Mimic

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I got so excited yesterday.  I saw 5 orange butterflies around the swamp area on my favorite gravel (dirt) road.  I thought they were Monarchs, and I took a bunch of pics.  Instead, they were Viceroys.  As noted in the picture below, Viceroys are smaller, and have a slightly different wing pattern especially on the upper wing tips.

Here's a picture I pulled off Google Images showing the differences between a Monarch, Viceroy, and Queen.

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Catcher

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Johnny had a chance to play catcher in the first two innings of last night's game.  By the end of the 2nd inning, he was definitely getting the hang of it.  It takes some guts to get out there and let a ball thrown by a pitching machine come straight for you, but Johnny has what it takes.  They have the kids keep their non glove hand behind their backs so it doesn't get hit/stung.

In the video below you'll hear Donnie giving Johnny some guidance.  Coach Hugh (upper left in the collage) was also on Johnny's right giving instructions.  I might have had a thing to say too;-)  I like the through the fence angle with the ball coming straight at the camera.  You can see the ball in the collage top right.  When the ball would hit the fence I'd get some sharp sand sprayed on me:-)  Gritty!



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It's a Hit!

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I'm playing catch up with my blog posts and daily pictures again:-(  Better late than never I hope.  I've taken over 1000 Little League Baseball pictures so far this week.  Johnny had a game Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Good thing I really like taking pictures, right?  I keep loading them up into separate galleries for each game in a Little League 2012 category.

The collage in this post is comprised of pictures taken Wednesday night when the Lugnuts won.  Yippee!  They had quite the hitting spree as evidenced by these shots.  Final score was 7 to 6.  Johnny is lower right.

Joey had two games this week too, but his games overlapped Johnny's, and I can't be in two places at once. It's also easier to take shots and Johnny's field where I have the chance to help in the dugout.

Signs of fall are here with cooler nights, changing leaves, and most days less humidity.

Resting Butterfly

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A shot taken at the Magic Wings Butterfly House at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC this past weekend.  I did manage to pry the boys away from Darth Vader and R2-D2 long enough to go visit the bugs and butterflies.

Man on the Moon

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A shot I took of the moon after Johnny's baseball game Monday night.  Cropped but still a respectable size.

I also took this picture of Donnie before the game.  Love those eyes and that smile!

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Unfortunately Johnny's team was cold and didn't win.  Still, a fun and enjoyable game.

Feeding Baby Cardinal

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This scene with the male cardinal feeding the baby is repeating itself multiple times a day outside my kitchen window.  The baby shows up, makes a huge racket, and dad is not far behind to do the feeding.  They are here right now as I type at 7AM...always the first to show up each day and the last to leave.

These two both have birthdays coming up in October.  Joey on the 9th and Madi on the 23rd.  We got out our Frankenstein Halloween inflatable today, and Joey asked to get out the birthday cake inflatable too.  They're just a tad excited:-)

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While I was putting up Frank, the kids worked on some chalk drawings.  Madi did these really cool HALLOWEEN 3D letters, Joey made a Pizzaopoly game, and Johnny worked really hard on a giant pumpkin and some ghosts.  Sorry the pictures in the collage are so bad.  That filtered light was really hard to work with.

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Here are the kids with Frank.  I doctored up this faded out shot with Color Efex Pro as best as I could.  I'm sure they'll pose for me again this Halloween season.  Madi was really excited with the cute shirt I picked up for her at the thrift store yesterday.  Joey and Johnny asked me to get out their shirts too.

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They had trouble staying very serious for long...  I just went with the flow!

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An alien (Madi) even came to visit us yesterday:-)

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Heroes and Villains (and Prostate Awareness)

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In support of Prostate Awareness and the blue challenge for today.  This is an older glass shot from last September that I inverted, cropped, and added text to this morning.

The kids and I had a great time at Heroes, Villains and Special Effects day at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham yesterday.  

From 2008:-)  I guess this was their 5th year anniversary, and we've been every year.

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And from yesterday.  We were thrilled to see Chewbacca but missed not seeing Princess Leia.  The Carolina Legion chapter of the 501st Garrison does a great job delighting kids with Star Wars magic!

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Red Storm Entertainment  was there again with new backgrounds making green screen shots.  I loved the new Mad Scientist one.  These are so cool!

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Also, for the first time, we got to participate in David McClutchey's stunt choreography demonstration.  Check out this video of Johnny!

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