Da Bear...

We had two visitors show up Friday night. The first was Ty, Brad's brother...he was the expected guest. The second guest, wasn't as expected, but just as welcome!!! We had a two year old bear walk right through our front yard. The first shot is obviously the best...the only reason I'm including the 2nd one is to show how close he was to the house.

Admission...bear brain took over photographer brain. I could hear how slow the shutter was...but changing the ISO (which is all it would have taken) wasn't anywhere in my brain. It was crazy! Hopefully I'll have another chance to let photographer brain take over...if not...it was still cool to have a bear in my own front yard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch out for that...

...turtle!!! It is egg laying season for the turtles here in the Northwoods. They are everywhere right now...looking for a sandy place to dig the holes and lay their eggs. We see them on the roads everywhere. Last night I saw 4 painted turtles on my way to Birchwood and 4 different painted turtles on my way home plus a pretty good sized snapper. This is all from the road. For some reason, many of them lay their eggs right on the side of the road. Many times, especially on the weekends when there is more traffic on the back roads, we will actually move them across the road in the direction which they were going in an attempt to keep them from getting run over. Tonight as I turned onto our road, sitting on the side of the road across from the "frog pond" was a snapper laying her eggs...where else...but right on the side of the road. I couldn't help but stop and take some photos of her. When I look at stuff like this...it reminds me...I could NEVER live in the city again!!! If you are out on the roads in the Northwoods...please watch out for the turtles!!!

Luuuuucy...

...had her babies sometime between yesterday and today. I went out and checked on her yesterday because Brad noticed Desi floating around pretty close to the nest. Lucy was on the nest and I saw no signs of any cute little fuzz balls. When I went out to check on her today, she was gone. As I got closer to the nest, I could see broken egg shells. Hopefully they are all safe and sound...off exploring their new world. The photos of Lucy and Desi are from yesterday...I didn't feel like "braving the elements"...ok...I had taken my shower already and didn't want to get any ticks. The one of the egg shells is from today.

2 down...1 to go!!!

Brian Patrick graduated from High School on Friday!!!!!

Warning...there are lots of photos in this entry...had a great trip...can't help myself!!!!

We flew this year...which means we missed getting to see all of our friends on the way out, however, fewer hours on the road wasn't a bad thing!

One thing like last year, it was HOT...HOT...HOT there! We left home here with temps in the high 60s, low 70s...I'm not sure if it actually hit 100 in Maryland or not, but it was close enough to count if it didn't!

Lyn surprised Brian with a limo to pick us all up to make the trip downtown...allowed us to avoid the Metro and the taxi situation for Aunt Pat. It was really cool! I hadn't been in a limo for a long time...and boy did it make the trip to and from downtown DC a breeze!!! Brian was pretty stoked about it too! He especially liked the fact that we were early getting there so we took it to MickeyDs!!!
We were able to drop Brian, Lyn, and Aunt Pat at the building then...Robby and I couldn't get in yet, so we took off to take some photos. I love, love, love taking photos in Washington DC!!! I'm not much of a history buff...but the history there just gives me chills! We walked over to the newest attraction...the WWII memorial...it was awesome! While standing at the base of the Washington Monument waiting on Robby to get a hot dog (he just wanted the bun so he could feed the ducks!), a line of presidential like cars (security...security...security...limo...security...security...security etc.) went by...we think it was actually the President's motorcade. That was interesting...I don't much care for the current President so I decided to not even bother with a photo. Still interesting though! Anyway, by the time we got the bun and went back over to the reflecting pool to feed the ducks, we were both so sweaty our clothes were drenched! That meant it was time to head to graduation and get in the airconditioning. We were disgusting!!! Oh well...like anyone there knew me!!! Ha ha!!! Robby said he hoped he actually wouldn't see anyone he knew until his clothes dried!!!

The speaker at graduation was a guy from ESPN...he was GOOD!!! Brian was a clown during the entire ceremony...silly boy...just take a look!!!

Brian's girlfriend Brittany was also a senior at Gaithersburg...
A couple family photos...

His party was the next day and we had a crab feast!!! Yummy!!!! Here are a few photos of that as well!!!

Oh, and what could a party with teenage boys be without a little Guitar Hero???

What a great trip!!! Thanks for the incredible hospitality Lyn!!! 2 down...1 to go...but we get to skip a year this time!!!