Fun Weekend

Saturday morning was a beautiful morning in Florida so pa and I decided to go out hiking. There is a hike we drive by every Sunday on our way to church and I had read a little about it, so we headed that direction. It is called "Red Bug Slough" and it is truly an urban park. There are houses all around it. Here are some pictures I took while we were walking. I am enjoying learning about the birds that are found in this area. Most of them are new to me.

A Wood Stork looking for something for breakfast.

Great Egret in flight


I am not sure what this bird is called, but I am not finished trying to find out.

Sitting on the dead branch is an interesting bird called an Anhinga. It looked like it was enjoying the beautiful sunny morning.

This vulture looks like he is waiting for something to die.

We passed this sign while we were walking along the water. Makes you keep your eyes open.

After we went home for breakfast the weather was still nice, so we headed to the beach. We went north this time to Bradenton Beach. It was fun to go somewhere new, although I think we went here with Carolyn and Stew when they came down for Thanksgiving.

Then it was home to relax and enjoy (if you can call the Ravens games enjoying) some football.

WELCOME 2011

Ma has neglected the blog for the last few months so now it is time for an update. We spent Thanksgiving week in Evanston and did some finishing up on the work on the house. Just getting to Evanston was an adventure as we spent one night in the Minneapolis airport sleeping on the floor. Here's hoping we don't fly through Minneapolis again, at least during the winter.

Hardwood flooring went down in the upstair bedroom--maple--that is pretty enough to be a basketball court. I love the color of the walls, too. (I picked it out-peach something and I painted most of it during visits over the summer and fall.) We have done a lot of work in that old home, but still more to do. We won't be doing as much for a while, though.


Pa needed to spend more time in the DC office to fix a few problems there and so I made a trip with him in December. Together we went to a Redskins game and ate lots of great food. (I love seafood and Maryland is a great place to eat seafood). We stayed near a shopping center so I could venture out and do some window shopping, but it was sooo cold that it wasn't fun to go out after dark, so no Christmas shopping got done, but that was okay. Ma traveled back to Florida to get ready for Christmas.

Here's our Florida Christmas tree.

Here are the palm trees decked out for the holidays, too.

Nate traveled to Florida for the holidays and he chilled out and went to the beach with us. The weather was pretty nice and we were sporting nice sun tans for the new year. Santa Claus was able to find us, although we didn't leave an address change with him. I got a new "electronic" sewing machine that does all kinds of neat stitches. Pa got snorkeling gear that will be used when the water warms up just a little. I want to go snorkeling with the manatees and Pa can use the great underwater camera the girls gave him. We got some great books on New Mexico and will use them when we have enough time to vacation there with Dave and his family. Thanks everyone for the great gifts.

Nate has gone back to school and I really miss him. It was so great to have him with us. Pa will be spending most weekdays in DC working. I will be going to Wyoming to do some more work on the house in Evanston. Jan is scheduled to move in the end of Feb. to take care of the house for us.

2010 was a GREAT year for us and I have lots of things I want to do in 2011. Time to get started, but first I need to go to the beach. Hope everyone has a great 2011.