Meeting of the Bluebirds

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Taken a few minutes ago. Corrected using Color Efex Pro and Picasa. I tried going outside for a few shots, but they were too scared and I was too cold.

We got down to 9.3 degrees at 7:53 this morning. Certainly a very chilly start for us.

We are only expected to get into the 20s today. It's quite rare for us not to rebound back above freezing during the day. We're sunny enough, but that cold air mass isn't budging today. Thankfully temp are forecast to return to a high near 60 by the weekend.  Look at our backyard weather station here.
The bluebirds are doing a lot of puffing out today to stay warm. They are enjoying the non frozen water and mealworms I put out for them. I am enjoying the view out the window as they come and go while I type.

Mr. Bluebird

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Pictures and videos taken over the past two days.  Very low light and through glass.  I did a lot to 'spruce up' the shot I've posted as my daily.  I've been putting out mealworms, and the bluebirds are quite excited.  I've seen at least 5 at one time...a mix of mom, dad, and several juveniles.

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Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Lake Johnson

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Joey is trying to be Mr. Cool here;-)

The boys and I hiked around Lake Johnson today.  I wanted to go to the NC Zoo, but the forecast was for the sky to turn very cloudy by noon, and  sure enough it did.  I like sun for my pictures when I go to the zoo. At least the temps was in the 50s and the winds were relatively calm.  It was great weather for a winter hike.
I didn't tell the boys the trail was 3+ miles;-)  We've hiked this trail before, but they didn't immediately remember it.  Good thing!  I suggested that they bring their scooters.  The main trails is paved with asphalt and is quite hilly in spots, but you have to be careful not to trip on tree roots that are pushing up through the trail in may places.  We were all ready for the facilities and a snack by the time we completed the loop!

Santa bought a Wii U for Christmas and included a Wii U Fit Meter which I registered to me.  I've ordered another one for Joey who is very interested.  Johnny and I both wear a Fitbit each day already.  I have the Fitbit One, and he has a Fitbit Zip.  It was really interesting to compare the steps that each recorded for the hike.  All the devices reported a similar number of steps.  The picture below shows before and after shots of the Fit Meter.  The hike ended up being about 9000 steps if I averaged out the steps on each device.

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A couple of things to note:
1. The new Fit Meter is much bigger than the Fitbit One.
2. The clip on the Fit Meter doesn't really hold it onto my clothes, so I am keeping it in my pocket.
3. I really like the big display on the Fit Meter and it's cute that it shows my Mii.
4. There isn't as much doc available as I'd like for the Fit Meter.  I want to know how often I HAVE to sync the data with the Wii U before it gets lost and can't find that.  I'd also like more info on the data on the displays.
5. I like that that Fitbit data automatically syncs with a USB dongle on my computer or with my iPhone (or android).  Having to fire up the Wii Fit U game to sync the Fit Meter will get old if you really aren't playing the game every day.
6. Joey and I are loving the updated Wii Fit U game.  We have previously played the Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus games, and Nintendo has done a nice job adding new games and updating features with each iteration. We really do enjoy playing the games.  

I'm hoping to keep us active during the boys' January trackout, and I think the Wii Fit U game and Fit Meter will help.

New Acu-Rite Weather Station

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We installed our new Acu-Rite weather station today. We took down a rotten tree that was leaning towards the house to make a clear and safe spot for the weather station. The station is a tad too close to the house and there is a bit of a tree canopy, but this location is the best we could do in our yard.  We'll hook up the station to Weather Underground tomorrow.

Video

Google Twinkle

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Besides uploading all my important pics to SmugMug, I also uplod them to Google. For the past few weeks, Google has created Awesome Photos for some of my pictures. You can read more about what Google was doing here and here. But, in a nut shell, Google added SNOW, TWINKLE, and MOVIE animation to photos meeting certain criteria. Here's a picture of my tree that Google added the twinkle feature to. even the reflection in the window is twinkling! I really enjoyed what Google did the past few weeks. The only thing I would have changed was them adding a button to let me select for a certain picture the awesomizing feature. If there was one, I didn't see it.

Merry Christmas

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Wishing you are yours a Merry Christmas!

These pictures were taken earlier in December on a trip to the Durham Museum of Life and Science.  I had the tripod with me, and we lined up and took several pictures trying to get a good one.  At the end of the day, I decided that instead of putting one picture on our card like I'd done years past that, I would pick several.  I used a template from Wal-Mart and Hallmark for the ones I mailed out, and I used some embellishments from Scrap Girls for this version that I created last night.

Festive Tree

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Another shot taken on our light show tour Sunday night.  This house was gorgeous!  Somehow I forgot to get good picture of the overall lights with my real camera, but here is a quick iPhone snap to show you how massive the display was.  The green tree featured in my daily is over on the right.  

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