My (sob!) Kindergartener

Last One

I think I'm finished posting pics from Sea World, but who knows. I might get desparate one of these days and go back through them. For now, enjoy this last one of Thomas and Sembree watching the dolphin.

Splash Buddies

One good thing about all the rain at Sea World...all the puddles to splash in! If you view the bottom pic big, you'll be able to see that Jonathan had already fallen in a puddle or two and was completely soaked.

Thomas and Dolphin Friend

Which Is Better?

Black and White
or Color?

Pancho Brothers

It rained most of the time we were at Sea World. Everyone in our group bought these lovely panchos. If it hadn't been raining so hard, I might have even gotten a group pic. All 9 of us in our panchos. But I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet.

Shamu

I can't stand the Believe show, which is unusual for an optimistic person like me, but killer whales are always cool.

Dolphin

I took all manual photos at Sea World and it really helped a lot. If it hadn't rained most of the day, I'd have taken more than the 100 pics I did take. Didn't this dolphin pose nicely?

Kids Having Fun

Isn't this a funny shot of the kids at Fiesta Texas? Poor things. Their mommies NEVER take them anywhere fun. They have SUCH tough lives. From left: Sembree, Will, Natalie, Jonathan, and Thomas.

BTW, this photo was intended to be a group shot of everyone having fun. No one wanted to smile for the camera though. David asked if they were told to look angry...no, they were asked to smile!

Dancing and Jumping

Two boys who dance exactly alike. Must be in the genes. :-)
They played this game for quite a while. Jonathan would jump off the fireplace into Thomas' arms and they'd both die laughing. Over and over and over again.

Silly Boys

A cute shot of the boys having fun on our bed one night after baths.

Computer Guru

Jonathan thinks he's an expert on the computer now. He'll pull a kitchen chair over to the laptop and click away.

Thomas Boat

Thomas LOVES being at the lake and on the boat.

Boat Drivers

Jonathan had been sick the day before and pretty much only wanted Mommy all day. But he did let Uncle Bobby hold him so he could help drive the boat.

Boat Boys

The boys out on Bobby and Patty's boat.

Boat Fun

I couldn't decide which of these pictures to post first so I'm posting them both.
I like this one because of everything included in it. The sky looks really cool. And you can see Thomas and David enjoying their time riding on the boat.
Except for the canopy in the way, this is a perfect shot. Even with it in the way, you can still see how high and far David had thrown Thomas off the boat. It was a fun day and there are definitely more lake pics to come.

Lake Bird

I took this pic at the lake last weekend. We were on the boat, saw the bird, and I snapped quickly to try to catch it.

Kids and Crocs

Well, three kids and Crocs. Jonathan's are Skechers but close enough. :-) Amy definitely has the touch with little ones. Jonathan absolutely LOVES her. And remember how she used to walk by the stroller holding Thomas' hand when he was this age?

Stingray

I like this shot of the stingray swimming overheard, noise and all. :-)

Penguin

I thought the penguins at the aquarium were neat, but stinky. :-)

Three Boys and Three Toes

This sloth was Thomas' favorite part of the Aquarium and that's saying a lot because he really loved everything. He wants to go back today.

Shark!

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium today. It was our first trip there. We had a great time with Lisa, Amy, and James. I took about 200 pictures today. I won't share them all I promise. :-) This isn't the best picture I took today, it's too noisy, but I still liked the shot of the shark swimming right toward Jonathan. It makes me want to shout, "Look out!"

White Balance Rainbows

I conducted an unexpected and unintended photography experiment last night. As Mom and Dad were leaving, we noticed a beautiful rainbow in the sky. And what do you think I had to do? That's right, I ran back inside for my camera. I used manual settings but was having the hardest time getting the shot I wanted. Only after about 10 shots did I realize my error. My white balance was still set on incandescent from the birthday cupcake photos and that made for a much bluer rainbow pic than was the reality.

Incandescent White Balance

Auto White Balance (and much more like reality)

But is it better? Guess that's an artistic judgement.

Birthday Cupcakes

I should have changed lenses for this pic. My 50 mm would have done a better job with the depth of field. The frosting on all but the top right cupcake was buttercream. We had to use vanilla on that one after we ran out of the other. See the color change?

Water Buds

I took this photo the other night of crape myrtle buds after the rainstorm. The wind was still blowing a little so it's not perfectly crisp, but I still like the shot.

Storm Clouds

I took these photos Wednesday night. I thought it was really cool how the sky had so many colors in it at once while Mother Nature was deciding whether or not she was going to rain...she did.
For this one, I haven't had much practice photographing birds in flight, and the lighting was dim which made it a challenge to get a fast enough shutter speed. I'll keep practicing.