Our Fabulous Tree

Here are a few shots that I obviously took of our Christmas tree. Mike's & Greg's sister Dee gave us the coolest tree. We bought awesome, new lights for it and, this year, I was able to hang up every ornament we own.

Christmas Eve at the Schrift's

We had a full house this year on Christmas Eve. Yvonne and Matt made it to town for the holidays and we had our traditional Christmas Eve visit from the Soukups. Theresa and Teri joined in on the festivities as well. Many fuzzy navels, baileys on the rocks, summer sausage, cheese, pepperoni, shrimps, and veggies were consumed. Merry Christmas!

Guess who?

Can you name who's in this photo? Bonus points to those that can correctly guess who's on the poster!

APB

I'm issuing an all points bulletin. I seem to be missing my coveted Nebraska sweatshirt. I cannot remember the last time I wore it, but with the current Cleveland temps I'm longing for it. Does anyone remember seeing me it? Did I loan it to you? Is it in your car? Your closet? HELP!!!

Halloween Party

Saturday night we attended Bones, Bugs and Dead Animals, the Museum's annual Halloween Party. I came as an Emerald Dragonfly, Theresa was a Bat and Mama was the Headless Horsewoman. Juliano wore the same costume he wears every year...Mama won for scariest costume. Her prize? What else but a skull from a hollar monkey! Stewie and Bryan attended the event, as well as a very raunchy Mummy.

Meet Barbie

Today, we went horseback riding. I had the pleasure of riding Barbie, the horse someone always gets stuck with that eats the entire time you're riding and trails a mile behind the pack. She was a very sweet horse. Riding through the mountains was fabulous.

Asshole

Only an asshole would lay a hand like this while playing Shanghai. Any guesses as to who did this?

Hiking in Tahoe!

Here we all are after hiking up the hill towards high camp. The weather is beautiful. We need to enjoy it while we can. Snow is on its way!!!

Does Mama Still Love Ross?

Growing up, my friend Michelle, whom we all affectionately call "Mama", was a huge Journey fan. She was completely in love with Ross Valory, Journey's bassist. Her bedroom walls were covered with posters of Ross. This was her secret fantasy world and she denies her love of Ross to this day. Mama, it's time to come clean and admit your passion to your friends.

Muffin's Trip to the Vet

We had to take Little Miss Muffin to the vet on Friday. She wasn't herself and we noticed a big black spot on her chin. She never traveled to the vet in her new pet taxi so she ran right into it all excited to be hiding out! Little did she know her destination. Turns out the recent hot weather was making her sick and she has a case of kitty acne. While at the vet, she got her distemper and rabies shots, as well as her ears cleaned out and her first dose of kitty "clearasil"!

Apparently this is what a day at the vet does to you:

A Lawn, Finally!

Those of us in the city take great pride in our lawns. I have putzed over this front lawn of ours for 4 months. Until this month, our front yard has been nothing but dirt! I'm happy to finally have grass to show everyone. It's coming along and my flowers look great too--thanks to a little secret potion (wink wink Lui5).

Biking at Presque Isle

Last Saturday, Juliano and I went biking riding at Presque Isle. It was Juliano's first time on the Peninsula! The ride was only about 10 miles, but it was enough for me. It was the first time I rode my bike all summer. We stopped along the way to take in views of the Lake. It was a gorgeous day.

After riding we went into Erie and grabbed a few pints at The Brewerie. The beers were really good, but the food was below average.


Me at the Perry Monument

Bear Claws Sucks

Is it just me or is everyone ticked that no one has been posting anything new on the Bear Claws Art blog?

Giving us the Business

Here's a few shots we took recently of Muffin giving us the business. Isn't she a cutie pie? Lui5 better look out if he makes any harp seal comments.

Old Navy at Steelyard

This morning, Jules and I raced down to the grand opening of Old Navy at Steelyard Commons (aka Junkyard Commons). We were in the pack of its first 100 customers and received coupons for FREE t-shirts. Woo Hoo.

Indians vs. Red Sox

Monday night Juliano, my Mom and I had the pleasure of getting tickets to the Tribe game! We started the evening off right with ballpark dogs and $7 beers! After loading the dogs up with the appropriate condiments, we headed to our awesome seats and got settled in. First inning Boston scored 4 runs. By the 3rd inning not much was happening so I decided to go get my Mom an ice cream cone. The second I exited the seating area, Sizemore hits a homerun with one guy on base. This will turn out to be the only runs of the evening! Totally missed due to an ice cream cone. To kill the pain, I had another $7 beer, a loaded nachos and a bag of cotton candy. Needless to say, I was sick all night. But being there at the game was so much fun. It was my Mom's first time in the stadium and she loved it. Jules said that when Sizemore hit the homerun, she jumped out of her seat and screamed the whole time he ran around the bases!

