Beach 1 Concert Series! The End.

July 20th was the last Beach 1 Concert Series for the season. I think everyone in Erie was there.


We had to park waaaay past Beach 1.


 
Here are Don, Majr, Shane, Bria, & Rita enjoying the music!

It was HOT! The dogs went swimming. And so did I. It was AMAZING. So refreshing. So fun!   . . . . . Until next year!

Beach 1 Concert Series!

Last week my parents, Shane, and I took the pups with us to the Beach 1 Concert Series @ Presque Isle!


It was a beautiful night!


We kept our distance because we weren't really sure if dogs were allowed there or not. We thought it was busy when we went last week, but wait until I show you and tell you about our trip there this past Wednesday!


Bria LOVED it. Both her and Behren went swimming.


Behren dug in the sand too.


Just chillin.


Me & Shaney!


Dad wasn't cooperating with the picture taking so after I put him in a choke hold, he agreed to smile for one.


Me & Bria!


Mommy, Me, & Bria!


And of course, you can't go to beach without taking a jumping picture!

Our New Pup's 1st Trip To the Beach!

The day after Veteran's Day, I took our new pup, Bria, to Presque Isle.

She might have been there before with her previous owners, but we are going to say it was her first time.

She had a lot of fun and cracked me up (ignore the snorting laughter). She was trying to get out of the water and was jumping almost straight up to get out:

Bird Banding @ Presque Isle!

For labor day, one of my bff's KC, and I decided to head to Presque Isle to get one last day of summer in.

We wanted to start the day out on a free pontoon boat ride, but even after KC arriving only minutes after 10am (you sign up at 10am for all rides that day), the 11am and 1pm rides were already booked!

Bummer!



So we decided to take a walk around Misery Bay instead.



KC saw a path, and said "should we go down here?"
And I said "it looks like drug dealing".

It was just a random path that didn't seem to lead to anywhere, with a bunch of cars parked all randomly. So as we stood there trying to decide if we wanted to take the chance, a park ranger pulled up to us and said "do you ladies know where you are going?" Nope. Not a clue. Us - "We are just walking around." Park ranger - "You might want to check this out. It might be bird banding."

Does anyone else know what bird banding is?



Yeah. We didn't either. So we had to check it out.



Thanks to Wikipedia:
Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later. This can include migration, longevity, mortality, population studies, territoriality, feeding behaviour, and other aspects that are studied by ornithologists

It was pretty cool! They actually let me release a bird they had caught in one of the nets (after they wrote down a ton of information on it). That little thing was so gosh darn cute! I was scared I was going to crush it. It was so fragile in my massive hands!



I definitely recommend checking it out if you are an animal/bird lover! Here is their website with more information. They catch some pretty awesome looking birdies!!

Thanks to KC for wanting to get involved in what looked like a drug deal (not that I really know what that looks like), because we wouldn't have discovered this awesome piece of what makes Presque Isle State Park one awesome place.

PI Tri!

I really want to do the Presque Isle Triathlon this year.

I think it would be a fun thing for Shane and I to do together. And it's not TOO bad (.35 swim, 13 mile bike, 3.5 mile run). . . .

but . .

1) it's August 28th . . . pushing cold weather for Erie (not sure if I can get myself to get in the water if it's much colder than 80 degrees outside.
2) last year my brother-in-law, Bry, did it, and it was cold, rainy, and he had to swim in 4' waves. . . yikes!
3) Shane refuses to swim in Presque Isle because of the dirtiness, darkness, loch ness monster, and all the other fishies

But really, wouldn't that be fun?! Should we do it?!

This just in . . . . (aka - just found on their site) . . they have a Duathlon too! 3.1 mile run, 12.4 mile bike ride, another 3.1 mile run . . then Shaney wouldn't even have to swim. Hmm . . . maybe I could get him to do both though, because this is in July! Is it ok to walk the last 3.1 miles?!

New Bikes!

Shane and I got our new bikes on Saturday morning, so of course we had to take them right out and test them out!
We went to the peninsula, and it was a PERFECT day for a bike ride!!
Us after our 12.5 mile bike ride around the entire peninsula!! We saw ten million chipmunks, lots of bugs, and even more "white snow"! We ran into our step-diddy, Don, too!!
Then we made our way to the beach for a little volleyball!
And some football and frisbee!! It was an awesome morning!! Followed up with some Sara's fries and orange sherbert and vanilla twist ice cream cones!!! Yum!

Erie Boat Ride!

Also last weekend, Shane and I got to go on Rita (Shane's mommy and my mommy-in-law) and Don's (step-diddy/father-in-law) boat! I loooove going out on the boat. It is just so surreal and all the nature around you is just amazing! We used to go out on my Grandpa's boat a lot, and we always had so much fun! Except when he went fishing and I hysterically bawled and made him throw all the fishies back in the water. He was not happy about that. Any who. . . here are some pics from the excursion!

We took the pups with us! Above is our little boy, Behren. He turned two in April! He looooooooves Majr (below). When Behren was a puppy, he hung around Majr a lot and has just always had that special doggy friend bond with him. When they saw each other for the first time in a long time last weekend . . . Behren was already in the boat and Majr jumped half way across the pier to greet him! They were freaking out.

Majr is Don & Rita's pup! He is a couple years older than Behren, and is the most relaxed pup ever! Except if there are birds around or if he eats a whole easter basket full with chocolate and candy . . . .


Had to show you a pic of Captain Don! So glad they have this boat so we can go out on it with them!


Crusing along . . . Behren laying down next to his daddy.


Me trying to get a pic with Behren. . . he was laying on me for like 20 mins and then when I finally went to get a pic, he had to get up! Ugh!


Beautiful sail boat and Majr looking for some seagulls.

Aww! Son and mommy relaxing!

My boys!!

And can I just say . . . I get more sun in Erie in an hour than I do in Virginia for like 2 hours!! I don't get it?! Not complaining though . . . love Erie, love the sun, love boating, love nature, love my family! :-)

Presque Isle, I Heart You!!

The weekend we went home to see our beautiful niece come into this world, we also got to go to one of my favorite places in Erie, Presque Isle!

It started out with some sand volleyball with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and hubby at Beach 6, then they left with my mommy-in-law and daddy-in-law to go to Sara's for icecream, and then meandered on home.

I wanted to enjoy the beach a little longer, so I made my hubby stay. He's such a good sport and I know he loves me because he HATES water, sun, and sand.

A little while longer after we basked in the sun and I went for a refreshing swim, my dear mommy and our pup, Behren, came to enjoy the day as well!

(sorry for the pics . . they were taken by my phone . . . my cam was in the car)

Behren loved watching all the people and loved digging in the sand!! He was the best digger out there! . . . . If only we could get him to build sandcastles too!

We then decided to take Behren for a little walk down the shore and let him get his feet wet. I was so glad my mommy and Behren decided to come to the beach to see us!

I thank God for getting me to the beach that weekend. I was so lucky with everything I got to do, and I have been missing Presque Isle so much!