We're Back!

Hello, World!
OK, it's time that we got caught up with the world and start posting to our blog again. Suffice it to say that the last year has been BUSY--so busy that we haven't had a chance to sit down and post to our blog!

Since it's impossible to catch you up on everything that's happened in the past year and some months, we'll just give you a brief re-cap:
- We still live in La Porte, Texas
- Jamey still works for LPISD as the Director of Instructional Technology
- Stacey is now the Economic Development Coordinator for the City of La Porte
- We still have four cats, and they're all still adorably annoying
- We now have a beta fish named Rupert
- We recently acquired a new couch that we love
- Jamey is still the host of Audiosyncracy, the radio show and podcast
- Stacey has a new blog, the top 20/bottom 10, which you can read here.

There. Now you're caught up.

Now for the current stuff:
This past week we went to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge and enjoyed an afternoon of alligators, birds, interesting little crabs and a crazy, crazy man who took his life into his hands for the sake of bravery. Here are a few photos:

Jamey is an amazing photographer, and you can see an entire gallery of his photos from Brazoria and lots of others on his MobileMe Gallery.

Last night we went to see the Astros play and we were happy that they beat the Cardinals, 4 - 1. Jamey says they should hire me out because every time I got to see them, they win.

We're going to try to be better about posting the fun things we do to this blog. Hopefully you'll enjoy reading about them!

Have a fantastic week and take care.

Love,
Stacey & Jamey

Catching Up!

Time sure flies by, and this year has been no exception. 

We've been really busy but haven't had a chance to post any of our latest adventures, so the following posts will catch you up on the Homecoming of the Boat in January, our visit to the Houston Rodeo in March, Spring Break in March with Jackie and Evan, our visit to Brazos Bend over Spring Break, where the Mighty Mighty Alligator Hunters had lots of photo ops, and our Easter weekend in High Island, where we saw lots of birds and even more of the ubiquitous alligator. 

Enjoy!

Mighty Mighty Alligator Hunters Part III: High Island, Easter Weekend

Jamey's AMAZING shot of a Roseate Spoonbill in flight.

Jamey's parents, Joan and Jack, came to visit over Easter weekend and we took them on a bird watching tour of the Texas coast--or at least our little piece of it. 

On Friday we went to the Baytown Nature Center, an absolute treasure just across the Bay from La Porte that Jamey's co-worker told us about. We toured the gardens, which were beautiful already but are sure to be stunning in the summertime, and were entertained by dive-bombing pelicans who had evidently found their dinner! 

On Saturday we took Joan and Jack to High Island, just off Highway 87, about an hour East of La Porte.  There are four bird sanctuaries operated by the Houston Audubon Society on High Island.  

The headquarters, Boy Scout Woods, is staffed by volunteers during the peak migration season, which is from mid-March to mid-May. During that time, there are hundreds of bird species all taking a break from their migratory journey in the same place. It's a haven for bird-watchers, and we knew that Jamey's parents would enjoy it.

Some of the lovely flora that can be found at High Island.

We visited two of the sanctuaries--Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks--and had a fantastic time. Jamey and Stacey are woefully uneducated in the ways of bird-watching, so it was nice to have Joan and Jack and their multiple bird books along with us to help identify the amazing birds that we saw. The highlight of the day for the birders was a sighting of a scarlet tanager--someone hollered out that one was flying into view, and there was a veritable stampede of Audubon bird watchers making their way to the platform to see it. 

The elusive, and very popular, Scarlet Tanager.

At the Rookery in Smith Oaks there were hundreds of Roseate Spoonbills, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, and Cormorants, as well as Stilts, Ibises, and even a Little Blue Heron (the Heron was on the far shore, too far away to get a good picture).

There are hundreds of birds on Heron Island at the Rookery. 

A Great Egret, posing for his adoring crowd.

 

A Spoonbill brings dinner home.

The first glimpse of the hundreds of shore birds at the Rookery.

 

Another pose, with feathers fluffed for the occasion. 

Baby turtles on a log. There were lots of big turtles, too, but they were under the water and difficult to photograph.

The highlight of the day for Stacey (who has  a weird fascination with alligators), were the 40-or-so alligators that were hanging around the Rookery all day, presumably hoping for a dropped egret egg or falling chick. 

We counted some 40 alligators on and around Heron Island. 

They were everywhere--swimming in the bay around Heron Island, sunning themselves on the banks, and waiting underneath low-hanging branches with tantalizing nests resting on the tops. 

Guarding their dinner. 

Here, birdy birdy birdy...

This was a small stretch of Heron Island that was COVERED in alligators. 

There were at least 15 on that little stretch of land. 

