Photo contest foul, part 2.

Ok, I missed Endless Summer.  I have not been diligent in keeping the blog updated lately, and now I've missed two of the weekly photo challenges.

My reason; I've been really busy, spending lots of time planning Buddy's 2nd birthday party.

So, I will have lots to share.  Hopefully that will make up for my time missing!

Photo contest foul.

For 33 weeks I religiously posted a photo for the p.52 weekly photo contest. And then last week -- I didn't post it in time, and was not able to include a photo for week 34. The theme was heat, and I just didn't have a picture. Plus, my computer was fixed, and I had to take all of my photos off of it beforehand, so didn't have ANY pictures handy - or even available.

So, I kept putting it off. And then -- too late. :(

No big deal, but I was very happy to have kept up with it weekly.  But back on the photo wagon for next week. Endless Summer ... here I come.

Ice. Ice. Icing.

Ice. + Ing. = Icing!  Dear P.52 weekly challenge, I am again taking liberties in order to meet this week's (week 33) theme. I hope you don't mind.

Here's lots and lots of delicious buttercream icing!  And it sure tasted Delicious. YUM!

1/2 Yellow, 1/2 Chocolate,  Buttercream Frosting and Fudge Filling!

And yes, that is me. As a young girl. And yes, I am now 40!!

Summer favorites.

This week's p.52 theme is summer favorites. Here are some highlights of our summer:

Staying cool in the Apple Store fountain.

Trotting along the Evanston lakefront path.

My two favorite people!                      

Climbing.

Daddy and his boy at the zoo.

First time at the ocean.

Sprinkler time.

Enjoying the kiddie merry go round.

Family fun at the pool.

And the summer's not over yet!

White Sox! Take me out to the ballgame.

Baseball! Sure says a good ol' summer night to me! 

Does this work for "dog days of summer"? That's this week's p.52 photo challenge. I can't believe it's already week 31, and I'm happy to say that I've participated every week. Granted, not all of my photos are great fits with the themes, but still, I'm still in it! 

Go White Sox!!

U.S. Cellular Field 

Sunny Days.

This week's p.52 photo challenge theme is sunshine.  Ok, I can do that....easier than "movie time or kaboom".   Here are three pictures depicting (sounds redundant?) the theme.

All taken at the Evanston Beach. I like them all for different reasons.

Photo 1: Sailboat on the water.

I love how sailboats, especially their striking white sails, look against the beautiful turquoise water, and the light blue sky.  I also really love the colorful stripes on this sail.

Photo 2: Sunshine. Literally.

You can actually see the rays coming out from the sun, like how you'd draw the sun when you were a child! Very neat.

Photo 3: Trotting along the beach walking path.

I love how Buddy is running exactly on the dotted line. It looks like he's been running a long way, and it's just so cute! I like the perspective as well.  And it makes me think either, Run Lola Run or Run Forest Run.  And looking at the pic further, I love his little shadow.

My (little) movie star.

Creative licensing for this week's (week 29) p.52 weekly photo challenge theme, which is "movie party". Okay, here we go. Try to follow along.

Movie party = movie = movie stars = going incognito (or going glam) = way oversized shades (& baseball caps if going the incog route) = buddy in this picture.

Plus, he is the subject of 99% of my photos AND we haven't made popcorn in years!

ps - Those are my sunglasses, if that wasn't obvious.

Summer treats.

Little boy at a big table.

Summer treats! Yum! That's the subject of this week's (week 28) p.52 photo challenge.

We were visiting my grandma last weekend and amazingly, at 99, she is still setting out snacks and serving them to us when we visit.  The snacks usually consist of (see inset image): a small bowl of bugles (LOVE), a small bowl of Chex snack mix and her delicious bagel cookies (subject of this post). Sometimes a plate of kiwi or a dish of chocolates are part of the spread as well.

She has a specialty known as "bagel cookies" -- not sure exactly why they are called "bagel cookies", but they are. They are braided and twisted sugar-esque cookies and I grew up loving them. When my grandma used to live in Florida and would come to visit us, she'd bring dozens of bagel cookies for each of her children and present each family with a giant tinfoil package of her delicious cookies.

And now, anytime we visit, out comes a little plate of bagel cookies.  So, it was really fun when the little guy reached the age where he could taste the bagel cookies. And he loved them immediately! (I know, I should not be giving him cookies. But I find it very hard to say no to him ... but that's another post!).

So, every time we go, he happily grabs a few cookies and noshes away.  Here he is, enjoying one of his Summer Treats, aka Bubi's Bagel Cookies.

Mmmmmm.....cookie!

How to entertain a toddler on an airplane.

This post is a combo of both a recommendation and my p.52 photo challenge. 

First, the photo challenge portion....kaboom is the theme (subtitle: fireworks) for this week (week 27).  Yikes I say (I do not have any pictures of fireworks).

Okay - what do I have from the 4th of July? Well, we just returned home from a fantastic trip to San Diego, and we left on the 4th of July. Which also happened to be Buddy's 22nd month birthday.  

So, a photo of Buddy on the 4th of July. En route to San Diego. Enthralled in an episode of Thomas and wearing his own special earphones, which he loved. 














