Candid

I struggle getting good candid shots.  I am usually slow and the picture does not tell a story.  On Tuesday, I caught Megan as she watched someone fishing. She was amazed at what she was seeing.

Then, I was trying to get a picture of Andrea.  Audrey came up behind her to give her bunny ears. I was pleased to have captured their silliness.

I need a lot more practice, but this is a good start.

Family Picture

Allan took us to Potato Creek Tuesday afternoon.  It was humid, but a beautiful day to be outside. We took a walk on one of Allan and my favorite trails.  We used to walk there a lot because I really like the boardwalks and scenery.

We decided to try a family picture there.  It was the funniest attempt at a picture in a long time.  To get the picture, Allan set the camera timer and then maneuvered around a 90 degree angle, down the boardwalk, around a 45 degree angle and then raced to us.  To make it more fun, there was a huge spiny caterpillar around the railing by the camera, so he needed to be careful not to touch it as he rushed around the corner. Most of the time,  he made just before the camera flashed.

A Loves J

For our 17th anniversary, Allan and I wanted to get a good picture of just us.  We have very few, and the last one was taken over a year ago.  Before that?  I can’t remember. We tried, but they just were not right.  We did not want a formal picture, we wanted a fun one!

Then, Allan discovered a contest at a blog he reads.  To enter, we needed to send in a creative picture of the two of us and the number of years married.  If you head on over to the link, you can send your own picture. Or you can see when the voting is and see what other people came up with and vote for your favorite.

Well, our vacation this summer was mostly backyard stuff and a few day trips.  But Allan and I have been spending LOTS of evenings outside. So we decided to get our picture in the backyard.

Allan set up the camera and I did the writing with a flashlight.  After figuring out how it would all work, and what we wanted, we had fun playing!

Now, to get a good family picture!

Braai

This evening we had a mini vacation in our back yard. We grilled steaks, corn on the cob and had Roosterkoek (braai bread). We opened up some pickles we canned and a bag of chips. We then enjoyed a lazy dinner.

The kids enjoyed playing outside. Adrian helped Allan with the fire. Megan sat and watched. The older kids got everything ready, and then practiced hitting a target with their “throwing knives”.

We would have made some s’mores, but the mosquitoes decided that we made a good dinner too. So we ended up in the house, eating ice cream sandwiches. Everyone enjoyed Daddy reading the last chapter of The Magician’s Nephew.

I hope that your evening was as relaxing as ours!

A Day in the Life…

Today Megan is 23 months old. It is hard to believe that she is almost two!

She had a very busy day today.  This morning she helped the big kids in school.  She especially liked snuggling next to Andrea and doing Bible with her.  Megan learned during “recess” that she could walk across the railing and back.

Then she decided she was “Megan puppy.” She crawled into Flopsy’s crate and closed the door. Then she barked and made dog noises.

After lunch, stories and and nap, she was ready to go again.

We went outside for a braai, and she followed Adrian around playing in the woods. When Adrian helped Daddy with the fire, she sat and watched them.

Finally, it was time to settle down. She sat next to Flopsy and enjoyed watching everyone else play.

After eating most of Daddy’s favorite potato salad, she was ready to snuggle with Momma. After getting her teeth brushed, she happily headed off to bed. She knows she needs a good sleep in order to play hard again tomorrow.