Clara photos

a month or so ago, as I was hiking with my friends Barnali & Ingrid, I was lamenting the fact that I'm so nervous in front of the camera that I don't have any good, professional photos of myself (which seems like something pseudo-professional types like myself should have in these days of social networking of everything). Barnali described how she used to feel that way, but after spending a year traveling with her husband taking lots of pictures, she gradually got more and more comfortable, which is how she came to have so many lovely pictures of herself. Being a fabulous photographer herself, she suggested we do a "photo shoot" with just the three of us to help us all get more comfortable in front of the camera (and maybe even come out of it with a good photo for linkedin).

We did it this morning, and in spite of my mounting apprehension about it all, it turned out wonderfully! Barnali coached us through the whole thing and made it fun.

And how do these photos of Clara fit in? Zach had some work to do and dropped Clara off with us near the end of our "shoot". She, of course, wanted in on the action. And here's the result (thank you Barnali!!):

Camp Nature

Here's some pictures of the beautiful nature we saw at camp, including the dead, but intact "Sister Butterfly" that Molly found, Small Falls, views from our cabin, and wildflowers.

Parents

Yup! We had some special time at camp, too! Here is a collection of the photos we took of each other (and one photo of the pager that allowed us to leave Clara in Kiddie Camp). Sometimes we just sat by the river and talked. Sometimes we hiked. But it was always nice to have some time together. The last few photos of me were taken by Molly.

Dino Pictures (from Heather C)

More pictures from yesterday's ceremony. These were taken by a classmate's mother (thank you Heather C.!).

Clara is a Dinosaur!

Clara had her "Moving Up" ceremony today. She doesn't start as a "real" Dinosaur until September, but as the kids start to trickle away for the summer they do a moving up ceremony for each class. It's a wonderfully sweet way to mark the moment and Clara's been super excited about it. Of course, all the emotion caught up with her when we had to leave, but until then she was charging right ahead, ready to be a Dinosaur!

Clara examines her Dino necklace (each kid is given one of these by the departing Dinos. Clara had a minor meltdown when the googly-eye fell off of hers, but Lupe swiftly replaced it).

Clara the Dino!

Nona and Opa very sweetly presented Clara with her own loaf of olive bread - which she treasured!