Baby See, Baby Do!

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.



This little girl SOMEHOW found Mommy's waterproof mascara and decided it would be fun to paint herself the way Mommy always does.



What're you lookin' at? Hey - it took me twenty minutes and 10 cottonballs of makeup remover to get me looking this good!

The End. :-)

The Long Wait

Mommy said Daddy was supposed to meet us here...but I don't see him.




I think she is pulling my leg. I've been waiting for over five minutes and haven't seen a soul!



I-yi-yi...



Will he EVER come??



What! He's here you say? Hurry up Daddy...Mommy needs to go to the store for some Windex!



Daddy!!



I knew you would come!

Bird Watching

I was in the backyard the last night when I noticed a pair of Robin tending their nest of babies. It was fascinating to watch! The nest was placed upon one of the house gutters just under the ledge of the roof. You can hear my daughter playing with the dogs in the background of this clip. :)

The only thing that worries me is that these robins built the nest smack dab above the path the dogs have made to the front yard. So when the times comes for the babies to be pushed from the nest, they will land in dangerous territory. Unfortunately there's not a lot I can do about this - I can't keep all three of our dogs chained or out of the way 24/7.

I'm not typically a bird person, but I have to admit, I had a lot of fun watching these parents. It continually amazes me the lessons we can learn from animals. Think about it - these Robins have succeeded in doing what approximately 50% of Americans cannot - working together to raise a family.

Next on my wish list, I suppose, is the 1.7x conversion lens so I can get closer images of wildlife - especially birds. We'll see...I can't be getting ahead of myself again!

Fork Horse Trials

As promised, here are a few photos of my brother and sister competing in the Fork Horse Trials near Pinehurst, NC. My other brother, Ian, actually took most of these photos and he did such a good job! I think we have another photographer in the making! I took a lot of video as well - I am going to edit it and post it online, but I need to catch up on editing a few recent photoshoots before I get into all that. But until then, enjoy these photos!



^ Matthew & Misty during dressage. I guess someone suggested he needs a bigger horse (she is 15 hands), but I think they complement each other perfectly, don't you? He is so good to her and they have come so far together - if you ask me, they are a match made in heaven.



Cymry & Patriot during dressage. Mom said that Patriot seemed a little nervous the night before the event, so we worried how he would do in dressage. But he actually relaxed and did quite well!



Cymry and Patriot complete show jumping. I love how the trees frame them here! This image was actually taken by my youngest brother, Ian. It was Ian's 13th birthday, and he spent the day using my equipment while got a break from still photography and took video :)



My sister and her horse Patriot take a cross-country jump at yesterday's horse trials. Cymry was competing at Novice level and Matthew at Beginner Novice.



Matthew & Misty during the stadium jumping phase of the event. Misty dropped one rail, but was so steady and calm - I was so proud of them!



A shot of Matthew & Misty going cross-country! (taken by Ian)



Yay! They did so well!

I'm so proud of all of them - horses and people both!

Weekend Anticipation

Guess where I'm going to be this weekend?

I am going to be here - at the beautiful Fork Farm & Stables in Norwood, NC with my family, watching my brother and sister compete in their horse trials.

You see, my brother and sister are eventers. I could go into a long explanation for any non-horsey people, but I wouldn't want you to have to listen to me any longer than was absolutely necessary, so I will just direct you to this webpage, and also the following video that my sister took and uploaded to her flickr photostream.



Trust me - it's not as easy as it looks!

Of course, I have been to horse shows before, but I am especially excited this time because the Fork is so elite and so beautiful. You can bet I will be taking hundreds of pictures, and video that I will be sharing later on. :)

Futbol @ North Park

Yesterday, Grace and I went up to North Park to watch the guys playing soccer/futbol. What began as a very hot, muggy afternoon turned into a nice evening as the sun started going down. I took this video with my new Sony Hx1 and I can tell you that while the pictures aren't much to speak of, I'm happy with the HD video quality.

My husband is one of the players in this video, as are his two brothers, brother-in-law and at least one cousin. (There aren't many Ecuadorians in Burlington, so they are a tight-knit group). You can hear Grace cheering them on - I can almost guarantee you that she will be out there with on the field as soon as she is old enough to keep up. :)

P.S. I forgot to make the wind filter before I left the house, so pardon the noise. :(

Little Jane Wayne

Yesterday, my sister took my little girl for a ride on her horse, Patriot.



They made several big loops around the ring. Grace sat straight and tall. Patriot is somewhere around 15.2 hands but she didn't seem at all afraid. (For you non-horsey people, one hand is 4 inches :-)



Grace is doing her best impression of John Wayne in these images.



She held the reins too :-)



Grace is ready to gallop off into the sunset, to locate the Ponderosa and those Cartwright boys.

She gets that from me, I'm afraid. ;-)