Outdoor Adventures

In light of the great Spring weather we had this week, I took advantage of it yesterday by taking Jordan to do a few things outside around town vs. spending the day cooped up in the house.

First, we went to one of the many lakes we have around to feed the ducks. Our lake downtown is also home to many Swans the city cares for, so it makes for a great place to see a lot of wildlife, and a great place to practice with my camera.

Spring also means babies!! Which we saw a few of today. We saw several swans resting in their nests but only one little ugly duckling... I did my best for a picture, but the grass was getting in the way of the focus...

 But there were plenty of opportunities for other swan shots. This was one of my favorites,

And I love this one too, but I'm totally into the whole, out of focus in the background on purpose, type of picture right now so I might not be a good judge.

Jordan got really close to a few of the ducks we fed. I've found in my duck feeding experience, that the big white ducks usually come much closer than the mallards.  These guys weren't afraid at all. One even touched Jordan's finger while he was feeding him. The reaction is the second shot.

We saw one turtle and one tortoise in our adventures today. The turtle was while we were at the lake, but we didn't get too close. He didn't seem particularly friendly.

These guys however, I would have loved to have gotten close to, but my zoom lens would have to do. They took off with Mama as soon as they realized we were trying to lure them in with the bread.

Later on in the evening, since I was already in an "outdoorsy" mood, I opted to take Jordan and the dogs to a nearby park with a hiking trail for our walk instead of just going around the block. Now, walking two dogs while trying to take pictures has proven difficult, but I got a few. 

I love this one of Jordan walking up ahead on the trail. He kept looking out for markers to make sure we were going in the right direction.

And here's my poser on a bridge we found out along the trail. He had me take about 10 different shots before he was happy to move on. He has this whole thing right now were every time I ask him for a nice face, he asks me to take one of a silly face in return. lol

And last, here's our tortoise. I'm surprised he stuck around for pictures, since the dogs were VERY interested in him. He did okay for awhile, but once Jordan went in for a touch, he took off. He was surprisingly fast for a tortoise...

All in all, it was a great day enjoyed with my boy reminding me that the outdoors can be pretty nice if I take the time to enjoy them....

P52 Week 17 - Green

I had two different shots for this week that I can't decide between, so I'm going to post them both below. I love them both for different reasons.

The first one is a shot of unripened blueberries from our trip to pick blueberries earlier this week. You can see more pictures from that day here.

The second picture is of one of my cats, Maggie, who has beautiful green eyes. I just happen to get this picture while playing around with the camera in the backyard and I love it, so I had to share it too.

You decide which you like best :)

Changing

These past few weeks have been full of changes. Changes at home, changes at work, changes, changes, changes... And the next few months don't show signs of that changing... lol

Hubby's shift at work changed a few weeks ago, leaving us with only one day off with everyone at home together. That was an adjustment, but it makes us sure to use that day to spend time together as a family and do something fun vs. wasting it just lying around, so it's been positive. Plus it sets us up for a great schedule once Jordan starts kindergarten in August.

I also just restarted a more rigid diet/exercise plan for myself. I worked really hard in December to meet a goal I wanted for Christmas, but have been totally slacking off since then. I'm heading on vacation in June to see a group of old friends so I'm using that as my new goal to get back on track. I won't be where I wish I was by then, but if I can be on my way I'll feel a whole lot better.

Then this week, I got an offer at work to change my schedule so I'm home earlier every day, which will be awesome, but sets up some challenges with getting to the gym since I'll now be working during the time I usually go, and it means I'll miss some of Jordan's soccer games the rest of this season. But again, the payoff in August to have less time we'll have to have a babysitter for Jordan after school is going to be worth it.

Ironically, another change this week is our weather. It is GORGEOUS outside. Are there really states where the weather is usually like this during April? Temperatures in the 60's and no rain or humidity... I wish I could make it stay. Being able to have my windows open in April does NOT happen in Florida. I will enjoy it while it lasts and then wish for November to roll in as fast as possible...

