Great-Aunt Rosie's 80th

Two of Bob's grandmother's siblings (are you with me?) still live on their parents' homestead about 40 minutes northeast of here and we stopped in to visit on Sunday.  Our family has a soft spot for things nostalgic and visits to this place are always extra special. Great-Aunt Rosie celebrated her 80th birthday and we enjoyed a gorgeous summer afternoon, meeting several relatives for the first time. The original (now restored) home on the property was finished in 1744, and the kids went wild over the fact that George Washington was just a boy of 12 years old at the time.  A number of furniture pieces in the main house were handcrafted by Bob's great-grandfather.

Believe or not, this lady is 80... and looking amazing

The original home

The barn, a mere 205 years old...

loved the lighting inside...an amazing place for exploring

Rosie with her sister Verna, 

trying to identify those in pictures of times gone by

Great-Uncle Clarence

Bob's Uncle Glenn and Great-Uncle John

Bob's Grandma seated on the left with her four of her five siblings

Grandma Weidler's bouquet for the birthday girl...always a special treat

Fun @ the Fair

Here are few photos from the E-town Fair. We look forward to it every year and with it comes the realization that summer ends all too soon. Believe me, we were there no less than six times last week. Here are a few of our favorite things:

Fair food is fabulous, (we each have our favorites) and the kids 

consistently visited the Shaved Ice man throughout the week... 

and often ended up looking something like this:

Sweet Baby

This morning I visited with my friend Theresa and her four beautiful daughters. The newest addition to their family arrived in June, and this was my first attempt at photographing an infant. This little one has such a sweet spirit and is quite a smiley baby for being so new! Everyone (including baby) was so patient with me. Big (twin) sisters and the three (and-a-HALF) year old big sis are great helpers and each took a turn cuddling with their newest playmate.

this could be the cutest belly button ever...

with the blanket Grandma made...

these girls just LOVE their new sister

too cute..she'd had enough, but big sis keeps smiling

Ready, Set, Capture!

Wednesday evening I spent an hour with Christine & Jeremy and their two active kiddos~ whomever thinks photographing children under the age of five does not require Olympic effort has simply not tried it! I got quite a workout chasing these two cutie pies around their home. Thankfully some turned out quite well, despite my wondering if all that movement would leave me with any pictures to share ;-) I love black & white photography and adore how the b&w pic turned out of their pretty little girl.

Afternoon @ Long's Park

The boys and I headed to Long's Park this afternoon after Ike's playdate fell through for today. I decided to take a borrowed lens and try it out~ here are the results along with a play by play of the action as needed...feel free to leave a post and let me know what you think!

time for lunch!

HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME????

WHAAATTT???

can you hear me NOW????

mulch happens...

Family Gathering

If the people photographed on this blog start all looking similar, that's just a coincidence ;-) A Starr family reunion of sorts took place this past week (Greg's sister and family live in Canada) and I had the pleasure of capturing some photos, including the grands and kids...Greg's parents' homestead was a great spot and the kids love exploring "Grandma's Grove." I am finding that photographing kids is so much fun, and it's a challenge to come up with tricks to keep their attention longer than the first picture. We had a great time and here are a few from the evening:

These two are way too cute

(this is Greg's non-twin brother & his wife ... even 

the nephews and nieces were getting confused between uncles)

grands & kids

sittin' by Grandma's apple tree

parents & sibs

the whole family...