Jan 30, 2011

Some of the best sunsets I have ever seen have been in Naples!

Jan 29, 2011

Don't let the pictures fool you, it was just barely in the 70's. That didn't stop the kids from wanting to go swimming. The kids and my dad had no trouble getting in the pool, heated or not, it was just not warm enough for me or Chris. In fact, Chris was still cold wearing a fleece jacket. Dahlia was a little reluctant too, but she went in, then got right back out.
Today was nice enough to run around on the beach, but the ocean temp was only 60 degrees so no one went swimming. Amazingly, there were people in the water....I figured they must be crazy or menopausal.

Jan 27, 2011

Had to make another trip down to Florida to escape the cold hard New England winter. The temperatures here in Florida aren't exactly high enough for spending the day at the beach, but I am happy to be out of winter hats and down coats. As long as I can wear flip-flops, I am happy. This trip was more about seeing family anyway, we just got back from our trek up to Daytona where my grandparents live. It was a short visit, but a good one. My Oma (grandmother) is starting to make claims that she is ailing and won't be around much longer, yet she can still slaughter us all in mini golf! Needless to say, I am having a hard time believing her!

This weekend, my brother and his brood will be coming down from Orlando to spend the weekend with us in Naples! Deason is excited, he and his cousin get along famously, I don't think they have ever gotten in a disagreement!

Jan 21, 2011

Kristin and I went trapeze flying again last week, and each time you go they teach you a new trick. At the end of the class you try and get caught doing the new tricks. It didn't go so well, most of the time the attempts were just misses, as shown in the video. Except for the one time I did get caught, but in the process I almost landed on the poor girl who had to catch me. I opted not to put that video on the internet because it was just embarrassing. Thanks again to Deason, our trusted camera man!!!
The rest of our time spent in the cold northern weather has been pretty uneventful, instead of letting boredom set in, we find ourselves reading, watching the food channel, and playing with the camera. These pics were taken using a red pen light. They came out so much cooler than I expected.

Jan 5, 2011

Happy New Year! It was actually nice out today, Dahlia and I took a walk down to the harbor! It is amazing how animated the harbor is during the summer, and how depressingly bleak it is during the winter. It still made me miss the boat, even though there was ice in the water. Only 6 more months until the summer.

Dec 29, 2010

Today, I was out taking pictures of the kids sledding, and luckily, I kept my camera on me while I went to bring the trash to the dumpster. While I was there I heard the crows going mental. I assumed that they were harassing what looked to be a hawk, but when I looked through the camera lens, I realized it was an owl. There is something really cool about seeing an owl in the day time, in nature. The crows must have been attacking it while it was in flight because some of its feathers appeared to be mangled, and they were not touching the owl while it was in the tree. There must have been 6-8 crows all vocally harassing the owl while they had it surrounded in the tree.
I am no ornithologist, but based on my wikipedia research, it appears to be a great horned owl. They are territorial when mated, and December through February is mating season for owls. It also says that an adult owl has no real predators, but may get into confrontations with eagles, snowy owls and other great horned owls. It looked to me that these crows were giving it a pretty hard time too. Hopefully, this is its territory and we will get to see more of him (I am assuming it is a him, because the males are smaller than the females with the average height being 18-27in, and he was no bigger than the crows).

Dec 27, 2010

I have to be honest, I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year, right up until Christmas eve. It just didn't feel like Christmas yet, even though the radio stations started playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, and there has been snow on the ground for the past week. Maybe, it was because I procrastinated everything until, just about the last minute.
Anyway, we ended up having a great Christmas this year, we had Chris's family over for Christmas dinner, and it was the first time we had cooked for a holiday meal. I have to say, it turned out pretty well. You can't really go wrong with a 23lb ham....salt & fat...mmmmm! Deason got some MORE legos, and I got a new tripod for my camera. We played around and took some family photos. Thanks Nana & Grampa!