Bubbles and chalk

Flower power

Pics taken while on vacation. I love flowers. If you want to see the detail, click on the pic - it will give you a good sized photo (downsized from the original, but still large enough to get a richly detailed look.) I'll have to catch y'all up on what's going on later - it's been hectic and crazy - and not in a good way. This is my way of saying I need to be more at peace right now...

The kids take pictures at the zoo

I have two Kodak Easyshare C813 cameras that I bought last year. One specifically for Kenzie for her 6th birthday, and one for Jia. I had no idea if Jia would be able to handle a camera or not when I bought it, but I thought I might as well go ahead and get it to be prepared for when I would be able to give her one. When we met Jia, it was (painfully) obvious it would be awhile before she could be handed over a piece of equipment, let alone some of the toys she would be given.

Even more unfortunate for her, she has this incredibly strong sense of what is fair and right and even - she believes whatever Kenzie has, she should have. It has taken the last 7 months (the 10th will actually make 7 months since we took her into our lives) for her to calm down and she has really taken to listening to us and what we say. She used to have this horrible problem with touching things she shouldn't or was told not to, such as, slamming her hand down on a cash register at a mall kiosk, or touching computer keys when she was told not to, or touching food on a buffet that she didn't intend to take and eat. So much of what we take for granted in our every day lives meant nothing to her - she had no point of reference or understanding about what was acceptable and what was not.

But she has shown a lot of growth - and fortunately for us, she can internalize the pain of a time out and it has helped her know that for her actions, there will be consequences...

So when we were all going to go to the zoo this weekend, Kenzie wanted to take her camera. Jia was begging "Please mommy? I want a camera, too. I promise I won't drop it." (Another of her behaviors that was hard to get over and is starting to sink in... some of it is accidental - but she also does it on purpose- such as accidentally knocking a utensil off of the dining room table, and then she puts that one in the sink, gets another, and then immediately knocks that one off, too, looking at us as though we should just bust out laughing at her. Um... I don't think so.) I made a deal with Jia. I would allow her to take a camera, BUT... she had to follow the rules. The rules were 1) you don't take out the camera without mommy to supervise; 2) you have to hold it exactly the way mommy tells you to, and 3) you do everything mommy tells you to do with the camera until I'm comfortable that you can handle it. It is NOT a toy. This is a real camera and you must not mistreat it.

Her eyes lit up - you could almost see the fireworks going off inside her brain as she understood she was going to get to take pictures with a REAL camera.

Here are her very best ones. I only supervised, but she took the pics and I loved her results. The only thing I've done is resize the pics and slightly sharpen them due to the blurriness that occurs with resizing. I would have to say, not bad for a little kid just learning about photography.

Kenzie's behind - butts are always a fascinating subject to 5 year olds.

If you can't quite make it out - it's a walrus.

This sky shot is intentional. I watched as she framed the pic all by herself.

Great pic of a polar bear.

Good pic of Kenzie

I have no idea who this goofy looking woman is. Pay her no attention.

Daddy. Always a kid favorite!

Now, here are Kenzie's pictures. I think she keeps getting better and better as time goes by. Some interesting perspective shots, too..

Daddy & Grandma Geri

This "little" walrus was attracted to anyone who had facial hair. Um... it's a little male walrus. Wonder what that says about the animal world....

Kenzie climbed up on some seats facing the water where the walruses were and took this pic. I really liked it - and thought it an interesting perspective.

There's that annoying woman in green again.

A closeup of a couple sea lions.

Great pic of Grandma Geri.

And now for mommy's pics she took with Kenzie's camera (mine ran out of battery pretty quickly).These were at the water park in the zoo. Jia was scared to death to get under any of the water until I tricked her - and then she got so we couldn't get her out of it.




Wow... what a day!