Day 150. Twilight Experience.

Oh dear! From 6:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. - all 3 movies in a row, ending of course, with the newest release, Eclipse.

Once again, I say, DON'T JUDGE! This is just a fun, little way of re-experiencing my youth. :) These movies wouldn't be nearly as much fun to enjoy if I hadn't SO enjoyed the book series beforehand. And my husband not only approves, but encourages it (because he's wonderful and understands that a silly, fictional book series could never compare to my REAL love for him)!!! So, he lets me have my giddy-girl fun, and smiles and nods along. He even escorted me to see New Moon as our anniversary date a few months ago.

(and, no, he did NOT accompany me for the 3 movie experience. Even I couldn't ask THAT much of him!)


"Special" lanyards for the Twilight Experience.

Day 149. Zoo Day!

Again, with my point-n-shoot. I'd forgotten it does a pretty nice job when the occasion calls for it! Here are a few from that day.

My brother and sister joined us for the day.  I was really glad for that, and so was Shelly.  She enjoyed seeing them again.  My brother was the ringbearer in her wedding, at the ripe OLD age of five years.  :)  Wow... not exactly the same picture we see here, now is it?  :)

This is now.

That was then.  (December 1995)

Day 148. Water Park.

These were taken the day we went to the water park last week. It was at the end of our afternoon, and my youngest was trying to shield himself from the sun. I suppose it worked! :)

P.S. Only brought my point-n-shoot that day. Obviously, water and cameras don't mix very well, so I didn't want to take any chances with my nice one!

Day 147. More of Susanna.

So, we played with a little session tonight.  :)  No reason not to have fun during some down time.  Hee, hee!

Yes, boys, she is this beautiful in person... and, yes, she is single.  :) 

Day 146. Our Build-a-Bear Family.

Once upon a time, there were three build-a-bear animals in our home (not all pictured, unfortunately, due to being packed away, because my oldest child thinks he is too old for such things).  These first furry friends were Christmas gifts from Mammaw and Papa, back in 2004.  It was a fun and special trip.  The boys were accompanied by Mammaw, both aunts and their mommy, on their first trip to create their Build-a-Bears (or in this case, dogs and bear). As the years passed, my youngest son was bummed that we chose a bear for him when his big brothers had dogs!  (He was 3 months old at the time, and Mammaw said he had to have his first Christmas bear (it's a Grandma tradition in our family.).  So, a few birthdays later, he was given a Build-a-Bear puppy, so he could play with his brothers.
And here we are again, our family has grown.  Upon a Science Center visit with our friends, my two youngest (I am making sure NOT to include my oldest son in this, because he would be mortified if he thought ANYONE thought he was deriving any enjoyment from such childish things) begged and pleaded when they saw the Build-a-Bear store during our visit.  As you will see, we now have three dogs (one not pictured), a dinosaur, a sabertooth lion and only ONE bear... which I think is just strange, because isn't the whole point of Build-a-BEAR to build a BEAR???  Whatever.
The fun part was watching them enjoy the experience all over again... each of these furry friends has outfits and shoes carefully selected by his/her owner (my youngest made his dinosaur a girl... I guess he's aware of the absence of sisters in our home????  Who knows, but he gave her a pink Cardinals tshirt, which was just too funny!).  And since we were there with our friends who are visiting from Romania, they got to enjoy the experience, too!  Two of the three of their kiddos, built their own characters, pictured here.  It's just too fun for words to watch their sweet faces beam with such delight.  Sure, you PAY for the experience, but it is worth every penny.

Day 145. Susanna.

This is my beautiful friend, Susanna. :) She loves photography, too! Today, I showed her a little tip with lighting... the difference between shooting IN the sun, as opposed to shooting under shade, using the sun as light.

Here, you see lots of shadows (in the sun).
And in the next, she is, sitting only a few feet away, under the shade of a tree, facing the light of the sun.  Just BEAUTIFUL!  ...and I LOVE those Snow family eyes!

Might she be making fun of someone?????  Day 130, if you don't recall. :)

Day 144. Snow Pizza!!!!

This is a "days of ol'" memory full of goodness! Shelly's mom would make homemade pizza, completely from scratch, and it is just the yummiest treat! Shelly and Susanna prepared dinner for us last night, and my kids were NOT disappointed. Just as good as I've always remembered. YUM!