Day 5 - Books

Today we went to my cousin Adam's new bride Erika's baby shower. It was a lot of fun and nice to see that side of the family!!

My photo topic for today was books. Had I thought of it I would have taken a picture of the baby book I bought for Erika. Duh me!!!

Instead these are books from Aunt Jackey's house. We stopped there after the shower. They had the warmest, crackling fire going. Heaven! There is something so relaxing about a fire! Anyway....these are books ;)

Day 4 - Breakfast

I am a HUGE supporter of convenience type food. Who am I to question multi-million dollar companies who've invested millions and tested recipes to the point of perfection. I use pre-made frozen waffles, box cake mix, Bisquick, etc. Do some of these things cost more then making them from scratch? Absolutely. But the time I save by using some of these items far outweighs the cost! When I'm already up at 5 am to get everyone up, ready & out the door, making waffles from scratch just ain't gonna happen!

So....this is today's breakfast. Frozen waffles, fresh strawberries, syrup and whipped cream. Hey - it's dairy so it counts as a breakfast food!

Day 3 - Clouds

Well there were MANY clouds to capture today. The hard part was choosing which one to use!! This is what I'm going with (no take backs)....

Day 2 - Shoes

Ah a topic near and dear to my heart....shoes. Sometimes one picture isn't enough so I just combined them all into one. It counts right??

30 Day Photo Challenge

There are all kinds of these "challenges" everywhere you look!! I figure being a photo taking addict how can I NOT play along right????

So here is the whole 30 day list along with Day 1 - self portrait

This was taken whole on a rare mid-day afternoon escape from the office. I was aggravated and needed some water and sun. The closest option was The Cove in Wethersfield.

So there we go.....1 day down 29 to go!!

Under The Microscope

By now you've probably noticed that I have a photo taking obsession. When you add something like a macro lens to the addiction during a time like spring well....watch out!

Using the macro lens turns an ordinary trip to the yard into a quest. What will the tiny lens find this time?? The sound of a bumblebee sends me in search of it - where I will patiently wait for what seems like forever for it to be able to be documented on "film". Tiny flowers and rocks and leaves have such incredible detail that the regular eye doesn't even know exists. It is an amazing world, that of macro photography. I love every minute of the quest!!

(You can view my whole album of macro shots here if you so choose

https://picasaweb.google.com/103338267089761748096/UpClosePersonal

Ikea = Idea??

Amy has undertaken an intense project of re-doing her dining and living room. What home project doesn't include a trip to Ikea? I'll tell you.....none!! So Amy's need to make the journey meant I got to tag along. Whooopeeee!!! Shopping AND Swedish Meatballs? Doesn't get better then that!!

Despite the complaints, Madi and Lexie were having a blast going "room" to "room". There wasn't an item in that store that didn't require the words "look at this". Yes very nice....

I managed to escape without too much damage to the wallet. Lunch, a few recycling bins and small jars for storage. Done!! It was a fun day. I love a store that is more like destination shopping where you literally get lost! Good times!!

Spring Forward

I don't know about all of you, but I have a very hard time adjusting to the spring time change.  Don't get me wrong - I love the longer afternoons.  The morning, on the other hand, is not something that I enjoy.  Who would think that one hour would really have THAT big of an impact??  Well let me tell ya, getting up at "what really is 4:00 am" is difficult no matter how long the sun shines in the afternoon!!!  I will get used to it, it just takes me a little while.

That said, have I mentioned how much I LOOOOOOOOVEEEE spring?????  Seeing everything coming to life and rejuvenating is just the best time of the year. The weather has been warm and wonderful - temps of 60's and 70's in March....yes please!  It makes it very hard to be inside all day at work, but you gotta do what you gotta do right? 

The week before St. Patrick's day, my friend Sheila's restaurant hosted a 5K which attracted quite an eclectic mix of people!  There were 700+ registered runners - a great turnout for a first time event.  The overall vibe was just a fun, light hearted, good time.  I was so impressed with all of the kids that participated in the race.  The look of determination was written all over their faces.  Every age range was there giving it their all.  Such motivation!

Here are the race sponsors, Sheila Frost, their friend Sean, and James Frost...

 race crowd ready to start

Here is a link to a slide show of all o the pictures:

 https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/g_tVUEdb6yphjb1OINZM1tMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

I saw a fun St. Patrick's Day surprise jar on Pinterest and thought I would give it a try!  It is, after all, my high holy day :) Inside it had a glowing shamrock, green sculpey clay (Madi's current obsession), a green flower hair clip, green scented markers, green gum and some other little stuff...

Madi started softball practice last week which is a sure sign of spring!!  It is so much fun to watch the girls play.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend time then to sit and watch....okay, well maybe I could but it's pretty darn fun! Batter up!!!  Peanuts.....cracker jacks....bring it on!

 

And what is more telling of spring then flowers blooming? Between softball and flowers bursting, no matter what the calendar says, I say it is officially spring!  And flowers blooming means I am busy with my macro lens trying to snap every detail that I can!

These are just simple crocus.  Aren't they so amazing up close like this?  I would never have seen the spectacular detail of the stamen if it weren't for this lens.  It's one of my most favorite things!

 

 

So it is finally here.  Spring.  Even though winter was easy on us this year, I am just as ecstatic that warmer weather is here! 












Here is a link to all of my macro pics if you feel like looking at minuscule aspects of a flower!  Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/ciaran.wilcox/UpClosePersonal?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Chip was going out for a ride across the street so I took a walk out and snapped a few action shots of him :)  He's still got it!  Being out there along the trail waiting for him to come around brought back so many memories from his racing days!  

 A few weeks ago I had made plans with Erin to go bowling.  It seemed like a good idea at the time - the temps had not yet risen to 70* out and we were looking for something to do together.  When we met up on Sunday morning it seemed silly to be inside on such a beautiful day.  We scraped bowling and went to the park to play in the fresh air. Madi and Ethan had a blast playing together.  It was so nice to be outside just.....being! 



https://picasaweb.google.com/ciaran.wilcox/PlayTimeWithEthan31812?authuser=0&feat=directlink