Family Photography Challenge: From a High Point

To go with our photographs from a low point, we took pictures from a high point.  We drove to the marina where there's a small hill to hike up to a place that overlooks the lake. 

On the left of the hill above you can see the overlook we started from

Raina liked the boat coming in from the lake.

Jackson focused on Raina.

I looked over the marina, where the fog was rolling in.

We took turns with the camera, looking for more things that inspired us, like flowers:

By Raina

By me

By Jackson

And spiders and their webs:

Raina saw this spider; I took the picture

I like this photo by Jackson that shows the spider web, but still shows the lake and island in the background

Family Photography Challenge: From a Low Point

Our interpretation of from a low point was to take a picture of something at ground level, or lying down and looking up at something.  I went to the garden again to take a picture of this developing zucchini plant.  I can't believe how many leaves are still forming on this plant!

I am also partial to this photo of Ollie's bare feet.

Raina laid underneath a tree in our yard and shot this nice angle of the trunk leading up into the leaves.

Jackson took his picture a few days later--a view of curly-haired Raina.

Family Photography Challenge: Fruit

It's a great time of year to buy fruit, or to find it growing in the wild as Jackson did for this challenge.

Raina liked the look of this cantaloupe that had just been cut open.

I photographed this freshly washed bowl of cherries.

What's your favorite summer fruit?

Garden Corner

When we built our garden boxes and landscaped around them this spring, we put this adirondack chair in one corner.  I like to sit there, reading on my Kindle, when the kids are playing outside.  I can look over my garden and see how everything is growing.

Sometimes I even let the kids sit in "my" chair

Garden view from the chair

Tomato box--they have blossoms, so I'm anxious to start seeing little tomatoes!  There are also three sunflowers behind the tomatoes.  The tallest one is taller than Remy now.

Green beans, butternut squash, cabbage.  I've never grown cabbage before, and the leaves have lots of holes in, but I can see little cabbages forming in the middle.  Hopefully at least one will grow to full size.

Peas, carrots, beets, zucchini, and cucumbers.  Plus a second planting of radishes.  The beets and radishes are almost ready, and once they're picked the cucumbers and zucchini will have more room to grow.  The peas are full of blossoms, so we'll be eating them soon.

Family Photography Challenge: Something Green and Clouds

I don't give Jackson and Raina any direction as far as what to take pictures of each week, so I found it funny that both of them took a picture of the Incredible Hulk.

Jackson found Hulk hanging out in the sandbox

  

 Raina found a different Hulk on the grass

I gravitated to my garden, and this bean plant that was just getting started.

After looking for something green, we looked up to the clouds. 

 

Jackson's selection

 

Raina's (I really like how she got the sun ray shining through)

I wish I would have thought like the kids, and taken a picture just of clouds, with nothing else in the picture.  We can all learn from each other!

Silver Bay Fireworks

Our original plan for the Fourth was to go to Duluth where there was a carnival, music, and of course, fireworks over Lake Superior.  In the middle of the afternoon, the radar showed thunderstorms on the way, and we got wind and heavy rain around 4 p.m.  The storm moved through, but we decided to stay close to home and watch the fireworks in Silver Bay.  I'm sure the Silver Bay fireworks weren't as grand as the ones in Duluth, but we enjoyed our root beer floats while ooh-ing and aah-ing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Evening by the Lake

The sun was low in the sky

 

Kids looked for the perfect rock to throw

 

And climbed the big rocks

Settling into a comfortable hole

 A pair of loons swam by

Raina explored further up the beach

Ollie hitched a ride on Barry's shoulders

Family Photography Challenge

Last year I participated in a photography challenge with Laura at A Step in the Journey.  This summer, I'm challenging Jackson and Raina to take pictures with me.  This week we took self-portraits and pictures of what we were wearing.  We all had a hard time with not cutting off the top or bottom of our heads, but ended up with some nice photos.

 Shows Raina's style: pink and purple/butterflies/sparkly

 

I told Jackson next time he should smile

  

He was wearing his Captain America shirt

I was wearing a blue striped dress--cool and comfortable for summer

Radishes

My garden has had a rough start.  I planted it on Memorial Day, and right after that the weather was in the low 30's at night and we had quite a bit of rain.  After everything sprouted, something started eating the leaves.  It may have been tent caterpillars or some other type of worm/caterpillar, I'm not 100% sure, but my plants were in sorry shape.  They continued to grow, and then we had the great rain deluge that brought Duluth 10 inches of rain.  My pea plants were plastered to the ground, right when they were almost tall enough to grab the fence and start climbing.  A few days later, I saw deer tracks in the garden (only a few feet from the house--pretty daring!) and half my pea plants eaten down.  Sigh.

Will the peas recover?

Despite all the trouble, I was able to harvest all the radishes.  Barry likes them the most, but Raina will eat them, and I like a thinly sliced radish on my salad.  The rest of the plants finally seem to be recovering.  I'm finding less pests, the deer hasn't returned, and the warm weather is good for the plants.
 

 

Eaten up radish leaves

No harm to the radishes