Project 52 - Week 24

Our church's Vacation Bible School starts today, so I'll probably be online even less this week than I have been lately.  Even though VBS is only 3 hours a day, I am the "official" photographer and will be editing pictures every day and preparing a slide show to show Friday morning.  And I don't wish to stay up until midnight on Thursday working on that like I did last year.  :)

Anyway, the whole family went to the zoo on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and the zoo was pretty busy.  We had a good time.  When we walked past the elephant exhibit and I saw that you could get your picture taken with an elephant, I insisted that we get a family picture.  They use your camera to take the picture so I got the settings ready and handed my camera over to the zoo guy.  He did a pretty good job with it.

We even got to pet the elephant afterward.  I didn't think to ask her name.  Someone asked if we were nervous being so close to an elephant ... it didn't bother me a bit.  She was busy eating straw and didn't move from her spot.  Besides there were several zoo trainers right there just in case.

The zoo was celebrating their 115th anniversary and had several special things going on.  We watched a reptile show, which included a tortoise, a skink, and a boa constrictor.  The snake's name was Sierra.  On the way home we ate at Bob Evan's and our waitress's name was Ceirra (pronounced Sierra).  We thought that was pretty cool.

And we got to see the new baby gorilla, the baby rhino, and the new red panda.  It was a pretty good day!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.16.13

Happy Father's Day!  I hope all you dads have a wonderful day!

This week was another busy one - prepping for VBS which starts tomorrow.  I'm nearly done ... just a few last minute things.  We're hoping for a great week!

Despite the busyness, we did manage to squeeze in a little fun this week.  And I also somehow managed to get all my Scavenger Hunt prompts.  One or two might be loosely interpreted.  :)

{summer}

We are trying to have lots of fun this summer so we created a bucket list of ideas.  One of those ideas was to visit the zoo, which we did on Saturday.  We enjoyed watching the sea otter swim around in his tank.

{dance}

At the zoo I spent a few minutes watching the jellyfish dance under the different colored lights. 

{laughter}

I gave the boys their summer haircuts the other day.  Afterward they decided to wrestle.  They were having a lot of fun and I really enjoyed hearing their laughter.

{helper}

Alex was being a great helper by peeling the corn on the cob for me.

{water}

The kids and I went to Presque Isle, Erie, on Sunday.  (Doug was supposed to come too but he hurt his back and couldn't travel.  So, to not disappoint the kids, I took them.  Which is way outside my comfort zone.  I'm glad we went though.  We had fun.)  Anyway, Keira took this photo of me by the water.  Proof that I was there.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Tweet

Aaron

Recently Aaron had his 5th birthday and his mom, a friend of mine, asked if I would take his pictures.  It is hard to believe that he is five already!  I remember him being toted around in an infant carrier!

We had fun even though I had a tough time getting him to smile for me.  I tried telling jokes, making weird noises, bribery.  All the tricks I know.  I did manage to catch a couple slight smiles.  And some pictures that I'm sure his mom will love.  Here's a few from our session.

He looks so grown up in this picture!!!

Near the end of our session ... he looks like he's thinking, "are we done yet?"  :)

I made him this #5 on my Silhouette.  He loved it!  He took it home to add to his scrapbook.

See, I did manage to catch at least one smile.  :)

He's such a cutie!

Tweet

Project 52 - Week 23 - Flying Eagles

Once again things have been just plain busy around here.  Getting ready for VBS.  Editing some recent photo shoots.  And the normal day-to-day stuff.  For some reason my kids think that I need to feed them several times a day and provide them with clean clothes.  :)

However the kids and I took a couple days and just had some fun.  We needed that.  They just finished school and were ready for a break.  A friend of mine told me about a Flying Eagles event happening at our local airport on Saturday, so the kids and I went to check it out.

Apparently all you have to do is register, watch a film about flight safety, and then you can go for a 20-minute plane ride.  At least the kids could.  It was for ages 8-17.  :(  I was bummed because I would love to go for a plane ride.   Alex was bummed too because he really wanted to go, but he's only 7.  Nick wasn't going anywhere near the place.  In fact, when we pulled in, he said he wasn't going to get out of the car.  :)  I told him I wasn't going to make him do anything he didn't want to do, so he came with us and ended up having a fun time playing in one of the hangers.

Keira was excited to ride, so we got her registered and while she was watching the training film, the boys and I were allowed to go check out a plane.

