Somewhere over the rainbow

I will never get over the beauty of God's promise!

Breath taking.....exciting.....AWEsome.....Every Time!

 

Reptile and Amphibian Zoo

We have had this zoo in our town for over a year.  But never really had a great desire to go there.  Until today!  We've been talking about animals and their different groups....including reptiles and amphibians, so I thought this would be the perfect place for a Field Trip!

Turns out it was a big hit because we were there for over 2 hours.  And it was during lunch time and even when I said we should go get something to eat they were having too much fun and didn't want to leave!

Here's some highlights!

 These guys are buddies.  He has his arm around him. Isn't that sweet?!

I think he just wanted to get in the water and didn't care if he walked over the turtle to get there.  But I like the idea of them being buddies instead. :)

 You've got to check out this guy!  He is HUGE!

 These snakes scared me.  They were just laying there, and then Monkey puts his finger up to the glass to point to them, and the big snake launches his head up and bangs it against the glass.  He was trying to eat Monkey's finger!

 

 I thought it was so cute how this guy was sitting and holding on to this little branch.

 They got to touch an alligator!

This was funny too....they got to hold a snake, and Monkey was all for it until.....

 it started getting closer to his face.

Then he didn't care for it as much!

 I was holding the snake too!  It's very soft and smooth.  

But once it started trying to climb up my arm I had also had enough! :)  

bleh!

Did you notice the difference in these 2 pictures?  

The worker was holding a cricket for the chameleon to eat....
first he's eyeing it...then BAM!  

Quickly out comes the tongue to snatch up his lunch!  

Good aim!

We had such a good time I think we just may have to go back again.  They even have a family rate for the whole year.  That'd be cool to get to go there whenever you want!  I want to go back to see them feed the BIG Alligator.  They only feed him on Saturday's and Sunday's.

Well....maybe you have a hidden little field trip in your area that you haven't taken advantage of!  Check it out!  It just may be the best part of the day!

~Stephanie

Randomness v23 Bugs

There was this bug on our sliding glass door.  It is very tiny, but I zoomed in, got close and was able to fade out the background so you could see it more.  It's kinda interesting.  Does anybody know what it is?

And while we are talking about insects.  There was this really disgusting spider by our front door.  So what do I do?  Take a picture of it, of course!  Then kill it! :)

Isn't it gross?  Aren't you glad I shared? :)

Duluth pt2

Here's some of the snapshots from the second day of our overnight trip away.

We went on a train ride along the river.  Rode the Alpine slide again.  Went to the lift bridge at night.
Ate at Texas Roadhouse!  And if you've never been there, it is the best food ever!  Ok....well I haven't eaten everything on their menu, but the porkchop and mashed potatoes are to die for.....you'll have to try it next time you go there.  We also visited the Glensheen Mansion.  Awesome.

Enjoy! :)

On the train ride.

 As we were riding on the train another train drove right over us. 

Another shot from the train ride.  I took TONS of pics.  If you can only imagine. :)

The Mansion from the back.

 The boathouse on the shore of the mansion property.

 TJ walked down towards the shoreline.  This is still on the mansion's property. 

I love this shot of him in the distance. 

Looking through the trees to the lake.  And the ship out there.

Another beautiful tree turning color.  Isn't it amazing?

TJ and I at the Mansion.  You couldn't take pics inside, but the outside was beautiful enough.  I got so many more pictures than I could show you.  Probably 800 from the 2 days! :)

These last 2 pictures could be better, I know.  But I still need to figure out the night shot settings and ways to make these shots better on my camera.  But you still get the point.

 The lift bridge at night.

 The lift bridge up for a huge vessel ship coming in!  This was 1000 feet long.  Coming in to get some coal to bring somewhere else, and fuel for the ship to run!  I wonder how long that takes.

Duluth pt1

TJ and I are on an overnight stay for the first time since we became parents.  We came up to Little Falls yesterday, spent the night with the kids at Grandpa & Grandma's house and then left them there this morning.  They were so excited to visit they didn't care too much.

TJ didn't have any trouble with leaving them there since he has to leave to go to work every day, however, I don't really leave them that often, besides going to eat with some ladies or something, so it was harder for me.  Mostly if I go somewhere, I know they are still at home and with Dad.  Anyway, I cried just a little on the way here.  But we are all having a good time and everything's going to be just fine!  

