Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I'm joining back in with Scavenger Hunt Sunday after taking a couple of weeks off to get school going around here.  It's going...

This week's photo scavenger hunt items were:

1. Forest
2. Morning light
3. Touch
4. Newspaper
5. Coffee or tea

Forest

I found the sun setting behind the edge of our bit of forest at the back of our yard...

Morning Light

I captured the morning light through the trees along a road...

Touch

I was able to touch a dove this week!  OK, so it wasn't that kind of dove, but this kind...

the kind you can find inside a sand dollar.  I found a near-perfect sand dollar in a parking lot and let the kids break it open to see the "doves."  This was my first time seeing such a perfect "dove" from a sand dollar, and it was the only one in the sand dollar that looked this good.  Pretty cool, huh? (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Coffee or Tea

I drink unsweetened iced tea year round, but that's rather uninteresting.  However, if you asked me, "Do you like coffee?" I would have to say no...unless, of course, there is lots of chocolate and possibly whipped cream involved.

November 2010, when Jason and I found coffee with lots of chocolate and whipped cream while on a date.

Newspaper

I think it's safe to say that I rarely like the way a photo of me turns out.  Some are definitely worse than others...but, as a whole, I could do without ever having my picture taken except for the fact that my children would never have any pictures of me years from now.  Well, before I even saw how this recent family photo turned out, it was in the local newspaper last month:

The article that ran with the photo announced a parenting seminar my husband was leading at our church. Grace (6) was goofing off, and had most of us smiling.  Robert (15) managed to resist her silliness.

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in the fun!  

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset

Grace (6) came running inside one evening and told me, "Mom, you need to take a picture of the sunset set!"

I asked her if Jason had told her to say that (he does, frequently enough), and she said no.  She said that she said it, and that she thought the sunset was pretty. I was a little amused by this conversation but grabbed my camera anyway and followed her outside.

She was right.

This was our sunset...

And a little to the north, we had more clouds that were beautifully shaded by the fading sunlight...

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog for Wordless Wednesday.

A St. Simons kind of humor

When you visit a new place, you can expect to see some humorous things, such as signs giving (what should be) common sense advice like "Do Not Feed the Alligators."

I don't think anyone would ever have to tell me not to feed the alligators. Seeing that sign on open property is pretty much enough to keep me in my car!   ;)

There are also the humorous stories that come about from talking with the locals, like when an older man told me the history of this pelican. 

The man declared that this old pelican is the most photographed thing on St. Simons Island.  The pelican sits all day long on a ladder at the edge of the pier and is fed daily by the fishermen who come to the pier because he is too old to hunt for himself.  He will not bother going after any fish that are accidentally thrown off the pier when the fishermen throw a portion of their catch to him but is content to eat what lands on the pier.  (And, yes, people are constantly taking pictures of him.)

Then there are the things that just struck me as funny, like the pelicans flying in formation over the beach

 

and the black crows that joined the seagulls in looking for bites of food among the blankets and umbrellas, like they would just blend in.

There are funny political campaign signs...

"Rootin' for Tuten"

There are the quirky things you find in quirky downtown shops...

like yoga frogs

 

 and really useful signs.

 

Some things you find humorous because of the company you keep, such as when my 6 year old daughter found wedding dresses in the back of a shop.

I heard Grace squeal, and when I saw what she had found I commented that I would have loved to have seen the expression on her face when she saw the dresses...so she did her best to recreate it for me.  Somehow, I think this is a pale imitation of reality.
 

All of these things are delightfully quirky, and not too terribly out of the bounds of the ordinary, right? 

However, some things will take you completely by surprise, such as a notice of velociraptor that was "found"...

"Very bitey"...I love it!  I wonder if the person ever gets any phone calls?

Time for a change

Every once in a while, Robert (15) will peer over my shoulder while I'm blogging and tell me, "You really need to update those pictures on your blog."  (Translation:  "I don't look like that anymore.")


He was right--while I updated the kids' ages with each birthday, I didn't update the photos.  This is how old the photos were:

Robert...when he was 12

Josiah...when he was 7

Grace...when she was 3

They were so cute and little!  Now you can see how much they have grown!

Robert (15)

Josiah (10)

Grace (6)

I found that I really need to make Josiah take serious photos every now and then--most of the photos I have of him are "action shots" (where I may or may not have the back of his head), or goofy faces.  In just a few short years, he will be accusing me of never taking good pictures of him because he is the middle child.  ;)

Wordless Wednesday

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog for Wordless Wednesday.

Spanish moss

When we were at St. Simons last week, I had a bit of fascination with all the Spanish moss.

At least, that's what my camera card tells me...

Most of the following photos are from Epworth-by-the-Sea, where we stayed.

This is one of my favorites....

and this one's pretty cool with the gnarled tree twisted around another tree.

The sign reads, "I am very old as you can see, so please be kind and do not climb on me." And, yes, the limb is propped up--the post is partially hidden by the sign.

The entrance to the grounds of the historic Christ Church.

Wordless Wednesday: The Beach

Josiah (10) and Grace (6) love the beach.

I mean, they love the beach.

They love the beach even if they aren't dressed appropriately to get in the water (and, obviously, that doesn't stop them).

The thing that surprises me is how fearless Grace is.  She goes farther into the water than I would (I'm a big fan of being able to see my feet at all times) whether she is with Josiah

or on her own

with me watching and wondering if the next wave will knock that tiny girl down.  But she stays on her feet...probably from sheer determination.


And she loves every minute of it.

This not-so Wordless Wednesday post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog.