Nocturnal and more

Not only does the word nocturnal apply to me as a night shift nurse - it also applies to the raccoon living around our yard and the neighbor's yard! I don't know how long ago it was when we first saw the raccoon, but Brett was about 8 feet away from it just staring at it and she was not moving. We have occasionally spied her around during the day as well, just waddling like she owns the place. Then last Friday when we were outside doing some yard work, Brett walked into the garage to get the ladder down and there she was, on the top shelf in the front of the garage in some wire fence parts - stuck. Eventually when we walked away she found a way down and walked back to her home - under the neighbor's shed - visible from our driveway.
Today while I was downstairs folding some laundry Brett was upstairs on the couch reading. All of a sudden he yells at me to come upstairs and says, "You don't see this everyday." In our front yard was the mom raccoon and three tiny little baby raccoons. The mom was trying to herd/carry them to their new home. Anytime she would get a little far away from them, they would screech. I ran into the house to grab the camera - and here are a few of the results!
In another news story: today I was riding my bike uptown to run some errands and as I get a few blocks away from our house (to the south) there are some trucks on the road and I notice some chain link fences being put up on the east side. Turns out, for about a 3 block by maybe 2 block area they are demolishing everything, houses, trees, and are going to put up a 300 bed town house, complete with pool and parking spaces. For those of you who have been here before - the houses that are coming down are those that are really quite junky and usually have trash and beer cans and bottles on the lawn. It is kind of spooky in a way to go past there now. The houses are marked with these green stickers, windows and doors are missing, everything is vacant. Apparently it is going to be completed in 2 years. So, for the next 2 years there is going to be construction down the street. Thank goodness we don't live right across from it or I would never sleep during the day! Hopefully in the end it is an improvement to the neighborhood - because lets face it - those of you who have visited have all commented on how nice it is that we live where we do, and not 2 more blocks to the south :)
Tonight was a beautiful night out, so we made a little fire in our fire pit and enjoyed it. No pictures of that - it was too dark. Sunday we got out our bean bag toss game and played that and then grilled out with Sarah and Josh. I am loving the nicer weather! Brett is taking a few days off from school before he hits the research hard and starts his summer class. Today he golfed with a friend from school, also named Josh. Tomorrow, he has plans to work hard on putting up more dry wall in the frame around where the basement door used to be, and around the shower! Maybe when Dan and Kiki come in a few weeks, it will be complete! According to my weather bar on my web browser here it is supposed to get to a high of 89 tomorrow. I have my eye on this hammock that is sold at Menards. It is one that is on its own stand since we don't have 2 trees to put it between. You can't find it online - but it is in the store! And it is green!
Time for bed here, but what blog post would be complete without pictures of Marshy and Parker? :)