Tennessee Aquarium Part 3: Random

A few extra random pictures from the aquarium.

This was on the brick wall near the parking lot. I thought it looked neat!

While eating lunch in the parking lot, we watched these people climbing the wall across the street. It was so cool to see them climbing on the outside of the building! 

One of the pretty flowers outside the butterfly house.

Another pretty flower (sorry, I've got no clue what they are actually called).

These glass "jellyfish" were on display near the jellies. I thought they were beautiful!

When leaving the aquarium for the day, I noticed a tree casting a shadow on this wall. 

A puddle in the parking lot. 

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Click here for Part 1.

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Click here for Part 2.

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Click here to see Bethany's pictures.

365 in 2015 - End of week 52

This is officially week 52! But my first week was only two days, so I have five days left of my challenge. I got a new camera lens for Christmas and have enjoyed playing with that as well. I'm hoping to end better than I've done the last few weeks!

Cheyenne's new dress (and matching one for her doll!) that she got from Grandma for Christmas. She was so excited to get up and get dressed for church! 

On Monday, my two big girls each lost a tooth! Paige lost her first tooth, and Cheyenne lost her third! (Yes, my kids are on the later side for losing teeth!)

Tuesday morning was insanely foggy when I woke up. I quickly got the kids up and out so we could take some pictures. This was one of my favorites!

One of many pictures we took at Freeman's Mill Park. 

Paige playing on the porch with my umbrella one rainy evening.

Jon's new apron. He'd mentioned wanting one with Kiss the Cook on it, and I thought this one was funny!

One of my new ornaments made by Mary from The Old Well House. 

Bird Watching

We recently put up a bird feeder in our front yard. The kids and I have had a great time watching all the different birds! In early June there was a Cardinal family that we enjoyed watching. The mama or daddy kept taking turns feeding the young birds.

I don't know if these were male and female babies (the male possibly changing colors quicker?). Or if it's the mama and the baby. We had a hard time figuring out if there were multiple babies, but we definitely knew the one on the right was. It kept squawking and fluttering it's wings until mama or daddy fed it. It was amusing to watch!

Daddy sitting up in the tree. 

Baby sitting in the tree.

While out watching the Cardinals, we spotted a Tufted Titmouse as well (at least we think that's what it was).

Park Hopping: Lullwater Park (Part 2)

Part two of my Lullwater Park pictures is just the scenery pictures. I figured that'd be an easy way to separate them! 

Walking from where we parked toward Lullwater Park, we went under a roadway bridge that was covered in grafiiti. I thought this was neat looking! 

Bethany and I were both a little concerned by this open area that essentially just dropped off into the water. With ten kids to keep away from the edge, we quickly moved on (after the adults took a couple pictures).

This neat sign was right past the waterfall. If you can't make out the date, it's 1863!

It had rained a good bit the week or so before we went, so the water was disgustingly brown. This tree also was stopping all the balls, debris, and other trash. I thought it was interesting.

The ruins of the mill and the other waterfall we got to see. 

Inside the ruins of the mill - there was no roof! 

Looking out one of the windows toward the waterfall. 

Looking into the ruins. I loved all the graffiti on the walls! 

I know this is a little extreme, but I had fun really upping the saturation on this to show off some of the colors!

A tree growing a little tree on the hike back!

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Click here for part 1
or
Click here for part 3

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Click here to see Bethany's post about this trip!

Trail Life Spring Family Camping - Part 2

I took so many pictures while camping that I decided to split it into two posts.

My sweet girls ready to go exploring. 

Cheyenne

Paige

Shelby

All the kiddos humoring me trying to take their picture.

A pretty spot on the far side of our campground. I love the reflection! 

Saturday morning we took a hike to Nancytown Falls. The sunlight was just lovely coming through the trees! 

Clayton ready to go hiking!

The sun through the leaves. 

Nancytown Falls up ahead! 

The falls.

Jon

Cheyenne playing with the lantern.

The kiddos (plus an extra or two) playing with glow sticks. I had fun playing with different settings on my camera trying to get the glowing movement! 

365 in 2015 - End of Week 17

This past week was a struggle to even pull out my camera, much less stay with my theme for the month. I've had a lot on my plate with trying to reorganize my kitchen after the remodel, and getting things fixed, replaced, moved, rearranged, etc. has taken far too much time! I ended up having to take some extra pictures to have enough to cover each day. And I actually ended up liking a couple of the last minute shots better than the ones I thought about and tried to plan out!

Scotty giving Mia a ride. Better hold on tight Mia!

Scotty wanting to climb the tree with the kids. He couldn't get very far though.

Scotty listening to Readeez with Shelby. So glad it came with the words! 

Scotty guarding the bird feeder. He loves the birds, but is on the watch for the neighborhood cats that keep trying to come have one for dinner! 

Can you spot Scotty?

Scotty helping Shelby with her word search. Or maybe the other way around? Shelby is good at these! 

 Paige taking a power nap with Scotty.