Dragonfly Conference

Last weekend, I attended the Ohio Dragonfly Conference in and around Wooster, Ohio. Over 140 people registered for the event. The highlight of the weekend was the Rusty Snaketail and a very photogenic Swift River Cruiser (the common name of this species used to be Illinois River Cruiser, this is the species that Juliano found on the bike trail at Rocky River and Luis came to town and captured for science!).

Illinois River Cruiser


Monarch cat


Rusty Snaketail

Look what I got at Macy's

iPhone for the iFreak

Just another iFreak with his new iPhone.

Mike Wins Big!

Last night, Juliano brought Mike over to the Museum's Summer Solstice party. It's on the roof of the Museum and they open the observatory for planet gazing--we saw Venus, the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter up close and personal. The highlight of the party is the raffle, they give away a top notch telescope each year. When we arrived at the event, Mike bought himself a raffle ticket and guess who won the telescope? It was super cool.

Day Three Rio Grande Valley--Saturday, May 19

Today we headed to the Coast. The ride wasn't bad at all, we had a few scissor-tail flycatchers and loggerhead shrikes along the way. We arrived at Laguna Atascosa NWR mid-morning to travel their 15-mile drive. Without enough gas in the car to make the drive, we headed off to Port Isabel to find a gas station.

In Port Isabel, we could see South Padre Island. It looks like a fabulous place to spend a week, on the shore, reading books and bathing in the sun. We decided to grab lunch at the Pirate's Cove. By far, the best skrimps I've ever eaten. Afterwards, we headed back to Laguna. We had so many cool species; Caracara, Willet, Green Jays, Black-billed cuckoo, Ibis, Reddish Egret, Tri-color Heron, Roadrunner (meep meep) and Roseate Spoonbill. In addition to the birds, we saw a coyote, a wild boar and a tarantula. It was quite a day.

Javelina and his buddy the Green Jay

Green Jays

Ibis

Western Pygmy Blue (actual size=dime)

Tarantula

Day Two Rio Grande Valley--Friday, May 18

Wow, this morning we went to the Estero Llano Grande State Park. The park is filled with a series of wetlands. It was incredible. I didn't take many photos as most of the stuff was viewed through binoculars. In the afternoon, we attended a guided dragonfly hike at Bentsen State Park. During this hike we saw Roseate Skimmer, Coral-fronted threadtail, and Caribbean Yellow Face, to name a few. The tour took us the International Butterfly Sanctuary. This is the site in which we found the swimsuits left behind by the illegals that use this site to enter the U.S.A. They pack up their belongings into garbage bags, swim across the Rio Grande, change into their dry clothes and leave their swimwear on the ground. It was incredible how many suits we saw!

In the evening, I had the best Enchiladas Mole I've ever had. Delicious. I highly recommend Casa de Taco in McAllen.

Black-backed Whistling Ducks

Familiar Bluet

Larry, Judy & Jay

Mexico! Rio Grande River

Day One Rio Grande Valley--Thursday, May 17

Today we went to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. What a day. After spending a few hours in the freakin' parking lot (JAY!), we finally got into the park. We saw so many super cool things. The best were Green Jay and Greater Kiskadee! I, of course, had no good shots of either, but I'm sure Jay and Judy did. Here's an abbreviated list:

Chacalaca
julia butterfly
gulf frittillary
zebra longwing
White-winged Dove
Buff-bellied Hummer
Hooded Oriole
cane toad
ribbon snake
Altimira Oriole

In the evening, we ventured to Bentsen State Park. This was the BEST of the best. Joshua Rose (aka JR) took us on a night hike. Well no one found it necessary to tell me to wear freakin' pants? After the hike, I had to go in for a blood transfusion. Regardless, we saw the coolest stuff. For me, the best were the javelinas and the Ferruginous Pygmy-owl. We saw a family of 14 javelinas! At the end of the night, we saw the hugest tarantula. Even though the tarantula had a "hitch it its giddy-up", it was so cool. We also saw a pauraque, mediterranean geckos, and Mexican free-tailed bat.
Tropical-checkered skipper

Spanish moss

Cane Toad

Grassland Whiptail Lizard

The cactus that attacked Jay