|
|
Oh, I’ve been in a bit of a blogging funk lately! I’ve skipped the past few “You Capture” challenges. I guess I’ve been on my version of summer vacation. I’m hoping to get back into a groove once school starts and we get into more of a schedule.
That being said, we’ve been spending as much time outside as possible, as long as the mosquitoes weren’t too bad! (They’ve been HORRENDOUS here this year!)
I captured this shot in the early morning light, crouched in my garden, hoping to avoid getting eaten alive!
We spent a fair amount of time at the pool this summer, and last week we met some friends there. Ky is quite the bathing beauty!
I took the boys for a picnic on the beach Saturday evening and got to see a beautiful sunset. We also saw a proposal on the beach! So sweet!
The next day we headed to Madison for Wisconsin Football Family Fun Day. Of course, we had to stop at Memorial Union Terrace for some ice cream, and to sit in some Terrace chairs! (If you haven’t had the opportunity to partake in some ice cream, made fresh on campus, and to enjoy a summer day on the Terrace, you’re missing out!)
 
We had a great time listening to the waves lap up on the wall by the Terrace.
And then the boys were excited to be out on the field at Camp Randall, home of the Wisconsin Badgers! (Behind the boys, just to the right of Noah’s head, is the approximate location of our seats.)
Go over to Beth’s to see what else was going on outside this week!
As soon as I saw this week’s challenge at I Heart Faces, I knew I had a picture I wanted to submit.
Go check out other entries here.
I’m a bit of a morning person. Okay, not just a bit. I’m a full-fledged morning person. I’m also an optimist for the most part, and somewhat of a cheerleader at work with my patients. It’s kind of, ahem, disgusting.
Anyhoo, my mornings usually start with a view of the first bits of light through my bathroom window as I get ready for a morning run.
And my shoes carry me down my driveway to get ready to pound the pavement for a few miles.
Many of our mornings for the next few months will be spent waiting for the bus to come.
But, I just loved yesterday morning when Caden and I chilled at Starbucks after getting Noah off to his first day of school.
How do other people spend their mornings? Beth’s blog will give you a chance to find out!
We do a lot of playing around here. All sorts of playing.
Playing cut-throat Scrabble games (that are much more difficult when you have very few vowels!)
Playing cut-throat Battleship games (under a shelter in the pouring rain!)
Playing t-ball games (with minimal fielding skills but lots of smiles!)
Playing golf at lessons (with a buddy and lots of laughs!)
Playing golf on the course (even if someone doesn’t want to let you play too much!)
Playing hooky from work and checking out the stadium where the Green Bay Packers play (even if you’re not the biggest Packers fan-or much of a fan at all!)
Still playing hooky to go wine-tasting (especially if you’re a wine fan!)
There’s all sorts of ways to play, and you’ll see a bunch of them over at Beth’s.
Or as we call it around here, Thursday. We’ve had crazy rain storms around here this summer. Up until yesterday, the storms seemed to happen at night only, making for a great summer. But yesterday, the rain started around 8:00 in the morning, and didn’t stop until early this morning. There was a bit of severe weather too. I think that one of our counties was under a tornado warning for over an hour, which is pretty unusual. A Cadillac Escalade ended up in a sinkhole, motor running, wheels turning! The driver was just fine. We didn’t have too much scary stuff around here. A bit of thunder, some lightning, but a decent amount of rain. There are numerous roads closed around here which are flooded over. It makes travel a bit more challenging.
We spent our morning yesterday at the park for Caden’s “Dino Diggers” class. Since it was already quite a deluge, Noah and I camped out in the shelter and played some Battleship.***
 
Caden got ready to dig.
Andy and I played a cutthroat game of Scrabble last night. Check out my stellar selection of letters!
While Andy beat me in Scrabble, the boys were snuggling in bed together. I think it was because of the storm!
Today, we were out driving around, checking out areas that are prone to flooding, to see what we could find.
You can see the line of bark chips and debris way off the road where the water reached.
This is along Menomonee River Parkway. In the second photo, the river is about twice as wide as normal.
 
More bark chips/debris showing the water line.
I love this bridge. These pictures don’t show the flooding, but I love them!
 
 
The bridge was actually kind of scary. It was a little slippery, and the water was rushing very fast under the bridge. I kept trying not to imagine what would happen if one of the boys slipped off the edge! We made sure to hold hands as we crossed.
 
It’s hard to tell how fast the water was moving, but if you look at the pictures, you can see the water around the branches and trees and get a little bit of the idea.
I think I speak for everyone in the Milwaukee area when I say we’ve had enough for now. But apparently Mother Nature has something else in mind. We’re due for more storms tomorrow. We’ll see what happens!
***All of my pictures were taken using my 50mm 1.8 lens, which doesn’t autofocus on my camera. I’ve discovered I’m not very good at manual focus! But the lens is so great! I need a camera upgrade! 🙂
This week, Beth wanted us to work on some processing to create some black and white shots. I used some shots from our trip to the pool last Friday to play with some Lightroom presets.
Pretty Presets: BW Sweetness
Lightroom preset: B&W Creative-Look 2
Lightroom preset: B&W Creative-Look 3
Lightroom preset: B&W Creative-Look 1
Lightroom preset: B&W Creative-Look 2
Lightroom preset: B&W Creative-Look 2
Kind of fun! I could have played around more with the separate tools, but I like a quick fix sometimes!
There are probably more black and white beauties over at Beth’s. Go check them out!
As the mother of two boys, you can be sure we have vehicles around here.
Space Shuttles:
 
A zamboni:
Lego vehicles, mostly Star Wars vehicles:
A giant bucket of cars/trucks/airplanes:
And Batman vehicles, which often surround the Joker-mobile:
(I like the washed-out color, kind of like the old television episodes!)
There are bound to be many more takes on this vehicle theme over at Beth’s!
We’re trying to get as much out of summer as we can. Summer doesn’t last too long around here, and winter lasts WAY too long, so you want to soak up as much outdoor time as possible. (It’s not like it’s so cold in the winter that you can’t be outside, but it’s too cold for me to want to be outside more than necessary!)
The humidity finally broke, so tonight we headed to the mini-golf course, driving range, and then off to get some frozen custard.
Noah was chillin’ in the car on the way there, jamming to “Jump Around” on the radio.
Watch out for the (very fake-looking) alligator!
Caden finishes every hole like this, since he saw the pros doing it on TV.
Noah got a hole in one, and was pretty psyched about it!
 
 
Time to hit the driving range!
  
I even found some beauty at the mini-golf course and driving range! I really love July in Wisconsin!
 
Then it was time to head out for some chocolate (Caden) and cookie dough (Andy, Noah, and me) custard at Kopps! Caden didn’t get much farther with his ice cream. He’s really not a big fan!
 
The boys did some jumping (holding hands-so cute!).
And I loved the light while Andy was driving us home.
I want nights like this all the time! This weekend, we need some outdoor play, some pool time, and some burgers on the grill! Here’s hoping!
|
|