After visiting High Island we drove through Crystal Beach and the Bolivar Peninsula and we were sad to see all of the devastation from Hurricane Ike. We took the ferry back to Galveston, and had a great dinner at La Brisa on Highway 146. 

All-in-all, it was a fantastic weekend. 

Mighty Mighty Alligator Hunters Part II: Brazos Bend

Jackie had her alligator gloves all ready to go when she and Evan came to see us, so for their last day in the Houston area we took her and Evan to Brazos Bend to see how many we could find. We picked a great day to go, because the gators were out in full force. We counted at least 20, but there were lots more. Here are some of our favorites:

This alligator was enormous, and it was right by the side of the path.

We all had to get our picture with him: 

                  

                  

This was a baby alligator that only came out of the water for a minute or two--Jamey happened to be in the right place at the right time!

He didn't want to look at us, but we took his picture anyway.

 

Gator tracks!

   

This heron was keeping a close watch for lurking gators...

This was actually a little baby gator--he was only about 2 feet long.

He can swim, but he can't hide...

This one almost blended in, but not quite.

It's not all gators...there are lots of egrets and herons at Brazos Bend too!

This was the first one we saw...we were so excited, 

not realizing that we'd see twenty-or-so more before the day was over!

Spring Break with Jackie and Evan

Jackie and Evan decided to spend their Spring Break visiting us in La Porte. Jackie had been here twice before, but Evan had never visited East Texas, so we had a great time exploring the area. Here are some of the highlights:

Monday: Space Center Houston

Jackie and Evan in front of the Saturn 5 Rocket.

On Monday we went to Space Center Houston. We saw moon rocks and huge rockets and learned a lot about how NASA works and how the Johnson Space Center fits into the grand scheme of things.

Evan looking at moon rocks.

Jamey next to a Saturn 5 Rocket engine.

We finished our evening with dinner at Saltgrass in Kemah.

On the Kemah Boardwalk.

Tuesday: The Houston Zoo

On Tuesday we went to the Houston Zoo. Stacey had never been to the Zoo before, and she had a great time exploring it with Jackie and Evan.

What would a Texas Zoo be without a longhorn?
(This is actually a cow from India, but it seemed appropriate)

The Houston Zoo has big giraffes...

And a little baby giraffe:

Wednesday: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Wednesday we went to the Houston Rodeo--it was Jamey and Stacey's second visit to the Rodeo, but the first time Jackie and Evan had been.

Thursday: The Beach, Billy, and Elton

Afternoon at the Beach

Thursday Jackie, Evan and Stacey packed a lunch and went to the beach in Galveston. It was a perfect afternoon for being at the beach.

Billy Joel and Elton John

Thursday night we left Jackie and Evan to their own devices while we went to the Billy Joel and Elton John concert at Toyota Center. Jamey gave Stacey the tickets for Christmas, and it was a gift well worth waiting for. Man, those guys can put on a show!

Hard to tell, but this is Billy Joel and Elton John at the Toyota Center. 

Friday: Brazos Bend

On Friday we went to Brazos Bend, and that trip was worthy of its very own blog post, with more pictures like these: 

        

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a BIG DEAL. It starts the first weekend in March and goes for three weeks, with food, shopping, livestock, an amazing rodeo and top country, pop and R&B performers every night. There's even a carnival that goes all day and night.

Some stats about 2009 at the Rodeo: 

This year the Houston Rodeo broke its attendance record, with 1.8 million people. More than $1.4M in prize money was paid out to 258 contestants. And more than 21,000 volunteers made it all happen. It was a truly amazing event. 

We've been in the area for two Rodeos (this year is the third one we've technically been able to attend), but we hadn't gone to one yet. So when Jamey's boss gave him his tickets for the Friday night performance, we jumped at the chance to check it out.

Rodeo food is the best. Stacey had barbecue nachos (delicious!). Jamey had fajitas.

If you don't have a hat, no worries! The Rodeo has lots of places for you to buy one...

We checked out the finalists for the Junior Market Steer Grand and Reserve Grand Championships. 

The Grand Champion winner was exhibited by Christopher Barton from Jarrel, TX; his steer eventually fetched $300,000. 

The actual rodeo was fantastic. We caught the end of the end of the calf roping, the barrel races, and the best part, the bull riding. 

It was amazing to see Reliant Center being transformed from a rodeo ring to a concert stage right before our eyes. 

While they were making the transformation, we got to see the mutton Busting, where little kids (2 - 5 years old) tried to stay on a sheep for eight seconds. We also watched the Calf Scramble, where teenagers tried to catch and rope calves (on foot) for the chance to buy and raise their own calf over the next year.

The featured performer was the legendary Clint Black. 

He can still sing, and he put on a great performance. Even the country-music-mocking Jamey was singing along! The official attendance for the performance was 50,641 and we were happy to be a part of it.