Father-daughter bonding moment

One of the reasons I discovered an interest in photography and storytelling was because of my parents.  As a little girl, I would "borrow" (sometimes for weeks at a time) my mom's photo albums.  She took photos of everything and recorded the events for us.  My dad, on the other hand, was the creative photographer.  During our two-year stay on Midway Island, he took slide after slide of "goony birds" (albatross), the beaches, and the lagoon.  When we moved to Oregon, he used the darkroom in his dental office to develop incredible black and white photos.  Many of our weekend family jaunts included Dad taking photos of waterfalls, Dad taking photos of the coast, and Dad taking photos of the fog-filled forest.  Well, it's my turn now (insert gleeful squeal).

I'm very much the amateur photographer, but I love it.  And I take every chance I can to try something new.  We took the kids to a waterfall near my folks' house (we'll see if my family members recognize it when they see the photos) and while my mom, hubby, and two brothers played with the kids, my dad coached me in taking some waterfall shots.  The photos turned out great, but more importantly I got to spend time doing something with my dad that I had wanted to do since I was a little girl.  That in itself makes these photos more priceless than all the gold in the world.

Sunrise in Oregon

Princess

While the younger girls were getting "sparkly" my oldest was adding a few sparkles of her own, in the form of dress-up clothes.  Yes, my girls are girly-girls.  Hey, I've got four of them; we may as well have fun with it!

Spider

With plenty of trees to spread webs from, it's no wonder the spiders love my parents' yard.  I thought this was a particularly handsome spider myself.

Fish pond

My dad lived in Japan for two years, and he's always had a fondness for Japanese gardens.  When they built their house several years ago, most of their time and money went into creating a backyard pond.  When we visit, our kids love to feed the fish in Grandma and Grandpa's pond; I like to photograph the fish.

My folks don't keep pets, but they do like their fish!

These are the fish's swimming patterns.  They're a cozy little bunch.

Sparkly Kids

"What has my sister done to me?!"

Grandma has the coolest "beauty kit" for kids, full of bright, colorful goodies (or goop) that can be spread all over kids' faces.  My second oldest daughter took the role of makeup artist for her younger sisters; these photos show her "masterpieces."

And here's the artist herself:

Romantic getaway

We've been visiting my folks in Oregon.  My husband and I don't get to leave the home for a date very often, so my parents encouraged us to take a bike ride through the forest.  My folks are fortunate enough to live near a paved nature trail that lies within walking or biking distance.  So we borrowed their bikes, grabbed my old Canon Powershot 6 MP camera (the dSLR was too bulky for a bicycle ride), and disappeared for a couple of hours.  Can you tell that we had fun?