More Winter Bird Photography

Jenn and I went hiking/photographing/birding today, and she's really been practicing with the camera in anticipation of her upcoming trip to Thailand and Cambodia. Today's destination was Firestone Metropark, and the wildlife was fantastic!

Birding!

I hadn't done much with the memory card in the old RebelXT, and after the kids took it to the Beaver Marsh the other day, I uploaded them all. Lydia took some cool photos over the past months!

And Lincoln had some fun with it, too...

Lincoln continues to enjoy tennis, and it helps that he's naturally good with the racquet. February will be a month off for him with all of the weekend stuff that we have going on elsewhere, but after he picks it back up, we'll be looking to get him into a tournament or two so he can move up in his classes.

And last week I went birding by myself for the first time (certainly the most peaceful way to do it!).

I saw these two when I was out with the kids, but the birds don't stick around much under those circumstances. :)

Happy New Year!

For New Year's Eve, with Grandpa Doug and Grandma Paulette offering to keep the kids for a sleepover, Jenn and I decided to go out for a fun evening with friends. Fire was the restaurant, Severance Hall for the Cleveland Pops was the entertainment. We had a great time.

Christmas Season, 2015

The seasons just keep running together. Not so much the seasons of the weather and the calendar, but the seasons of life. The stages that we Gateses move through, they just merge from one to the next.

In my last post I left off with the time-lapse of the Christmas tree decoration. Well, Christmas 2015 has come and gone, and Jenn and I agree that this was one of our favorite episodes. Certainly not contributing to this was the complete lack of winter feeling outside. However, the relative slow pace of the family Christmas gatherings, the delaying of playing Christmas music in the house, and the overall maturing of the kids really made this a neat Christmas time.

One aspect that prevented this Christmas time from being too drug out is the variety of events that broke up the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Jenn made two non-seasonal cakes that were amazing.

Jenn and I also revisited Mountain Horse Farm, our favorite winery (Atwater) and a few new-to-us wineries.

As usual, we shared Christmas parties with our several families.

You know that moment when the kids' presents are opened and the grown-ups have more to open?