scavenger hunt: july 31

We spent one afternoon this week at a beautiful state park where my in laws were having cousins camp with the middle group of cousins. They have 11 grandchildren so they have three cousins camps each summer. This was the last summer for the oldest group which includes my two boys so they did a two week long trip and went all over the eastern part of the U.S earlier this summer.

1. then - This is my favorite pic of the big cousins from cousins camp 2004. The look on Alec's face cracks me up and you can see that Lauren is about to laugh.  I love Mason's smile and Taylor giggling next to them... 

now - I had the idea to recreate the photo with the middle group of cousins. I wasn't even thinking about the prompt at the time, but it works. One of them wasn't happy about being kissed, and one didn't want to actually touch someone so sweaty, but they were good sports!

2. walking empty streets

3. repeating pattern

4. floor

5. fingertips

project 365: week 30

1. my mom made alec a birthday cake
2. maisy loves to chase these little green lizards
3. mason
4. at a beautiful state park in madisonville
5. desperado sage
6. fried alligator*
7. happy 16th birthday to alec

*since I've had a couple of questions about what the alligator tastes like, I'm letting you all know it's very tender and tasty, and yes it's cliche, but it tastes a lot like chicken - only better!

bubbles

I have some bubbles that I bought a few years back in a snowman shaped bottle. I remembered the package said they were long lasting and they really are. Once they land in the grass they usually last long enough for me to lay on the ground and get a few shots. Sounds fun, huh?

The theme at crazy days of summer is bubbles so I'm sharing my favorite close up of a bubble. You can even see me and my camera and my house in the background.

And one more for the theme at foto friday which is down low.

driving

Alec at about 10 months old having fun in his uncle's jeep.

He has always loved cars and now he's old enough to drive. Happy 16th birthday, Alec!

dream

Kim Klassen has given us another beautiful texture. This one is called dream which is also the theme for texture tuesday today.

I've been having a lot of fun with my macro lens lately. I was so happy when I spotted this little ladybug crawling around my crepe myrtle. And I thought the new dream texture was just right for this image.

My neighbor has a desperado sage that is just about to bloom. The tiny buds are so delicate. I added the silence texture this time.

And we've been having a lot of rain lately so I captured this drop of water just as it was about to fall. I used the golden texture - another favorite from Kim Klassen.

i heart faces: water

One very fun way to cool off in this heat...

scavenger hunt: july 24

1. music to my ears - We had no rain for so long so the sound of raindrops last week was definitely music to my ears.

2. hat - It was great getting to see my nephew who's here for a visit.

3. clear - Another raindrop because it's crystal clear.

4. out of this world - These mushrooms look like they are out of place in my yard.

5. sprinkles - More raindrops, but this time a sprinkling of drops.

project 365: week 29

1. our neighbor brought the boys nesting lsu football players from Russia
2. pink hibiscus
3. mushroom
4. cutting the grass
5. salad for lunch
6. flatware drawer
7. a bee on the crepe myrtle

soft and fast

Just sharing some softness for live every moment's soft theme today...

a dandelion

q-tips

Maisy is very sweet and soft, too. And she is so fast, I seriously think she could beat a greyhound. A lot of my shots of her look like this.

Sometimes I get lucky and get her in the frame and in focus too, but it's rare.

mushrooms

After almost no rain for weeks and weeks, we've finally been getting plenty of rain. It's rained just about every day for the past week. This means we've had lots of mushrooms pop up in the yard. So I decided to get down real low and close to capture a few pics.

The rain also means we've had fire ant nests pop up in the yard a lot. This is a bummer because they bit me a couple of times while I was trying to get the mushroom shots. But at least I found something new to photograph...

before

after adding the aurora texture and I think I added stained linen too

another before

after adding granny's cupboard (my all time favorite texture)

i heart faces: props

It's always fun when your prop is tasty.

project 365: week 28

1. pink flowers
2. quesadilla
3. a walk at the arboretum
4. tiny nest
5. raindrops
6. mango pineapple smoothie
7. lavender crepe myrtle