Let the Sunshine In...

These gorgeous sunflowers look like mini bursts of sunshine to me. I drove around last weekend looking for a field of sunflowers to take pictures of when there was a field just down the street from the house. I got brave this afternoon and pulled into the driveway to ask the homeowner if I could park and take some pictures. Tim and Sharon were quite happy to oblige. Thank you! Tim planted these sunflowers for his mother who lives with him. She enjoys looking at the birds and butterflies that they attract. Sound like really nice people to me! I may pop back in next week at a different time of day to try to see what other nice shots I can get.







I took a nice dragonfly picture today at the swamp. We stopped by my favorite 'barn' too. The sky was so pretty. I also did some sugar glass shots. I just jumped all around today on themes inbetween everything else.

The rest of today's pics are here.

I Spy Round Two

Our I Spy picture tonight has an obvious school supply theme. What do you spy?

I Spy a ?

Have you ever read one of the "I Spy" children's picture riddle books? The first time I read one, it was one of the big, hardback books. There is a list of words and sometimes pictures of items that you are supposed to be able to find in various darkly shot pictures throughout the book. I was lousy at finding the pictures. Plus, I wanted to read my kids a story not hunt for tiny objects in a photo. I wasn't sure they were for me.

Well, I've had a change of heart. First off, Joey can read the basic words now. Second, both kids delight in actually finding the objects in the pictures. Imagine Joey on my left and Johnny on my right on the love seat and us happily searching in the book I'm holding. Third, they make Level 1 reader "I Spy" books now. A little simpler for us older eyes.

We read "I Spy a Butterfly" after dinner tonight and then one thing lead to another:-) We started setting up our own I Spy style layout, and then we took pictures. The boys with their cameras and me with my camera. I got to use the tripod...woo hoo. It was a lot of fun scavenging the house for objects, arranging them, and then taking the pictures at various angles, distances, and with various lighting. You should have seen the tin foil blocking/redirecting the light coming from the lamp near the refrigerator. One of these days I'll have a real flash or flashes for my camera. Until then, there's nothing like good 'ol aluminum foil.

See what you can see in the pictures. And, if you need help, check out the homework that Joey did afterward with some of the printed picture images.

Enjoy!

Yates Mill Pond

The boys and I spent the afternoon at Yates Mill Pond (again). I carried in 4 cameras. My S3 and my SX10 and Joey's and Johnny's cameras plus two tripods. I helped Joey set up his camera for the water spill. He was a tad more interested in the skink over on the rocks, but he had fun. I tried to get a 'good' shot. I tried to get a 'different' shot. I'm not sure I succeeded, but it was fun trying. Johnny got in on the fun too shooting pics with the SX10 on Joey's tripod. He was super pleased with himself, and that was cool. After 4 waterspills, I finally relented to leave the area to Joey's delight. He was thirsty. I let them tank up at the visitor center, and then we walked the pond trail for some exercise before returning to the car. Fun time as usual.

More pics start here.

You're only a kid once...

There's something really special about a little boy finding a rain puddle and having fun... Afterall, "You're only a kid once..." We were waiting for Madi to get off the bus from her first day of kindergarten.

Finally, we got enough rain yesterday to leave rain puddles! It had been nearly a month with only a trace of rain, so we really needed it!!!

I also took a couple of rain drop pictures in Danny's garden that are pretty neat.

N&O Picture

I'm feeling lucky today. I found out yesterday that a picture that I took of Madi and Johnny was used on a tent card/brochure at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Then today, I see us in a color picture in the News and Observer taken while walking through the new Dinosaur Trail at the museum. You can make out Johnny easily, and me and Madi too if you look a little harder. How cool is that? The full N&O article is here.

The Dinosaurs Are Back

Well, not exactly...

Joey, Johnny, Madi, and I went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today for a members only sneak preview of the new Dinosaur Trail. Wow! The museum has done an excellent job creating giant dinosaur models and displaying them on a trail near the train and Explore the Wild areas. Kids are allowed to pose on one of the models, and the rest are for looking only. There is going to be a fossil pit where kids can dig in dirt trucked in from an eastern NC fossil site. You never can tell what you might find in there! The new Dinosaur Trail is scheduled to open for all museum visitors on 7/25.

Here's a photo collage that will give you an idea of the new exhibit, but make sure you go check it out for yourself!


We have a terrific time every time we go to the museum. Although there are wonderful exhibits inside at this museum like NASA items on loan from the Smithsonian, we continue to spend the majority of our time outside. I like to photograph nature, and the kids like to run.

Today was no exception. We worked our way from the playground area to the musical area over to the farmyard. They have a new pig...Miss Piggy. We heard her oink! She was quite the character, and the kids loved her.

We checked out the new Dinosaur Trail discussed above. I got to see a green heron and a great blue heron in Explore the Wild while the kids played in the water exhibits. We saw the bears moving around in their habitat as well as the wolves and lemurs. We enjoyed the dragonflies, turtles, and the vegetation growing in Explore the Wild as well. The pink hibiscus and black-eyed susans were so pretty today.

The kids always want to spend time in Catch the Wind, and they enjoyed going on the ornithopter again today.

We made the butterfly release at 3PM and watched the new butterflies take flight. The NC extension area had a luna moth and black swallowtail caterpillars. Neat!

Seriously, we were outside from 10-4 and totally entertained. I wish we'd had even more time, but we were plumb worn out at that point.

Here's another picture collage that captures some of the best photos I took today.


Now, there was one other totally cool thing that happened today. I was contacted by a museum staff member after one of our earlier visits this year asking if the museum could use a few of my photos. Of course I said yes, and I sent her the ones she requested. She told me to be on the lookout for the pictures on the website. I looked once or twice, but to be honest, it slipped my mind. Well, we sat down for a yummy hamburger at Grayson's Cafe for lunch today, and oh my, the picture of Madi and Johnny running down the boardwalk toward Explore the Wild was on a tent card on all the cafe tables! That was just such a totally awesome find and feeling for me and the kids. Wow. Thank you to the museum for using it. The kids were so pleased!





Here are the rest of the pictures I took today that I think are worth a look see:-)