Eagles, Muffins and Friends!

What do those three things have in common?  We love them all!  The eagles are located in an eagle nesting ground in our neighborhood.  There are two of them, and when you see them it's amazing!  The muffins were yummy - especially because LJ was such a sweet helper.  The friends are precious ...what's not to love?!

At first glance, this just looks like a tree with a cleaning problem, right?  It's actually the eagle nest!  It's like the scary mansion of all nests - it is huge!!

Sitting atop a tree...

Doesn't that make you want to salute or at least put your hand over your heart and say the pledge?  :)

My little helper stirring the muffin mix..and eating it.  I left the room to get the camera and came back and it was all over his face  :)

Trying to be patient...waiting for them to cook.  It's amazing how much more he wants them since he "helped".

Worth the wait!!

This is his look when he knows he shouldn't be doing something ...sitting on the coffee table - caught!

LJ's buddies :)

A day at the park!

For once, I'm not talking about the ballpark!  Kid Star park has enticed us from the road for weeks, so we decided to go see what it was all about.  I wasn't sure if there was anything age-relevant for LJ, but found out it was built for young kids just like him.  What a great place!  

Look how high we are in our hot air balloons!  LJ says we are just like Dora and Boots  :)

Driving his own "big rig"...just like Mac.  I'm beginning to see a character theme here :)

Riding "baby Jaguar" from Dora on the Merry-go-round!  He loved it!

Old enough for the go-kart, but he still looks awfully small in there.  I wondered how he'd like it once they cranked it up and it got loud...

What do you think?  I think he loved it!!  He's "driving" and making car noises the whole time.  They were saying "ka-chow!" like McQeen :)

We should have saved this for last because it was his FAVORITE!

 

After the go-kart, we headed to the BIG slide...my favorite!  :)

Look how big it is!  LJ and I went up and down 10 times...1 ticket = 2 rides, and the adult always goes free with the child!

A variety :)

Well, here are a few pics from the past few days.  They have been good ones!  Lance has had a day off and two night games, so we have been able to have breakfast together three mornings in a row!  That's fun for us - we're going to have to get away from the monkey bread/cinnamon roll celebrations or we're going to just need a good run for breakfast instead!  :)  There are only 6 days left of spring training - can you believe we'll be moving in less than a week?  What a fun time we've had this spring!!

Let's talk about that elbow...how does he do that?!

From further away - the ball's still in his hand.  

To most, this just looks like a step-stool on a porch, but to LJ it's a mound.  He goes to the bathroom and carries it out there.  Pictures to follow.

Telling Lance, "You're out-a there!"

Looking in for the sign...

The wind-up!

Check him out in his new jersey -- he was in a t-shirt and shorts, but had to put it on.  It couldn't wait :) Off he ran to the bathroom for his mound stool -  We play ball like this all day!  

Now, Rookie just wants to know if anyone will play ball with him!  The pictured ball is only half full of "fluff" because he's pulled the other half out.  When LJ picks it up, then realizes it's the "bum ball", he brings it to Rookie and says, "Here, puppy.  This one's yours."

He loves hanging by his hands and swinging.

You can barely see it, but he is dragging a long line of moss around attached to the stick...calling it his worm???  :)

A great dog.

I wanted to write an entry in tribute of one of the greatest dog's I've ever known.  Mac was the Baseball Country "mascot" out in Jena, Alabama.  I have blogged about him before because we love him so much.  Mac died last week, and even as I type, I'm still fighting tears.   He was Kenny's dog, mostly, but he was loved by everyone.  He followed the campers everywhere they went.  It was a familiar sight to see the boys walking in a make-shift line on the gravel road while Mac, tail wagging, followed on the side.  If they were in the schoolhouse eating or doing a bible study, he followed then waited outside the door.  He ate all of the scraps left over from every meal.  Whether it was pizza, bbq, sandwiches, or cowboy casserole...it was all left in a domino's box for him to eat. It took him less than a minute to polish off twenty boys' leftovers.   You could hit a ball into the woods at night in the pitch black, and twenty minutes later feel a tug at your leg because he somehow found it and brought it back.  He let you hug on him in such a way that you could almost lay all your weight on him while you did it.  If you found that special spot behind the ear, he was yours as long as you'd take him.  He was great with kids, even wagging his tail as LJ approached, ready to tug on his ears.  He'd let him then follow him if he got distracted and walked away.  I love the boys and the mission of baseball country, but I must admit, my biggest reason for going was to be with Mac.  I'll never forget him, nor will anyone else who met him. 

