At the Blue Park::30/52::July 29

Michael and I tried a new park today, hereafter known as The Blue Park, as opposed to The Red Park on the other side of town. ;)

One thing I learned today is that Michael does not like to be swung higher/faster - he is perfectly content with sedate swinging. I'm glad that got figured out, but I wish it wouldn't have brought on sadness. I'm glad that he got happy again as time went on.

So, since I am late with last week's pic, here is 30/52:

I hope that you have a wonderful day! :)

♥

My Boys in the Photo Booth::July 26

The boys and I went to the mall to do a little school shopping (I don't think I've ever taken *just* the boys to the mall! Much different than taking the girls! :D ), and I insisted they get their picture taken in the photo booth.

The picture strip:


There's also a video.... but I can't figure out how to put it on here, so I'll do that when I can.

I love it! ♥

♥

Around the lake::The Dragonfly::July 22

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am for this shot:



As I was photographing some cows, this dragonfly flew by and landed on a barbed wire fence. I've been wanting to take a pic of a dragonfly for a week! So, I left the cattle for the bug. I started snapping shots from a ways away, and then walked a little closer, each time taking another shot. When he felt I got too close, he'd fly to the next section of fencing. This went on for a while, but at one point he decided to trust me and didn't fly away. He just sat there and cocked his head to look at other things, then back to me. This went on for several minutes. I thanked him for his trust and for the photo shoot when I left him. What a great experience! It was truly magical :)

And this next pic was a shot I had gotten a few minutes before. The young colt was nervous of me, but stuck next to its mommy. Mommy didn't mind at all that I was taking pictures of her and her baby and just grazed the whole time.



I hope that you have a magical day today :)

♥

29/52::Happy Birthday, Dear Michael!::July 21

On Friday, Amber and Josh came to visit, so we had an impromtu birthday party for Michael:


He never did blow out his candle - I don't think he has for the past few years. Amber blew it out, and eventually he ate his birthday cupcake. He was funny with phone calls during the day too; he got a few birthday phone calls where he got sung to, but he would slip away afterwards to regroup. Since today was church, I told him to hurry and get ready so that he could go to primary and have them sing to him and give him a gift.... he never would get dressed to go. Funny kid! He loves attention, but only on his own terms.

Most of his birthday pics are of him looking a bit nervous, and he rarely looked at the camera. Funny kid :) I'm glad that he let himself have fun every once in a while throughout the day.

His birthday presents, that he picked out, were a hula hoop and a kids' cowboy hat - very "Michael"-ish, I'd say. :)

♥

Scottish Festival 2013::July 18

For the most part, we sat and watched performers:





There was also face painting:



People watching and window shopping:









Wearing Pop's hat:





Hanging out together:









Playing on the playground:



And hanging out with friends:



We had a very nice time :)

♥

Under This Old Hat::July 17

I'm supposed to be blogging about the Scottish Festival today, but as I was going through the pictures, I got sidetracked by a hat.

You've seen it before:





He has worn it everyday for a couple of years now. It was I who found it in Walmart and told him he should try it on and later told him to buy it - he didn't want to spend the money, but he didn't have a hat he loved, and Steve likes to have a hat.

At the Scottish Festival on Saturday, other people liked wearing Steve's hat too:





And even with other people trying it on, he still managed to have it on most of the time :)



As I was getting the pics ready for this blog post, I remembered a Chris LeDoux song about an old hat, so I'll leave you with that today :)

♥

Lavender Days 2013::July 16

On Saturday, we went to Lavender Days. I love that place!

There are pony rides for The Littles:



And human hamster balls in a kiddie pool, jousting, rock wall climbing, horse drawn wagon rides around the entire farm, exotic animals, fields full of herbs....




... and medieval, human powered rides, which is why my time at Lavender Days was cut short....

It seemed scripted, the way it happened: Karen and I had taken Bentley and Aiden over to the medieval ride: a kind of a barrel, suspended in the air with chains that when you crank the handle, the group of barrels turn in a circle. (think merry go round with barrels) Anyway, we had just gotten to the ride and I told Aiden to get inside the barrel. I laid my hand on the barrel just as Karen said, "There sure are a lot of bees!" Ouch! Right on a wasp! I wish I would have been paying closer attention, because from there I had to go to the ER, since I'm allergic to bee stings. :( The only other thing I did while I was there was ride the wagon ride, which I'm so glad Steve insisted we do first, since I love it so much.

We left all of the kids but Michael at Lavender Farms to have fun, while Steve and I went to the hospital. Michael stayed home with Emily. (Thanks, Em!)

All turned out fine, but it was tricky for a minute or two.

We also went to the Scottish Festival later on in the day, but that is tomorrow's story :)

Have a wonderful day!

♥

28/52::July 14

*A photo of my child once a week through 2013.

On our way to family reunion. We got all packed up, and Michael was the first one in the van. :)

Have a great rest of your weekend!

♥

In the Garden with Grandma Mema::July 9

You've met them before, but these cute little ones are Josh's girlfriend's kiddos. They took a walk with me out in the garden a couple of days ago and loved it :)

They tasted tomatoes - there were 2 ripe ones. Miah didn't like them, but Teryn did.



And I showed them cheeseweed - the wagon wheel shaped "fruit" that mallow makes. They liked picking and eating as many as they wanted :)



It is always fun to share things that I love with little people. ♥

♥

Our 4th of July Celebrations::27/52::July 8

It started out with a family reunion at a splash park:







And I'm using this pic as 27/52 - A photo of my child once a week, every week through 2013:










And ended with a BANG!



I hope that you and yours had a fun and safe Independence Day too!

♥