Summer Goals Revisited!

 At the beginning of the summer, I created this checklist of things I wanted to do while in the States. Today, I'm looking back at how I did. We did a lot! It was a fun summer that ended with a beautiful marriage of my best friend!

Summer Checklist:

1. Sidewalk Chalk.
2. Ride bicycles.
3. Photo walks. >>> See them Here and Here
4. Drive-in Movie Night. >>> It was fun to say we did it but not that great.
5. Spa Day with my Sister. >>> Best pedicures.
6. Shopping day with my Mom.
7. Build-A-Bear. >>> See photos of Cleverbelle Here
8. Miami Zoo. >>> See us feeding giraffes here
9. Sushi night.
10. Shop for Ariana's school clothes.
11. Everglades Air Boat Ride. >>> Up close and personal with Alligators Here
12. See as much friends and family as I can!
13. Date night with my Husband.  >>> Fun Double Date
14. Suspension Show and Tattoo Expo. >>> Didn't make it with my inlaws there that weekend.
15. Waterpark/Splash Park
16. Beach (a few times)  >>> Only went once but it was fun!
17. Flamingo Garden or Butterfly Garden. >>> We went to Gumbo Limbo Nature Reserve instead. 
18. Drive to Georgia. >>> Home.
19. Drive to South Carolina. >>> 11 hour road trip.
20. Eat at Pearl's, my favorite restaurant in Savannah. >>> Best seafood ever.
21. Be a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding.  >>>  I posted some wedding photos here.
22. Shop for Ariana's ballet, gymnastics and tap leotards and shoes. >>> She's going to be the cutest ballerina!
23. Swim in the pool as much as possible. >>> Of course!
24. Hibachi dinner. >>> Worst Hibachi experience ever, not worth it.
25. Read 3 books. >>> Only made it through 1.
26. Get my camera cleaned. >>> Annoyed  I didn't get this done.
27. Beach sunset/sunrise shoot.
28. Celebrate my Birthday with my whole family! >>> 28th Birthday, 28 Random Things About Me.
29. Archery or Paintball.
30. Fro-yo and Jamba Juice.

And lastly I'll leave you with the last of our summer collages. See the others here.

1. Passing on the peace along the interstate between Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. 2. Peeking into the backseat. 3. Jamba Juice!. 4. Our Peace note. 5. Grammy and Ariana. 6. Riding my sisters bike.

1. Ariana and Paco traveling. 2. Ariana at Monkey Joes with Aunt Sarah. 3. Silly photos with her Aunt Sarah.

1. Getting fitted for her tap and ballet shoes. 2. Sisters on a road trip. 3. Ariana's first Jamba Juice. 4. Balloon butterfly at dinner out.

Alligators in the Everglades

We went to the Everglades and took an air boat ride out to see the alligators and other wild life. Check that off our summer bucket list! We had such a great time with my mom and sister and Rich's brother and his wife. We saw 3 alligators which was pretty good. It was so awesome to see them in their natural habitat and a little scary. They were so chill though so it wasn't bad. James, my brother in law is not a fan of alligators but he overcame his fear and had so much fun.

The airboat out into the everglades was so awesome and we went surprisingly fast over the lily pad type plants. I took this picture of James looking out over the side of the boat so you could see how close we actually got to the alligators. Remember these are WILD ANIMALS!

Even the birds and plants and bugs out there were so interesting. I loved the purple gallinules and their babies walking on the lily pads. And the huge dragon flies flying around and hovering above the water was just beautiful. 

I loved the heart on this lily pad.

If you ever watch Gator Boys on Animal Planet you might recognize this guy. We went to Everglades Holiday Park which is the home of the Gator Boys. We saw Chris from the show but the other guys were out on a call I'm sure. He gave us some information about alligators in a little show and did tricks like sticking his hand in the alligators mouth and showing us how fast they close their jaws. He even held his mouth open with his chin WITH NO HANDS! Then Ariana and Rich and James held the baby alligator named Cricket. She was 3 years old and still so little.

Afterwards we all had to try Gator Bites which were mostly like chicken nuggets but it was alligator tail deep fried. The general consensus: not too bad.

From left to right: Jen my sister in law, James my brother in law, Richard, Ariana, Me, Anne my mom, Sarah my sister.

Summer Goals

Summer Checklist:

1. Sidewalk Chalk.
2. Ride bicycles.
3. Photo walks.
4. Drive-in Movie Night.
5. Spa Day with my Sister.
6. Shopping day with my Mom.
7. Build-A-Bear.
8. Miami Zoo.
9. Sushi night.
10. Shop for Ariana's school clothes.
11. Everglades Air Boat Ride.
12. See as much friends and family as I can!
13. Date night with my Husband.
14. Suspension Show and Tattoo Expo.
15. Waterpark/Splash Park
16. Beach (a few times)
17. Flamingo Garden or Butterfly Garden.
18. Drive to Georgia.
19. Drive to South Carolina.
20. Eat at Pearl's, my favorite restaurant in Savannah.
21. Be a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding.
22. Shop for Ariana's ballet, gymnastics and tap leotards and shoes.
23. Swim in the pool as much as possible.
24. Hibachi dinner.
25. Read 3 books.
26. Get my camera cleaned.
27. Beach sunset/sunrise shoot.
28. Celebrate my Birthday with my whole family!
29. Archery or Paintball.
30. Fro-yo and Jamba Juice.

It isn't often I get to visit my family in the States, unbelieveable it's already been a year since I've been in the USA. And this year we're going to be here for 5 weeks! I've already been here a week. So, I made a list of some of the things I want to do this summer. I hope to do all of these over the next few weeks. Most of these things are things I can't do in Germany. I'll check back in at the beginning of September to see how I've done. 

What are some of your summer goals?

The Story of how I became Obsessed with a Falcon

Between our village and the village next to ours, there lives a bird. A big bird. A big brownish bird who I get a glimpse of every now and then driving back and forth to and from our house. I see him perched in the trees by the cow fields or sometimes circling above it. I always think to myself, "Wow, I want to take your picture." I started calling him "the hawk" and I'm pretty sure my husband didn't believe me. I would always see him when I was alone. He was sneaky.

I started taking my camera in the car with me all the time in case I saw him. Then one day I did! I was driving along and suddenly around the bend there he was sitting on a fence post across the road from me. Literally 15 feet away. He flew away before I could stop and get his photo, but I knew it would be my goal. I would snap a shot of him, whatever he was before the summer was over. I became obsessed with finding him.

Finally, it happened. It was about midday and Ariana and I were coming home for lunch, when there he was. He was sitting in the field on a long stretch of road and nobody was coming either way. I quickly pulled over and whipped my camera into action. As soon as he saw what I was planning, he took to the air, but I was able to get a pretty awesome shot of him in all his glory.

I've looked him up and decided I think he's a Peregrine Falcon. And he is beautiful!

My new goal for the summer is to get more/better shots of him! And also to get some pretty photographs of the deer I sometimes see, but I'm pretty sure that's going to be MUCH harder.