Busy, Busy, Busy!

This summer seems like such a blur! We have gone so many places and done so many things this summer, that it seems to have gone by with screaming speed. The past couple of weeks have been very busy for some reason and I have simply been too tired to post anything. So now I have quite a few pictures and a few adventures.
Living where we do, we have many great historical and cultural institutions nearby. Last Sunday we went to the George Eastman House to see an Ansel Adams exhibit. As I have mentioned before, I am a fan of black and white photography, so I was very excited to be able to see Ansel Adams' work! For obvious reasons, photos of his work are not allowed, so I only have a couple pictures from the Eastman House. However, a coupon for a free Ansel Adams postcard was included with each admission ticket to the Ansel Adams exhibit. I was able to convince Kyle and Jeff that they wanted postcards (even though they really didn't). So even though I could not take pictures at the exhibit, I did frame my postcards and photograph them...


























This picture from the Eastman House is really cool. It is George Eastman in many tiny photos all put together to make a large picture of him. I can't imagine putting this together! Erin is posing in front of the display so you can get an idea of the size of the thing. Near this display is a monitor showing the smaller individual pictures that make up the large portrait, so you can see each picture separately.



















There were many activities going on while we were there, many of them geared toward the children. Erin insisted on getting her face painted with a kitten. She then convinced Grandma to take her back for a snake on her arm. She can be very convincing!














We didn't spend a long time at the George Eastman House. We were hungry and the kids were very good about the whole thing, but it obviously wasn't their "thing." We went to a little cafe and had some good grub, then Jeff and I took the kids to the park. The playground at this park is really cool. There is equipment for toddlers, bigger kids, and teens. Most of the parks we go to have signs that say children over 12 must not play on the playground equipment. Kyle was happy that he was able to use the playground!
This is the "big kid" area. I told Erin she was too short to use the thing she is using...anything to prove Mom wrong, LOL!













This is the teen area. The thing that I am trying to reach is like a zip line. It was a lot of fun, but you have to let go at the right moment or you get quite the jarring in your back...yes I tried it! Notice Erin on the "teen" stuff? She really thinks she is a teenager in a small body. She asks us all the time, "Don't I look like a teenager?" Hmmm!?!













I think Erin was trying to get higher on the swings than Kyle, but she just doesn't have the leg power yet...













Notice Sarah's antlers? Kyle found pine needles and tried to put them in Sarah's hat but had difficulties, so I helped. Isn't she cute?













While Sarah and Kyle were chasing each other, Sarah's knee had a close encounter with a bolt. That 'pretty' pattern was visible for 2 days then much of her knee turned a lovely shade of yellow.













After Sarah's injury, I suggested a walk around the pond that the playground overlooked. I needed to take some pretty flower pictures. Unfortunately, most of my pretty flower photo attempts were failures, but I did manage a couple decent pictures...