26/52 - Magic

26/52 - M4H Project 52

Wow, this is halfway!   I struggled a bit with the theme of "magic", wondering how to capture it.  With Fourth of July celebrations included in the week, however, I loved the MAGIC a slow shutter speed and remote shutter release. It allowed me to finally capture sparkler painting!  

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue

Yesterday, Callie, baby D, Ron and I went out to Cypress Lake for a while.  Jordan and Callie had earlier been out bike riding, so he opted to stay home and rest while she and Ron did their first open-water swim of the triathlon training.   But, first, a little picnic was in order.

As they swam, Luke and I strolled and I snapped a few pictures with my phone.

Did I mention how hard it is to push a stroller in the sand???  

This boy loves his peaches.

And his mommy.

In the evening, I picked up a few packs of sparklers while I was out running errands, then came home and recruited Ron to help me with some photography practice.  I'd read a couple of tutorials on "sparkler painting" and wanted to try it for myself.    I tried it first, before it got dark (as suggested by A Beautiful Mess), so that I can see what I was doing as I changed settings.  It took a few tries, but I started getting the hang of it.

I even tried out my remote shutter release so that I could do the sparklers as well.  Rule #1:  Don't move your body while you swirl the sparkler.

Ron decided to use two sparklers at once.   That is, until one burned his finger and he threw it off to the side.  

Once it got dark, we went back outside again.  

I really wanted to write a word, but the shutter speed was still too fast to allow the writing.

Finally, we got it!    (I slowed down the speed even more)

Can you tell what this one says??

So fun!!

This morning, we got up early and headed to the Firecracker 5K.  You may remember that it was at this race that Ron and I met again several years ago (2012).   

So, it's become tradition for us to participate in the race.  Callie joined us this morning.  

They are both faster than me, but I was pleased with my time and I can tell that my CG workouts are helping me with endurance.

Back To The Fourth

I know I've been jumping all over the place chronologically, but as I was preparing to make a photo book for the grandkids, I realized that there was a whole batch of photos I'd never edited or shared with you from the July 4th weekend.  So here they are.  

On that Sunday afternoon, the boys went fishing while the girls hung out at the house for a while.   Adellelyn, Jexie and Kayonna watched movies and such, while Carmelle and I talked.  It was a good time to continue getting to know one another better---to hear more about our own histories and struggles, as well as some of our hopes and dreams as mamas.   Mid-afternoon, we went out to meet the guys and to give the girls a chance to fish as well.  The guys met us at the fishing pier.

Unfortunately, poor Kay unknowingly put her hand on a huge red wasp nest that was hidden under the edge of one of the rails and those angry wasps stung her several times on her hand/wrist.

While Carmelle took her to get some Benadryl, (and chocolate, because it really does make things better) the other kids began fishing from the end of the pier.

It was oh so hot and nobody was catching much of anything.

Kay was a pro at baiting her own hook.

Jexie was a bit grossed about by the whole thing.

Naturally, Michael stayed busy looking for frogs.

And Adellelyn soon joined him.

It's obvious that they get that tendency naturally, since their daddy decided to try his hand at noodling before we left (with no luck, I might add).

Once home, we all enjoyed dinner and watermelon before retreating to the cool indoors.

Ron had to work Monday, so I took everyone to Krispy Kreme before they packed up and headed home.

What a crazy, busy, chaotic, fun weekend we had!