Indulge me

Vacation was wonderful. It was tiring, but wonderful all the same. I didn't get around to taking pictures right before we left, so I'll just plug those in with something when I fill up the book. For now, here's a catch up/look at my wonderful vacation photos. I just had 269 printed to scrap, so this is just a few of my favorite ones...


June 28
The hard work was worth it with all that power washing and staining. The deck looks amazing!


June 29
Katy's hair grows so fast I am completely jealous. She straightened it, and Shona kept saying "ooooo, it's so silky!" I guess I'm not the only jealous one.

Skipping June 30 and July 1. Deal with it. :P


July 2
Day one of our summer vacation. We stopped in Mammoth Springs state park just across the Arkansas border. What a beautiful place.


July 3
All that driving was worth it. We made it to Florida!!


July 4
St. Augustine, FL. The girls got to dip their toes in the water and play on the beach for a few minutes before we headed out to play.

Downtown old St. Augustine, where the girls met a pirate.


We climbed the St. Augustine lighthouse...or at least most of us did. Shona wimped out, but that was just the start of her wimping out. Apparently, she has a lot of fears.


The old fort at St. Augstine, one of my favorite places. I hadn't been there in 25 years, so don't you think it was time?


July 5
Day one of Disney found us at Epcot. John was falling all over himself when he met Mary Poppins. It was almost embarrassing.


The big ball. Had to have a shot of that. It was the only ride Shona really enjoyed and asked to go on again.



What Shona did enjoy was meeting the characters. This Kim Possible team was one of her favorites. The Disney people get very enthusiastic applause from me. They were one of the best parts of the trip.


July 6
This was the day of meeting friends. This is me with my friend Julie, outside the McDonald's at Disney.

This is us close up so you can see how stunningly lovely Julie is and how....I am not.

And this is Meg with Shona. Two instant BFF's, at least for the day.


And this is Janet with me and Shona, waiting to get in to the Animal Kingdom park.


Oh yeah, we also went to the park. Our favorite of the three we visited. This is the best photo. :)


July 7
Know how to have fun on your birthday? Go to Disney, I don't care how old you are. You will feel five years old again. I loved every minute of it. Even little kids saw my button and told me happy birthday.


Hollywood Studios was a blast. I loved that place, although I am an old movie buff. :)


Mandy didn't appreciate the snow. I can't blame her. I have had enough of that to last a lifetime.


I did appreciate the girls' pictures. They acted sillier than Shona with the photo ops. :)


July 8
Disney World is NOT the happiest place on Earth. My beach in Pensacola is. Can't you tell?


I'm not the only one who took to the sea.


July 9
The next day, we were back for more fun in the sun. We also went to the Naval Air Museum and the lighthouse, but that's for another day.

This was the look on all our faces when it was time to leave the beach. I've created monsters. Sea monsters. My evil plan has worked. They want to go back to Pensacola next year for a graduation present. Go on, twist my arm.


July 10
This was the only picture we took during the long trip home. Never again will I do 720 miles in one day with two teens in the car. Talk about drama!

I'll catch the rest up later. That's all my fingers can handle for one day.

June is almost over!?

June 19
One of Katy's favorite stuffed animals.


June 20
We took a quick day trip up to my hometown in order to drop off my dad's Father's Day gift. We also spent time with John's mother and went out to eat. Would you believe this shot is the only photo I took that day? What's wrong with me?



June 21
Katy's prankster Father's Day gift to John was a can of turle wax...for his head.


June 22
Shona's favorite travel pastime: playing on her Nintendo DS.


June 23
Katy has been home for days and just now got her suitcase unpacked. Then she placed it outside her door as if I am room service. Ha!


June 24
The first tomato from our topsy turvey tomato plant. It is definitely not a bland flavor!


June 25
Not a great shot (kind of fuzzy), but it's just so dang cute of the dogs looking at me. I couldn't resist.


June 26
Poor Shona came home looking like a lobster after a day at the pool with her class. Even sending along a bottle of sunscreen didn't prevent her from missing spots, namely her face. It got worse before it got better.




June 27
Goggles and a bathing suit must mean swimming, right? Nope, power washing the house and back deck. It took two mornings and evenings, working around the painful heat.

More June

June 12
Keeping cool in a long summer dress.


June 13
My wall of old time photos. It's a family tradition to have them done, just not on a rigid time frame. When we get to it, we get to it. I have family photos done in this style going back 25 years. I have one that is a four generation photo, and another of my brother, sister and I taken right after my brother's motorcycle accident. He had a bandaged knee, so the photographer worked to make him look like a wounded Civil War veteran.


June 14
We dropped Katy off at summer engineering camp. She had a roommate and two other suitemates.


June 15
Another of Shona's clay creations. The page in the background is her artwork as well.


June 16
Sometimes it's just so hot you can only cool off with ice cream.


June 17
Not a photo, but a screen shot of current weather conditions on that date. It's too early in the summer to be this hot!


June 18
One of the original turbines in the Bagnell Dam. It was in place for 70 years before being replaced with a stainless steel one.

June is speeding by too fast

June 8
The best part of the park for Shona is the ice cold water from the fountain. You would think she was a camel preparing for a haul across the Sahara the way she fills up.


June 9
How do two teens pass the time in a tiny bathroom during tornado sirens? Why, see if their text messages still go through, of course. The high winds, pea sized hail and intense rain didn't bother them, but getting down to one bar? Total freak out time.


June 10
Another sign of my ever advancing age: having to move to the gray coverage hair color. I'm just relieved I didn't need bifocals yet when I saw the eye doctor last week.


June 11
Shona and I painted our toenails tonight. She did mine, I did hers. Her foot is getting so big it's nearly as long as mine. I got a typical red finish, while she went for a funky silver and black pedicure.

June is busting out all over

June 1
On one of our walks, Shona and I picked these beautiful wild flowers.


June 2
About a year ago, we were dining at a Thai restaurant when the owners took an interest in Shona. They folded a dollar into this little shirt. It's so cute I can't bring myself to unfold it and use it.


June 3
The new gazebo at a local park. It was built in honor of a teenager killed at the park a couple of years ago.



June 4
This poor tree. It's so stark and dead against the green landscape, but it makes for a lovely POTD.


June 5
A photo of my shadow, with umbrella. I wish my legs were as thin as my shadow's!


June 6
I love spring flowers!



June 7
Best part of helping mom bake brownies? Licking the batter from the beaters, of course!

The rest of May

May 24
Katy showing off her funky, new glasses.


May 25
I was beginning to think Shona would not make it through memorizing her times tables. As intelligent as she is, she isn't the most motivated student in the world. I have to push her to finish things at times. I was so proud of her when she managed to squeak through in the nick of time, becoming a multiplication master.


May 26
Look! Tomatoes! That Topsy Turvey planter works great, I highly recommend them!


May 27
Shona was playing with the camera and captured this creepy shot.


May 28
This is why I don't let people into my scrap area when I'm working. I have a whole series of shots with this thing being used in a variety of ways. I must scrap it.


May 29
Now that it's summer, I am getting a lot more shots of Katy. She even tries to make sure I get my POTD every day. Case in point: check out the writing on the fingers. She was dressing up as an '80's Latina gangsta. I thought little kids were the ones into dress up. At least she didn't leave the house this way.


May 30
And this adorable picture is the type of photo I get when Katy takes off with my camera. :)


May 31
A Shona clay creation. It's hard to see, but the fangs are magnificent. :)