The O's have Visitors

Bob, Kelly, and Cecilia were very happy to hear that Aunt Sue and Uncle Tom would be making their annual trip to Michigan to visit and to attend the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Bob was able to take off a couple of days to enjoy their visit.

Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom arrived on Wednesday afternoon with yummy goodies from Chicago, a very anxious Cocoa (their dog) and wonderful stories and pictures from their trip to Europe to meet and travel around with Mike and Tracy. (Background info - Mike Ostroski, Bob's brother is studying Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London England - Tracy Durica is Uncle Tom's niece and she is working as a chef in Cambridge, England. Prior to Mike's classes at RADA, Mike, Aunt Sue, and Uncle Tom met in Venice to site see and then head to Slovenia to meet up with friends of Mike. They all then went to London to check Mike in for classes. If you want to read about Mike's experience, his blog is http://goteam2006.blogspot.com )

On Wednesday night, the crew headed to Terry B's in Dexter for dinner. It was very tasty food and everyone enjoyed their meal, especially Cecilia.

On Thursday, Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom headed to the art fair to scout out the good stuff while Kelly, Bob and Cecilia had a relaxing day at home. Thursday night, they grilled burgers and italian sausages and then had dessert while looking at pictures of Venice, Slovenia, and England.

On Friday, Kelly joined Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom while Bob stayed home with Cecilia. The weather had definitely cooled down, but it was still too hot for Cecilia to be tied to a stroller for most of the day. Kelly enjoyed seeing all of the art and it inspired her to get cracking on some of her own stuff. The three art junkies went to Conor O'Neils for lunch and then headed back through the entire art fair on the way back to the car. Of course, they had to stop at Kilwin's for some ice cream to make sure they had enough stamina to make it back to the car. Friday night they ordered Chinese and finished with more pictures of Venice, Slovenia and England. The pictures were fantastic and Bob and Kelly are hoping that someday they will be able to go on an adventure similar to Aunt Sue and Uncle Tom's.

Saturday morning Kelly, Bob, and Cecilia were sad to see Aunt Sue, Uncle Tom, and Cocoa leave, but knew they needed to get back to Chicago. Uncle Tom had his sights on a late afternoon round of golf after watching a little bit of the British Open on the telly.

Bob, Kelly, and Cecilia thoroughly enjoyed their visitors and hope that they are able to come back again soon.

Nature All Around

Kelly and Bob continue to be amazed by the various forms of wildlife that surround their new home. Their home is perched upon a small hill among an array of pine, oak, and maple trees. Because some of the land that surrounds them is wetlands, there are cattails, red twig dogwoods and numerous ferns on the property as well.

In the 6 months that they have lived in their new home they have spotted deer (both bucks and does), wild turkeys (both hens, babies, and toms), rabbits, chipmunks, sand hill cranes, blue herrings, snapping turtles, garter snakes (Kelly witnessed up close in personal in the garage - she was NOT happy about it - she HATES snakes), and numerous birds including robins, blue jays, goldfinches, baltimore orioles, hummingbirds, cardinals, crows, hawks, woodpeckers, tufted titmouse, turtle doves, wrens, bluebirds, and tangers.

Bob was seen a couple of bats flying in the air. Kelly and Bob hope to put up their bat house soon. Since bats love mosquitos, Kelly welcomes them over the snakes anyday. Bob and Kelly also enjoy listening to the various frogs that have made their home in or near the pond. "You can hear tree frogs and bull frogs right around dusk. It is pretty cool," states Bob.

Kelly and Bob enjoy seeing and learning more about the habitat around them and have decided to keep a journal of their sitings. "I am hoping that we will be able to come up with some good pictures as well," states Kelly, "it would be nice to add those to the journal too."

Naming of the Homestead

While the Ostroski family continues to settle into their new home, Kelly and Bob have been making plans about landscaping and such for the homestead. No longer are the days of dirt and straw. Tall grass and weeds have definitely found their way through the sandy soil. Since Kelly and Bob plan on being in this house a VERY long time, Kelly thought it would be appropriate to name the homestead. "I have always thought it was kind of neat to pass a place and see a sign that denotes that property being something special. It reminds me of New England and is a tad Martha Stewartish," Kelly says. Kelly has been pondering what to call the house on the hill surrounded by tons of wildlife, trees, and nature. She finally came up with a name - O Knoll. "I am working on a logo for O Knoll. I first thought that an oak leaf behind the name would be nice, but after having 2 snapping turtles lay their eggs in our yard, I am thinking an outline of a turtle might be more appropriate," says Kelly. Once Kelly has developed her logo for O Knoll, she will post it for all to see. Kelly and Bob look forward to many visitors at O Knoll, so stop on by.

Kelly & Celie Gone Wild!

Kelly & Cecilia went on an adventure yesterday. They headed to Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, Michigan with friends Tammy & Reagan. It was a real test because it was Cecilia's first trip to a zoo. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the crowds were relatively small.

Kelly pushed Cecilia around the park in her stroller which was easy on the paths throughout the park. After exploring the USA component of the park, the adventures headed to the African side of the park. This was Cecilia's first "train" like ride and she seemed to enjoy the trip. They all ate at the African cantina and then headed to the safari fields. There, they were able to view the giraffes, zebras, monkeys, and antelopes. Cecilia sometimes had difficulty finding the animals in their habitat but found joy once she was able to spot them.

The picture below is of Kelly and Reagan feeding a baby Giraffe.

Cecilia wasn't quite sure what to make of the curled, slimy tongue of the Giraffe. So, she seemed to stay clear of the feedings, but thought that the Giraffe biscuits were giant graham crackers that Kelly had to keep her from eating! Below is a picture of Cecilia wiping her hands after handling a biscuit.

Here is another picture of Cecilia - she is very reluctant to be setting on top of a dinosaur to get her picture taken. But she was a sport for her mama.

After their adventure in Africa, they headed back to the USA via the tram and then they headed home. Both of the girls fell asleep on the way home - very tired from their adventures abroad. Kelly was happy to be sitting again for a while as all of the walking made her pregnant body very tired.

Happy Almost 4th of July!

Feeling festive about the 4th of July, Celie decided to show off her spirit in this adorable dress that Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom got for her. She is delighted to have her picture taken, but now that she is extremely mobile, it makes it more difficult to get a good one of her. Whenever there is a camera around, she goes straight for it because she wants to see the picture on the back of it (thanks to digital cameras). She gets frustrated when someone is trying to take pictures with a 35mm camera because she doesn't get to see the picture on the back. Gone are the days that she can be propped up and you are able to take adorable pictures of her. She definitely has a mind of her own - I wonder where she gets that from?

A New Beginning for the Ostroski Observer

Hello everyone! It has been a long time coming that the Ostroski Observer went electronic, so here is a first attempt at it through this blog.

Hopefully, some or most of you will find this as interesting as the printed version. We will still send out the printed version, but only for a limited run and will definitely keep things more updated on this blog.

I thought it would be best to get started on this electronic craze before the next addition of the Ostroski Family arrives. We are counting down - 13 more weeks (or less) before Anna Grace arrives and joins the Ostroski Team - Go Girl Power.

This site will also give us the opportunity to share photos of the girls as well. And as always, if you have any questions, requests or suggestions, the editorial staff at the Ostroski Observer welcome every single one.

Hope to hear from you.
Ostroski Observer Editor
Kelly O