Friday, June 26, 2009

Florida Vacation!

We have spent the last few weeks enjoying the Floridian beachs! We drove down, stopping everywhere. We spent some time in Kentucky exploring Mammoth Cave National Park. The caves are massive & there is so much history there, most surprising to me was the Church that said Mass in one of the large caverns. There you can see a rock formation that resembles Christ's face. It was very special.

Monday, May 25, 2009

BioBlitz at the Dunes













The kids where in waist high water, it had rained for three days straight. But, they didn't mind, they kept an optimism and were lucky enough to be part of the team that found a very large tadpole and a snapping turtle. Reptiles don't like the water, so they were in retreat. We saw beetle larvae, dragonfly larvae and damsefly larvae. The kids eyes were wide and they swallowed large doses of insect information. We are all ready to find a pin retailer.










Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Bruce & Kevin are in the IN Post-Tribune Sunday paper!


May 17, 2009
By Amy LaValley Post-Tribune correspondent
Even as officials announced the initial species tally for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, it was being revised.
The early tally for BioBlitz, a 24-hour species inventory sponsored by the National Park Service and National Geographic, was 788 species.



Jim Louderman (right), a Field Museum employee from Miller, shows Kevin (front) and Bruce Connolly of Plainfield, Ill., a type of beetle Saturday during the BioBlitz at West Beach. (Michael McArdle/Post-Tribune)

Count 'em
The initial tally at the BioBlitz Friday and Saturday and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore by the numbers:
890 species including26 amphibians and reptiles101 birds18 fish27 fungi11 mammals410 plants178 insectsThe count is not final and scientists will add to the list over the coming months.-- Amy Lavalley
But before Constantine Dillon, superintendent of the national lakeshore, and John Francis, a National Geographic vice president, announced the total Saturday, they shifted it upward, to 890 species.
The count will continue to grow in the coming months, and, in addition to being posted on National Geographic's Web site, will go into a National Park Service inventory of the species within its properties.
The Dunes BioBlitz, which took place from noon Friday to noon Saturday, was the third in a series of such events at urban parks that will continue through 2016.
BioBlitz can be catalyst for future work in the national lakeshore, said Ray Sauvajot, science director at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California, the site of last year's BioBlitz.
"That's exactly what's happening for us in Santa Monica Mountains," Sauvajot said.
Before the project began, he said, many scientists didn't know much about the park service, and those within the park service didn't know much about scientists.
"What subsequently happened is, we're bringing a lot of those (scientists) back to the park," he said.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Wolf Ranch

Who wants a real bear hug????










Here's Bruce Jr. feeding the baby wolf... Kevin & Bruce want a pet wolf!


























Wolf Run Ranch

We had a great day at this wonderful animal preserve! The wolves are so beautiful and tame. Bruce Jr., fed a wolf puppy an entire bottle of milk. The poor puppy starting pooping and spitting up right afterwards, and BJ even while covered with a towel still got a little poop on him! He didn't even mind though, because he was so exicted about the entire event. Kevin got a pup to take a picture with him, Tyler wasn't too taken in by the animals today. He was more in a mood to chase the chickens and turkeys!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Welcome to all! This is my blog that I am going to use to give all those who are interested, an insight to me and my life! Enjoy!