I ♥ Faces - All Things Babies

This week's I ♥ Faces Photography Challenge is "All Things Babies" - not just limited to little babies, either - baby animals, baby accessories, anything baby!

Since I just visited my sister and her cute little newborn, I have lots of pictures of little Felix to choose from. I chose a B&W version of me holding Felix by the window. My sister, Michele had tagged the photo as a "Favorite" in flickr, so she must like it.



If you have any photos that are baby related, be sure to enter!

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Day 162 - Storm and the Aftermath

We're thinking that the neighborhood picnic is jinxed - another oppressively hot and humid day, leading up to thunderstorms right at 4:00. I was driving to pick up Erica from the stables when I watched the black mass of clouds roll across the prairie.



The rain only lasted about 30 minutes so we were able to have the picnic in Lisa and Jeff's garage. It was even clear enough to run the Bounce House and Mega Slide inflatables.

After a couple of hours, another small line of storms rolled through, and left a wake of misty clouds in time for a very yellow sunset, with a bonus:



A huge rainbow that spanned the sky. My lens isn't wide enough to capture the entire arc, but it was magnificent.

Sometimes you need the storm to get to the rainbow.

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Day 161 - Rouge Mega Slide Operations

Our neighborhood picnic was scheduled for today at 4pm. A picnic in the park, with burgers and hot dogs, deserts and salads brought in by our neighbors, a DJ and large inflatables. In previous years, the picnic has been scheduled during the late fall, and the cold weather has always been a challenge. So moving it to summer should be a eliminate the weather issue, right?

Well, wrong, as a humid, tropical air descended upon the mid-west. And when you have hot, humid air, you have severe thunderstorms and torrential rains. Of course, one of these severe rain cells passed through our area right as the picnic was scheduled to start.

We rescheduled the picnic for tomorrow, but once the storms passed, and the skies cleared, we decided to unfurl the MegaSlide Inflatable for some unauthorized inflatable action.



OK, we're not supposed to operate the inflatables without the official operator from the inflatable company. But, hey, we're a bunch of rule breakers.

And the kids had lots of fun sliding down the MegaSlide.


Including the "big kids":

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160/365 -The Triple Lane Slip and Slide

If having the pool wasn't enough, Scott purchased a Slip-N-Slide last night. Another popular, yet fairly fragile water element.

The boys next door are about to run down into the slide. Note that swim suits are not really required to enjoy this ride. And also note that this year's model includes a triple lane configuration for more fun!


And guess what - by the end of the night, the boys punctured a hole in the bottom of the slide. Fortunately, it's been raining here, so the slide is constantly wet. We'll have to patch it up with some duct tape in order for the streams of water to spray on the lanes.

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159/365 - Trios

The ducks were hanging out in a pond by the baseball field. I estimate these little guys were born this season.



And these ducks are obviously more mature. They were quacking while swimming around. I even quacked at them and they responded. The group of ducks seemed right at home here.

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158/365 - Sammy Sleepover

We had a special house guest tonight - Sammy, the Siamese Cat.

Sammy belongs to Jen, one of Erica's friends. But Jen is moving to a new house, and they have decided not to take Sammy with them. Or maybe they will. I think they change their mind daily.

But if they decide not to take Sammy, he will become cat number three for us. And we had a trial sleepover tonight.

Initially, Sammy explored the house while the other two cats were sequestered in their rooms. But then he decided to hide behind the futon:


He did emerge later to snuggle on the couch with Scott and Erica:


He slept peacefully in Erica's room, a very successful sleepover.

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157/365 - Swing Batter Swing

Another post about baseball! With only two more games left and not much else going on at home, we get more baseball.



A nail biter game, all the way to the end, but we held the opposing team, winning 5-4. One more game remains in the regular season.

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