Blue Hen Falls Cleveland, OH

Adam and I have visited a few different waterfalls with my parents in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We usually go to at least one every time we visit my parents. This trip we decided to go visit Blue Hen Falls. It's a short walk away from the parking lot across the street, but it's definitely worth it. It's a beautiful place (and a very popular one at that)!

It's a little tricky getting down to the falls, not gonna lie, I fell on my butt (I wasn't exactly wearing the right shoes and it was muddy from all the rain).

These kids were really enjoying themselves.

Adam took this one. He's pretty good! :)

We found a random dead crayfish on the banks of the river. No idea where he came from.

This is what it looks like when you set up a long exposure and a random black lab comes running through the water, then walks behind you and shakes off. I definitely didn't appreciate that last part!

Back at my parents house, we were sitting on their deck when we noticed this scary prehistoric monster (seriously, the thing was 3" long). We figured out that it's a dobsonfly. The females (which this one was) has pinschers sharp enough to pierce skin. Needless to say, I kept my eye on it all afternoon.

On our way home, we saw this beautiful sunset. 

A Pittsburgh 4rd of July

On the 4th of July Adam and I went to the Point to go see what was up at the Three Rivers Regatta. We read online that there were going to be dogs! and BMX bikers! and sand sculptures! and boat races! and we thought we should check it out. It was crazy hot out that day, so we weren't really planning on sticking around until the fireworks that night, since we had watched the ones the night before.

We got downtown around noon and had lunch at Meat and Potatoes before heading over to the Point. Adam wanted to see the dog show, but we got there a little early, so we went to the river to watch the boats practicing for the race.

Around 3PM we walked over to watch the dogs do their thing. They were all rescues and adorable!

Just behind the dog show were the guys on the BMX bikes. Those dude sure know how to rock it. I'm pretty sure like half of them were kids too.

It was a hot, but fun day. I'm looking forward to seeing the fireworks next year, hopefully this time without rain!

One Barn: Two Years of Photos

Being that I'm probably limited to how many more times I'll drive by this on my way to work, I decided to compile all the photos I took of the same barn over the last 2 years into one image. It's really amazing how the landscape changes from season to season and even day to day. It starts at the top with photos from two years ago and ends with a photo I took today. Which photo is your favorite? Why?

My favorite is the foggy one followed by the truck, although I'm also partial to the one where the leaves have all changed, because we had no sunny days that Fall except for that particular day, so it's kind of a special photo.

Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

I meant to post this a while ago, but haven't had the chance. So without further ado...

My mom and dad came out for a day trip and we decided to check out the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. Adam had to work most of the day, so after brunch at the Dor-Stop, we went our separate ways.

My parents are members of the Cleveland Zoo, so they got half price tickets, which was awesome. My ticket was full price though, so it ended up being like we got one entry free. Moral of the story, if you're a member at another zoo, check to see if the zoo you're visiting offers discounts. My mom even got a 10% discount at the gift shop with her Cleveland Zoo pass (we totally weren't expecting that)!

We entered the park and saw chalk artists drawing signs on the ground welcoming people to Family Week at the zoo. There were different character appearances and other activities for kids around the park, although I don't remember seeing anything while we were there. We must have missed whatever it was, since we didn't grab a schedule of events.

One of the first animals we ran into on our journey around the zoo was the Amur leopard - such an incredibly beautiful animal. He was pacing back and forth along the glass, which was a little unnerving, but he just looked really hot. I had to sympathize, we were all hot.

Next up were the flamingos. They were really active, walking around, squawking, you know, doing things flamingos do. I'm a huge flamingo fan, they're such beautiful and unusual animals.

In the African Savanna we saw a mama rhino and her baby. Soooo cute! It's funny how the baby looks so small compared to the mama, but on its own it looks so massive.

In this section we also saw an African lady lion hanging out on a rock.

And around the corner was a group of gazelles and ostriches.

The last animals we saw in the savanna were the elephants and giraffes. One of the elephants looked quite young, although I'm not sure if it was a mother and her little one or not. They were practically inseparable though, which made me think they were.

After the savanna, we walked into the Tropical Forest, which was wicked hot (even hotter and more humid than outside, which we thought was bad enough). Inside here were a bunch of different primates from all over the world, including howler monkeys, gorillas, lemurs, and many others. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see the baby gorilla that had just been born (sad face).

They were renovating the bear exhibits, so we only got to partially see a black bear. He kept pacing in and out of his cave - it was tough to see him. We moved on to the last exhibits at the zoo, which were in the PPG Aquarium. Holy moly was it crowded in there. It was a nice little aquarium, clean and had lots of different fish. Reminded me a lot of the aquarium at the Cal Academy of Science.

While we were there, a guy was inside the shark tank cleaning it with a brush. All the kids around were totally loving that and waving to him.

I have to say, the penguin exhibit at the National Aviary was much better than the zoo's. It felt like a cramped dark room that was packed with people and scooters and strollers you could hardly move around. I took a few snaps and got out of there pronto.

On the way back to the park exit we passed by the polar bear, who was playing with a giant block of ice and some otters who were enjoying the water.

After the zoo, we met back up with Adam and had dinner at Hofbräuhaus, which we figured my mom would like, because she's a fan of the German Biergarten down in Disney and this was the most Disney-like restaurant in Pittsburgh. Music, beer, dancing, you know fun stuff. The beer is great here too.

Good times.