I very reluctantly and tearfully said goodbye to my camera six days ago. No doctors or nurses have called to inform me of her status, but I'm fairly certain she's still in the operating room. So, until she returns in better health, we're looking at photos taken with my once-upon-a-time cool camera, and believe me when I tell you that I'm offering you the best I've got ...
This is my best family photo. We're sitting in a dirt driveway in a small town watching a really lame parade (which explains the red, white and blue coordinates). You can't see my legs, but I'm wearing blue jeans, if that tells you anything about the climate. Seriously, the middle of July (the parade was held late), and I'm in pants -- and I wasn't even hot. Weather notwithstanding, this is the new family photo that I really might consider framing on our wall, since it will probably be two more years before we get another family photo opportunity. I was really hoping for a coastal picture last weekend, but Grant fell asleep in the car on the way to the rainy beach. So instead of the gentle waves in the background and the sand beneath our feet, we're in Beverly Hillbilly Town kneeling on dirty gravel and candy wrappers. But it's the best I've got. (At least we're all there.)
While at the parade, we saw this cool invention. I never saw the kid pull anything out of the cooler (I would have thought he'd be selling popsicles), so I'm not quite sure what the point was. The gadget reminded me of something my oldest brother would build. I had to zoom in as far as my old, sorry digital camera would go, hence graininess and fuzziness. But it's the best I've got.
Grant waved at every float/car/horse/passerby. And since my rinky dink camera doesn't have a backflash, we see Grant in silhouette, but ... (you want to finish this one?)
It was about this point in the parade where Grant became more interested in the camera than the floats, probably because most of the floats ran out of candy before they reached us -- we were at the end of the parade route, which answers the time-old question of where to sit at a parade. I always wondered if you'd get gobs of candy at the end because the throwers would toss all of the leftovers. Turns out, there's nothing left over. And I bet they're all stingy at the beginning because they're afraid they won't have enough. So, next year we'll aim for a seat about half-way through. But back to Grant and the camera. He threw the biggest fit, so I let him have it (couldn't get any worse, could it?). He took this picture:
... and five more just like it before I took the camera away. That explains why he wouldn't smile for this shot:
I almost didn't post this picture because Grant wasn't exactly cooperating (oh, you couldn't tell?). But then I thought, Hey Self, you're always the one taking pictures, so pictures of you with the kids are rare. Post it, even if Grant has his mad face on. After all, it's the best you've got.
