M. Sullivan Photography

July 17, 2011 M. Sullivan Photography Baseball, Photos, Vacation

Staycation, Part IV

We spent most of the day at the cabin on the 6th, then made our way home to get Sebastian to his baseball practice by 5pm. The next day Sebastian had the opportunity to practice pitching with the Duluth Huskies baseball team. A large group of kids from Eastern Little League were there to get pointers on pitching and catching.

After a very hot practice, Sebastian and Sophia gave the backyard pool an inaugural dip. The water was still a bit chilly, but you can tell from the photos that they had a fabulous time.

After some time to refresh and refuel, we headed to the Duluth Huskies game in the evening. Sebastian brought a friend with the complimentary ticket he received after practicing with the Huskies earlier in the day.

After sitting on Sebastian’s lap, Harley poses for a picture with Sebastian and his friend.

We spent every bit of cash we had on concessions (those kids eat a lot!), the team lost (see photo below), but we had a great time and enjoyed beautiful weather during the ball game.

Friday the 7th was spent at home in the morning and early afternoon. While the kids played in the pool, Mike and I worked on outdoor projects. I couldn’t help but take a few pictures of some things we saw in the yard.

We drove out to Cromwell to see my parents in the evening. We spent time visiting with my mom, dad and sister who lives just up the road. We took a walk up to my sister’s house to pick strawberries and to check out the progress on her house. She has a beautiful log home tucked in the woods. It has been a work in progress for a few years, but it is an amazing house in a picturesque location.

Picture With "Grandma" On The Back Porch

We talked with my sister about a “house swap”. She can use our place in Duluth for a few days and we will hang out at her wonderful log home. Her backyard is full of pine and birch trees and has a creek that runs through it. Just a short drive down the road is a big lake that the kids can swim and fish in. We just may have to take her up on that offer.

On our walk back to my parents’ house we spotted some pretty wildflowers.

Heading Back To Grandma And Grandpa's House

We got home late, but had a full day relaxation and visiting.

July 16, 2011July 16, 2011 M. Sullivan Photography Flowers, MCP Project 52, Photos

MCP Project 52 ~ Week 29

Week 29 Theme ~ Get In Close

This is about as close as I can get with my current Canon lens. I would love to purchase a macro. Unfortunately, food, clothes and shelter for the family come first. 🙂

One of the few remaining lilies in my flower garden. The deer decided to let the plants grow just until the flower buds formed and then ate the tops off. Thanks for saving this one for me.

July 15, 2011 M. Sullivan Photography Photos

The Monarch

I’ll get back to the “Staycation” posts, but wanted to show some of the photos of Sophia’s most recent friend. Sophia loves animals, birds, bugs, worms and caterpillars. While we are at the cabin, we went for a walk down by the pond to look for baby turtles. Instead of finding a turtle, we brought a big, fat monarch caterpillar back to the cabin. We picked some milkweed to keep him nourished, found a big coffee can as a home to keep him safe and kept a watchful eye on him. The next day he was hanging upside-down in a “J” which is the signal that a monarch caterpillar is going to make a chrysalis. By the next morning our caterpillar was replaced with a jade-colored chrysalis hanging from the top of the coffee can. We did a little research and found that it takes 9-14 days in the chrysalis stage for a butterfly to emerge. We brought him home and kept him warm and dry in Sophia’s room. We watched the chrysalis all week as the jade green color started to look more transparent and the outline of the monarch wings began to show through.

When we left for work and daycare yesterday morning the chrysalis looked like this.

When I came home for lunch it looked like this.

He had emerged sometime during the morning and was waiting for his wings to fill up with fluid before he could take flight. When Sophia got home she spent some time letting him walk on her arm, holding him on her finger and watching him flap his wings practicing before he took flight.

Temperatures were unseasonably cool (low 60’s) and rainy yesterday which likely prevented Sophia’s butterfly friend from taking his flight. We left him in one of our hanging basket plants under the eve of the house overnight. He was still there this morning and was flexing his wings but waiting for better weather to fly away. When we came home for lunch, he was gone.