Which leads me to my recommendation of how to entertain a toddler on an airplane.  Forget little toys, forget books -- too many tchatchkes and hard to bring them all along and not drop them.  One item needed. 

Portable Media Device. 

Plus, kid-friendly earphones.  I recommend Kidz Gear Wired Headphones for Kids.  

And your little one's favorite shows burned onto your media player.  Sesame Street. Thomas. Dora. Muppets. Arthur. Calliou. Toy Story. Any or all of the above.

We brought several episodes of Sesame Street and Thomas the Train along on our "portable media device" and it kept the little boy entertained almost the entire flight - there and home!  That's eight hours total.  

So, I want to write more about our trip to San Diego, but I'll keep this post shorter, since it's for the photo challenge too. Sorry my pic doesn't scream Kaboom - but it's as close to the theme as I got! 

And on a related note, the fireworks in San Diego happened to all go Kaboom at once. Twenty minutes worth of fireworks all went off at the same instant.  And it was right outside our hotel window - check it out.

Hope you all had a great 4th! 

P.52 photo challenge: week 26.

School's Out - this week's theme.

So, Buddy is too young for school and subsequently, for school to be out, but school being out sure signifies summer (cue music....school's out, for summer...).  Even though it's been hot, hot, hot (cue music again) in the midwest for quite some time now.  And hot, hot, hot means water, water, water.

The little guy is absolutely in love with water and this last weekend, we enjoyed time in every type of water there --- water tables, sprinklers and even the fountain near the local Apple store.

Here are some pics of the happy little guy enjoying some sprinkler time!  Time to play!

P.52 photo challenge: week 25.

Fathers.  I am so incredibly lucky that my dad is my dad. He is the best dad ever.  And now Buddy is also incredibly lucky, because my husband is also the best dad ever. There can be more than one right? One is for me and one is for Buddy.   Here they are - the best dads.

(ps - My dad is also an incredible father in law to my hubs)














I took a wonderful picture of Buddy and Buddy's dada last week.  I definitely want to frame this for the house. So happy --- both of them. Happy daddy and happy little boy.

Think they look alike?

   

Weekly photo challenge: week 24.

Sunlight.

My photo (not surprisingly) is of little Buddy - my favorite subject! Not only does the photo depict him out in the courtyard on a bright and sunny day (and show his cute little shadow), but this boy, this face, this smile -- he is sunlight to my day - my sunshine, a ray of sun.

And, making it even sweeter is the reason for the giant smile on his face -- his daddy had just walked out of the house and was walking over to Buddy.

P.52 photo challenge: week 23.

This week's theme is water.  I must admit I've been a bit stumped - not because I can't think of anything to shoot - but because I cannot think of  a pic I can take easily and quickly.  And this week closes in one day, so I'll have to dig into my arsenal of pics.  I've not missed a week of this photo challenge, and I'm not about to do so!

A-ha - I've found a pic. And I think it's legit because I actually took it just two days ago with the intention of capturing a cute moment. SO - sounds good, right?

Buddy loves splashing water around. In the sink, in the bath - he's a big fan of the faucet.

He is happy. Pretty much always.

I love him so.

And I love his daddy too (the nice man standing behind him at the faucet. Who I did not mean to behead in the second picture).

Splish Splash little boy.

P.52 photo challenge: week 22.

Boys and Baseball. They just go together, don't they?

In our house, they sure do. Buddy loves baseball. He's a big White Sox fan (we started him young)!  One of his favorite things to do is to run around the house chanting "hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball" and doing just that.  He has a mini glove, two mini-bats and an assortment of baseballs.

So for this week's "Playtime" theme, I captured Buddy doing what he loves - playing ball.

And even though, according to the Brady Bunch, "mom always said, don't play ball in the house", in our house, it's okay. It's welcome.

Let's Play Ball!

Hat, check. Bat, check. Ball, check. 

Warming Up & Stretching Out.

Power Swing.

Retrieving his hit ball.

Sure, I have time for a quick pic mid-game.

Curtain Call. Thank you fans. 

P.52 photo challenge: week 21.

This week's theme is favorites. My most favorite favorites are my family.  My husband, little boy, mom, dad, brother, grandma(s).... these wonderful people to the right (minus my brother, who is not in the photo).

Then there are my mother/father/sister/brother-in laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

And then, for fun, there's "favorites" as in food, band, hobby, team, etc.

To that I answer: pizza, Pearl Jam, photography, White Sox. For etc., I answer: online shopping, taking walks, tv, sweet treats, writing my blog....

But, for this week's photo(s), let's go with my most special, favorite  little person.  My little boy.

One of my favorite things to do is just sit and watch him -

laughing, smiling, having fun.

Another favorite is to watch him deep in thought, playing intently,  taking in the world.

And after my heart swells with love watching him, I like to grab my camera and capture those moments.

I absolutely adore seeing his beautiful smile.  And how excited he gets. And how funny he is. How he giggles. How happy he is. And curious.

I love love love this boy.

My favorite little peanut.

I cannot help myself from kvelling (if you aren't familiar with the word, it is a Yiddish word and means to be delighted, happy, extraordinarily proud, to beam, to rejoice).

I am a kvelling momma.