300: Christmas Parade

We took the kids to their first parade this weekend. By happy coincidence, the parade happened to fall on the 300th day of my project.

These first three images are the crowd milling about, waiting for the parade to reach our section of the route.

Neither my husband nor I had been to a parade in many, many years. I think I was marching in the high school band at my last parade.

The Star Wars 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion were, of course, the family favorite.

More here if you like.

277: First haircut

My daughter had her hair cut by a professional stylist for the first time today. She basked in every aspect of the new experience, from the chair to the robe to the braid at the end.

237: Farm Festival

  

211: Picnic Party

On Labor Day, we decided to hike at a local park with a beautiful boardwalk through a marsh on the Appamatox River. When we arrived, we discovered this large group had set up quite a party at the park. After we hiked for a bit, we stopped at the playground and caught some of their volleyball game.

Nearby, a group of four kids, ages ten to 14 or so, were playing a game of baseball. This girl impressed me by holding her own with three boys. 

210: Atlantic

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

209: Clean Up

The power finally came back on last night just in time for us to use hot water and the dishwasher as we cleaned up from dinner. This afternoon a crew of three or four big trucks and half a dozen county employees rumbled down the street, stopping at the house next door to remove limbs and debris created by the hurricane. My kids, and let's be honest, my husband and myself as well, were thrilled to watch this huge claw manipulate the branches into the back of a waiting dump truck.

188: One City Block

 

186: Library

185: Henricus

The kids and I visited Henricus Historical Park today, along with some other local 365 mamas. This first shot, taken on the drive in to the park, was inspired by Beth of ...the year of the written word... whose side project, "The Notion of Line" has changed my view of power lines as something in the way of a good shot, to something worth looking at it and even capturing in and of themselves. Though you can't really tell in this image, the tower in the distance in the very center of the photo is blue.

This resident soldier of the Citie of Henricus is describing how the metal helmet protected colonists from Native American arrows while providing greater peripheral vision than earlier versions.

We discovered this grouping of reproduction trinkets and artifacts toward the end of the visit. My toddler daughter was fascinated by the colorful beads, making this shot much more difficult to capture than it might appear.

More power lines on the drive home, with no particular blue other than the sky this time. Dominion Power has a coal plant near the park, and each time I visit the area I am dumbfounded by the shear volume of power lines.

You can see more shots from our visit here, and be sure to check out Progeny 365(ish), 365 Days of Me and Snowglobe 365 for more views of our fun afternoon!

119: Walking

My son and I took a walk around our neighborhood this morning. In theory, it was a photowalk for both us, but he's easily frustrated by his camera, and handed it off to me early on.

After lunch, all four of us headed over to Belle Isle. We spotted this collection of blue items on one of the old bridge piers almost immediately, but couldn't tell what we were seeing until we got home and looked at the photos on the computer. A village! Complete with steepled church, lighthouse and houses on the hill. Such a  neat find. Click on the photo to see a larger version of the Little Blue Village.

And a few of the other sights and activities we saw while exploring the island today...

110: Fountain of Rebellion

Hit the pedestrian mall fountain for the first time of the season today. Discovered that I still have that ol' rebellious streak, at least as far as mall cops are concerned. They busted me twice. Soon after we arrived, a yellow-shirted man on a Segway rolled up to me and asked me to put my shoes back on. Later, another yellow shirt told me I wasn't allowed to photograph the stores. "They get really upset when you do that." I'm not sure which was more refreshing, the water or seeing that I can still ruffle some feathers.

91: Mother's Day

It all started with measuring the donuts from Country Style Donuts. My son took his measuring tape with him to the store and measured while he was there, but decided to double check at home.

After "breakfast dessert," we worked in the garden for a few hours. Sorry to say there is no photographic evidence of our efforts today.

After lunch, we headed down to the River District in the hopes of catching a ride on a Canal Cruise. The 2 p.m. tour was packed full, so we decided to explore the area in the hopes that we could kill an hour without losing the attention of our little ones.

I drive by this bank of electrical meters almost every day and have long wanted to photograph them. This isn't quite the angle I had in mind, but I was limited by the privacy fence around them. I'm calling the LED light around the two smart meters in the foreground blue.

We stopped at Shockoe Espresso for a treat: cookie or "cooko", depending on how you pronounce it, for the kids and, of course, cold coffee for their perpetually tired parents. As we walked over the threshold, my son made my day when he yelled out, "They have a mosaic sign!" 

We managed to fill the 60 minutes in relative peace and happiness, and boarded the next boat at 3 p.m. If you haven't been on the cruise, considered yourself warned: quarters are tight on these tours! 

Another shot to check off my to-do list. We can see this marina where the tour boats are housed on our regular drive, and I often wish for the time to stop and take a few photos. I got a lot closer today than I would on foot from the Virginia Capital Trail along Dock Street.

Of course I couldn't resist taking a shot of this window display at a Japanese restaurant on the walk back to the car. 

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mamas out there! I hope your days were filled with love and joy and above all, appreciation for all your efforts.