Anyone wanna guess where we went today?

No, really. If you're a regular visitor, I bet you could guess correctly within 30 seconds! Haha! Yep...we went to the zoo. Again.

My mom is staying with us until this Thursday when she leaves to go back half way around the world. So, we thought we'd get out & do something fun today. And, yes, the hundredth visit to the zoo is still fun for us! Ha! (We're a simple family.)

Be watching, too. The girls got some new super cool rockstar sunglasses today. Remember how I mentioned that Maya is a serious lazy bones jones? Well, on the drive to the zoo, she decided that she'd like to walk today. However, she informed me that when her "eyes get hot," I'll need to pick her up and carry her. Um...no. Not happening. So, my solution? Get her some sunglasses so her eyes don't get "hot," and she can walk her own self all around that zoo! That's what she did, too! Woot! We've graduated into the big girl world of walking! Ha! :-)

Anyway, it was a good time. I found another new location for pictures. This new one just might be my favorite! The thing about it, though, is that only the top half of the wall is this nice blue crackly color. The bottom half is just plain wood, I think. It's seperated by a chair rail type thing or something. I don't know. I didn't pay THAT much attention. ANYWAY...I wanted to try it out, but my girls are too short. So, I asked mom to stand there for me. I'm LOVING the way this one came out. I'm so excited to have a nice, fun picture of mom!
And, here's Emma. I had to LAY on the GROUND to get this shot! I wanted her against the blue wall, though. Plus, the broken out roof is way cool, too. (Check out the glasses!)
Here's a couple of the three of them together. :-) (Maya's way too cool for school.) Eatin' ice cream cones & chattin' it up! Life doesn't get much better.
And, just a quick one of Maya being a rockstar. Hey, and check me out in her sunglasses! Haha! Fun stuff! And, by chance...does she look 18 here, or is it just me? Sheesh. Someone remind me to stop encouraging their sassy-ness & 3-going-on-teen behavior! What was I thinking buying them these glasses!?!
Here's one of an actual animal. I really like this one. This is the first time we've seen this white tiger up & about. Usually she's pretty lazy. Or, last week she just paced at the bottom of the enclosure, so you couldn't really see her. She was fun today!
And, finally...my experiment. Now, keep in mind there is LOTS of room for improvement here. But, I was wanting to try something a little different. We rode the train today, and while I was sitting next to Emma, I thought it would be neat to try to get a shot of her with the background motion blurred. So, I set my shutter speed to 1/4th of a second. I made her rest her head against the train, & I rested my camera against the train, as well. That way, maybe her movement & my movement would be semi similar, thus keeping her in focus at such a slow shutter speed while catching the motion in the background. I think it turned out kinda cool, although the lighting could have been better. Also, I think it would have been even cooler if I'd slowed the shutter speed even a little more to catch more motion. But, NO WAY she would have been anywhere near in focus. I was already asking a lot of this four year old by asking her to sit perfectly still on a train ride at the zoo! Know what I mean? So, yeah...here it is:
*****Also, I just want to thank you for all of the encouragement about the wedding shots! You guys are too good to me. I know you gotta start somewhere. I don't know why I thought it would be any easier than it was. Never the less, it really, truly was fun! :-) Thanks a bunch!*****