Lexi's Photo Shoot

My Little Baby Girl is growing up.

She's a Senior now and thinking about what's next. Yesterday she took placement tests for College English and passed through to the highest level. That means she can skip all the remedial and refresher courses in English and start with the highest required level. Woo, woo!!

Also looking ahead, she had her Senior Pictures taken. I don't pretend to understand what kids in high school do these days but she also wanted some more informal, personal Senior pictures and she asked me to take them for her.

I tried to warn her but she insisted and so yesterday she and I went out to get her some Senior pictures. I don't know which ones she'll select, but these are a couple of the ones I like.

First off, I was playing with the pics and came up with these. Michelle liked the sepia one. I was partial to the B&W and I put the color original up just for comparison.

Which one do you like?

                              

Took this one on the steps of the Courthouse.

Pretty, ain't she!?!

In front of the Old Jail Museum.

Near the Town Square.

Hard to get a bad shot with this model...

Sweetness and light....

In a small alley between some law offices.

Then we moved to the Leonardtown Wharf.

Thunderstorms over the bay.

Finally we went to her high school and a last chance of clothes.

I suggested we take one with her jumping in the air and she liked it and wanted to jump from one of the brick benches in front of the school. 

Soooo, we did. Note the flats she is wearing.

We didn't really think this out.

Ready for lift-off!!

She's committed now...

Into the air....

What goes up.....must come down....hard.

Oh, OUCH!!

So we ended our shoot on a sad, and limping, note.

I had a lot of fun with Alexis. Just sorry it had to end on a painful note.

Man, retirement is really getting to be a lot of fun. I'm really loving all the things I'm getting to do.

Let's go to the Library!!

Alright!! A trip to the library!!

Love this retirement thing. Gives me opportunities to do fun things like go to the library with four of my favorite people.

The girls read a lot. Every night they read a couple of stories just before bedtime. These girls know where the Leonardtown Library is.

This was Bucky's first trip to a Library and Addie made sure he had a good time. Unloading the car. These girls don't travel light....never.

Making the trek into the Library. Addie's leading the way along with Bucky and she's hauling the Library suitcase....so they can carry all the books to and fro.

Here we go into the spacious and utilitarian L-Town Library. The Kid's Section and....

The Adult Section.

The first thing was to check in with the Summer Reading Program and turn in the list of books read.

Proud girls got their stickers!!

Then to the Librarian to turn in paperwork for the 500 books the girls have read. Not an easy feat for girls or for Mom.

The girl's (and their Mommy's) accomplishment was recognized by the Library.

The Proud Princesses of the Printed Word....with Pictures.

Their picture is going to be displayed on this for having read more than 500 books before the age of five.

This one was more interested in playing than in getting award.

After the festivities there was a flag scavengers hunt and then time for getting new books and playing with the games in the library.

"Yeah, this is how I roll."

Finally we check out with our stack of books.

And then, when we got to the car, we found that Mommy had "accidently" snagged the book basket on her rather large purse and brought it along with her. Hmmmmm.....she said accident. What do you think?

Love the architecture in Maryland. This beauty is right across the street from the Library.

The Bookcase is full so we head back home. Can you see the blue book basket hanging off Michelle's purse? 

Loved going to the Library with the Grandkids.

This retirement thing is great. 

Wonder why I didn't do it earlier?

Photo Safari with Shelly

I've been pestering Michelle for a while now to go with me on a photo safari and today she finally found (made) the time. 

Hooah!! We hit the road after 1700 so as to catch the evening light. We did, mostly. Stormy weather dulled the light a bit. Still, we were out and it was a lot of fun. We talked cameras, photography, family and life. 

It's fun to share a hobby with my kids. And on this little safari, I had a lot of fun.

We started out with a small barn in a large field. Love the barns in Maryland and there seems to be no end to them.

We got ourselves a couple of pictures and then it was off to the Maryland shore.

Our next stop was out by St. Clements Island. It sets a half mile off the coast line. It was an important piece of the Union effort to stop Southern smugglers along the Potomac River during the Recent Unpleasantness Between the States.

They also had a lighthouse there which Michelle has been to. It was on the far side of this island.

Some of the beautiful homes along the shoreline.

I'd rather have this beach house than the one in North Carolina, right!?!

Seagulls. Gotta get pictures of Gulls. Can't help self. Been that way for years and years.

Then we drove over to Wicomico and finally to Bushport.

The setting sun off the water gave us some great photo ops. Love the evening sun. Course, it ain't as good as the California setting sun.

A long view of the shoreline along the River.

Some of the mudflats along the shore.

There were thunderstorm warning all afternoon and the weather gave us some dramatic clouds.

More shots along the water with the setting sun.

We saw an interesting house and walked up to it. Gave me an opportunity to get some shots of flowers.

Love the flowers.

Old wood railing fences. They took some down and rested them against this tree.

Then there was this beauty. I mean, it's right there for the taking....for the enjoyment. Love finding shots like this. I like it.

Michelle had the super-wide lense on her camera. Told her she'd need to get closer. Haven't yet seen the picture she got.

These out buildings were behind the house we had walked back to.

Again, just an interesting composition waiting for me to come along. OK, I like it.

We saw this store and thought we'd stop in. Michelle wanted to see if it would be a fun place to bring her Sweetie to on a date night. It was. 

It's a family operation and everyone was working there from Grandma down to the Grandson. Fairly busy too, given its remote location. 

The neatest thing was the floor. It's a long building and the supports on the ends are hold up well. The floor supports in the middle? Not so good. You really feel and see the floor sink down towards the middle of the building. It takes a bit of getting used to in order to navigate yourself around this floor.

They had a pretty extensive menu, too. Judging by the number of people there it must be edible. Michelle is planning on bringing Mateo back for a dinner and a walk along the coast.

Gotta love the sun reflecting off the water.

And, finally, we bid a fond adieu to the beautiful Maryland Coast. Adieu until we return with our cameras to capture the beauty of this American Dreamscape.

Ha, ha!! What a load....

Hey it was fun. 

Fun to shoot and fun to spend time with Michelle. 

Man, this retirement thing is a kick in the pants. 

I like it. I really do.

Hooah!!