4:30 A.M. comes awful early...

We were in a Saltwater fishing tournament today and on days like this we have to be out and on the water at 6am...And since we have a little bit of a drive to get to the coast it means getting up at 4:30am, ugh!

Today we had one draw back the wind! It was awful! When I checked the weather report last night it said to expect 20 to 30 mph winds, not good when you want to fish and even worse when your in a Kayak. I stayed busy watching Michael and trying to fish. I had to tow him for a bit but then we got into the grass/marsh, I stuck him in a grass bed and went out across from him where I could fish and watch him. Michael loves to fish. He's been fishing with me since he was 6 months old but if he isn't catching fish he has a short attention span. Today he lasted about 30 minutes before he started getting bored. I decided to grab the Powershot and snap a few photos before he got bored and started playing around.

He's like me always watching something...

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He's so serious when he fishes and I love watching him cast. He's good at it!
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Fred was moving around looking for fish...
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We didn't catch anything and didn't even get a bite. It was pretty rough and we were using lures instead of bait. But still it was a fun filled day together. I'm whooped and fix'in to head to bed. We went to the tournament dinner this evening and Michael and I won several door prises, woohoo. Hopefully the next tournament in June will be better and the weather will cooperate!

Picking Dew Berries...

Some friends wanted to pick Dew berries. I called them last Friday to tell them they were ripe and ready to pick and they came over this past Weds...

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Helen needed a hat...so she borrowed one of mine, lol.

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Then she was hamming it up for the camera...actually she was threatening me NOT to take photos but my shutter finger just wouldn't stop, ekk...It was uncontrollable, sorry Helen! But your just too cute with that hat on :o)
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Seems from Friday to Weds the Dew Berries dried up...They're city girls they'll learn when the Dew Berries are ripe you'd best come pick them!
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So I took them out into the pasture and we found a few...Seems the grasshoppers had been munching on them, ekk.
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Ms Penny wasn't too happy with the Bull nettle out in the pasture, ouch!

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Then Ray showed up. He's my Farrier and friend, he trims Julie's hooves for me!

Hello Ray!!
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So I left Helen and Penny to their Dew Berry Picking and went to the house with Ray.

Actually I was attempting to build a pen for the chicks! It was time they moved out of the house but being as they're babies they couldn't go in with the chickens and needed their own pen. So while Ray trimmed hooves I worked on the chicks pen and Helen and Penny picked Dew Berries, it was a busy Weds. morning.
After a bit we all sat on the porch enjoying the beautiful day and had a good visit!

I missed a photo...

...it's really hard to go through Bayside and not stop at Crofutts!!

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Michael had to make a pit stop and a sandwich for dinner sounded good!

Of course their Cinnamon rolls looked like a mighty good thing to have for breakfast the next day too...

One of my favorite photos from the week...

Great Egret in Flight

Indian Point, Portland Texas...

Birds and Blooms...

It was windy and it was awful but I tried my best for some decent photos!

I honestly couldn't have even used my tripod as the wind would have blown it over.

Member of the Aster family blooming on the seashore.

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Sandpiper
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Ruddy Turnstone
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Beach Evening Primrose getting whipped by the wind.
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Shake that boody Mr. Sandpiper not much else you can do in this wind!
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Great Egret and he seemed pretty friendly,

Michael was skipping all over the place and it didn't seem to bother Mr Egret.
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More birds but further away and I was having a hard time keeping the camera steady.
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The end of the pier and rough waters!
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Help me out here John?

I'm thinking an immature Reddish Egret?
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And one of my favorites, Brown Pelican!

They were fishing in Sunset Lake and diving constantly. I knew with the wind I wasn't going to get a decent photo so Michael and I just watched...Ooh, ahhed and laughed! A seagull was trying to steal any fish the Pelicans caught it was pretty comical. I'm sure the Pelicans who were much bigger were getting disgusted with the seagull and his antics.
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Flying off in search of more food...