Feedjit

Hey guys! A lot of people have asked about the tracking device I am currently using.  I have Feedjit, as you can see, on the sidebar of my blog.  If you watch it in "Real Time" (there is an option at the bottom), they give you a more detailed analysis of your blog's visitors.  They tell you when they came, where they came from (the site and city), which post they viewed, (if they came for one in particular), and if they clicked on any pictures to enlarge/get more/copy/paste them, (labeled by the picture's name on your hard drive, i.e. "3.bmp").  That can mean they are clicking to "do something" with the picture or  just viewing it in a large view, in its own window.  Play around with the "real time" version of your Feedjit, and you'll be amazed at what you can find.  I hope this helps!!  If you don't have Feedjit and would like it, you can download it easily here - just scroll down to mine.  It has definitely opened my eyes - if you need any help, let me know.  If we go private, I will add those who asked.  I love knowing that y'all follow our blog like I follow so many of yours!  

On a much lighter note - we have had a great day off!  Gotta love the World Baseaball Classic in that we have more than one of those this spring!  LJ went to the Y this morning with Lance and I.  Then we came home, packed a pool bag and drove the golf cart to the clubhouse for lunch.  LJ napped at the pool, then we played until almost 5 before heading home.  Lance and I are going for ANOTHER dinner date after LJ goes down.  An Alabama guy, Emeel Salem is watching LJ for us in exchange for cookies and cable -(he's been in the minor league hotel too long!).  Gotta love that!  No pictures today - I forgot to charge the camera battery.  You know there will be more soon, though...there always are!

Batavia, OH

At the warning of others, I have occasionally monitored the activity on my blog.  I know that it is possible for people to steal pictures and do things with them that are not good and outside of my knowledge.  Until now, it's mostly been friends and family that I have noticed on here, but I see that now I have someone from Batavia, Ohio right-clicking (with the ability to save/copy and paste) A LOT of photos, dating back to almost a year ago.  If you are a possible friend, I'd love to hear from you and have you visit the blog.  Please post a comment and introduce yourself.  If not, please stay off the blog.   If you return, right-click and do not comment, I will make this a private blog, available only to invited family and friends.  I'd hate to do that because I love sharing our lives, but I will not compromise our safety.  I don't want to scare anyone away, (we love visitors), but I have seen this done to friends with harmful consequences, and I won't risk it.  After seeing all the photos clicked, I may decide to go private anyway.  If you'd like to be included, email me or leave a message in my inbox on facebook with your email address.

Sincerely,

Jamie Cormier

2 more posts!

I know!  I do these in tandem now.  I can't seem to do one daily, but I take enough pictures to do more than one...thus, the crowded post nights.  This one is full of random pics, but the next one is a don't miss, never-before-seen episode of Diego!

Lance got to pitch the 9th inning the other day, so I got a uniform shot.  LJ's hat is always so low that it shades his face, but I assure you - he's awful cute under there!

This is on the playground at the field.  This little "apparatus" spins, toppling LJ off every time.  He pulls himself up, dusts his bottom off and says with his arms in victory, "I did it!  I did it!"

Dancing to Diego -- this seems to be a recurring thing - the post below this one is all about our little TV friend!

Last night, we had a wives dinner.  I had to get a whole body shot because:

1)  I'm not sure anyone knows that I wear anything without a nike check :)

     2) My mom gave me these great shoes a while back and I had to showcase them.  I had a yellow and green (Lance and LJ's birthstones) necklace, my pandora bracelet, and a beautiful yellow ring on as well.  Rare are the times I'm this put together! I was wearing some pretty sentimental stuff.  I even took off the old nike watch!  LJ has that stunned expression like, "Where's she going?"

