The three of them

I've been told by a few neighbors about this great little walking/bike trail near our house. It runs along a little river and I was told there are places along the trail where you can get up to it. So this morning I decided that I'd pack a lunch and we'd all head over there after I picked Emily up from school.

Let's call this a scouting trip just to see what's out there. I really didn't care who was dress in what, or how messy their hair was, I just wanted to see if we could find the river, take some pictures and have a nice lunch. We walked I'd say about 1/4 of a mile before we found a nice place to lay out a blanket and have our lunch. This is also the first spot we came to where you could access the river. Someday maybe we'll take along a towel. It's pretty shallow and the girls could have walked right in.

Can I just say how much I appreciate all that I've learned about photography from everyone on 2Peas? Good thing I'll have lots of chances to take more pictures here. They all came out really soft. But here's what I've learned... while I'm there, I'm taking these pictures. The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky. In my mind, I'm thinking full sun. But it really wasn't, nowhere near it. I was amidst the shade of the trees. I wanted to close down the aperture but was struggling with shutter speed. I know that's why so many came out fuzzy. Got home and realized, DUH?!?! Why didn't I raise the ISO? Stupid me. Chalk that one up to another learning experience. But my point... I wouldn't have even thought of that if it hadn't been for all I've learned here. Now, I've just got to keep all those thoughts flowing through my little brain while I'm actually taking the pictures.

Here are the three of them. I couldn't get them all to look at me at the same time. The older two were a little too busy being silly.

Molly... finally getting to that point where she holds her head up high. Plus, it helps to minimize those double (heck, triple) chins a bit. LOL!

Anna... definitely not cooperating today. She wouldn't let me get a picture of her. She kept pulling her hat over her face. So, I snapped a picture of her hat over her face and when she heard the click and lifted her hat up, I stole this one. :)

Emily... also refusing to be photogenic today. She looks rather deep in thought, maybe even mad. Really, she was just trying to find the next rock to throw in the river.

Yes, the highlight of the trip was gathering little rocks and tossing them into the river. Like I said, we'll have to plan to actually get in next time.