Summer. Week 36-52

Tomorrow our Summer is officially over. School, preschool and work all start back with a vengeance.  Urgh.  Summer was so lovely and warm and full of great colourful adventures... farm stands and flipflops, freshly squeezed juices, kayaks and of course...sunscreen.

Religion. Week 35-52

When I moved out to the suburbs of New York I discovered that people take their religion seriously... and their boating religiously.  This captured both.

On the Road. Week 34-52

In England, if you want to see what is on the road you have to look right.

For my kids it is so exciting to look for the double decker buses and the black cabs.  The best shot of all that though was at Legoland!

Curves. Week 33-52.

Having fun showing off London to my kids this week.  Of course I spent most of the time trying to find curves! The curves below bridges..

 The curves of the London Eye and its staircases

And the tide was so low in the Thames that the girls wanted to go down the steps.  I liked the curves in the chains.

Daytime Week 32- 52

I chose Annabelle's 3rd birthday for "daytime."  We just arrived in England so our daytime and nightime is a little muddled but we had fun outside all day.   Meeting her newest english cousin and playing with family.  I wish every daytime could be this wonderful.  I really should have believed the little sign hanging in my parents kitchen!

 Meeting our gorgeous cousin

 playing with the new pirate ship

Pirate Annabelle gets ready to blow out her candles

She's having such fun celebrating her big day

Her other little cousin likes to see the world upside down

Playing with their grandfather.  What a lovely day

Art/Music. Week 31-52.

I have no idea how I found myself at Country Fest Long Island... but I did.  There was tons of live country music and cowboy boots and line dancing.  In New York?  who knew.  There was also plenty of arts and crafts.  Charlotte begged me to get her face painted.  I loved all the bright colours and paintbrushes.

 The end result:

We finally went over to the music, sat down and enjoyed the sights and sounds.

Three ladies waiting to see if the next song is worth dancing to...

Apparently it was! "Hey, wait for me"

Containers. Week 30-52

I found this theme really hard.  It wasn't hard to find containers.  It was just hard to make them look interesting.  While looking through someone else's kitchen I found these containers.  But sometimes you have to take the shot from a few different angles to get the pic you want.  I liked the view from above the best.

Shades of Grey. Week 29-52

I often walk past this building when I go into the city.  It feels more European than American.  Either way.. its grey.

Offbeat/Quirky. Week 28-52

Imagine a typical main street in a regular town in the North East (US).  Imagine the sun setting and people walking past cute restaurants trying to decide where to eat. Then imagine a really tall 6'8" guy doing what looks like a squat in the middle of the street.  Not far away is his wife, practically holding up traffic just to get this offbeat/quirky shot.  So grateful to Seb for totally indulging me with this one!

Quiet. Week 27-52

We just spent a lovely week in South Carolina.  It gets so hot and humid that if you want to go for a walk (or a run) your best chance is at 6am.  Most days I did that and one day I took my camera out and walked down to the creek/marsh.  It was so quiet and peaceful and I loved these fishing docks (if that is what they are called).

 When I got back to the beach I found Seb and Annabelle having a quiet moment together.

Transportation. Week 26-52

26 weeks already? Where did the year go?  We spent the weekend in manhattan with great friends of ours.  The kids got such a kick out of riding the subway.  I liked the gritty texture of this filter as it seemed appropriate for NYC transit.

We got to see lots of people enjoying the latest form of public transportation in the city - Citibike is here! NYC finally catching up with the other great cities of the world.

Of course there have always been plenty of bicycles in NYC... but mainly used for pizza delivery.

Young. Week 25-52

Last weekend Seb called me on the way home from work saying he had a big surprise waiting for me.  Ducklings!!  A whole weekend of duckling sitting!  It was so much fun for the girls (and for me).  They were a week old!  So tiny, so cute and they were inseparable.  This is their first time on grass!

They got to check out flowers and leaves for the first time.  I love this one of Charlotte's hand holding out a little leaf that they want to see.

And they also got to go swimming in a little tub we made for them.  So adorable seeing them dive under for the first time.  I thought it would be cute to introduce them to our rubber ducky.  Apparently real ducklings are terrified of fake ones.  I removed him immediately (well, after I took the pic).  I promise no ducklings were hurt in the production of this image.

 By the end of the weekend I swear they had doubled in size.  They grow so fast.  As do my children.  Yesterday was Annabelle's last day at daycare before she starts pre-school.  She had the BEST person ever watching over her so we made some fun (and sad) photo cards for her.  I got this cute font at picmonkey.

Writing. Week 24-52.

Man... some weeks parenting can be rough.  One evening last week I had to put my 6 year old in time-out.  When that didn't work I gave her one more warning before it was ""no books tonight" - the ultimate punishment.  She wasn't happy about it at all.  After a pretty major meltdown (and no books) she finally quieted down and started writing little messages which she threw down the stairs (and then shouted "Mum, there is a message for you).
This was the first one " I love you, but sometimes I don't.  I hope you understand"  Yes. I was pretty crushed.

Six more messages came down the stairs that night.  I had to wait until the following day to get the message I really wanted though!

Countryside. Week 23-52

I was so lucky to go home to England last week and surprise my aunt for her big birthday. Luckier still that England was awash with golden sunlight from the minute I arrived until the moment I left.  Truly, I think that there is nothing prettier than the English countryside.  Here's just a sample.

And then of course there are english country gardens with little gates and gorgeous daisies

railway tracks that head off into the distance

signposts to the village hall

flowers that grow on stone walls with my uncle waiting patiently for me to take yet another picture

But mostly in the countryside you can be guaranteed a pub lunch/sunday roast with a yorkshire pudding that will blow your mind.  Oh England, I miss you.