When we got to the arboretum, Dad told me to take pictures of 5 different butterflies. Right when Dad told me, Mom saw a spider which I took pictures of. Then there were more on the other side.
The first butterfly I saw was white.
We saw a fairy garden in a log and Dad said I think those are termites eating that.
The second butterfly was orange and I saw a bunch of bumblebees.
I found a blue butterfly and took a couple of pictures.
We saw a moth that curled its tongue, that was very cool. The moth looked like a hummingbird and kinda like a moth. He was very big.
White-lined Sphinx Moth
Mom thought she saw a snake, but someone else told it us it was a blue-tailed skink. We saw one hiding in the rocks later.
I saw a another orange butterfly, Dad thinks it is pearl crescent but is not sure.
Dad saw a damselfly, Danielle said "That's a dragonfly" but I told her it was a damselfly. Mom saw a dragonfly, and I said "Is it alive?" Mom said I don't think so. Then we saw ants eating it.
Mom saw a very cool plant that had little lines going down from it with a big ball on top.
Mom saw a blue-tailed skink that's tail had fell off. I saw a dragonfly by it.
I tricked Dad by saying "I see a big dragonfly", but it was just a bench.
Mom showed me a grasshopper, nobody else saw it. I said where is it, then mom showed me.
I saw a grasshopper when Mom told me to take a picture of a dragonfly.
I saw a grasshopper nobody else saw.
Dad pointed to a dragonfly on a log in the pond and it was in the middle on the way back.
Mom saw a red bug, nobody knew what kind it was.
Malcolm writing now, below are other photos that Michaela wanted to include in this blog post even though they did not fit with her story.
Michaela took over 300 photos today, including one of us.
On Friday we listened to Landrush at Stump Park, an event put on by Shawnee Parks and Recreation. Later afternoon swimming only allowed us to make their second set and the fireworks that followed, but an hour of music was enough for the girls anyways. High 80s at sunset was a welcomed break from the midday heat and the slight breeze made for comfortable viewing. Capital Federal bank's blue tchotchke was a fan favorite throughout, prompting the creative conversations in the videos below. The astute viewer accurately determined that both girls are drenched head to toe from running through the sprinklers. Another video similar to the second night dancing can be seen here.
Both girls decided to dance to the music after dusk, and the led lights reminded me of previous summer concerts and sparkler dances. The firework display exceeded our experience on the 4th, where we had not planned on staying awake to attend the KC fireworks only to choose at the last minute to view from considerable distance. No bugs, no moisture, warm weather, and easy traffic leaving the park were all wonderful. We didn't bring the larger DSLR cameras with, so this photo is a bit lacking in comparison to any of the last three year's of firework photos (2012 photos and 2011 photos).
During my three week visit to MN I shared many good times with family and friends, experience two great fishing trips, spend time outside taking pictures, played a round of golf with uncles, and went birding often. Birding and warblers will be the topic of a future blog post. Of all the activities, the highlight of my trip was taking a trip to the North Shore with Christine. Since the girls were born Christine and I have spent time limited time alone. This jaunt to Lake Superior was memorable and therapeutic.
We left Friday morning for the North Shore with no destination, itinerary, or schedule. We hoped to sleep when we needed to sleep, stop for food when we were hungry, hike/walk whenever we could, and watch a movie if everything else fell through. Sunny weather on the drive taunted us to slow down and spend more time outside, as the forecast for Saturday was rain. Along the way we found a locked gate on what appeared to be through road in the MN Gazetteer. The backtrack took longer than desired and we chose to skip Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge all together. We mixed a few short birding stops throughout the four hour trip and stopped for supper at the Duluth Buffalo Wild Wings. Many mosquitoes greeted us as we set tent at Eckbeck Campground at dusk.
Alas the weatherman was correct and rain came in the middle of the night. With no kids, no agenda, and crappy weather outside we rolled over and went back to sleep a couple of times. Sometime late morning we finally got rolling in the drizzle and faced our first and perhaps most important decision of the day. Turn south on 61 towards Duluth and go watch a matinee or turn north on 61 with no goal or specific location in mind. I'm not sure if Christine shared her decision by the time I turned north, but the risk worked out.
The gondola ride at Lutsen Mountain sounded like fun but with precipitation the views were limited so we chose to continue north. When we reached Grand Marais we walked the break wall and trails at Artist Point. Ducks, mergansers, loons, warblers, a yellow-bellied flycatcher, and many cedar waxwings joined us as we explored the trails but we did not bring cameras with in the rain.
The cool wet air gave us the chills along the break wall.