Nice weather does mean we can spend more time outside though, which gives me more opportunities to practice with my camera. This week I've been playing with ISO and aperture. I've found I'm learning more by having a basic knowledge of how everything works and then just taking pictures with different settings and comparing them. Thank goodness for digital... How did photographers get better when using film without going broke?
I got some shots I'm pretty happy with and posted them below. I'm making an effort to blog more often than just once a week for my photo challenge, so let's hope I keep it up. We'll add it to the list of changes.

 Here's a magnolia blossom from the tree in the backyard,

And a shot of my pretty kitty Maggie, 

Jordan playing baseball (one of the few where his eyes are actually open) ,

And one last picture of the magnolia tree as the sun starts to come down for the evening. This was my favorite shot of the day. I even decided to use it as the main pic on my blog title since it worked with the color scheme...

Blueberry Memories

Today was such a great day. A local farm nearby grows blueberries and lets you do u-pick, so we thought we'd head out for lunch by their pond and some blueberry goodness. And let me tell you, we will return. The farm is wonderful, the perfect place to have fun as a family and also get some great fruit to take home.

Here's my hubby picking some,

and then Jordan,

and then, some pics that make me wish I had a macro lens... but my birthday is coming up... lol



I have decided that I love to take some close up shots of nature... So I think I'm going to move on in that direction in my photography... We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and those blueberries, those wonderful blueberries... They are some of the biggest, best, blueberries I've ever had. We had so much fun, picking them, and eating them. I can't wait to go back.

P52 Week 14 - Things that Grow

For my photo this week I had what I thought was a neat idea to take some pictures of waves growing at the beach, but our beach trip had to be postponed due to something else that grows in Florida, rain clouds. It looks like we have a wet weekend in store for us, so the beach will have to wait until next week.

Instead, for my Things that Grow picture, I took a few pictures of  the hibiscus plants that are starting to flower in my front yard. I need to get some new plants to add to the landscape for the spring, but I just haven't found the time yet. Thank goodness these hibiscus keep coming back. They took a hit a few winters ago, but with the mild winters the past two years they seem to be making a bit of a comeback.

P52 Week 15 - Sacrifice

Late on my post this week, but at least the picture was taken in the right week! :) I've been sick over the weekend, so blogging was not on my to-do list. Feeling better today, but wishing I didn't have to be at work. Since my 10 hour days consist of talking to customers over the phone the whole time, having a sore throat, cough, and runny nose are not really helpful.

I can't believe we are already through 15 weeks of the year already. This first half of the year is flying by. Before I know it, I'll be shipping Jordan off to kindergarten. No! I'm not ready! But he is, he's so ready. We registered him at the school on Wednesday and he was so excited. We got to tour through the classrooms and see some of the campus, and he can't wait to go back. He asked me how long until school started, and after he figured out how long it is between April and August, he was very disappointed.

This week's P52 theme is Sacrifice, but thank goodness Darcy, the blog host, clarified that we were able to use any pic from our Easter holiday celebration, which is great because I was struggling with the theme, and because there is a picture I took of Jordan hunting eggs on Easter that I love and SO wanted to use for this week.

P52 Week 14 - Foolin' Around

Spring has sprung... so why does it already feel like Summer? Oh, that's right, I live in Florida. Jordan and I attempted a trip to the park this week that didn't last very long, it was way hot! Just last week I was enjoying driving around with the windows open, hanging around outside during the day, but alas, it seems those days are already over for this year. Now comes the time of year where we have to find things to do inside from 11 - 4 every day, because it is just not friendly out there unless you're at the beach.

We still had fun though, for the short time we were there. This weeks P52 theme was "Foolin' Around" which is never hard for this kid. The park we like to go to the most has some statues of kids around it doing various things. One is reading a book. Of course, my silly kid thought it would be hilarious if he sat down and read with her, and it actually was.

He also loves this big hill that he can climb up and then slide down and then of course everybody loves a good slide.