Alice, Chris and I went to the opening day of the fair yesterday.  The weather was a little iffy, but we didn't get the rains that they were forecasting.

The horticulture competition.

Ducks waiting to be fished out on the midway.

The Barnyard Birthing exhibit

The horse expo

The last two photos sum up the fair for me

A slightly belated birthday present, but worth the wait!!

Here are a couple of test shots I took tonight.  I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting some good macro shots.  It should help me work on some more of the technical aspects of photography such as depth of field and getting the proper exposure.

A certain 7 1/2 year old boy has not been behaving as well as we expect him to the last couple of days, so he lost his privileges this weekend.  Daddy volunteered to stay home with kiddo, so Little Lady and I had a girls only trip to the zoo.

There were lots of beautiful flowers, I have just ordered a macro lens for my camera and I can't wait to try it out on some flower close-ups.

The galapagos tortoises were really active.  We watched their antics for a good 5 -10 minutes.

What do you know, turtle deodorant takes ages to dry too!!

Ever had a morning when you felt like this?!

The lion cubs are growing like weeds.

Toba, the orang was out foraging in her enclosure.  She was backlit from the sun and it reminded me of a shampoo commercial!!

Before long it was time to head home as it was getting a little toasty for us both.  I really enjoyed spending one on one time with the wee one.

She put those hairclips in herself today!

I didn't get his first day of 2nd grade photo because he was a little teary with new school nerves, but I did get his first day of cub scouts!  Kiddo graciously let me take a few shots before he headed out tonight.  As you can see, little sis had to get in on the act too.

We are anxiously waiting for the boys to get home so we can hear how it all went.

Remember us if you feel the need to buy some boyscout popcorn.  You can even buy it online now!! 

Since the kids had such a good time fishing with the cub scouts, we got them their own fishing rods.  Daddy got one too and a fishing license, so we all went to the neighborhood pond tonight after dinner.   I don't have a license yet, I was the official line untangler and de-weeder, as well as photographer!

I left them to it and wandered off to photograph some wildflowers by the pond.

The kids soon got bored of reeling in weeds and followed me over to the stepping stones where the ponds run off drains to a creek.  Running across these was way more fun, not so much fun for Mom to watch.  I am a good swimmer, but can be pretty nervous around water.

Kiddo got hot and tired, he's fighting a cold right now.  So he stopped to dip his toes in.

Someone else was hot and sweaty too!!

Kiddo noticed the beautiful sunset and we decided to go get Dad before the mosquitoes came out.

As a spin off from this week's weekly photochallenge, Becca posted some of her superb photos for digital editing.

I have been fighting PSP this week and ended up having to re-install it on my computer.  It was very frustrating but now I can play with my photos again and all is well!

I cropped it a little and took out the phone wires, then I used a couple of Lucis Art filters.  Voila!!

My poor baby has been having a really rough few days.  There was first day of school jitters for them both, but luckily kiddo came home yesterday saying he had a way better day and he has a best friend already!

Little lady on the other hand has just been totally overwhelmed.  I took them both the the bus stop yesterday and as the bus arrived she dug her heels into the ground and refused to budge.  I carried her onto the bus and she freaked out.  I was getting ready to take her off again as I couldn't get her to sit down, when our wonderful driver said I could ride the bus with her.  He drives through our neighborhood after he drops off at the school and he'd bring me home.  At this point I almost burst in tears along with my wailing daughter!  The bus ride is all of 2 minutes since we live close to the school. 

She was fine taking the daycare bus back to the center where she does her afternoon program, so I think it's probably separation anxiety.

We had a long chat about why she didn't want to ride the bus, and what the consequences would be if she chose to throw a tantrum like that again. 

Today was better, she still cried but she walked onto the bus and sat down with her brother.  I am going to suprise her by picking her up early from daycare this afternoon.  We are going to go get her some more new clothes and ice cream!

 Our first day at school was a soggy one in more ways than one!  It's still raining and in the mid 60s, so no summer dress for first day of school for the little lady.  We went to plan b of her shirt that is just like Mommy's and pink pants.

Both kids were very nervous about starting at their new school today and we had tears before we even left the house with kiddo.  He didn't want any photos taken today so I'll try again tomorrow.

It was crazy at school - I am glad they are taking the school bus from tomorrow.  Kiddo found his spot in the gym to wait for his class and he found a friend. When I went to check on him, more tears and he said his stomach hurt.   No phone call from the school yet so hopefully it was all nerves.

We got to walk little lady to her class room and settle her in, one of our neighbors little boy is in her class, yippee!  But yet again as it came time for us to say goodbye -  more tears.  Her teacher sat her up front and I know she will do everything to settle her in.

Fortunately Mommy managed to hold it together and no tears from me! 

Here is our Kindergartener. Hopefully I'll get the 2nd grader to co-operate tomorrow!