Wildlife Summer 2013

Here are a few of the cool creatures we ran across

in our travels this summer~~

 

 

I saw a video one time where the length of the beetle's antennae

was like a male bird's fancy feathers - the longer the

antennae the more attracted the lady beetles. 

This guy should be pretty lucky in love!

 

 

 

Cool millipede in the leaf litter in West Virginia.

Wild Beach Dog ~ Okracoke, NC

 



 

Green Anole on the trash can ~ Okracoke, NC

 

 

Duck in a Puddle ~ Okracoke, NC

(I know, repeat)

 

Yes, here are the triplets again ~ they were so cute

they got to come back again.

Guildford Road Park

 

 

 

Green Darner Dragonfly, Anax junius

Back Yard, Medina 

This one happens to be a female,

 males have a blue abdomen.

 

One of the largest, fastest dragonflies, it migrates

south in the late summer.

 

 

Not pictured:

~the blue crab that NONE of the dogs saw, NC

~the crazy cardinal that was in love with her reflection in our car mirror ~she spent

hours (not an exaggeration) courting herself~NC

~the awesome, gigantic, blue parrots, with yellow skin at the Akron Zoo

~ the really big tadpoles in the stone puddles in WV

~ Mackenzie's blue and red betta

 

Mackenzie goes to Ohio (...and West Virginia...and North Carolina)

The last time Mackenzie was in Medina, for Megan and James' wedding,

she was promised a summer at Aunt Karen's.

So, this year when she came to town for Adam and LeAnna's wedding,

she got to stay.

Here are some photos from our very busy summer.

After the wedding, we packed up and headed to West Virginia with

Adam and LeAnna.

They had rented a delightful cabin in the woods where you see

Kenz sitting on the fireplace hearth.

We all agreed that it would be fun to be there

to watch the snow and sit by the fire.



Kenzie and Elfthereia wait for the rest of us to get ready for

a "quick" hike to the lake for a swim.

The deck was complete with a hot tub, lounge chairs

and an awesome view!







Mackenzie hikes through the woods in her cute new swimsuit.

The hike, itself, was sort of monumental.

Boy, were we glad to get to the lake!  See that smile?

Another day, another hike.

At the end of the hike were small "puddles" in the giant boulders fill

with what else besides big black TADPOLES!  How does

that happen?!

And, a magnificent view of the bridge and

river valley :-)

We went to three Thursday evening concerts at the Akron Art Museum

Note Mackenzie's cool summer skirt and blouse~

(Very cool sax player)

and

we even took a tour of said museum.

 

Another summer adventure was a week in the Outer Banks.  Not in the picture:

 hungry sea gulls (see Ian's blog)

that always accompany the Okracoke Ferry.

One of the goals of this trip was to get to the beach at the ocean.

This picture documents that Mackenzie was there!

 While on Okracoke, we did a little "shop hopping".

Note Kenzie's favorite beach attire.

This is the "Castle of Mackenzie".

Jill came over from Goldsboro to visit for a couple of days...unfortunately it rained :-(

But, like they say...a bad day at the beach...

...besides the ducks loved it and Mackenzie loved the ducks.

Back in Medina, Mackenzie and I went for a bike ride on the new

trail that starts just a block and a half from the house.

This is a picture of momma and her triplets nursing.

We took a cool video, but I could not get it to load.

 Here are the babies.  All together I think we saw 5 or 6 deer

none of whom were the least bit worried about the fact

that we were there...close...

It was such a fun summer!  There was a trip to Miss Mollies for tea

and a Baby Shower and an afternoon at the Akron Zoo,

LOTS of shopping, reading, swinging on the porch swing, visiting,

a birthday party, a couple of play dates...

So, there you have it~Mackenzie's summer in Ohio, etal.