The Water Is Rising

This has been three years in the making.  It wasn't suppposed to happen that way but, unfortunately, we ran into many obstacles.

First was the long process our township makes you go through before disturbing the ground (aka putting in a pond).  Being that we are so close to a state park, the township needs to control any run off that may filter into nearby streams.  So, there was meetings, engineering fees, and loads of paperwork.

After that phase we were excited to bring in the bull dozers and begin digging.  The excavator worked for one week transforming the ground by creating slopes and a water way for the rain to spill into.  He removed load after load of dirt until a large 8' deep pit was formed.  Then, the clay was brought in.  Another week was spent lining the pond with 16" of clay.

Our pond was ready to fill.  We prayed for the rains to come.  The more the better.  Bring on the floods, bring on the hurricanes, we were sure that's all we needed was lots and lots of rain.  The rain came all right but the pond didn't fill like we hoped.

Our next plan was to install another well that way we would have control of the water situation.  That plan didn't work either.  The water steadily flowed for two or three weeks and filled about a quarter of the pond but, the clay sucked the rest of the water after that point.

Finally, Matt stumbled acrossed a guy who has ample experience with "farm ponds".  He assured Matt, the 40 ponds he has put in so far are all holding water.

This would have been our third summer of having a mud pit in our backyard but, this time the clay in the pond is holding and the water is rising!

My husband has been happier than a kid in a candy store.  We were both running out of hope and my patience was wearing thin.  NOW, bring on the fish, toads, turtles, and birds!

 

  

The End of Another Swim Season

We've enjoyed watching Gabby swim her little heart out.  It's amazing how each time she swims, you can see her confidence build as she powers down the lane focused and determined.  Her best stroke is Freestyle but her Backstroke is coming along too.

I grabbed a few pictures at the Seahorse's last duel meet for this year.  It's a lot of early Saturday morning wake-up calls but, it's worth it.

Gabby's got her "gameface" on.  She's all business.

 Maybe next swim season, Holly will be swimming along her big sister.  

Fun Mode Camera Setting

When the kids are jumping on the trampoline laughing, being goofy, and showing off their best tricks and the dogs are romping around in the leaves playing cat and mouse, thats when you grab your camera and set it to continous shoot.

Continous Shooting is a technique that allows you to hold down the shutter button while the camera continuously captures your moving objects.  On high-speed, my camera takes 6.5 shots in a second and on low-speed 3 shots in a second.

This type of shooting really gives you the "big picture" capturing every detail and exact movements of your object.  This is my "fun" mode.  I never know what I'm going to get.

Here are some of my "fun" shots.

Nyati was in slow motion so it was easy to keep him focused.

This little booger is always in fast motion.  My camera settings were off because it focused on the ground, not Darla.  But, it was still fun "trying" to photograph her running to me.

Guess I need more practice.  ; )

RVR

River Valley Ranch (RVR) is a christian summer camp located in the rolling lush hills of Carroll County.  Every summer they have special events for the entire family.  You can spend all day swimming, picnicking or watching a nail bitting, clinched fist, jaw dropping rodeo for a bucking good time!

Pictures of the opening ceremonies.  

Here comes the bulls!!  

Wish the fence wasn’t obstructing the intense ride of this bull rider.

An on-looking cowboy

Stilt Walkers and pony rides made two little girls very happy.

RVR also puts on an awesome firework display that we were lucky enough to catch this year.

Our gang

City Tour

It’s always a thrill to plan a trip to NYC.  So much to see.  So much to do.  This time, our plans were to take Big Bus Tours, which includes tours of downtown and uptown, with 30 different hop on hop off stops, go over and walk on the historic High Line in the Chelsea neighborhood, have a great dinner with drinks at Americano Restaurant, and then back to the bus to head home.

The bus tour was really nice and I highly recommend it.  It’s easy, relaxing, and gives you a chance to learn and see the city from a birds eye view.  We saw where celebrities live and the crazy insane price tags they paid, churches that held famous weddings, and points of interest where legendary movies were shot.

Here are a few pics from my trip.

Kelly and I started our day off with shopping in SoHo

 This cemetery was adorned with colorful tulips and Cherry Trees.

Anyone familiar with Watchtower?  This is home to Jehovah Witnesses where the Watchtower Magazine is produced for publication and distributed door to door.

During our walk on the High Line, we passed this vibrant infamous painting

Our last stop for the day.  A pub right off the High Line.

Joys of Spring

Yesterday, my friend Jen, hosted a wonderful tea party at her house.  There was 8 very excited little girls in attendance.  

Our party began with a delicious lunch of creamy rice and chicken soup, peanut butter and jelly or chicken salad sandwiches, cheese and crackers, and chocolate covered strawberries.  The girls sat there for about an hour and then the wiggles over came them.  They were anxious to go outside and get started with an Easter egg hunt and to show off their tricks on the trampoline.

The awesome weather provided great picture taking opportunities.  Here are a few from our day.