Weekly Summary ~ 5/17/15 - 5/30/15

Let me just say - I apologize for slamming you with two week's worth of photos.  Memorial Day came and went and we had a great time parading and visiting with family, so blogging didn't happen.  Then the rest of the week was super busy - all with school-related activities, so yeah.  I really should try to get the posts ready on Sunday night.  Someday I'll be that organized.  :)

{May 17:  Windows}

Another photo from our trip to the zoo on Wednesday. (Sorry, not sorry!)   :)   Kobe, the female polar bear, swam up to the window to say hello to my friend Sharon and me. You can see Kona, the male, in the background. We are hoping the two of them make beautiful baby polar bears together.

{May 18:  Laughter}

Okay, so I have been back and forth all day about whether to share another polar bear photo and, as you can see, I decided yes. :)

Our day with the polar bears was filled with smiles, laughter, oooohs and aaaahs, and even some squeals of delight from the kids passing through. I think I'm going to have to go visit them again soon. I'm having withdrawals. 

{May 19:  Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner}

When these Black Swallowtail eggs hatch, my dill plants will become breakfast, lunch, AND dinner for the hungry caterpillars. I'm so excited to be a caterpillar mama once again! Hoping this is the beginning of a great, butterfly-filled summer!  :)

{May 20:  Running}

I have never considered running for an elected office, but I will be sure to exercise my right and privilege to go vote on Election Day. Yesterday was a Primary Election Day in our area. I almost forgot to go vote but thankfully remembered just in time!

{May 21:  Odd}

This odd, unusual thing caught my eye the other day. I believe it is a cluster of leaves waiting to open up. Nature is so fascinating!

{May 22:  Brilliant Invention}

The key fob is a brilliant invention in my opinion. Being able to have your arms full of groceries or whatever and still be able to unlock and open your car doors comes in very handy! Must have been invented by a woman!

{May 23:  Tree}

I really loved the way the sun was peeking through this tree. And I love that there are leaves on it again!

This photo was chosen as one of the Top Shots for the day! WOOT!

{May 24:  Daily Habit}

I have several daily habits, as I'm sure most of you do also. Of them is, of course, photography. I try to take at least one photo a day. Usually for the 365 Photo prompts. Most days I take many more photos.  :)

{May 25:  Street Art}

I spent this Memorial Day holiday with family so I had to pull a photo from the archives for this prompt. We came across this mural painted on the side of a building a couple years ago. Since my youngest is crazy about trains, we had to stop and take a photo.

{May 26:  Fresh}

I'm so excited to announce that I now have a freshly-hatched Black Swallowtail caterpillar happily munching on my dill! Actually I have two, but the one pictured is the first little guy to hatch today. So happy to be a butterfly mama again!

{May 27:  Parallel}

Had a bit of fun with today's prompt. Alex agreed to help me. He wanted to look like he was behind bars.  :)

{May 28:  A Dime a Dozen}

Canadian geese are everywhere around here these days. I have mixed feelings about them. I like seeing them around, but they make such a mess everywhere they go.

{May 29:  Close}

Thanks to my lovely macro lens I was able to get up close to this newly hatched Black Swallowtail caterpillar and watch him enjoy his first meal, his egg shell. I actually had the pleasure of watching him hatch. I was giddy like a kid on Christmas morning! :)  We now have 6 babies happily munching and growing.

{May 30:  Valuable}

It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, I think value is also. We all have different perceptions on what is valuable. My family knows what is valuable to me. Life. Even the life of a small caterpillar. My 12YO son brought this caterpillar to me this afternoon, so excited because he knew I would be excited. And I was, of course. It is another Black Swallowtail. The 7th and now the largest of the babies that I am currently caring for. (He's only about half an inch long - my macro lens makes him look much larger). I'm so excited to be a butterfly mama again.

