November!

I can't believe this year is almost over! Last night we went to a friends wedding and my husbands cousin reminded me that I hadn't blogged in a while- thanks Paula! So, here's the update:

Bobby's doing well at work and is glad to be back. He's on the ambo and surviving but ready to go back to the engine.

We held our annual Pumpkin Carving Party and it went well. I was really behind this year; I didn't send out invitations and ended up having to send out a mass text a few weeks before. I was so unprepared for the party (funny since I set the date and time and Halloween comes at the same time every year) that I didn't have any of my fall/Halloween decorations out until the day before.

Saturday (11-5), my mom and I went to the Indiana Dunes to see the South Bend Elkhart Audubon Society's private presentation of Saw-whet Owl banding. The Saw-whet Owl is a very small owl that travels through Indiana on it's migration to warmer climates. This presentation was very interesting and we were even able to pet the owl- she was very soft!

A few days ago Bobby and I took a trip to our favorite Indiana getaway- Nashville (Brown County), Indiana. We rented a beautiful "cabin" that was on 10 acres and had a small fishing pond. We went down on Sunday and started our vacation by visiting the Indiana Raptor Center located in Nashville. Lori and Patty were great! We learned so much and got to see the most beautiful birds. We saw a Kestrel, owls, vultures, falcons, hawks and the most beautiful Bald Eagles. That was SO amazing! We toured the facility, watched the birds eat and were offered knowledge of the birds and what the facility does to teach the public and rehab/release injured animals back to the wild. These ladies were amazing!

Monday morning we were eating breakfast on the front porch and had a wonderful show. We saw so many birds- I was in bird overload! I didn't know where to look and just when I thought I saw something in the tree I would hear another bird and look in that direction. It was great! If this place was so busy in the fall I wonder what it's like in the Spring when the migrating birds are headed north. We've already started talking about our Spring trip to Nashville.

On Tuesday we packed up and thought we would toss a line one last time into the pond to try and catch something. The previous day was unsuccessful and we both wanted to leave having caught something. So we fished for about 25 minutes on our way out and NOTHING! Not even a bite! but just as Bobby shut his door a fish jumped in the pond, kinda like a big HA HA from the fish. Bobby was not too happy. After we turned in our key we went to the Brown County State Park and decided to do a trail before we left. The park is beautiful and a must see! There is so much to do: hiking, horseback riding, camping, a swimming pool (summer) and the lodge in the park has an indoor water park. I think we will try to stay in the park on our next trip.

Even though we had a great time and we are already planning our next trip to Nashville, it was nice to be home. I missed the "kids" and there's nothing like your own bed. Now, I just have to get used to this silly Eastern time change. I HATE that it gets dark so early in the winter.

Another great weekend

Bobby and I had another great weekend at the lake. For the most part the weather was nice. A few days it started off overcast but then it cleared up nicely. We decided to take the kids (they are not good car riders) this weekend. Sophie only cried for half the drive (30 minutes) and Lucky threw up on M40- he just can't take the hills. But once we got there they made themselves at home.

Lucky, for the most part, did not move at all over the 4 days. He took up residence on the cot so he could see the bird feeders and stayed there.



And my little hunter? Well, I couldn't figure out why she wasn't eating, or I should say, why I didn't see her at the food bowl. I figured it out when I noticed she was catching and eating bugs. I actually saw her catch a moth in mid air- yep, she's that good.

Thursday we invited our co-workers to spend the day at the lake. I had so much fun!! (I think the kids might have had a good time too) Bobby took the kids tubing, the jet ski was out and Goodman and Lisa even fished. It was fun, we are going to have to do it again before the summer is over.

Today my parents came up and spent the afternoon with us. Dad, Bobby and I fished at the end of the pier and, for once, I did not take home the prize for the largest catch. Dad ended up with an amazing 22 fish! I had 4, including a super small Rock Bass and, well, Bobby didn't catch anything. :-( Oh well, there's always next time. Sorry Bobby- shouldn't have been so obsessed with catching the catfish under the pier. But thank you oh great and wonderful husband for, not only taking my fish off the hook but also putting the worm on so I did not feel guilty about killing it. But for future reference the red wigglers that my dad used today worked much better than the night crawlers we were using. 22 to 4, need I say anything else?