Bathtime Ballet

Everyone needs a little culture in their life, no? :)


Darned, I wish I hadn't chopped off those cute lil piggies and check out those calves!!!

READ TO ME

This is my last assignment for my photography class. I am so very sad to see it end but it has been a fantastic adventure - I've learned so much and really stretched my technical and creative photography muscles :)

We had to compose a photo essay. I tried several different themes - bathtime, TKD for Nathan but then last night, I found Nathan reading to Caleb before bedtime. The light in his room was still good and they were mostly oblivious to me. This is their unstaged relationship. I don't think Caleb will ever truly have an appreciation for what a kind, loving big brother Nathan is to him. Caleb is a really lucky little boy and in return, Nathan is a better person for having Caleb as his little brother. Being a big brother has added another beautiful dimension to who Nathan is.

HELLO, my name's not Grace

Poor Nathan. You take after me buddy. And not in a good way. I'm sorry. Despite the years of ballet lessons, I have NO grace. Zip. Nada. Zilch. None. I am clumsy. And despite being fully grown (and then some) my body is often still ackward to me. I bruise OFTEN and easily. I fall at the most inconvenient times (like Grandma's funeral service at church). I hoped that I could keep this defect to myself. But sadly, I passed it on to you. Sorry baby.

You trip over anything. Everything. Even nothing at all. This summer you are bearing the marks to prove it. When you fall, we look at each other, brush it off, smile and say "Hello - My name's not Grace".

Prairie Fest at Night

Fogh who? ...I'm the one who looked at the Prairie Fest schedule - just to check out who was playing, the times for cheaper rides. You know the deal, right? Well, I saw that Foghat was playing. So what, I thought. Didn't mention it to Scott. What does he care about Foghat right? Well, I was W-R-O-N-G-G-G! He about wet himself when he found out that they were playing right in his "back yard" on Saturday night. So, thankfully Sissy kidsat for us and the Boss and I dragged ourselves back to Prairie Fest along with a BUNCH of other "near geriatrics" to watch Foghat. Disinterested at best (don't tell him I said that), I took along my camera and decided it was time to overcome my problems with night shots. After leaving the "near geriatrics", most of whom were sportin' mullets or ponytails, I wondered into "hormone heaven". The amount of teenagers in the ride section of the park was overwhelming - raging hormones on a hot summer night....nice. Glad the boys were back home in bed. :) It was, however, a great opportunity to play with some of the settings on my camera AND the bonus was,it got me out of listening to Fogh who...!

This is fog who....Scott was teasing that they were on pure oxygen by the end of the show.

I love the orange glow of these nightime shots. I shot them wide open at 1600 ISO and no flash.





And this is the first time, we went to Prairie Fest and didn't partake in one of these...

Prairie Fest

It is Oswego's version of a fair.
In the end, it is very expensive, HOT, HOT, HOT fun. In an effort to avoid the insane crowds, we opted for Saturday afternoon. At 90 something degrees, it was just too hot. Within minutes our pasty white faces were ruby red. :)

The exotic animal petting zoo.


Can you imagine what a photo of Sissy would be without seeing her tongue?

The carnie working this ride was putting the moves on my daughter....he was asking for trouble!

That blue slide really shows off Caleb's flaming red cheeks. It was HOT!

He is the epitome of a GREAT big brother.

Roller Coaster madness :) How cute are they? Check out the little brother and sister behind the boys. So CUTE! Last year, Caleb wouldn't have touched a ride like this. This year, without hesitation, he took Budgie's hand and on he went. His expressions throughout the ride were hysterical.




Despite the heat and the outrageous price for a roller coaster ride, I'm sure we'll be back next year. It's just too fun to pass up!

At the car wash :)

Just a reminder that the everyday moments, the most usual of places can become incredible opportunities to catch a few candid memories. It was 94 degrees in the shade. We were all red faced and tired from the Prairie Fest but with slurpies in hand, we hung out waiting at the car wash....

Peonies

We were in Meier's this past Saturday grocery shopping when my eyes spied these beautiful bunches of peonies. Instantly, I was back on our house on Garlow Drive. It was a tiny little ranch with a gravel driveway that sloped fairly steeply to the garage, backyard and big creek and woods behind it. At the end of the gravel driveway, acting as the divider between the driveway and the steep drop off of the woods, my dad had planted a long row of peonies. I remember them being pink and white. I remember that they didn't bloom often but when they did, that row of plants was just a sea of those poofy flowers. I remember that the flowers were so heavy when they opened that they made the stems of the plant bend over like an inverted umbrella. I also remember the incredible amount of ants that were attracted to the peony flowers - they fascinated and freaked me out. I remember my Dad's Volkswagon Beetle parked right in front of that row of peonies and I remember him out there every weekend, washing his Beetle and Mom's station wagon. I miss my Dad. I missed him this Father's Day. I miss him everyday but I am grateful for bunches of pink peonies that I can take home to remind me of him. Thankfully this bunch has no ants. :)