Photography Foibles

 I like this picture.  It was taken at the end of May.  I thought I'd choose this one to show you all of the others that were taken to get it.  You can crack up with me about some of these faces.

Not too bad, but Bronwyn is giving me eyes.  She wants to know why this is necessary.

Amelia decides to put her on the grass and the response is less than happy.

Ha!  Any caption suggestions for this face?  Definitely, she thinks the grass feels strange.

Putting her back on the lap doesn't really help matters.  She's had it now.

The funny face switches to Millie here.

:)  I love this face.  She's letting me know she's serious.  She usually starts blowing raspberries at this point.  She never really cries, but blows raspberries instead.

Millie decides that if she can't beat her she should join her.

Poor child.  I've pushed her too far.  Time to put the camera away.  

Photographing babies can be quite a challenge.  But even their upset faces can be pretty cute and spoiled pictures can be good for a laugh.

Ben's 10th Birthday

Ben's 10th birthday actually took place while we were in Williamsburg.  We waited to celebrate it until we got home.  This set of pictures is the very last of our time with Mom and Dad.  Above is a picture of my dad chopping down a dead tree in our yard and his little group of spectators. 

Ben had birthday waffles for breakfast.

In the late afternoon we headed out to Cooper's Rock, where he enjoyed his birthday dinner, picnic-style.

Peter grilled some chicken and warmed some homemade bread on the BBQ there.

While we waited for the food to cook, people kept busy doing all kinds of things.  Papa kept the girls happy on the swings.

Elijah pretended to be a rock climber.  ;-)

And a rock jumper.

Grammie taught Samuel a game with some string.

Will found himself a skink.

He tells me it's a blue-tailed skink.

Ben's birthday dessert was a big pan of chocolate-chip cookie bars.

Birthday hug from Eli.

And birthday love from Bronwyn.

Amelia got Ben a bag of jawbreakers for his birthday.

He did a good job showing gratitude.

A new play pistol.

Coloring pencils.

In Williamsburg I got Ben this arrow, tipped with an arrowhead, made of bamboo and fletched with real feathers.  There was a necklace that matched with an arrowhead on it too.

We also got him a small indian drum.  He can use these things with his buckskin outfit to pretend to be an Indian.

A card and gift from Grammie and Papa.

This is the face that he made while saying, "It couldn't be.  Is it a remote control car?!?"

Yes, a water-defying remote control car.  This has been a really great toy.

One last swing before we go.

I think this was Bronwyn's first time to swing.  She had fun swinging with her dad.

Jamestown - Fort

And the last, last of all of these photos is the Jamestown Fort.  Heading in you can see their garden plots. 

There were a couple of armed men guarding the gate.

Again, interesting construction, materials, design and furnishings.  It was very neat to see first-hand.

Sam and Will are playing with a scale.

There were several houses within the fort that could be toured.

They were very plain and rustic.  Very different from the Colonial era represented at Williamsburg.  But, of course, this was a settlement that was built in a completely undeveloped place.  They had no resources outside of what they found in front of them in the woods.

:) Dad, being playful.

Investigating the roofing material.

Muskets and powder.

This interpreter had a table set up with leather working tools and items made from leather.  Here, he is showing us a sword that he was making a leather sheath for.

We stood here for quite some time because it was so interesting.

You can tell by the rapt attention that this was history taught the right way!

This was his toolbox.  So neat.  Below, he is showing how a leather mug is made by putting wet leather around a cylinder mold and let to dry, forming the round shape.

Next, we visited the church.

The bells.

Looks like a fire risk to me.  :)  Lots of wood, but big!  This is a lot of pews in this building.

Trying out the pulpit.  (Hello way up there.)

Front row seats.

Inscriptions in the shape of tablets.

The baptismal font.

This next house that we went into was nicer than the others.  I think it must have been where the leader (governor?) of the settlement would have lived.

There were several spanish-looking carved pieces of furniture.

This house had some clothing and armour that could be tried on.

Outside this house was a bench lined with helmets and armour for guests to try on.

Everyone got their turn.

Even Dad and Eli.

This is one heavy hat.

This was the last house we went to.

Looks like someone will be back for their shoes soon.  I love this kind of experience because you really feel like you can imagine living there.

This man briefly told us about this outdoor oven.

Sam is trying out the harness for carrying buckets.

Very last of all, we were covering our ears as there was a demonstration of a musket being fired. 

He wasn't kidding about it being loud.  And he's pretty serious in those red stockings too.

As we headed back to the Visitor's Center, we passed this monument built to commemorate the original Jamestown settlement.

This is what was on top of it.

This is what was on the bottom of it.

And to finish off, here is a picture of a plaque hanging in the Visitor's Center that I thought gave a helpful overview.