Beach Dance

I know I’ve been largely absent here, and I apologize. I have a million posts in my head, but they’re just not making it into this computer.

Right now, Jenna and I are in Florida, soaking up as much Vitamin D as we can! We’ve been in the pool at least once pretty much every day, and most of the time, twice. It’s fantastic therapy for Jenna and she loves it. We have to tell her it’s time to get out every time. I think she would live in the pool if she could. She isn’t swimming yet, but she’s SO close! She has no qualms about getting her head under the water, and does an adorable little pseudo-swim where she holds her nose, kicks her feet and paddles with one hand while her little butt is up in the air. She stops and stands up when she needs a breath, then starts again. You can check out my Flickr photo stream (in the right margin) for a couple brief video clips.

The other day, it was too cold for the pool (around 70F and windy), so we decided to take a walk on the beach. I have to share a series of photos from our walk that I just love. We were headed back to the car, and she got a little way ahead of me. I noticed that she was doing a funny kind of little beach dance with her feet and I started shooting photos (she didn’t know I was shooting). As I watched and photographed, I realized that she was trying to make a horizontal line of footprints. I captured her finished work at the end of the series.

Some serious pronation going on – especially with her right foot. Need to ask our ortho team about it.

And a couple of extras from the photo shoot – just for fun:

Have a fantastic day!

 

Chihuly Beauty

Because it needs to be shared.

From the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. The sculptures are set on a floor of glass, then you can go to the level underneath to lay on a revolving bench and look up at the wonder. Awesome. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it. If you ever have the chance to see a Chihuly exhibit, go.

Photos taken with my Droid X smartphone

 

Oh Give Me a Home……

Yesterday, we visited a Bison ranch for their yearly Calving Festival. We had a wonderful time and learned a little bit about the fluffy buffalo! Here’s a photo journal of our day with some things we learned mixed in:

First, we heard some music. Then, we hit the petting zoo

It’s a duck!

Goats…

Bunnies….

A burro….

A fawn….

And a cougar! (That we weren’t allowed to pet) ???

Then we waited for our covered wagon to arrive to take us out to feed the buffalo.

Ah-ha! Scientific classification: Bison Bison Bison. Seriously. Look it up.

A mature bull is 6.5′ high at the hump, 9-12′ long & 1800-2400 lbs.

During mating season, males are so “busy” (hehe) they have little time to eat & lose up to 200 lbs.

Gestation is about 9 months & calves are born around 50 lbs (ouch).

Buffalo can run 35 mph for up to 1/2 hour!

They can jump 6′ high from a standstill.

They are excellent swimmers! Who knew? They look more like they’d be excellent sinkers.

Buffalo fur allows them to withstand temps of 50 degrees below zero.

In warmer weather, they shed by rubbing against trees & rocks or rolling.

In the 1700s, there were around 60,000,000 buffalo in North America. By the 1800s, thanks to white hunters, the numbers dropped to as few as 500. Today, there are around 500,000 in the U.S. and Canada.

Their meat is lean (2.4 grams of fat in 100 grams of meat!), free-range and hormone free. They’re not confined to small feedlots, they eat the grasses from their pastures, and are only given antibiotics when they’re sick (instead of in their daily grain as most cattle are given).

Cowgirl Jenna is in heaven. She says this was her favorite part of the day.

We checked out the full-sized teepee (with a real fire inside!)…

…and painted some kid-sized versions!

We watched buffalo jerky being made over an open fire (Yes – those are Amish girls in the background),

Waited for a balloon animal from a freaky clown in a weird hat (Yes – that’s an Amish man in the background),

Jumped in a bounce house,

Said goodbye to my favorite critter,

And called it a day.

🙂

 

Slice of Life

This week’s challenge at I Heart Faces is to find a picture that depicts a “slice of life.” This is one of my (many) favorites of Jenna. Every year, when the temperature warms and spring arrives, we head to our local garden center. It’s one of Jenna’s favorite places, and she always takes her magnifying glass. This shot captures her expression of wonder and awe as she watches an automated fountain. I love that she was so engrossed that she was completely oblivious to my presence. I pretty much love everything about this picture – the crooked pigtail, the wind-blown hair, the rosy cheeks, the “o” shaped lips, and those fabulous rose colored glasses! Can’t wait ’til it warms up enough for us to head there again this year!

Go check out all the other wonderful submissions at

 

Vintage

 

Just for fun, I decided to try a vintage edit on the picture of the steam engine that I took at the museum last weekend! Seems appropriate, don’t you think? To see more fun photos with the “vintage” theme, follow the link below to other “Happy Monday” posts.

 

 

Best Face in February

 

This week’s challenge at I Heart Faces is our favorite/best face shot from February. I didn’t take too many pictures last month, but I love this one. I snapped it with my Droid’s RetroCamera app when Jenna was in the bathtub. She was making “Turtle Toe Soup” and this picture captures her imaginary slurping because it was SOOOOOO delicious! The challenge is open for viewer’s choice judging, so head on over and vote for your favorite by clicking the camera below (voting starts Tuesday night)!

 

Train Spotting

Today, we visited a railroad museum near us. Jenna’s favorites were the HUGE model train set with multiple running trains, tunnels, bridges, etc., and the actual train engine that she got to “drive” and blow the whistle. I was thrilled with all the fantastic photo opportunities and kicked myself for forgetting my good Nikon camera. I had to resort to my Droid camera apps (Vignette & RetroCamera), but ended up being quite pleased with the results! The steam engine pictured above & below is one of the only two running passenger steam engines in the U.S. They’re currently restoring it and prepping it for hitting the tracks again.

Given how much we all loved it, I think we’ll be going back, and I’ll make sure to take my Nikon the next time! Enjoy the rest of the pics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She really did have a great time, I promise! She just wasn’t in a photo shoot mood, plus, it was FREEZING outside and we were all a little bit numb.

 

The Collector

 

Dear Jenna,

You are my nature collector. Leaves, twigs, bugs, dandelions, and shells are counted among your treasures, but rocks are always your favorite. You find beauty all around you – even in parking lots when we travel! One day, we were on our way to the park to have some fun. I had loaded the car and stood waiting for you with the door open while you “dawdled” in the yard, looking at some exciting tidbit on the ground. In exasperation, I asked you to hurry up. Innocently, you countered with, “Why? THIS is fun.” and I had to smile. Why hurry, indeed! I was in a hurry to GO somewhere to have fun. You were finding the fun in where we were. Thank you for reminding me to savor the moments and to see the beauty that always surrounds us. In hurrying toward the next thing, we miss the opportunity to capture the treasures in the NOW.

Hold on to that priceless sense of wonder, my sweet. Thank you for sharing it with me.

I love you. Always.

 

I shot this photo on-the-fly (not posed) when Jenna walked up to me with a treasure she found on the ground in Michigan. I love that, when the photo is enlarged, you can see the tiny lines of her fingerprints and the grains of sand clinging to her fingers. The pink shoes in the background were her favorites. Her fingernails need trimmed and have some dirt wedged under them, but that’s real life. Sometimes it’s dirty. 🙂

 

This photo was entered in this week’s challenge at

Head over for more fabulous examples of the theme “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”