Fun Family Fotos

The Price Family of Houston is shown here wearing their playful faces. We had a blast...and look forward to visiting with them again - sometime soon.Dick and Fran snuggle with their Great Grandson RIV.

Evelyn assembled these mystery pods in the shape of a snowman (these could be insect pods...eewww).

The porch swing is a popular hang-out. Here are Amelia, young Frances, Jennifer, and Fran "Gamma".

Amelia is pictured here with her dad, they just returned from a spin around the pond. How many spins did Richard take around Sanctuary Pond during his visit? Hundreds? Perhaps thousands... He was hands-down the "go to" guy if you wanted a canoe ride.
Even Dick "Gampa" took a spin around the pond. We later learned that Dick was wearing his "indoor" shoes during this canoe ride (note the grin) ...much to Cynthia's chagrin.

Sharing a Few Chuckles

Sean has quite a repertoire of video clips which kept us amused and howling with laughter. Here he is showing Dick and Fran one of his favorite clips entitled “Ahmed the Dead Terrorist"…it's hilarious…check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neTsQng-70o

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A Bird's Eye View

One of the many benefits of having visitors is the opportunity to explore the numerous attractions that Chicago has to offer. Since this was Jennifer's first visit to Chicago, we thought a trip to the top of the Sears Tower would thrill both Jennifer and Sean. Clifton was also thrilled; this was his first trip to the 103rd floor of the tallest building in Chicago. Photos courtesy of Maj. Sean P. Price. .

The John Hancock Center

The famous Chicago skyline

Looking down at the crowded Taste of Chicago Festival

Independence Day

Keith is shown here, hard at work cooking up some tasty burgers and brats. Keith and Deb really know how to throw a pool party. Hey...when is the next one and are we invited?

Dick and Fran appear to be enjoying the beautiful weather and the scrumptious vittles.

Kim, Deb, and David are digging into Deb's famous seven layer salad.

Rumor has it that on this day the record for the most people in the hot tub was broken. Richard and Julianne's friends from West Lafayette, IN helped break the record which now stands at eleven.

Sean used the 10 second timer feature on his Canon camera to take this awesome group photo.

Sean captured some candid bantering among the July 4th revellers.

Mmmm...What's Cookin'

While on a conference call, Clifton takes a quick break to sample Richard's delicious oven pancake (aka "Monster" pancake). The sweet aroma must have been just too hard to resist. Richard is a wizard when it comes to whipping up a tasty breakfast for the family.

xFlies

Evelyn and Gavin had a blast catching butterflies and dragonflies. This friendly butterfly has found a home on Evelyn's knuckle. However, it was agreed by all that the creatures would be released from captivity by days-end.

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POOF! and off it went!

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Although, it appeared that Evelyn was a bit reluctant to release the dragonfly...and the dragonfly didn't seem to want to leave. But sadly, they eventually parted company.

Turtle Hunting

Here are Richard III, Evelyn, and Frances returning from a spin around the pond in persuit of turtles. Many hours were spent turtle hunting from the canoe.

Generations of Gardeners

Great Grandmother Frances is showing young Frances how to properly carve out a weed from the garden. They both share a love for gardening.

Eager Helpers

Amelia and Evelyn detected a spider web in Aunt Cynthia's much cherished Cleopatra lamp, so here they are helping her finish the dusting. As much as Cynthia tries to stay on top of her household dusting, she always manages to forget a lamp or two, or three...

Fun with Butterflies

Here are Amelia and Frances Price enjoying a visit with their Great Grandfather on the porch swing.

Beautiful Amelia is pictured here, standing next to the Coreopsis (which by the way is Fran's favorite perennial). It didn't take Amelia very long to notice that the Coreopsis is home to several, very friendly butterflies; which by the way are unaware of our newly arrived visitors.
If you look closely, you can spot two or three butterflies hiding in the blossoms.Evelyn quickly spotted the butterflies, and was very careful as she gently lured one of them onto her finger.

CAUGHT!! GOTCHA!! ...the butterflies can't get can get past these darling girls. What fun we had catching butterflies.

Smell the Roses

We were so thrilled to have the tea roses greet us this lovely Sunday morning, that we just couldn't resist taking some pictures to share with fellow bloggers.

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Happy Fathers' Day

Pictured here is Dick on Fathers' day, wearing his favorite suit and cap.

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A Room With a View

Each morning the colors of spring greet us at our bedroom window. We look forward to the pink tea roses, which should be making their seasonal debut any day now.
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Gorgeous Irises

Glittering Gladiolas

Fragrant Honeysuckle (a favorite among the hummingbirds)

Colossal Turtle

Pond turtles will lay their eggs in a hole carved out by the mother in the middle of the night. So, imagine how thrilled we were when we became aware of this colossal turtle still laying her eggs early Saturday morning.
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Females produce 5-13 eggs per clutch. They deposit eggs either once or twice a year.
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Some hatchings overwinter in the nest, and this phenomenon seems more prevalent in northern areas. Possibly, winter rains may be necessary to loosen the hardpan soul where some nests are deposited. It may be that the nest is the safest place for hatchlings to shelter while they await the return of warm weather. Whether it is hatchlings or eggs that overwinter, young first appear in the spring following the year of egg deposition. Individuals grow slowly in the wild, and age of their first reproduction may be 10 to 12 years in the northern part of the range. Adult turtles may survive more than 30 years in the wild.
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pond_turtle"

The Bucket

What is Cynthia carrying in the blue bucket?

Please vote in the Poll.

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Oasis - Hello!

On the day of the launch, Oasis was navigated into her slip at Winthrop Harbor, Illinois - as shown here in this clip:

The Launch

During the harsh Chicago winters, Oasis is stored in dry dock at a marina in Waukegan harbor; in late spring we gather for our traditional harbor launch, then we sail Oasis to her slip at Northpoint Marina in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.

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One activity that's a particular favorite among the crew is the ceremonial pitch-n-fetch. As Oasis pulls away from the dock, the crew pitches a fender into the water, leaving the person remaining on the dock (Cynthia) to rescue it with a boat hook.

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Pictured here with Dick is Rick Miller (a good friend of Sanctuary Pond), relaxing on Oasis' fly bridge just before the launch.

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It's Clifton's Birthday Today

Clifton is also a resident of Sanctuary Pond and today he makes his debut appearance on this blog. Chique, our mascot, was also on hand to celebrate Clifton's birthday. It has now become a tradition to have your birthday picture taken with Chique.

Memorial Day

This is how we spent our Memorial Day:

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Fran found time to clock some miles on her pedaler..

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Dick went to the local nursery to pick out some Early Girl tomato plants. He's shown here with a spade in hand and the Early Girls secure in their cedar barrels.

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Charlie visited the Animal ER as a consequence of aggressive grooming by his handler. To thwart any legal action brought forward by PETA bloggers who might happen to stumble upon our blog, the handler/groomer shall remain anonymous. Charlie is resting comfortably and is expected to make a full recovery!

Shoes

"How should we spend our economic stimulus money?" has been a topic that has weighed heavily on our minds lately. So, this weekend we decided that the best way to help our economy recover from the recent sluggishness was to buy new shoes. Check them out!

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Dick's new Nike Air shoes

Fran's new Crocs