Yo, Rescue Pack!

So corny, I know, but LJ loved it.  We were Diego's Animal Rescuers and we found all kinds of wildlife on our journey.  Poke fun, I know, but this is LJ's favorite!  ¡Actívate!

Come on, Animal Adventurers!  Let's see what kind of wildlife we can find in our own neighborhood here in Spring Training!  We'll bring "Click" along to take pictures!

Wow...what's that over there, Alicia? (Diego's sister)  I don't know, Diego!  Let's take a pic with "Click" the camera!

A Heron and a turtle, side by side in the same pond?

I think the Heron likes the turtle, but he doesn't seem to like the Egret!  That's so interesting!

Here is a beautiful white bird who lives in our back yard - he's here from dawn to dusk every day!  I wonder where he sleeps?

Yesterday, he was befriended by a turtle, enjoying the sun!  Birds and turtles sure seem to get along!

If you look closely,  you can even catch the Easter bunny in our yard, looking for just the right places to put the eggs!  Thanks for joining us on our animal adventure!  Hasta Luego!

Today, Lance had a day off, and we spent the day at a nearby beach called Boca Grande.  It has a small town feel, and most of the residents/tourists get around by golf cart.  We brought our bikes and biked the island.  We began at the southernmost point by swimming in the beach, then biked to the north side to look at the town and play on a playground.  Then we biked back to the south side to eat dinner.  What a day!!!  We are tired after this "day off", and it was wonderful!  Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

This is a conch!!!!  Doesn't it look like it's sticking its tongue out at the camera?  That thing is huge!

"...life is but a dream"  :)

Looking like a true Irishman with that light skin and blue eyes!

Playing with mom while we wait for our food.

This is him playing in the sand, right by our table at dinner.  He has that mischievous look like he's ready to run off into the sunset :)

While I finished my dinner, this is Lance jumping over LJ as he run towards him :)

"I carried you"

2 posts in one day...again!

I had to add this one:  Here's a picture of LJ with his precious pool friends.  Two of them have shovels, one has a straw and all three are waiting for the same beachball to "hit out of the park".  Too cute!  Don't miss the other post below - it's full of some other pictures from today as well!

What a day!!

Our week has been crazy, so I decided to have a lazy day with LJ today.  I guess that we can't stay still for long because even our "lazy" day was wonderfully full.  We started with a breakfast date then spent the day at the pool from mid-morning till late afternoon.  We even got to watch the shuttle launch from our house - how cool!  Our day was wonderful - I love Saturday night church so that we can spend this day in "rest" with our Lord!

LJ and I started the day off with a breakfast date at Bob Evans.  He had the "Little Farmer" breakfast, (pancakes, bacon and eggs), and I had french toast!

After playing hard for a few hours then eating a PB & J sandwich with grapes and a handi-snack, he took a much-needed nap at the pool.

Oh the wonderful things you can do with a noodle!  You can swim with it...

...but you can do much more!  Here's LJ contemplating the many capabilities of this little foam noodle.

For instance, it makes a fantastic water gun!  Here's Lance blowing water through the hole at LJ.

Here's LJ thinking it will help the water come out if he just blows at the end of the noodle.

But Lance teaches him how to do it for real.  Look!  That's really LJ making the water go out!  Look out kids at the pool, this newly acquired skill will be seen daily :)

After getting home and showering, he puts on his Diego undies and gets "click" to take some pictures.  Here's a picture of him "taking a picture" of me :)

The shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral was visible from our neighborhood.  Here's the launch - if you look above the plumes of smoke, the star-like dot is the shuttle. You may have to click on the picture and make it larger to see.

Afterwards, the red smoke drifted downward as the white smoke drifted upward, leaving a shimmering white cloud above our heads.  Too cool!!!