Company is here!

My sister, niece and brother-in-law arrived this morning after taking the red eye in from California. they weren't here an hour before we were leaving and heading to the flea market. jeff slipped my niece $20 to spend there and she made it go far. she had a great time and found some wonderful purchases. i usually don't go on Sundays as i have found the Sunday crowd to be "not to my liking". but today was different, there were tons of vendors and great stuff was out. everyone seemed like they wanted to sell and make deals. i only saw one case of someone "not to my liking". (who is the person that i do not like? it is the parents that drag their children to these things and then proceed to yell at them and treat them like crap. for the most part as well, these poor kids are usually improperly dressed. i don't understand these parents that speak to their children in this way. (now mind you, i am not referring to the misbehaving child that needs to be scolded. this is just downright wrong and mean). i just find it upsetting. Okay, enough of that. so we hit the flea running and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. it got so warm and i am so glad i had them bundle up, as i swore up and down the wind would be in high gear and we'd be freezing. NOT! we couldn't peel off our layers fast enough.
then we came home, got something to eat, grabbed dillon and then headed into the back field on a nest hunt. it was fun. we ended up finding 4 nests; although 3 of them were a few seasons old. (meaning they were falling apart). not sure what is on the agenda tomorrow. have some silly errands to run (bank, post office) and then need to get Gracie to the vet as she's not feeling well again - i'm making the call now that she's got that darn Lymes disease again (and yes, we have them on tick meds).

and check out that awesome bug that showed up on my porch today (am thinking it is a katydid....) i was going crazy taking pictures of it when it jumped onto my camera and then flew at me. talk about a wuss - i SCREAMED so loud! i didn't even know i could scream that loud. it was hilarious!

Manasquan Reservoir

So this morning i got up early (to beat the heat and people) and headed over to Manasquan reservoir to see what i could see. i first went over to an area called the "visitors center". there you can rent kayaks, canoes, launch your boat or jump on one of the many bike/walking trails. i was a little under prepared, as it was already quite hot, i forgot my hat and i was wearing flip flops. i wish i had brought my bike since it is a 5 mile loop to cover the reservoir! i bought a bottle of water, drenched my bandana which i put over my hair and started walking. it was a nice walk although i didn't go too far before i turned around. there was no way i would make the 5 miles! plus the trail was taking me way around the water into wooded areas and i wanted to see birds around the water (herons, egrets, etc.) so after taking the photos i wanted i returned to my car and then drove over to another area where the enviromental center is. it was very quiet over there, which was nice. most of the joggers, bikers and walkers were over on the other side. i took a trail that led behind the center had a myself a nice little walk.

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the best i saved for last! i had no idea i would stumble across a bald eagle's nest with 3 eaglets! can you imagine my surprise? i was the only one out there and i felt like i had made the discovery of the century. i was on a trail when i saw it and managed to make my way down this craggy, rotting log, while wearing flip flops. i walked some other logs to this little tiny patch of sand/rocks and then just sat and watched in amazement at what i was getting to see so close up and uninteruppted. the dad was sitting on a branch above the nest. my mom would call this a "God treat".