Young Man/Woman and the Sea

Grandpa took Dante and Lucia fishing near his house one morning. Dante caught a 14 inch Redfish, or Red Drum fish! And Lucia caught something we've yet to identify.

See the Great Blue Heron standing just feet away from Dante waiting for a free lunch?

Right next to this spot was the strangest tree I've ever seen. Standing under the tree, we were rained on. Every needle had droplets of water on it, and they were dropping fast enough for it to seem like a light rain.

Day One at DeSoto Beach

On the way to dad's from the airport, we went to DeSoto beach near St. Petersburg. We spent several hours just walking the waterline collecting shells.

Lucia, thrilled to be off the plane and out of the car, running wild.

We found a sea urchin, and some very cool pearlescent mussel shells, as well as lots of bivalve varities.

A day at Day Pond

Dante and his pal Mason threaten us lesser mortals from their perch atop a large lichen-covered rock.

Way too cool to wear gloves, Dante walked down the step-like walls of the dam before climbing back up again.

Lulu the trooper, keeping up with the big kids. But not attacking the trees like her big bro in the background.

Eagle eyes

Presidents' Day was bitter weather, but after a visit with Sis and John and Danbury Mall we went eagle watching at Gilette's Castle in East Haddam. Dante, Lucia and I had spotted some eagles and deer at this park a week or so before.

Luke and Dante up on the castle walls.

The light fixture under the castle porch roof had some very cool icicles.

It sure didn't feel like spring, but this robin was the only bird we saw that day. Even the eagles must have been cold...

around and around we go

We met John and Lorraine at the Danbury mall, and after lunch the kids rode the carousel.


See how fun it is to watch someone else's kids ride the carousel?

girl's night at the gala

The local homeschool group hosts an Art Gala -- the kids submit their works of art, which are hung or stood upon cloth-draped library stacks, and locals can purchase said works. All proceeds benefit the children's section of the library. Lucia and I hit the Gala for a girl's night out activity and were very impressed. Me with the presentation and pieces on display, her with the cool marine-themed rug in the children's section. May I present Lucia, the dolphin-rider?
Several local music groups volunteered to enliven the event, and the crowd you can barely see in the background was a group of about 9 or 10 fiddlers, a keyboard and mandolin. The music was a big hit with the kids, and Lucia joined them by letting them dance around her.
Mom, take a picture of me in front of this stuff. And then when you do, I'm going to sneer.
Ok, at the top of the ramp was the "cafe". Guess there was a little too much sugar in that choc chip muffin... look at her hair fly!

Growing rocks

Washing soda crystals can be made to grow very quickly, and we decided to test this out. Turns out, it's true! Dante is holding a pipe cleaner with far too many "seed" crystals on it, which is is about to dip into our supersaturated solution. Evidently, we should have used "a" seed crystal, rather than a gazillion. But, as you can see below, we still got a nice looking set of crystals in less than half a hour.

A Valentine's Treat

Yipee!! We got to celebrate Valentine's Day out in the snow! A first for us this year -- it hasn't snowed enough until now.

My dad bought this contraption at a tag sale, and it flies. Especially on icy snow. Do you see Dante hanging on the back?





The worst part of sledding is the walk back up the hill. Especially when the "snow" consists of freezing rain balls.

The playscape gets some winter action.

Lucia has had enough. Time for cocoa. And to put the bread in the oven.

Dante and Lucia helped make ciabatta for dinner to night. Yum!

leftovers again?

This place is called Great Adventure. Judging from the cages, perhaps a more apt moniker would be Great Escape.
Snuggle Buggle.

Flutter by

We headed up to the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in Deerfield, MA yesterday -- 80 degrees and humid without getting on a plane! Yipee!


Dante wants to start his own blog with all the pictures he took...

This is Pebbles, one of a pair of lizards the staff will take out and let you pet. If I recall correctly, this species lives 50 years.


The Truffula Trees! The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees! Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

Rupert the chameleon didn't come out for a visit, but look at his cool hands!
And lastly, all jammied and buckled up for the car ride home after a yummy felafel dinner/Herrel's ice cream in Northampton.

fire and ice

Lulu warms up after skating around the bog with Daddy and Dante.

Daddy skates backwards while Dante tries to catch him.

tutti fruitti

We've been playing with wool lately, and are trying our hands at needle felting. Can't seem to find the strawberry, guess I should have made a cluster. But you get the idea. It's pretty easy, just takes some patience. Basically you bunch up the wool and stab it numerous times with barbed needles until it's in the shape you want. Without stabbing yourself, which is the tricky part. Dante has made a flower and designed a small ball which I helped him felt. It's so exciting to watch things take shape as you go along.

christmas leftovers

I'm not sure it's sugarplums dancing in their heads...this was from the photoshoot for a christmas card photo, which we never printed.
Hey, that dress looks familiar!

Look what I can do... with long hair and jingle bell hair bands.