Here's a couple shots from today so far.  I've taken almost 300 pics already. :)  Just practicing.

First we went on a roller coaster ride down Spirit Mountain.  That was so fun!  TJ and I rode together.  If you held the handle forward you went fast, and you pulled it back to slow down.  TJ was pushing it forward and I was trying to grab it to pull it back the whole time.   It was totally fun, but I was kinda scared as we went around the corners really fast.

 There are flower gardens along the lake shore. 

 Beautiful!

 Sitting by the shore, capturing more of God's Handiwork!

Boat in the background, and the waves splashing against the rocks!  

Amazing!

 This is an amphitheater  set up....I'm in the left round structure picturing the right one through the opening.  Neat stuff. :)  They put a blow up screen along these poles and play movies free to the public every Friday night in the summer.  Out in the front of here there is a beautiful lawn.

 Walking along the bridge and looking through the arch design along the side to see the lake.

The lift bridge is UP!

 Now a huge Vessel is going under the bridge.  This was 730 feet long 75 feet wide, and 27 feet in the water.  It's carrying can't remember the #...but TONS of grain.  On it's way up to Canada.

 Now the bridge is back down.

 Looking at the rays from the sun on the water.

 Beautiful Fall colors on this tree!

Looks even more amazing with the brilliant blue sky in the background! 
Praise the Lord for a beautiful day for us up here in Duluth today.

Photography-God's handiwork

This is an important blog today because right now in my town there is a flood.  The river is continuing to rise.  Risking all people of Owatonna losing power.  And loss of power with this much water and rain could mean water in basements even in parts of town like where I live.  Because even though we are up high, my sump pump is running every 20 seconds since we had the equivilent of 3 months rain in 1 1/2 days.  Yikes!  That was a lot of rain.  And they say we might get more.  

Just the other day I was out taking these pictures.  And I am still in awe of God's wondrous works.  Today is windy, and we can be thankful for that wind because wind.....helps dry up water!

So, this wasn't my first thought when I set out to type this blog, but I think it fits nicely.  Even now when times are stressful, or terrible and painful, and full of material loss, we can KNOW God is in control.  And we should still PRAISE him in this storm.  

And it's always important to stop and see God's handiwork in all the little details around us.

I love taking pictures so much.  And I love God and his creation so much!   I put them together alot.....like by enjoying them and in return taking pictures of lots of things in nature/creation.

The other day we had a bunch of mushrooms in our yard since it's so wet out there.  And by each other there were 3 different kinds of mushrooms growing.  Amazing at the little details God has given us.

I especially love Psalm 19....

vs 1 says  

The heavens declare the glory of God;
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

I'm always in awe of God's awesome workings just by looking at the sky, but there are so many things around us on the ground too that proclaim the work of his hands.

Since it's autumn, I also was noting some of the changes God has put in place.  Most flowers are dying and gone, but this is one late bloomer.  Standing out among the bunch.

And proof that fall is here.  A small little section of my burning bush starting the turning process.

 

Are you rejoicing in the beauty of God's creation when you look around?

The MN Zoo

TJ and I took the kids to the MN Zoo for the first time yesterday.  

It was a beautiful day for us to enjoy God's beautiful creation!

I love looking at the sky and animals, and the mysteries of it all.  The habits, and actions how things work.  God is so amazing!  He included to many fine details in the workings of everything and yet it all comes together and makes sense and has a purpose. AWESOME!

Here's a few neat shots of the animals.

 I think this is a simply amazing creature.  

And I don't recall ever seeing one up close before....this was HUGE!  Almost as big as Bear just sitting there.  Just imagine how long it's wings stretch out. 

The Butterfly Gardens was a super fun place to take pictures in.....

The bears put on a good show for everyone.  They were just fighting/playing around.  But it was like a tug of war....one trying to get the other to fall in the water, and the other trying to get him to come out of the water.  

I liked these camels....first from a distance it looked like they were laying down, but when we got closer we realized they were standing in deep water.  funny.

Watch out, this guys looking at you. :)

Prairie Dogs

These guys were fun to watch.  They made a funny noise too. :)

There is a play ground so we let the kids play for a few minutes.  They had lots of fun inventive things to play on, a tree house, bridge, animals, boat, spider net, etc....but of everything Monkey said his favorite thing was climbing on this giant mosquito. :)