Z Blog

2006 Card

Unfortunately we have not had time to get cards out this year but here is the picture, so just pretend you got this as a card, OK?



-Brian

Marathon Man

On Sunday Dave ran in and completed his first marathon,the Mystic Country Marathon starting and finishing in Rocky Neck State Park. I got tired just walking from the parking lot so I can't imagine running 26.2 miles but Dave did it and he did it in under 4 hours. His official time was 3:58:56 and he was 227th out of nearly 600 finishers. Here are a few pictures.







-Brian

Nag fits right in here

We took Nag out tonight to let him explore a little. He decided to crawl across Jen's computer where he proceeded to climb the side of her screen and settled himself in on top of it. He sat there completely content until I decided it was time to put him back in his tank for the night. Apparently he likes spending time "on" the computer as much as we do. Yeah, bad pun, here's a picture.



-Brian

Who is Nag? I am Nag!

In case you don't get the title, its from Rikki Tikki Tavi. It is what the cobra Nag says when Rikki asks who Nag is. It also means there is a new addition to our mengerie and his name is Nag.

This is Nag:





Nag is not a cobra obviously. He is a baby ball python. He is pretty small now but eventually he will be about 4 feet long and pretty heavy. He is adjusting to his new home now so we aren't supposed to bug him too much but we wanted to get a couple of pictures of him.

He is Ian's birthday present because he has become really interested in snakes lately and ball pythons are good beginner snakes. They are not inclined to bite and are pretty easy to care for. Ian is anxious to be able to hold him but we want to give Nag some time. Ian did hold him at the pet store and thought he was pretty cool so hopefully he does well with him.

-Brian

Harkness

This weekend we went to the beach at Harkness. We had a nice picnic first and then walked along the beach for a while. Here are some pictures from our day.









-Brian

Devil's Hopyard Waterfall

Here are some pictures we took at the waterfall at Devil's Hopyard State Park

First a picture of Ian looking at the falls


The lower part of the falls


Three pictures of the whole falls






-Brian

Pictures from Trip to Vermont

Sunset


Lake Champlain


On the Dock


Osprey


Hot Air Baloons






-Brian

Another Bird

We added another bird to our managerie. He is an African Grey Congo Parrot and his name is Ozzy or Ozzie, I'm not sure how we are spelling it. African Greys are great imitators and are considered to be the best talkers and among the smartest birds. They can even learn to use their words in context to ask for things. Ozzy is still a little young, he's about 8 months old and they generally start talking around a year but he is doing what babies do and making all kinds of different sounds and noises. He is already a pretty good whistle imitator and he even does a different whistle when imitating me then he does when imitating Ian. He also laughs kind of like Popeye or a pirate. He is still a little shy about being petted but he is getting better as he gets used to his surroundings. The other birds are doing good. Basil has learned to spin and wave on command and I'm working on shaking his head no and yes. Gromit has been a little slower but I think its because he doesn't like sunflower seeds like Basil so we have to give him larger treats so he only gets one or 2 repititions while Basil gets 10-20. We haven't started trying to teach Ozzy any tricks. We want him to get more used to us first. Basil and Gromit also seem to be interested in immitating Ozzy more than they do us, so he may end up teaching them to talk eventually.

Here are a couple of pictures of Ozzy.

Pirate Ian Pictures

Ian

Birds

Cave in Rock

-William E. Clark

Winter - New Salem State Historic Site

-William E. Clark

Barn Owl

-William E. Clark

Ice Covered Soybean Stubble

-William E. Clark

The Dragon and His Tail

During WWII, Ralph flew a B-24 as a navigator on a total of 50 missions over Europe during the critical year, 1944. Flying out of Cernigola, Italy, Ralph was awarded the country's second highest honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Today, there is just one B-24 left flying, the "Dragon and His Tail" which is owned and operated by the Collings Foundation. Every year, they barnstorm around the U.S. offering the opportunity to take a short flight. Mike, Dave, and Brian had the opportunity to do just that a few years ago when the plane was in New Haven.

Recently, Ralph was honored by having his name inscribed on the cockpit of the Dragon. When the Dragon was in Racine, Wisconsin last summer (2004) Mike and Ralph were allowed to fly with the crew as they relocated the plane to Chicago. If you click below, you can see a few of the photos Mike took:

The Dragon in Flight

Ralph and the Dragon

Ralph's Name

Stars in the making

Recently, Drew and Alenna were the stars (at least in the eyes of their proud Grandpa) of a musical review staged by their preschool, Carriage House Day Care, at a local elementary school. Alenna's class put on a fashion show and you can see our girl here.

Drew's class presented a play called the "Mitten" in which Drew had a lead role with a few lines that he spoke like a seasoned actor. If you click here you'll be treated to a picture of Drew during his performance.

Ian Karate

Here's a picture of Ian in his Gi, imitating Daddy.

Ian's New Coat

Ian in his new coat, keeping the faith. In his heart he knows that soon there will be a return to the glory days of "Da Bears" like it was with Ditka, Singletary, and "Sweetness".



- Brian

Picture from trip to Vermont

Click on one of the pictures to see a slightly larger version.












-Brian

The Patriarch

The patriarch of the Zebarth family, known variously as Ralph, Dad, Grandpa Z or Great Grandpa Z, still amazes all of us with everything he is involved in. For nine months of the year, he manages to play several rounds of golf each week. During the winter months, his tax business thrives and word of mouth seems to provide as many clients as he can handle. His threats to retire seem to be overridden each year by the plees from his loyal customer base.

Each year, he travels with Pat to annual reunions of his WWII Bomber Group, the 459th. This past year, the reunion was held in Washington DC and he was able to meet up with fellow crew member, Tommy Pavone. For a picture of them at the WWII Memorial click here.

-Mike