Boy oh boy, do I have some huge photo updates for you!

7/28/11

Isabel! She's so fat haha...

7/29/11

Beautiful sunset leaving work one night!

 7/30/11

Early foggy morning! This was taken on Zack's street. We were going to be leaving to drive to visit his uncles in West Virginia soon after this was taken!

Zack and Alanna asleep on the car ride there. :) Precious.

A not-so-good photo of his uncles' amazing house on the top of a mountain/huge hill in West Virginny. They built it with their own hands and it is completely and totally beautiful. This picture totally doesn't do it justice.

The path winding up to their house.

Welcome back to Ohio! Driving over the Ohio River.

Lannie's asleep again on the drive back up. She's adorable!

Ohio River and the hills of West Virginia. I had never been that far south before!

Driving home back up 77 through Canton, we came across the giant hot air balloon festival they have every year! 

Cool! I had never seen hot air balloons before and there were SO MANY.

7/31/11

Cleaning my room while listening to my favorite vinyl!

Isabel wanted to help me. She looks mischievious...

8/1/11 

Bought some old-school fruit-by-the-foot for a snack. I used to love these! I couldn't believe how good they still tasted. I guess some things you never grow out of.

8/2/11

Anna's dog Cheena! She is crazy and adorable. I love her! I was at Anna's house with Emily because Emily drove up from her home in Columbus to stay with me and see all of us (Anna, Ian, me) and our beloved Akron for a few days.

8/3/11

Freddy passed out on my bed!

It rained that morning and my still-ripening tomatoes looked pretty with water droplets on them.

So did this flower!

Went to One of a Kind Pets with Emily to play with all the kitties and doggies...and they had kittens!! <3 This is Emily holding a particularly cute one.

Later, we went back to Anna's house to cook a big dinner for ourselves and Anna's little sister, Clara. Twas a success!

One big happy family. :) Anna, Me, Ian, Emily. (Clara took this)

8/4/11 

Zack got me a huge, beautiful bouquet of flowers. I loved them! :)

Anna and Emily and I went to my dad's to enjoy some water activities and see the lake. My dad took this of us! 

Duckies against the sunset.

8/5/11 

I volunteered tonight as a model (on a real runway and everything) at the Crooked River Fiber Fling that my mom helped to organize. This is the makeup I did for the show!

8/6/11

Working my usual 8am-4pm shift at Marc's on Saturdays...I love how empty the parking lot always looks as I'm going into work!

8/7/11

And the adventures on Lake Erie begin! This day, I left to begin my week-long adventure at Ohio State's island campus, Stone Laboratory. I was taking an Aquatic Biology class there. I took this picture while riding the ferry from Sandusky to South Bass Island (Put-In Bay).

On South Bass, an OSU boat came to pick us (the students) up to take us to Gibraltar Island (seen in the background), a small island about 2 minutes from Put-In Bay. That is where we stayed and learned for the week!

The dorms for the week!

View of the cliffs on the north side of the island.

8/8/11 

The harbor in the early morning before the first full day of classes.

OSU pride picnic table!

The harbor again (with a trimaran anchored!) and Perry's Monument in the background.

The classroom and lab building.

View of Gibraltar as we headed out on the boat to take some water samples.

8/9/11 

Some of the macroinvertebrates I found when sampling off the island that morning! A tubenose goby fish, lots of mayfly larvae and a leech.

Our one-legged seagull on the island!

I got the most amazing views of sunsets from the island. This was by far my favorite one of the week.

8/10/11

Riding the ferry back to the mainland to take a field trip to Little Pickerel Creek for some sampling. The wake of the ferry made a rainbow!

A relatively new blue hole at a trout hatchery that we went to see.

The hatchery owner's dog, Buster, swimming in Little Pickerel!

The cutest puppy I have ever seen while waiting to catch the ferry back to South Bass. Ahhh!

 8/11/11

Glacial grooves on Gibraltar! 

8/12/11

View of Gibraltar again heading back from our last field trip to Terwilliger's Pond on South Bass Island.

Tons of crayfish we found!

8/13/11

The mob of people getting off the ferry at Put-In Bay while we waited to get on to leave and go home. I had a great week at Stone Lab and learned so much! I loved it! :)

A zinnia blooming in my garden. :)