Enjoying the outdoors

The other day the dumplings and I sat outside in the front yard under our oak trees drawing pictures of what we saw.  We used crayons and colored pencils and drew trees and flowers.  It wasn't too hot, and there was a nice breeze as well.  It was perfect!  We ended up sitting out there for over two hours!  I also remembered to shoot with my film SLR (Nikon F100).  So when I get that first roll back, I will be sharing more images from this session.

If it looked to you like Havi was singing in the photo above, then you would be correct.  

She was an absolute hoot copying her sister and singing.

Well, I meant to share these shots earlier, but we had some internet issues that kept me offline for a few days.  So much for trying to play catch up here on the blog.  Sigh. 

Anyway, have a great weekend!  

We will be spending ours at the courts!

Some birthday fun for mama and the gang

Some of this.

It's just what I was hoping for to celebrate my birthday/Mother's Day this year.

Watching my kids enjoy themselves.

The best hubby in the whole wide world decided to take the day off from work 

and spend it with me and our two precious dumplings.

His idea?

To rent a boat and cruise along the river.

I said yes!

And thank you very much!

So we rented a little pontoon boat for the morning.

And thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Madeline thought she could help BaBa "drive."

Caleb enjoyed some fishing.

The homeschooling mama in me enjoyed the wildlife.

We spotted several double-crested cormorants.

And this little guy...a ruddy turnstone.

Nope, I didn't know his name when I took his photo.

I knew he was related to the sandpipers and had to look him up.

So there he is.  He's glad to meet you, too.

We "dropped anchor" on a small island in the middle of the river.

Then we walked along one shore and across a shallow sandbar to another island.

The kids did a lot of digging.

There wasn't any sand here, just fine, broken shells.

So Madeline was a bit disappointed she couldn't build a sand castle.

It didn't keep her from digging though.

I just loved watching Patrick with the kids.

Loved it.

He's an amazing daddy.
I am so very blessed!

Caleb enjoyed fishing on the shore as well...

The kids had such a great time they were wondering when

we're going to rent a boat again!

If only it were that simple and cheap! Ha.

Anyway, I do hope that those of you who are mothers truly enjoy your day today.

Mother's Days are tough for me.
I've never had the chance to celebrate a Mother's Day
with either mom or my gramma as a mother myself, as they both
passed on before Caleb joined our family.
It does make me a bit sad, if I'm being honest.

I'm grateful to my mother-in-law, Barbara,
for raising an amazing son and for being
the amazing mom and mother-in-law she is!
I'm thankful for my sister and sister-in-law, too.

And I'm most especially grateful to two mothers in China
who made the difficult decision to place their children in someone else's care,
until they could come home to their forever family.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!


Linking to:

Simple as That  Sunday Snapshot  Show Off Your Shot