Saturday, February 11, 2012

Eagle Festival

Today we went to an Eagle Festival in a local county. We weren't sure what to expect, so we just planned to go on some of the walks and explore some nesting areas of bald eagles.
We arrived just in time for the Bald Eagle Trail walk. It was a little cold, sometimes snowing lightly, but not much, and cloudy and muddy.

Rudy had to explore areas "off the beaten track".



Paul brought an old camera, and I had our newest camera, which was recently broken and there is no display, so to take a picture, you just have to guess that you are pointing and focusing correctly. I have actually been taking pretty decent pictures with it. Here is a picture of Paul taking a picture of Rudy...

... and here is the picture Paul took.


Once you have a walking stick there are endless possibilities!


Across the small man-made pond, you can see an owl box.


This was one entrance to a fox hole.


This was another entrance. Rudy, naturally, wanted to poke his stick down it, which we wouldn't allow.



Rudy and I checking out the fox hole. I kind of like the two camera procedure. This way Paul and I don't constantly pass the camera back and forth and we can get two perspectives of certain things!




Across the water, high in the tree, was an eagle nest. Through the guide's scope, we could see the eagle sitting right near the nest.



Here is Rudy standing under the owl box with one of the guides. The owls regurgitate animal bones and other waste, so the kids were assigned the job of digging under the box and finding bones - which they very happily did.


Here Rudy is showing people the bones he found.



After circling around on the trail, we saw a bald eagle over the water flying around and then perched in the trees. Amazing sight!
Crazy kid.

Crazy kid and dad. No wonder I rarely have any nice pictures since this is what happens when I try to take pictures. Rudy says, "Let's do a silly one."


Then he says, "Take one just of Daddy," and this is what Paul does. Like father, like son!

After we finished that walk, we drove to the end of the road to check out where another walk was later. We decided to forgo the later walk, but explored the area ourselves. We took a path down through the marshes that ended at a broken bridge.




On this bridge and look out, we saw more bald eagles. There were lots of volunteers with scopes and binoculars all focused on the current location of the eagles. We will definitely be heading back to this area to watch for the eagles again. Our state apparently has more than 100 bald eagle nests with 70 of them in two counties near us.


As we drove back to the main rode, we stopped to see the swans in the lake.


Although cold and wet, this was a great day!

Sick Day

On Monday, Rudy was diagnosed with Strep throat. Although he was feeling pretty good, he wasn't allowed to go back to school until Wednesday. So after spending all day Sunday and Monday at home, I decided we needed to get out of the house Wednesday. Since Rudy was still possibly contagious, I didn't want to go anywhere inside with other people, and since it was also unseasonably warm and sunny, we headed out to the wildlife refuge.


First we stopped at the children's play area, where Rudy climbed and played on a mound of dirt.


Then he went to the instrument.



I decided to try out an area we hadn't been before, so we walked past this lake with a heron sitting along the side. We will be heading back here soon with Paul to explore this area more.


On the way back, Rudy found a rock that he decided to toss in the air with one hand and catch over and over again. Luckily, he didn't throw it very far and only bumped his head with it once or twice!


When we got back to the children's area, we built a nest.




Despite telling me that he doesn't like nature the way Paul and I do, he sure seemed to have fun.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

70th Birthday Party

A few weekends ago, we headed to Virginia for my aunt's 70th birthday party. It was a long drive down. We made a stop at one of the state lines, and there was a playground for Rudy to run around on. Although it was really cold, he needed the chance to run around for a while!




Okay, maybe he wasn't the only one who needed to run around!

We stopped for dinner- everyone likes ice cream at Friendly's!

The party was Saturday. My cousin's wife made the cake and cupcakes.


My aunt has 6 kids - here are all of her kids leading songs the grandkids all get sung.


My aunt, in the purple, with some of her grandsons and a grand-nephew (Rudy).

We played a game and the prizes were random toys and things. I won fake teeth, which Rudy immediately decided to wear.

My cousin's kids also wearing fake teeth.


There were no teeth left for Lucy, so she tried out the doo rag.


My male cousins are all musicians, so there was of course music. The kids had fun trying out the drum set.

Rudy and Dad enjoying the music, even if it was too loud!


Four cousins and a cousin-in-law.



The steps, which the kids were not allowed up, were a big draw. Paige had a little rest on them...
...and so did Charlie.

Rudy and Ben playing with race cars.


My aunt dragged me out to dance with her on the premise that my mom always used to dance with her (her sister-in-law).

Even Paul got to join the band.

Max didn't play the instruments but he enjoyed listening.


Lucy wanted to take pictures with my camera. First, the birthday girl and her sister-in-law.


The band, featuring Uncle Paul.

A silly brother with a snack.


The kids checking out the drums.


Lucy as lead vocals.


Silly boy.

Trying to be patient and wait for turns on the drums.



Back at the hotel. I was able to 'lose' the fake teeth but the caps made it back with us.