Linking with the lovely Tamar:

Since I have two weeks to summarize, I'll try to be quick and just hit the highlights.  Of course, that's what I usually do anyway.  :)  Feel free to skip this part!
Doug was away the 18th through the 21st - in Scottdale working on his plant.  Fun times.
On Tuesday I watched a Black Swallowtail butterfly lay an egg on one of my dill plants!  So I checked the other one and found two more eggs!  WOOT!
Alex brought home a letter he received from his pen pal at his new school.  Turns out it is from my friend Julia's son.  What are the odds?!  :)
Oh, and I voted in the primary election.  I'm happy to say that several of the school board members that voted for the consolidation are no longer board members.
My friend, Sam, and I went to lunch after our walk on Wednesday.  It was nice to sit down and enjoy each other's company.
Thursday evening was Family Fun Night at the boys' school.  Everyone seemed to have a good time.  Before we left Doug gave both boys a Gatorade.  I was thinking I should have let him take them to FFN if he was going to sugar them up like that.  :)
On the days that Sam and I don't walk, I try to go to the bike trail for a change of pace.  On Friday Honey and I went and made it as far as the golf course (1.5 miles from where we parked) and saw a family of geese.  I didn't have my camera (can't carry it while I run) so I snapped a cell phone photo.  Instead of the geese being scared and moving away from us, they hopped in the pond and swam closer.  It was pretty cool.
Keira had a youth group sleepover on Friday night.  Then on Saturday morning the teens served at a prayer breakfast.  It was good food and a great message.
Saturday afternoon I went to a Lemongrass party at my friend Rainey's house.  Our friend, Kim, is a new consultant and this was her first solo party.  She did great!  They have some great products!  I wish I had more money; I would have bought more stuff.  :)
Sunday after church Doug, Alex, and I went for a bike ride on the trail in Emlenton.  We weren't even 1/4 mile down the trail when Doug's phone started ringing - trouble at work.  He told them he couldn't help them right now and we kept right on biking.  It was a beautiful day and a really nice trail to ride on.
Monday was Memorial Day so we went to the parade, as always.  Then my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and nieces came to visit for the day.  Doug cooked for us.  We played UNO, as usual, and just had a great day.
On Tuesday my first Black Swallowtail egg hatched!   I also spent a good part of the day shopping and prepping for our school's staff luncheon which was on Wednesday.
We had our last Wednesday night kids' class at church.  We celebrated with a pizza party and I spoke to the kids about Monarchs and other pollinators.  It was the fastest presentation I have ever done since I only had 30 minutes once they got done eating.
Thursday was spent at the school once again for Field Day.  I was the official yearbook photographer so I could walk around freely.  It was nice since it got really hot in the afternoon.  We had a pot luck lunch (so much food!) and everyone had a great time.  At the end of the day, I got to climb a ladder to the roof in order to take a whole-school photo.  Going up wasn't too bad; going down was a little scary.  :)
Doug and I went out to dinner at Applebee's Thursday evening.  I received a couple gift cards from helping at church and doing my presentation, so we ate for free.
Friday I spent the day editing the field day photos.  Thanks to Lightroom it went very quickly.  Then we had the 6th grade dance that evening.  I can't believe Nick is finishing up 6th grade this year!  The kids had a blast!  Once again I walked around taking pictures for the yearbook.  We don't usually get to include 6th grade dance photos in the yearbook but thanks for all the extra days added at the end of the year (snow days!), we have time this year.  Which is great since our school is closing forever on June 11.
I was able to finish editing all the photos from the dance on Saturday and getting them to Diane so she could finish up the yearbook and get it sent to the printer.  I can't wait to see it!
I found more Black Swallowtail babies on my dill, parsley, and rue plants.  That put us at six so far!  Then, as I shared above, on Saturday Nick was helping me weed one of the flower beds and found another caterpillar on some wild carrot.  The biggest one yet!  He is now inside happily munching on my dill plant.  Once I have a series of photos of the beauties, I will post them.  Gotta wait for a butterfly first.  :)

Okay, so maybe that wasn't so short and sweet.  If you made it through all of that, good for you!  Now that school is winding down, I shouldn't be nearly so busy.  A few photo sessions here and there and a wedding or two, but this summer should be pretty relaxing.  I hope!  :)

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