Today is World Photography Day. Use your camera and try to capture something that makes your day unique!
Author: Joyce
McGuire Family Reunion
The main reason we went to Colorado this year was for a McGuire family reunion. The last time we had a family reunion was when Audrey was one month old!
We met at a small camp that Allan’s parent’s families helped to build in the late 50’s. We had fun learning a little of the history of the camp and also some neat family stories.
I was asked to be the camp photographer for the reunion. I was very nervous about it, but enjoyed the challenge. I think that the candid pictures turned out well, but I wish I could redo most of the individual family pictures. I mentioned to everyone that I could do family pictures and a few families got them done early. Unfortunately, I woke up Sunday with a horrible headache, probably from the late nights and altitude. It calmed down a lot after a nap, but it never really went away. When it was time for group pictures, I could not think of all the neat ideas that I had planned. Since everyone was leaving after lunch, I did not have time for “redo’s”. I guess my big lesson is…insist on family pictures early!
If you want to see more reunion pictures, click one of the above links.
Cousins
While in Colorado, we stopped at the Garden of the God’s for a picnic. It was a beautiful day out, and the park was crowded! We had hoped to return and explore more on the way home, but we were unable to. It was fun admiring God’s design as we drove through it!
It is rare that all the cousins are together at one time, so we made sure to get a current picture.
18 Years!
Happy Anniversary Allan! I love you very much.
Smile
When we were in Colorado two years ago, Oma bought this cowboy shirt for Megan. Because the shirt still just fits her, we brought it along in hopes of getting a good cowgirl picture of her.
I think this is her “I am a rough and tough cowgirl and you can’t make me smile” look.
Prairie Girls
After reading the Little House books and a few others from that time area, Andrea wanted to make some prairie girl dresses. She planned to wear them for the traditional tea party. We also thought it would be fun to try to take some pictures in “the Wild West”, as Adrian insisted on calling Colorado the whole time we were there.
They also had fun wearing them while playing or doing chores around the house too.
Caught!
While at Grandma’s house, we all enjoyed walking up down the driveway. Sometimes the kids would run, other times they would just saunter along talking.
Andrea and Mark were walking ahead of the rest of us enjoying a private conversation. I was glad that I had just taken a picture of their backs, when they turned around, saw me with the camera (caught!) and took off running.
Visiting Grandma’s House
I always enjoy visiting “Grandma’s house” in Colorado. It is beautiful there!
Sand Dunes
When Allan and I were married, we went backpacking. One of our stops was at Ogallala Lake in Nebraska. It is a park where you can camp on the sand dunes. Unfortunately, after getting our car stuck (and unstuck) in the sand, we noticed ominous storm clouds, so we ended up in a horrible hotel, made worse because we both really wanted to stay at the dunes.
On this trip, we decided to try staying there again. After exploring, we could not find anyplace that looked like what we had discovered years ago. We did learn that nearby Lake McConaughy also had sand dunes that we could camp at, so we stopped there.
The kids enjoyed camping on the beach! If we had more time, we all would have loved to stay and explore for a few days. It is on our be-sure-to-stop-again list!
Driving Through Iowa
We were able to take just over a week off for a mini vacation and family reunion in Colorado. We had a lot of fun! We left after work on Friday night and drove until very late, so we could enjoy a slower pace on Saturday.
We did not stop much until we saw the wind turbines in Iowa. Megan’s eyes got huge and she called them flowers.
While in Iowa we stopped at the “World’s Largest Truck stop”. If it had been earlier, I would have taken a picture of all the trucks lined up. It was a good touristy place to stop, but nothing special except for some really neat old trucks on display.
We visited a pony express cabin and reviewed some of the things we learned in history. The sod house museum nearby had just closed, so we unfortunately missed that.
The kids traveled very well. We enjoyed reading books and listening to stories on tape. The first full day flew by.