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Even though it was windy Michael and I enjoyed ourselves. It has been awhile since we've been over to the coast and we've missed it. We are going to have to plan more trips in that direction.

Corpus Christi Beach...

These are the laughing gull photos I took...at least the ones I liked!

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After the bus left Michael wanted to stay and play at the beach. I didn't have any plans so why not...

I see this photo and all I can think is "He is CRAZY!"

Every time we go to the beach I explain to him over and over again that he can not swim well enough and to stay out of the surf, he does NOT listen! So I pray a lot and I'm always prepared to jump in and save his little rear end!

His first trip to the beach was when he was 3 months old, he absolutely loves the beach and it shows...

Whether it's digging in the sand...

Or playing in the surf, he's one happy boy!

Be thankful I didn't post all of the photos of him playing, there were a lot! I couldn't help myself, my finger loves that shutter button!
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It was rough and I'm in shock that that kayaker was out in this, ekk
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We love the Blue Ghost too!

I found out from one of the talkative volunteers that she can float in 35 ft of water but she is not floating here. They dug a channel to put her here. She is in 10 ft of water and to help her stay put she is filled with water in her lower ballast. I wonder how they keep her from rusting out? I think I'll ask that the next time we go.

2nd Grade Field Trip to the U.S.S. Lexington

These two volunteers way laid me as I was waiting for the bus to arrive. They were really nice and I enjoyed talking with them. One is retired from NASA and the other is the only Army man amongst the volunteers and he gets a lot of ribbing for it too.

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I was asked if I was the class photographer...

Nope I just wanted to get some interesting photos today!
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While the children were being given the drill I wandered off and saw this Kayaker out in the waves, ekk. The winds were awful and I'm pretty sure there was a red flag warning out. The water was rough and I wouldn't have even tried what he was doing, sheesh!
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We have a membership to the Lexington but seldom do I get to stop and actually read the informative signs. The Swimmer vehicle is pictured below. I love the last sentence. (you can click on the above photo to read the sign)

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The volunteers worked with the children regarding Energy and Kinetics.

I thought we were going to tour the ship but found out later that was not the type of tour that was booked. So sad as most of these Children had never been to the Lexington and they never got to see or hear about the History of the Lady Lex.

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Michael said he enjoyed learning about what was taught but then he's been on the Lexington quiet a few times and had seen the ship from top to bottom. So this was a different experience for him and I'm glad he enjoyed it.
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Once again I wandered off...I found this and thought it was pretty neat, Knots!

The History of knots, it was pretty interesting.

(click on the photo if you'd like to read it)
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Back to the Children and their work out :o)
The volunteers did a great job of doing hands on with the kids.
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Waiting for the movie...

I had to laugh...The movie started and after 10 minutes most of the children lost interest. I thought it was an interesting movie. It was regarding the design and building of a modern aircraft from the beginning to end but not a movie that most 2nd graders would be interested in...Later when I asked Michael what he thought about the movie he said he liked it and he did watch most of it too while most of the other children goofed off and wiggled. Michael sure does like his airplanes and I'm glad he enjoyed the movie.
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One of the teachers with her class.
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Lunch on the beach!

To me the best part of the whole trip!
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One of the parents started feeding the seagulls, sigh!

The kids loved it, me not so much! But I did get some cool photos!
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I had brought Michael's sandals so he headed straight for the water, ugh!

And before you know it the other children had their shoes off and were playing in the waves, uh oh! I told them to stay out of the water but not one of them listened, lol...

I don't think the teachers were too happy with me but hey maybe they should have been over there watching the kids. I did make sure that none of them went out into the water and I wasn't going to leave them un-watched to go tell, they were having fun!

To me Field trips are suppose to be fun and at least they had a little bit :o)

Michael stayed with me while the other Children got back on the bus and headed back to school.

More photos to follow as we stayed at the Beach for a bit and then headed too Indian Point Park.