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The 5th of July was no less fun than the 4th.  Seth, Becca, Seth’s Mom and I all went to the Toledo Zoo. The main goal:  see the new polar bear baby while not developing heat stroke.  Did I mention (with humidity, it was over 100 degrees?

As you can tell, we weren’t the only ones braving the heat…

And then there were the lucky few who get to be in water all day long…

It was one of the best trips yet

After a busy 4th, it was nice to spend Saturday night at Seth’s parents house, Stargazer Farm.  We also found out a new thing about the alpacas…they love getting squirted with water guns!  A LOT.

We ended the evening with a fantastic bonfire, some great food and good company.

HAPPY 4TH!

Today after Kayaking Geoff and I sat by the shore, and guess what came out of the woods!

And there wasn’t just one…..

They were so small and when you actually call them (just joking around when I did this)  they actually came!  However when I went to pet one, I was quickly reminded about rabies…oh yeah.

They are very sneaking and after you chase them away from you and your rabies-free body, they sneak right back up on you!

They also loved sniffing our life jackets.  As long as no chewing was involved, that’s OK in my book

This Memorial Day has been packed full of activities and newly acquired freckles.  Today started with meeting Becca down at the river for coffee, followed by the parade in downtown Perrysburg.  It was super hot, but the whole town showed up.

After the parade we headed back to the river for the annual boat race.

Someone should have warned this kid about the rock spiders at the river…

But at least the fans were out in full force.

The rest of the day was followed up with cooking out and movies with Becca and Seth.  So after only a minor sunburn, lots of good food and afternoon beers, I now believe this is possibly one of the best Memorial Days ever.

It is finally time to be back on the Maumee River.  I have looked forward to this all winter long.  The current is fast, but it is such a rush to be back out on the water.   I love paddling in the current  as well as finding a spot where the water is still and you can just sit back and watch all the wildlife around you.

Finally updated pics of my nieces!  I can’t believe they are this big already.  Time is going by very, very fast and now the girls are huge with even larger personalities.  Aunt Sam or “Aunt Tam” got to spend the day with them on Saturday.  I wish there was more days like this, but at least I get to see them as much as I do.

For the second day in a row it has been 80 and sunny.  The local Weather Forecasters have been calling it “Unseasonably Warm”.  I will take it.  Thank you Spring/Summer for coming early.  I have been lucky to have been able to go outside for a few hours in the sun each day, whether it be a trip to the river or sitting outside with friends.  Today I took a walk in search of flowers taking as much advantage of this weather as I have.

Sometimes when you teach babies to crawl you have to get creative.  My friends Jeanna’s 10 month old son is just starting to crawl and he got even better at it once he discovered London’s cat toys.

Some pictures just make you smile.

With the return of the nice weather, my photography has come back as well!  After 3 days of sun, I finally felt like getting out and about and picking the camera back up.  My first stop, of course, had to be the Magical Forest.  However, lots and lots of mud may have made it a little less magical than usual….

After the trip to the forest, I took the next day to go see my Mom for her 50th birthday!  Construction in the nearby neighborhood has driven deer onto our street, and yesterday evening we caught some in our front yard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!

This past week I finally got motivated to paint again.  So after prying open some linseed oil, paint thinner, and some (somewhat crusty) oil paint tubes, I’m back in the game.  Here is my progress thus far….it is a very (very) long way from becoming the final product.  It helps so much that Becca is letting me invade her studio space, and working on projects as well.  It’s like being back in school again!