The Affordable Answer to a Spa Experience

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. With sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 80's, my family found itself outdoors for most of our daytime hours. Bathtime for Daniel arrived, and my dh had the brilliant idea to give Daniel the ultimate luxury--bath al fresco. So, that is exactly what we did. Daniel was extremely thrilled with our choice. The experience combined everything he adores--bathtime, no clothes or diaper, outdoors, being within sight-range of our dogs, and hanging out with the 'rents. We loved it since water clean-up could be disregarded. Agghhh--the ultimate home spa experience!

CRIME SCENE (not for those who are faint of heart...

or for those who have a weak stomach). This is the horrible scene that I arrived home to find right at the threshold of my front door:

I don't know if it is completely evident exactly *what* is in this picture, so let me break it down. The poor defenseless being without a tail would be the casualty of this senseless crime--a lizard. The red matter on the concrete??? That would be either that poor lizard's blood or the blood of the murderer (along with a couple of undigested pieces of cat food). And that tuft of hair in the upper right hand corner of the picture? My guess is that the tuft of hair came from the losing party in the battle over the rights to the lizard. And the black matter in the picture? That would be the result of the inability of the murderer's stomach to completely digest the missing components of the lizard. Ohm, just disgusting. Now, dh and I will have to decide who will be given the unfortunate opportunity to clean up this crime scene. Nice.

And just in case you are wondering who the resident lizard killer is, she is pictured below in all her glory:

The Unannounced Visitor

You know that it was past time to cut the grass when after finally getting around to cutting the grass, you find this in a nearby bush, taking refuge from the big, bad lawnmover. Luckily, this visitor is non-poisonous. I'm glad that I didn't decide to trim off some flowers from the azalea bush today.

Here's where a Political Science degree did NOT get me...

but this is also where my husband's teaching degree got him over his spring break. Needless to say, I am green with envy. But he did have to chaperone 15 students and drive an activity bus for 6 hours each way traveling down the interstate at 56 mph...so maybe that evens things out in the end.

So, that's what macro mode is for!!!

After having the same digital camera for two years now, you would think that I would have a pretty good idea of the camera's capabilities (and also how to best utilize these features). Well, this camera just never ceases to amaze me! Here are my attempts to catch the first signs of spring. I have to say I am pretty proud of these pictures.