Trip to the Park



This is Sean, S., and Zoe.  It was a nice day.  Bill had taken them to the park.  I was working, so he took all of these pictures.  

Bill played tour guide for them.  He explained the history of the park and the surrounding areas. He is very proud of his state.  Bill informed them about the swinging bridge.

It is a walking bridge.  It is not a very wide or tall bridge.You can get a few people on it and jump up and down and you can really make it shake. 

In his youth,  Bill and his friends went to the swinging bridge and jump and then jump off and go swimming.  Not a lot of security back then or now come to think about it. 

I had done the same thing on one particular summer I was visiting my cousin. I would spend most summers visiting her in my childhood. She would take me to the same park and she showed me this bridge. She would tell me the cool thing about jumping up and down and making the bridge move.

I came from the city and the bridges I went on did not do this with the sheer force of two 80 pound 12 year old girls.   She taught me how to get over the rail and coaxed me into jumping off.  What an exhilaration that turned into sheer terror. I think I screamed all the way down. But when all was said and done, I love my cousin for introducing me to this wild adventure and being a risk taker.

Who knows? Bill and I may have been there at the same time in our adolescence.  In the many areas, that he took the kids on this particular day. 

I wish I could go back in time and see if I could spot him out. I know I would recognize him.  Gorgeous blue eyes, sandy blond hair, and a smile that would make a girl weak in the knees.

Okay. Back now.

Bill took them to the rose garden.  I love roses.

Zoe wanted to take a little walk. She walks so daintily.

Zoe was hamming it up for pappy.   She loves her Pappy.

I thought this was a good picture.  Bill took it himself and got a shot of two of our angels.

Missed a great day but knowing Bill,  I was always there through the stories he told.



Thrill Seeking Abbie

My Angels

Josiah

Olivia



Jackson

Zoe

I   these angels.

Lovin' Abbie



Tomb Raider

My men in their natural habitat.

They are playing a video game and just relaxing.

They are in total concentration mode.

My oldest boy is so serious when it comes to his video games.

I stealthily move about them.  So I can get these candid shots.  I didn't want to disturb them in their  environment.

My man loves being in their company.

He watches, eats, and chit chats with them.

It had been a long time, since they were together.  I just had to capture this moment. It will be awhile before it happens again.  My son has to go back to Colorado in a few days.

Before I went upstairs, I turned to look and reminisce of a time long ago.  A time when my angels were itty bitty and watching their father play Tomb Raider. 

It is funny. I remember when Bill would play Tomb Raider on a 13 inch screen.  We would all huddle around him on a love seat. This family time would take place in the tiniest room in the house.  It didn't matter what the situation was, we would always have a way to be in a cluster.  As they grew older and bigger, we would have pillows or foot stools so everyone can have a seat.

Tomb Raider can be very stressful. It can be more so, when you have four other people telling and screaming at you to watch out for things. Watch out for the boulders! Jump right now!  Ohh, you fell on the spikes or better hurry up or you are going to drown! Fun stuff like that. I laugh about it and Bill can laugh about it now.

The kids always looked forward to Dad playing the video game.  It was our version of game night. Great times. Sigh.

I quietly left the room and headed upstairs, knowing I hadn't interrupted their time.

Ninja Abbie

Strolling through the Park

It was time to walk Lando and since it was nice weather,  Bill and I took Zoe with us. Bill wanted Zoe to see the ducks and geese that are known to inhabit the nature trail.  


As we are getting ready to go out, Zoe had to get dressed.  Zoe likes to be nude.   As you can tell in the pic, she ran to her Uncle Denny.  Do you see that smile?  I can’t blame her . 
I would do the same thing but I tend to not torture people. 

We did see a pair of geese.  She was fascinated. 

 We took her out of the stroller so she could walk. 

 She did right back to her stroller.  Zoe did not care for the whole walking thing.  

Can’t blame her,  it is nice just to sit and be treated like a queen. 


Loyal Subject Abbie      

Enjoying Zoe

Here is Bill thoroughly enjoying Zoe.  She had just arrived a few hours earlier.  Her internal clock is all askewed.  She is still living on mountain time and we live on the east coast. 

It's funny just hours before, she was playing with Pappy.



It was 3:30AM. 

We seemed to find the energy to worship this little girl.  I had quenched my yearning for this little girl. I could now be satisifed just watching her from afar.  I didn't want to traumatizer her any further with my adoration. 

 So I grabbed the camera and watched two of my loves enjoy each other's company.

Red-Eyed Abbie

Story Time



I was reading a nursery rhyme book to the grandkids.





I don't like to post pictures of myself but I felt it would illustrate my point to the story.

On to my anecdote, Josiah gave me a book to read.    It was Mother Goose's nursery rhymes.    I started reading and Jackson stopped what he was doing and plopped himself down. Action Jackson wanted to listen to me read.  The others
started to gather around me.

While I am reading, the children start to wander off.  My son, who is visiting from Colorado, starts to laugh because the children were not paying attention.  He teased me because according to him, I was reading to no one. 

I knew just because they weren’t sitting in front of me like Jackson had done earlier didn’t mean they were not listening to me.  At least, that is what I am telling myself. I do start to doubt myself, when I look at some of these pictures. I see the intensity I am projecting, while I am reading the book.  I could have scared them away.





He may have been a little distracted at the time.

When I was finished, the two older kids gave me a stack of books to read . Job accomplished!  They enjoyed me reading to them.  I wasn't reading to no one.  I was reading to all of them.



Now reading was a little tricky .  I used to be able to read upside down but as I have aged, it has become increasingly difficult, especially without my reading glasses. 





Squinting Abbie

Busy Hands

I love this face. 

It is my granddaughter Zoe.

She got a hold of a box of wipes.

                                                                                                              

She proceeded to take each wipe out.  Zoe is so determined to get every one out that she stuck her whole hand in the container. 

Zoe was so content to just sit there and work on her little project.  How could I stop her?

I adore her reaction in this shot.  She just realized she reached the end.

 

May I have another box of wipes, please?  Since you asked so nicely,  yes you can but don't tell you parents.  :) 

Lady Zoe is such a delight to watch. 

Bad Influence Abbie