An unenviable task -- a photo story

When you're 3, it might sound like a lot of fun to take a box of Ziploc baggies and throw them all over the kitchen floor, creating a pool of slick plastic fun.

That is, it's fun until your meanie mama says you have to pick up the hundred of so slippery suckers and put them away.

Then, you've got a serious job to do.

Let's see how that unfolds.

Success! Except for that lone remnant on the floor. And the spillage coming out of the drawer. Which you know is going to burst forth with Ziplocs the second you open it.

Still. A for effort.

Up, up and away

See this? Little guy is pulling up his own a bit. Oh yes.



Oh. And he's crawling some, too.

And he's not even seven months until tomorrow. He's an over-achiever if you ask. I wouldn't mind if he just slowed down a bit and stayed my little baby a while longer.

We first saw him do those thing on Saturday night, when we drove about an hour away to go to a balloon festival. I need these sorts of diversions in my life -- little adventures like that, where you hop in the car and go somewhere and see something you normally wouldn't. 

It was a beautiful Michigan summer evening. There aren't too many left. I am trying to soak up as much of them as I can.

We ate dinner on a blanket in the grass. Luke played on a playground and ran to catch marshmellows thrown from a fire truck.

It was serene.

And soon, the balloons started to fill the sky.

A lot of photos, I know. Aren't they pretty, though?

It was a really lovely night in what has been a really lovely summer and an even lovelier year. I know this is filled to the brim with cheese, this post. But I want to be thankful and notice these days. They're amazing.

Linked at...

100 followers, and the Detroit Zoo!

First off, I hit 100 followers this week. I realize that this is a very small milestone in the grand scheme of the blogging world. But I'm kinda floored. Thank you guys! I am going to round up something for a giveaway over the weekend. Probably something handmade by me.

Secondly, a small diversion from sewing. My friend Michelle and I hit the Detroit Zoo this week. The weather here has been fan-flipping-tastic this week. And the Zoo is like five minutes away from my house, and we have a membership. So it was really a must-do this week. It's a truly fabulous zoo. These photos are just a small portion of it.

 Isn't she pretty? (Or he? I don't know.)

 This wild horse was using the tree to scratch his back. Clever, eh?

 One of my favorite parts of the zoo is the prairie dog exhibit. These guys are so cute, the way they pop up and stand so tall. And there is a cool feature where you can go below the exhibit and stand in a glass bubble, so your head is right at ground level with the dogs.

There's also a kangaroo exhibit you walk through. The kangaroos weren't jumping around when we walked through. They were mostly chilling like this one above.

 Aren't zebras beautiful? I took many, many photos of the zebras.

Especially this little baby zebra. Awwww!

The peacock had a brood of baby's, too. It was so sweet how they all walked right under her. And smart -- there were actually hawks circling above!

Luke, wearing his Oliver and S bucket hat, with a couple of zebra friends.

And lastly.... rhino booty. Is there anything prettier?

Cheating on my sewing machine

Yes, I have a new love. My new Tamron camera lens. (The long name? It's the Tamron 18-270 mm 1:3.5-6.3)

I could wax on about how this lens has such-and-such amazing technical feature and such-and-such awesome technical term blah-ditty-blah. Look, like I've said, I'm not so smart about my fancy schmancy camera. I have a lot to learn.

But I can say that with just a couple of my first snaps, it was love. This lens is so yummy. So clear. So crisp. So what I need in my life.

Here is just a quick look at what it does. I'll share more later, especially if I ever feel like I have something smart to share. For now, I just want to say it seems great, and even better is the $150 rebate offered through Amazon. I think it runs through July.

One of my first shots, straight out of the camera. It's not amazing or anything, but pretty good without any tinkering or editing or knowing what the hell you're doing. Don't you think?

Look at the zoom. It's cray!  It goes from here.....

 To here! I feel like I am spying on these kids. Stalker!

 Another look at the zoom. From my porch....

Into my backyard.

These were literally the first shots I took after slapping this thing on my camera. Did I say I have a lot to learn? Oh, yes? OK. Well, it's true. But I'm pretty happy already and geeking out on the idea of finally learning how to take great photos with my camera.  It's a lot like I felt when I first got my sewing machine. Like I just want to shut myself away for a few weeks to learn how to use my new toy. We can all dream, right?