twinkle star

When Fern began to say her first words, she called stars 'twinkles'...I suppose because we sang 'Twinkle twinkle little star' to her every night as we laid her down to sleep. She eventually began to call them 'twinkle stars', and now she just calls them stars most likely because we unintentionally correct her by calling them stars ourselves. But when I asked her what this was in the picture, she said it was a twinkle and it made me so happy.

And here are a few more from the other day. This is what I get when I ask her to smile at me:

And another lovely smile:

Trying to open the water bottle with all of her might and then some... she already knows how to exaggerate. uh-oh, we're in for it! ;)

adore

I adore this face. Last night the dog sneezed and Fern said 'Bless you Samuel'.

the Hambricks

A couple of Mimi and Papa from our trip. For those that didn't know... Al's dad is a baptist minister, and this is his cute little church.

Happy Father's Day

Dear Al,

It's sad to think that you probably don't know how much you are appreciated. I should tell you more often. Thanks for being the best dad you can possibly be. Fern is one lucky kiddo and I can tell from these photos that she agrees. :) From the bottom of my heart, Ginger

the duck pond

When I was little, I would go feed the ducks with my musical kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Strobel. She really liked mushrooms and owls. They were all over her house. I have a feeling that we would have much in common these days now that I am all grown up. I was only three when I knew her, but she has left somewhat of a lasting impression with me. I think it has something to do with nature's impact. It is so powerful for little ones. And absolutely necessary I think. I don't know how many times I went with her to feed the ducks, but I remember it like we had been hundreds of times. Maybe we had.

There are no ducks in Guam, that you can feed anyway, so I was really looking forward to taking her to the Duck Pond in Norman while we were there. And we got to go with Aunt Greta to boot. Most of the ducks have been replaced by geese, so I'm sure they have left an impression on Fern. (They could be a tad intimidating to a 2 foot tall person.) If not, she'll have this video to remember them by. And the bazillions of photographs of course. :)

spreading seed

Another picture at the farm. Blowing dandelions. This particular one wasn't quite ready and she was having a pretty difficult time getting those seeds to disperse. :)

the farm

Wow, I am slowly getting through more pictures of our trip to the mainland. I was hoping to post about the trip while we were still there, but we are already back and I am still going to be posting about the trip a few more times. Anyway, here is a sneak peek from our visit to the farm to see Uncle Kenny, amongst others. Sadly, it was raining most of the time we were there, so I didn't even take that many pictures. I think our farm is one of the most beautiful places, EVER. Every time I go back, I am astonished by the beauty found there. I think it must come from living in the tropics and never ever seeing big oak trees. In fact, most of the trees in Guam are quite puny, due to the typhoons. I am totally going to freak out when we go back to the northwest someday...at least to visit. Those are some big trees. I can almost smell them just thinking about it.

Calling the cows with Grandpa. Her first real live cows!

Oh, and here is the watermark for my new logo. so exciting! Isn't it cute?

back yard fishin' and long walks

I love that this is my parents back yard now.

Earthworms!!!


Reeling in the line!

Fishing with dad.

Lukas caught a fish!!!! 1 of 3.

A little bluegill...not a good one to eat... he was released.

Walk in the woods.

Exploring Grandpa's property

Grandpa looks so tiny on this big hill!

So handsome.
My parents new place with Grandma on the deck

Pretty little butterfly

Going on a walk with Grandma and Grandpa, enjoying the perfect weather.

Arkansas

Two mamas on Mother's Day

Securing the boys while they clean the gutters from the rooftop

Hotubbing with cousin Lukas!

Tired baby after a swim

family tree

My folks recently moved to a house on Lake Anne in Arkansas, so I was super excited to see their new place. They have about an acre of woods behind their house and it is brimming with birdlife... hummingbirds and woodpeckers being my two favorites to watch so far. I can say that I will never take birdsong for granted again. When I step outside here, that is all I hear, and it is fantastic. I was looking forward to it, but it was so much better than expected. I just want to sit outside all. day. long.

Of course my mother wanted a picture of all of us, so I decided to have everyone sit on this fallen oak tree. I'm really excited about these woods you see. I learned that I really need to buy a remote for my camera. Using the timer for this one was challenging to say the least. I only had about four chances to run up the steep, rocky hill and jump up onto this tree that came up to my eyebrows when I was standing on the ground. That's alot to do in 10 seconds. (Now I'm thinking that the time might be able to be adjusted on my camera.) After the 4th snap, I was too tired to get up there again. I didn't even make it the second and third time! So considering, I was pretty happy with the result. (Fern was also throwing one heckuva tantrum during most of this, so the fact that she is smiling is pretty amazing!) The flowers are from the woods all around here. Not sure that I like this collage but thought I'd post it since I spent the time to make it. More of our trip to come...soon.

{You can click it to see it larger :)}

Horace

no more photos mama!

Fern thought it was pretty funny to try to put my lens cap on when I was trying to take a picture of her!

my girl is rad

We took Fern to Ritidian in the morning over the weekend. We found a perfect spot that has alot of shade well into the morning. It was also a bit overcast off and on, which may have helped with the shadiness. Regardless, we will be going more often now, I'm certain. Fern thought the hermit crabs were very interesting until...




...the little guy grabbed onto her fingertip when she tried to drop him, and he clung to her with all of his pincer grasp might. He finally let go, but Fern didn't know what to think of this little critter now. Her uncertainty is displayed below in the video. (I need to learn how to keep my mouth shut while I'm taking video, and they would be much nicer!)

She definitely doesn't want him on her shoulder, DAD. :)

After swimming and crabs, we went butterfly hunting (or they did actually, while I watched through my viewfinder). Fern already loves butterflies, but they are usually too quick for us to catch them around our house to show her one up close. At Ritidian, though, they like to hang out in the bushes and you can grab them while they are resting on the branches unaware:

See them in the trees?

Allen is a very good butterfly catcher. He's quite sneaky.

Oh, the anticipation!

Allen says that they play dead. Sure enough, this one took off moments later and fluttered on his merry way.

Then more swimming.

And finally a nap.

A good morning it was.

My girl is rad.