TV news...

Last night News 10 came to the Little League fields to interview some parents about the swine flu. They interviewed me and some other parents of kids we know. The clip is at news10.net - click on the one called "Fair Oaks Student Opens Up About Battle With Swine Flu." The part in Davis is about 7 minutes in (the time reads about 1:55 left in the 9:20 clip).

Picnic Day

Yesterday was Picnic Day, the UC Davis open house that happens every April. We went to some of the exhibits and activities (wildlife, the Doxie Derby - a.k.a. the dachsund races, the dog frisbee, etc.) and at the end of the day we went to Battle of the (Marching) Bands with some friends. Here are Andrew, Owen and Douglas at B of the B.



The trombone players always look like they're having the most fun.






People dress in all kinds of costumes.













The sousaphonists came right up to us.








Marching...








The Humboldt State band running through the crowd







Douglas getting tickled by my friend for falling all over us after running around a million times.

Peep-o-rama

The Washington Post has run a Peep Show every year for the past few years showing dioramas made out of Marshmallow Peeps. The pictures are pretty awesome, check them out.

I took Douglas to the doctor this a.m. and it appears he may be anemic. He had to have a full blood draw in addition to the finger stick to get a complete count to see what's going on, so we'll know in a couple of days. That's what he gets for refusing to eat red meat or green vegetables, I guess.

Final Captiva pictures...

Here is an assortment of pictures from the final few days of our trip. We returned this morning (leaving Ft Myers on a 6:30 a.m. flight).



Owen and Douglas outside the Italian restaurant where we ate in Ft. Myers on Friday evening.







Dan and Douglas hamming it up, and Owen and Katherine enjoying their meal as well











James, Dan, Katherine, Marni outside the beach house








Aidan, Elena, Douglas, and Owen








Douglas and Owen enjoying their last trip to the beach








Thursday evening we went to the beach to watch the sun set over the gulf. It was quite beautiful.







Owen watching the sunset








Elena enjoyed checking out the big heron that was hanging around on the beach.







Sun getting close to the "green flash"








Douglas and Elena








We saw plenty of wildlife. This is a huge (probably 2.5 feet in diameter) stingray that we saw a fisherman (a teenage boy) catch in the surf.






The stingray right side up








Beach view








The heron that liked to hang out waiting to be thrown fish by the people fishing






While in Ft. Myers we saw a turkey vulture in the parking lot, along with a giant frog on a palm tree. That was rather exciting for the kids as we don't see frogs here. We also saw a long (2-3 feet) black snake in the yard at the house.





This guy caught a fish that people on the beach said was a cobia (?).












On our last evening we went to a minor league baseball game, opening night for the Ft. Myers Miracle (single-A ball) vs. the Charlotte (of Pt. Charlotte, FL) Stone Crabs. We left in the 8th inning and the Miracle were up 6-1.





They had a nice little ballpark overlooking some palm trees. While we were watching the game, a flock of ibises flew overhead. That was pretty cool.

More Captiva pictures

Aidan enjoying some ice cream








We went on a cruise to see some dolphins this evening. We got to see two adults and a baby dolphin leaping alongside the boat. It was super cool.






Here's one leaping out of the water...








The cruise was along the bay, where there are manatees. We saw about five of them. However, all they poke out of the water is their nose and occasionally their tail, so I didn't manage to get a good picture of them. The boats that go fast can cut up the poor manatees. One of the ones we saw had a scar on its back.




Here's another leaping dolphin...








Kids enjoying Surf's Up








We've seen lots of pelicans, along with egrets.








Dan and I prior to the dolphin cruise








Marni and me

Douglas

Captiva

We're continuing to have a lovely time in Captiva. These first few pictures were taken at the wildlife preserve there, where we went this afternoon.






We saw several ibises like the one at left, roseate spoonbills (very cool but I didn't get a picture of them), and blue herons and lots of other birds. The boys were very disappointed that we didn't see any alligators.






Douglas at the park










Yum, popsicles on the screened porch!








Owen has really been enjoying the pool in addition to the beach.








There are lots of shells on Captiva.








Marni and Katherine at the beach









Owen








The lovely aquamarine water.

Greetings from Florida

Douglas & Elena walking back from the beach








Playing in a giant hole in the sand that someone else dug. They told some very impressed passersby that they had dug it.







Douglas enjoyed the beach!









Nice warm water
















The path from the community down to the beach









Marni on the screened porch







View from the porch. There are coconuts growing on that palm tree.