Does anyone know the name of this plant? Christina? Karma?

The Sunken Gardens really are phenomenal right now. (Or at least they were gorgeous two days ago when we visited. It’s since gotten pretty chilly in the mornings, but no frost yet.)

The flowers and bushes are at their peak of beauty, their enormous blooms almost hide garden paths from view. A few months ago I could see little heads pretty much anywhere in the park, but Monday I had a hard time keeping an eye on Livia while shooting various blossoms.

It’s no wonder Claude Monet painted water lilies. I was captured by these purple flowers in particular and wanted to preserve them just the way they were that afternoon, with the sun glowing brilliantly on the purple petals.

It’s time to play princesses. Time to get out the beads & slippers, the tiaras & boas.
It’s time to share. To trade. To wait five minutes and then be gracious.
It’s time to learn. About bugs, about dogs, about following directions.
It’s time to snack. Slices of apples, slices of cheese. More slices of apples.
Finally, it’s time to go home. Another day, another playdate.

ARRRRRing
AHOYing and
MATEYing for Talk Like a Pirate Day and now
Pondering whether or not Jeremy the Lego Pirate is the reason our tub is clogged.
Drinking Good Earth Decaf Tea because my throat is a little sore.
Expecting a cold front next week and, for the first time in perhaps my entire life,
Looking forward to cold temperatures and not just
Mourning the end of summer.
Feeling sorry for my little girl who is not feeling so hot and went to bed early.
Rejoicing for friends who adopted a baby girl yesterday (!!!) and
Asking the Lord to bring more babies to those who want them so badly.
Getting used to my new haircut and
Trusting others that I don’t look like a soccer mom or Janine Turner (even though she’s lovely).
Loving my mom and mother-in-law more all the time and
Appreciating all they’ve given to their children over the years.
Praying I will give of myself more selflessly than I did today.
Looking forward to writing more (freelance) and
Learning more as a photographer.
Planning to continue sharing the fruits of my labors here with you all.
Saying “goodnight” and “God bless” and “Land ho!”

I have other blog posts in mind. But frankly, they all require too much time and forethought. So instead I’ll post a photo of my dog.

In this pic his fur is unkempt. He’s quite dirty. He’s dog tired. And yet I still think he’s the cutest pooch on the planet. That’s what love does apparently—it blinds you into believing your dog (or more frequently, your child) is the cutest, best, brightest creature on the planet. That’s what I think until Shiloh puts his paws up on the coffee table and licks Livia’s apple slices. Then he’s not so cute.

Shiloh-lito.
Shilozers.
Al Poochino.
Poochy-poochers.

I love my pup.

“Game over, man!” the video game hollers when Livia’s round is over. She is sitting next to me at the dueling computers on my desk. Old iMac versus Mac Mini with the iMac serving in its retirement years as Liv-typewriter-and-game-console.

“GAME OVER, MAN!” Liv is pretty good at this game. So far she’s clicking away silently until now. She picks up on the lingo and begins shooting it back to the screen:

“Sweet, man!” my little girl starts to exclaim.

“Whatcha doing, dude?!”

“I’m gonna getcha, man!”

And then the clencher: “You PISSED ME OFF, man!”

Uh. Wait a minute! Hello! A conversation takes place in front of paused screens. Apparently, Livia doesn’t know it was an, ahem, inappropriate phrase. She can’t even recall where she got it from—and considering her elephantine memory, I believe her.

Corrected, she goes back to the game and I return to my own screen, both cringing and laughing inside, knowing full well where she could have picked up the phrase.

Little pitchers, big ears, yada yada yada. Ah, the life of a mom.

Bokeh is a funny photography term that refers to the blurred, out-of-focus background of a picture where light is distorted. Last weekend I wandered between the cabin and the lake, and allowed my camera to turn towards anything potentially captivating. The sun was setting beyond this little grove of trees (birches, but I could be wrong) and the sparkling light grabbed my attention. What is it about trees and light that is so interesting? It makes me think of fairies and forest elves… and the peace and quiet found around lakes in northern Minnesota.

Last week was a whirlwind of work, housework and packing for Labor Day weekend.

This week involves re-entry into daily life after a wonderfully relaxing and refreshing weekend at the lake with four amazing friends. Before I left, Livia told me she would “focus” on being good for daddy over the weekend. And apparently her focusing paid off—she was great! But I fear I’m paying for my departure now, as my kid is offering up some really, really, really challenging behaviors. Sigh.

It was so good to have a weekend off. It is also good to be home with my beloved husband and beautiful kiddo.

More coming about my girls’ weekend…

I’m locked out of Facebook for the time being. So if you get any weird messages there from me, know they’re not from me at all! I wonder if a lot of people are receiving these security alerts. Jeremy did, and I changed my password when that happened. It’s a tad annoying if you ask me.

So Liv and I took in the final Lincoln state fair yesterday afternoon. (It is moving to Grand Island, NE, next year.) Livia requested her photo be taken in the shot above, so of course I obliged! She was posing and twirling; I loved it. We were excited to be at the fair. I was excited about the following photo.

Mmmm. Funnel cakes with powdered sugar. My body was very displeased with me afterwards, but they were good going down.

We saw a giraffe among other creatures in the exotic animal tent. Liv still recalls with laughter the time Papa tried to feed the ostrich and dropped the animal feed in surprise (two years ago, I wasn’t there but Liv’s recollection makes me laugh)—and we fed the ostrich this time with better results. Still, one gets a bit nervous feeding an ostrich. That bird had some power.

We moved on to the birthing pavilion and got to hold a baby chick. Nothing makes Livia happier than handling animal babies. I had to drag her from the tent. She would’ve held the baby goats and lambs if they had let her.

Sometimes I’m surprised by who I see through my camera lens. Anyone recognize these folks?

We went on Liv’s first ever carnival ride—her choice. The spinning strawberries were just my pace, too. Apparently, you lose your capacity for amusement park rides when you hit 30. I’m glad I rode them all as a kid because I sure as heck don’t want to anymore!

The skies grew darker and the temps dropped as we were leaving the fair. I laughed out loud as I snapped Livia on this bench, hunched over with fingers in her mouth, as there are many times I’ve wished I could do the same thing when I was cold and tired. Five years olds are delightfully free from inhibition (remind me I said that when she’s wailing away in Target).

Sayanora, State Fair!