To warm up we explored town by foot, finding a Bike Shop along the path to Subway. During an hour lunch the rain subsided and we decided to grab the cameras. We returned to Artist Point in search of Cedar Waxwing photos, below are some photos from the hour long excursion.
This view north across the bay from Artist Point is now our new blog background.
Christine frames a Cedar Waxwing in the camera while 13 of them looking on in the background.
This portrait of a Cedar Waxwing is my favorite from Christine's many sharp photos.
Even though Waxwings repeated the above task often, getting a good picture proved challenging.
This eastern chipmunk had no problem being within a few feet of me.
We made bookend stops at the self proclaimed World's Best Donut Store, which we can attest is worth the stop on any visit to Grand Marais, while walking through the classic car show and a few shops in town. With the sun attempting to poke through the clouds we left with high hopes from the above photo shoot and drove south along 61. The few stops searching for waterfowl did not yield much but the lake fog was cool to see. We then hiked Oberg Mountain. With the morning rain gone, we spent the better part of three hours listening, observing, and taking photos of nature.
Black-throated Blue Warblers are not one we often see.
An American Red Squirrel came close to check out Christine.
Honeysuckle, aka Red Columbine, were one of many wildflowers.
We liked the view away from Lake Superior the best, with Oberg lake just peeking out here.
Blessings can come in many different forms and may even be unique across individuals. The time spent on top of Oberg Mountain was a true blessing for me. Taking photos in nice weather is often fun. Having warblers calling all around usually makes me happy. But the proverbial straw that tipped the scale was seeing Christine experience pure joy and peace that only happens once in a blue moon when everything clicks. I'm not sure if it was the sun, the animals, the Cedar Waxwing photo excursion, the wildflowers, having good donuts in our belly, the birds, or my Black-throated Blue Warbler happy dance but Christine was carefree and happy. With no time to think, put a smile on her face or turn around, or remember our burdens or worries I sneaked this first photo by calling her name. It is possible that I'm the only one that sees a difference in Christine's smile between the first and second photos below, but when you see pure joy in someone you love it warms the heart. This one experience by itself was a true blessing, trumping all else that had preceded it during the three week visit.
Seconds after seeing a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Lake Superior is under the fog bank on the right.
The picturesque view of Oberg Lake.
I woke up frozen Sunday morning and gave Christine my sleeping bag before going outside early to listen to the various dawn chorus bird songs of the campground. We stopped for a quick hike at Tettegouche State Park and with warmer temperatures we took a longer hike at Split Rock State Park. Taking photos of birds was our goal, but I'll save those photos for later.
The weekend away was great, allowed us to connect, and left us with many photos. One the drive back we heard how Michaela, Danielle, and Grandpa and Grandma Gold liked Shrek the Musical. That call reminded me of how blessed I am by my daughters and supportive parents, and at least for this weekend jaunt I was able to experience just the two of us.
We went to the planetarium and saw HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2! At Science City we dug up dinosaur bones! We ate popcorn! Danielle and I won at tog of war! We had a lot of fun. Mommy and daddy surprised us by taking us to the movie theater!
We made pictures of trains. Me and Danielle tried to copy the man and woman dance. We saw Tomas and Percy! The ceiling was in a cool shape.
One of the downsides of living in a Kansas City apartment is the lack of bird feeders. We have some outside on our deck, but the variety and number of birds is quite small. After seeing many excellent photos shared on Facebook and reading about taking photos at bird feeders, I tried it at my parents feeder station.
I found a couple of sticks and stuck them in the ground, placing the feeders on the ground next to the sticks. I hoped that birds would land and sit on the sticks on the way to the feeders and initially sat outside waiting for a bird to show-up. When one did I would move the lens to where that bird was and quickly snap a few frames. After only a couple of birds I was reminded how still one must be in order to get close pictures, so I changed my tactic and laid down on the grass closer to the sticks (this was before the first MN mosquitoes hatch). This worked better than before but I soon got tired of holding the lens and needed to change once again, this time I grabbed the tripod to support the camera and laid behind. I had such a comfortable setup that I could lay my head on the tripod legs while waiting for birds to arrive.
The photos are from this learning attempt and a similar setup used the next morning. I was lucky with the bit of species variety that stopped by, but missed the Gray Catbird and male Indigo Bunting that I was hoping for.
We planned to take Dad on his first sky tram ride at the zoo yesterday, but somehow we got delayed by stopping at the recycling facility to drop off cans. We also thought the zoo closed at five, only to find out it actually closed at four on weekdays. It's alright though, as we had a blast with the half hour zoo visit.
The day was perfect with high 70s and sun, but by the time we got home the pool water was cold.
We think it will be fun to post more of our stuff on this website for everyone to see.
