Chula Vista Nature Center

I've long been wanting to visit the Chula Vista Nature Center and finally did.  We went with a few friends today and loved it.  They have an amazing exhibit right now called Washed Ashore with huge sculptures made entirely out of trash that has been collected from beaches.  It's shocking to see how much of our garbage makes its way into our oceans.  

This was a cool tank filled with blown glass serving as habitat for clown fish.   

The nature center also has a good number of birds.  All of the birds that are housed there came to the center with some sort of injury that makes them not able to be released into the wild.  They have raptors and shorebirds.  The also have a captive breeding program for the endangered Light-footed Clapper Rail. The chicks are raised in the center until they can feed on their own, at which point they are released into the local marshes.

Quinn enjoying hanging out in the nest with his friend, Savvy.

 Octopus eggs.  If you look closely you can see the little embryos inside!

They have trails leading out to the bay.  It was a beautiful day for a walk.

Lunar Eclipse

In honor of the recent lunar eclipse we had a few friends and neighbors over for dinner and a viewing.  Jeff set up his telescope and projected the image of the sun onto Quinn's easel.  You can even see the sunspots in the first photo of the beginning of the eclipse.

It was a fun evening with friends!

 Later in the evening Jeff set up the big scope on saturn.  It looked much better than this through the telescope, but trying to snap a photo of it with the phone through the eyepiece was quite a challenge!

Paci, Parties, and Photos

It's been such a busy month that I've not really had any time to do any blogging.  Here is a summary of the last few weeks in photos.  The big event of May is, of course, Quinn's birthday.  We have not yet had an official celebration (waiting for the Houstons' arrival in a couple of weeks), but they had a nice little party at school for him.  Here are a few photos that his teachers sent to me.  He was very excited to share popsicles with his friends on the playground!  

Then as a big three-year-old we decided it was time to say goodbye to the beloved binks (pacifiers).  We discussed it for weeks and finally on the Sunday after his birthday he seemed ready.  We decided that we were going to give all of his binks to his baby cousin, but that we'd save a couple and build them into a new stuffed animal.  Off we went to build-a-bear where Quinn selected this lovely pink and yellow and blue bunny.  Her name is Towhee.  And he was very proud to show her off to all the neighbors when we got home.  His teachers say that he's become a different kid since quitting the habit.  He's more confident and comfortable at school.  It's actually quite an amazing transition.  Seems that getting rid of his crutch has done wonders for his confidence!

I can speak enough about how much I love his school (Canyon Rim Children's Center).  They had a recent dance party for the kids.  Quinn wasn't so much into the dancing, but he had a great time with his friends.

Mother' day we went to a big playground on Mission Bay with the whole Moore/Shea crowd.  The boys had a blast together.  And I just love this photo of my little vampire too much not to include it here.

And finally, per Grammy's request, we had some photos taken of the boys at 3 years.  Here are a few of the favorites....if only the feet hadn't been cropped out...

Anniversary Camping Trip

Better late than never.  Jeff I and celebrated 5 years of marriage on April 21 and we thought a camping trip would be an appropriate way to spend the occasion.  We left Friday after work and drove to the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area in the Cleveland National Forest.  We decided to avoid organized campgrounds and choose instead to find camping spots along a small road that weaved through the mountains.  Above is a photo of our first campsite.  The sun was just coming up over the mountains and hadn't yet illuminated our tent.

Later that morning we went for a hike along the creek as it wound through this beautiful meadow.  We picked a spot out in the meadow a bit further from the road that will be our next camping spot.  It will require a walk, but is still short enough that we could easily do it with Quinn.  

Quinn is an avid hiker.  We had a blast!

Our second campsite was under a big oak tree that attracted all kinds of warbler.  This Wilson's Warbler was a frequent visitor.  

And here is a Black-throated Gray Warbler.  

Our second campsite 

Q loving his headlamp

Our camps were very close to a popular mountain biking trail (the Noble Canyon Trail).  Jeff and Quinn had a nice evening ride on part of the trail.  

Just a few parting shots

Little Saint Simon's Island

The latter part of the week we had the fortune of being the beneficiaries of my dad's birthday present to himself.  He wanted to get the whole family together at one of his favorite places, Little Saint Simon's Island, so he flew all of us to Georgia for the perfect springtime vacation.  I've been to the island on a couple of special occasions.  It is an amazing place that I recommend to any nature lover who is looking for a relaxing place to get away from everything.  The island can house only 30 guests at a time and has a staff of amicable naturalists and fabulous chefs to keep your sense of adventure active and your palate happy.  We spent our days birding, beach combing, learning about the natural history of the island, fishing, kayaking, boating, biking, and hiking.  If the mosquitos had not been present we would have enjoyed the PERFECT time.  We had an amazing time, but are still scratching our many bites.  :)  

A rare Houston Family photo

This is a view of the lodge (where meals are served) from the Helen House (where we stayed on this trip)

The Helen House 

Courtyard of the Helen House

Living room of the Helen House

It's pretty amazing to have an entire beach all to yourself.  

Jeff perfected his skim boarding technique on this trip!

They said that the water was a bit warmer here on LSSI than on Tybee, but it was still way too cold for my blood!  Not for these two though...

We took advantage of the skiffs and took Quinn out on a couple of boat rides.  He didn't really like sitting still...

 ...but loved hanging over the side of the boat.  Thank goodness for Aunt Colleen!

A horrible photo of me, but it proves that I was on this trip too.  Guess this is one of the hazards of always being the one with the camera.

Quinn even got to try his hand at driving the boat.  :)

The beach road at Sunrise 

I went out one morning just after sunrise to photograph a Great Egret Colony in the morning light.  Andy road his bike out to find me and I snapped this photo of him from my beach cruiser.

Stacia, one of the naturalists helps us identify the many shorebirds on the north end of the island.

Quinn got sick of birding and went exploring with Nana

On meals were generally served in the lodge, but one afternoon we had a picnic low country boil on the creek.

Somehow the staff learned that it was Dad's birthday trip and brought him a flaming chocolate cake after dinner on our last evening.  Happy Birthday, GoGo!

On our last morning on the island we got up extra early to watch the sunrise on the beach.

Andy, ever the photographer snaps a photo of Colleen.  Can't wait to see his pictures from this trip!

Dad with the naturalist, Ben, contemplating the rising sun? 

The truck ride back to breakfast.  As long as we were moving we were happily mosquito free! 

The creek and the boat docks.

Andy and Quinn share a moment on the porch swing as we await our boat for the return trip.   

One of my favorite things about this trip was getting back into my nature (bird) photography hobby.  It feels like it's been ages since I really spent any time  photographing anything besides that cute kid of mine, and it felt great to be out there with a camera trying to capture some beauty.  Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip.  The egret was taken at a nesting site early in the morning as the sun was coming up.  The next photo was taken on our last morning on the island as we watched the sun rise on the beach.  If you'd like to see the rest of the bird photos they are all in a set on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/5blackcats/sets/72157629260331050/

It was great having a whole week to relax and spend time with family.  I'd like to make it a priority to have an annual gathering of the Houston clan someplace....already thinking about where to go next!!  :)  Thanks for the great trip, Mom, Dad, Andy, Colleen, Jeff and Quinn.