Alex had fun sitting in the plane and playing with the controls.  He's smirking because I am taking his picture from under the wing and he's moving the flap, thinking he's going to bop me on the head.  :)  He didn't.

Nick and Alex were talking to each other through the headsets.

The plane we got to check out and Keira got to ride in was an old WWII plane.  It was pretty cool.

Keira and the pilot, Chuck, who didn't like getting his picture taken, getting ready for their flight.

Taking off.

Keira apparently enjoyed her flight because she gave me two thumbs up afterward.  :)

After we were done at the Flying Eagles event, we went to see The Croods at the cheap theatre.  It was a cute movie.

On Sunday we piled in the car and went to Erie - stayed over and had more fun.  I'll post about that soon.

It was fun to put work aside and just have some fun with the kids.  I plan to do more of that after Vacation Bible School is done.  In the meantime, I need to get back to it!  :)

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.09.13

By the time most of you read this we will be on our way to a fun family getaway for a couple days.  A much-needed mini vacation.  WOOT!  Even though school is now out for the summer, I have still been busy preparing for Vacation Bible School and doing photo shoots (yay!).  So a couple days away is just what we need!

I did manage to get all the Scavenger Hunt items for this week.  Even if I did have to take a few Saturday evening.  :)

{dishes}

At a lunch with some ladies from church recently I was telling them how I check the thrift stores for photo props all the time.  I had mentioned that I would like to be able to buy just one plate instead of a whole set of dishes, but they don't offer them that way.  The following Sunday one of the ladies brought me a couple plates she had.  This is one of those dishes.  Isn't that sweet?!

{favorite color}

Purple is my favorite color so I was delighted to find this purplish daisy growing among my flowers.

{sunflare}

I was playing around trying to get some sun flare while Alex happily played in the dirt.  He didn't even know I was taking his picture.

{expression}

A friend of mine gave me this head massager thingy.  It feels really good.  And the kids love it when you use it on them, except Alex and Nick both make this expression every time.  They say it tickles.  But they still don't want you to stop.  :)

{sticky}

Post-it notes - aka sticky notes - are something that get used a lot at our house.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

Tweet

New living room furniture!

I'm up to my eyeballs in Vacation Bible School prep work and don't really have time to blog, but I just had to share this.

For the first time ever, we bought brand spankin' new living room furniture!  We have either been given hand-me-downs or bought used.  Oh sure, we have bought a recliner chair or two new, but never a whole set!  Until now!

(Flickr is down tonight so I had to import my photos directly into my blog post.  Haven't had to do that in a long time.)

The color of the couches is called Sand.  The chair ... tobacco.  The accent pillows are gray.  Not sure why.  I will probably make new covers for them.  :)

The new furniture was delivered on Tuesday morning.  The delivery guys weren't sure the sofas would fit in our living room, but I told them we had measured three different times and were sure they would.  They take up most of the room, but that's what a living room is for, right?  We decided to buy two sofas instead of a sofa and a love seat since there was only $30 difference between a sofa and a love seat.  And we got more seating with a sofa.  

How many times can I use the word "sofa" in one paragraph?  Apparently five.  :)

Now I just need to get a new lamp for that corner and we'll be set.  

Oh, and get some more pictures on those bare walls!  

And a curtain for that window.  

And paint the ceiling.  

{sigh}  

The joys of home ownership.  :)

Tweet

Project 52 - Week 22

Can you believe it is June already?!  School ends in just a few days!  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  Although I look forward to slowing down and enjoying the lazy days of summer.  After Vacation Bible School, of course.  Until then, I'll be just as busy as I have been.  :)

Last week consisted of parades, field trips, photo shoots, fireworks, and a trip to the zoo and the lake.  Not all are pictured here.  I haven't had much time to process photos.  Soon, I hope.

We have purple lupines popping up everywhere!  I just wish they stayed blooming longer.  You can see the bottom is already turning to seed.

One of the great things about the nicer weather is that we can do homework outside and enjoy the sunshine.

It is funny that sun flare is one of the Scavenger Hunt items for this week, because I was playing around with it last week while listening to Alex read.

Friday night our local baseball park set off fireworks after the game.  We didn't go to the game, but did get to see the fireworks.  Near the end I was playing around, trying to get fireworks bokeh.  :)

Have a great week!

Tweet