Field Day

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Every year the boys' school has a Field Day event.  K-2 is in the AM and 3-5 is in the PM.  I usually volunteer, and this year I was out there the entire day.  We lucked out with some great weather although it was a tad windy and it could have been a little warmer in the AM.

The kids go through 12 stations with a break halfway through for water and snack.  They are at each station about 7 minutes.

Of course besides helping run the games I was taking pics.  I saved around 260 shots.  Hopefully I got a lot of smiles and joy in the shots today.  Today's daily is Johnny's class (above).  Johnny's class is in the shot below on the bouncy balls too.  Johnny is upper left with the Pokemon shirt on.

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The next two shots are Joey's class.  Tug of war was probably their most popular station:-)  I could easily pull Joey over but don't tell him I told you;-)

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I was so tired I took a 2 hour nap when I got home:-)

Green Glow

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This all started out a few days ago when I saw a cool video on how to make flowers glow.  I picked up some white carnations that I thought were fresh.  I opened up a yellow highlighter and put it in water and put the carnations in it.  I saw the yellow water glow under a black light, but the carnations never seemed to pick it up and still after 3 days have not glowed.  I ended up opening up a few glow sticks and dipping the carnations directly into the liquid.  The shot below is the original, and the shot that I posted as my daily had the colors modified in honor of St. Patrick's Day which is coming up Sunday.  Still, a pretty cool glow.

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I wish I got a good bouquet shot, but I ended up with two different color glow sticks and I didn't think they worked so great together.  Here's a shot with several flowers and both a yellow and a blue tone color.

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I hope I can try this again some time and get a better color combo.

Mockingbird

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The mockingbird picture was taken in the school parking lot yesterday afternoon when we went to pick up the kids.  Donnie remembered that I was trying to get a shot of one of the mockingbirds hanging out in the shrubs and pulled over to give me a chance to take a few pics when we saw them.

I saw the bluebird while walking up and down Donnie's driveway for exercise.  Still no activity in their bluebird box. Hoping.

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I also spotted this yellow-rumped warbler.  Cute!

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Pileated Woodpecker

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Donnie and I stopped at Yates Mill yesterday about midday.  It was partly cloudy and bright as we walked around the Mill Pond Trail.  There was another man walking around with his camera, and he offered to take a few pics of us with my iPhone by the mill.  Then, on the trail, I noticed him taking pictures at something up high in a tree. Turns out it was a pileated woodpecker.  I didn't get a decent shot before he flew off but then he came back and I got a second chance.  I took some zoomed in shots and then some digital zoom shots plus some video.  How exciting!

Based on my research, this is a female since the red crest does not meet her bill.  Her forehead is gray.

Video This is probably my favorite shot of me and Donnie from our visit.

SmugMug Link And here are some more pics from our visit.

SmugMug Link Looks at this rust from the bridge support down near the mill!

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Daffodil

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Taken at the neighbor's mailbox.

Father and Son

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I noticed the little boy in this picture playing with his parent's iPhone. He eyes were so pretty and sparkly I turned my camera on and went to take his picture. But by then his father had picked him up. I zoomed in and took several shots of the little boy in his father's arms and then another including his father. I liked the little boy's eyes and the interaction with his father best in the last shot. I used some actions from Rita at The CoffeeShop Blog to enhance the original shot including the boy's eyes. They never knew I took the shots. Not my typical photography but every once in a while it's nice to try something different.

This shot taken with my iPhone was my favorite shot of the day, but I try not to over post family pics for my dailies.  I tried to retake a similar image with my real camera and it didn't turn out anywhere near as good as this iPhone version smilewise.

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Joey and Johnny both had spring baseball evaluations yesterday.  I would call it a tryout but everyone gets on a team regardless of skill so this is mostly a way for the coaches to help balance the teams out with a variety of players and skill levels.  Joey got a hit over 3rd base into the outfield.  Best hit we've seen him make since he started playing.  Woo hoo!  I know coaches pick him for his size and slugger ability, so it would be a good thing if he would continue to make contact like that.  His mom was always a slugger;-)

I must say the evals took nearly 2 hours for both boys and it was hard waiting around most of the early morning and then early afternoon to get through them.

Time for spring cleaning.  When we weren't at baseball evals yesterday, we were working in Donnie's attic.  Looking great!  Of course I forgot to get a before picture:-(

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