Black Widows and Spider Bites

So, unfortunately we have spiders...black widows.  Contrary to popular beliefs, black widow bites don't usually kill you, but they are venomous and can make you feel really nasty.

Here is a video of a black widow we caught eating another spider. He strikes and bites the spider, injecting venom to affect the nervous system, and simultaneously wraps him up. Eight legs moving faster than your eyes can see.

So, since this video a year ago, we have seen more and more black widows.  Then, after playing with Pearl for a few hours in the backyard, we noticed this on Andrew's leg:  

We DO NOT believe this is a bite from a black widow since he had no symptoms other than the skin lesion from the bites. We watched it and it never got any bigger and started looking a little better the next day. 
Most spider bites DO NOT require a trip to the hospital! 
Check out more info about spider bites at the website for the Mayo Clinic 

My Precious Pearl

 I'm so tired of seeing pins and repins on pinterest of peoples' designer dogs and purebreds! People, stop buying dogs when there are perfectly good mutts who need love. This is my precious dog Pearl. She is a beautiful, intelligent and loving. Her mom was a great pyrenees/lab mix...and the dad was a neighborhood dog of unknown breed.

This is her on the day we brought her home (about 7 weeks old and 11 pounds)

      

This is a video of Pearl letting herself in the backdoor. A trick she was very proud to have taught herself.

The Duck-Rabbit Brewery

Farmville, North Carolina

http://www.duckrabbitbrewery.com/

 Yes, there is an actual town called Farmville...and it has the Duck-Rabbit Brewery. 




I'd never had Duck-Rabbit beer before visiting the brewery tasting room, where we enjoys plenty of "samples".

 Brews on tap were:

The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout - they're signature brew, an awesome stout beer in my opinion.

The Duck-Rabbit Porter

The Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale

The Duck-Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Ale - We were drinking the last keg in existence of this beer...for the season that is. They will brew more!                       This one was my favorite!

   Panoramic View of the Tasting Room. 

I moved during the shot and it made 

half of my sister's head disappear.

The Tour...we weren't paying very close attention

ROADTRIP!

Summer of 2009
We started off in Kansas and drove first to Sandusky, Ohio to visit Cedar Point. We camped at a KOA that was walking distance from the amusement park. 

Bisquick Shake and Pour pancakes...just add water. This works great for a breakfast over the campfire. We didn't have anything to measure the water...so I used a beer bottle from the night before to measure. 


Remember:
1 beer = 12oz = 1.5 cups

After breakfast we spent the day at Cedar Point. Cedar Point is amazing and has 17 roller coasters. Not much else to really do in the area, but if you love amusement parks...its worth a trip for sure

Our next stop was Buffalo,      New York!! 

Ate buffalo wings at the restaurant that invented them - The Anchor Bar

Next was Niagara Falls!! Awesome! We hung out on the US side (Andrew didn't have a passport) but the Canada side has a better view and a lot more going on. 




There is a foot bridge from across the water from US to Canada...a nice  little walk.

We went on the Cave of the Winds Tour. This tour lets you get right up close the the base of the falls. 

They also give you a sweet pair of no slip shoes to wear.

Make sure to bring a waterproof camera so you can get pics like this under the falls.

From Buffalo we drove on to Boston, MA.

Lots of interesting things to do and see in Boston. 

The U.S.S. Constitution                  is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still  afloat.                                  It was first launched in 1797.                           Best of all they give     FREE TOURS              Here's a link to their page.

Boston has crazy old cemeteries all over the city. Here's one interesting grave we found. 

One of my favorite things we did in Boston was the                               Samuel Adams Brewery Tour!!                                             It was FREE...and we got a free bottle opener key chain.          

After touring the brewery,   you get to visit the  tasting room.                                        We may or may not have drank too much and then taken pictures with Samuel Adams himself.

After Boston we drove to New Jersey. After camping on a very sandy campsite we drove to Brigantine - a beautiful beach town.                                           We got bagels and coffee and walked around taking in the sites and admiring the awesome beach houses.                                    Brigantine was incredibly clean...signs like this might be one of the reasons why. 

Fun Facts About New Jersey:

• It is illegal to pump your own gas...attendants do it for you. 
• It is illegal to leave your car running if you're not in it.  
• It is illegal to throw recyclables into the trash. Recycling receptacles are everywhere. 

Atlantic City is a place you must visit in  New Jersey. Though the boardwalk has taken a few steps in the wrong direction (kinda trashy these days), the beach is awesome. Did you know that the board game Monopoly got its street names (like Ventura Avenue) from Atlantic City?

Close by in the city of Margate, is "The World's Greatest Elephant"...Lucy!      She is six stories high and is listed on the National Park Registry of Historical Landmarks.

Lucy's toenails that get painted different colors for special occasions. 

Lucy's Butt 

Lucy on the inside - Used to be a hotel  

eyes from the inside

view from the top of Lucy - beautiful

Don't Let a Little Rain Ruin Your Day

When we chose to have an outdoor ceremony, we knew there was a risk of rain.  After one of the hottest summers on record with very little rain...it chose to storm on our wedding day....but it was awesome.  

We chose a royal blue and dark yellow as our colors.


The bridesmaid's dresses (and my dress) were bought at David's bridal.  Yellow shoes came from the JC Penny sale rack! Each girl had ostrich feathers in their hair.

I bought flowers online and had them delivered on the Thursday before the ceremony (on a Saturday). We made our own bouquets and boutonnieres on Friday. 

Since our theme was birds and feathers...we incorporated turkey feathers into the guys' boutonnieres.

The guys' tuxes came from Tuxedo Junction          (Wichita, KS)                                                           

My hair was fabulous thanks to my talented friends and a Jessica Simpson hair piece.  I made the fascinator and veil myself. 

Thanks to the rain we got these great pics: