!  

We arrived at our hotel around supper time and after having a delicious meal at a BBQ restaurant we drove to a local park in order to stretch our legs a bit after a long day in the car. 

As we were driving in I saw this beautiful Killdeer and her three tiny nestlings! I was thrilled to be so close to her as most of  the killdeer I have seen in the past have been too far afield for any decent photographs. 

Today is also R and my 33rd wedding anniversary!  Not a very exciting one but at least we spent the day together! Love you lots, R! ♥♥♥