What You Say...What They Hear

At the pool, the same thing always happens.

If you have (or had kids), you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You're already dried off and are sitting outside the pool watching them swim.

(From the pool at Pawleys 2008. And befpre you email me that the picture is blurry, I meant to have the kids jumping be blurry. It was done intentionally.)




They've been swimming so long that their skin looks like a wrinkled raisins and you are hot as hades and the color of a crab.

You're ready to go.

They're not.

What I say: Shane, Owen...five more minutes then we're leaving.

They see you collecting things and they know that they're on borrowed time.

What they hear: Sh..Ow...five....utes..we...

And, they hear this because they continue going under water so they don't have to listen to you.

They only come up when they're lungs are about to explode.

And even then, it's usually just their lips and nose above water.

Their ears never make it above water.

And, you're helpless to stop it unless you jump in and get completely wet again.

So, they win this round.

But, you are on to them and you started the process 20 minutes before you actually wanted to leave.

By the way, I distinctly remember doing this to my parents and I'm sorry. So, now you can lift that curse too, m'kay?

Pawleys Island: Elegantly Shabby

Like most coastal areas, Pawleys Island has a Yacht Club.

It's called "Pawleys Island Marina Yacht Club."

One would think that was hoyty-toyty by the name, right?

But, no. I found this little gem one day when I was cruising around the island looking for interesting things to photograph. One could easily drive by it and never notice it.




I went out shooting one morning early and it was really foggy. I think that it looks pretty cool with the fog buffering out all that is in the background.



You can see from this sunset picture everything that is in the background.



But, this is my favorite picture by far. I love the vivid colors of the roof and the window. I took it after a hard rain and I tihnk that it really brought out the colors.



I'm sure that there is a "real" Yacht Club in Pawleys.

But, I like this one much better. I wonder what the story is with this building. I wanted to try and go in but never got a chance.

I think that this little building really represents Pawleys' Island's trademark phrase. "Pawleys Island...elegantly shabby."

Score One For Great Grandma

We went out to dinner with Ken's mom, Darrel and Great Grandma on one of our last nights at Pawleys Island. We went to a steak house and had the best ribs ever.

So, instead of just eating his salad without complaining, Shane decides to turn the salad into an reenactment of the Civil War. He really gives me the business.

And, of course, I am not backing down at this point.

And, neither is he.

And, then he shoots me one of his famous looks. The one that is an exact replica of Ken's famous "eat dirt and die" look. If you know Ken, you know the look. This picture doesn't do "the look" justice but it's pretty close.



And then Great Grandma pipes up and says "wow...you looked just like your daddy there."

Even Ken's grandma knows "the look."

And now Ken can not deny it.

His own grandmother called him out on it.

But, she meant to call out Shane.

And now I can't even remember if he ate his salad or not. I was too busy doing the touchdown dance in my head. Score one for me - errr, Great Grandma, I mean --- and I didn't have a thing to do with it. LOL.

The Beauty of The Sequence Shot

Having the ability to take rapid pictures in succession is one benefit to having an SLR camera.

While we were in Pawleys Island, we were able to go and see a friend play baseball.

The kids had a great time playing with the other kids at the ballpark and watching Trey play.

I took a sequence of shots of one of Trey's at bats which turned out pretty well. You can see every move and how he sets up and follows through. Every shot there is something different going on. He has a slight turn with his body or toe, his shoulder and the bat is positioned differently and the pitcher's sequence is very apparent. In the third shot, you can see the ball coming towards Trey but it's blended in with the second baseman. How rude of him. LOL.







You can see some more pictures of Trey's playing at his family's blog. His step-mom took some great pictures. Go, Josie!

Thanks to Trey's family for inviting us to the game. It was awesome!

Shane Verses The Radish

For dinner the other night, we had hotdogs, mac and cheese (the box crap since the kids don't like my "real" mac and cheese) and salad.

Believe it or not, Shane didn't complain about his salad.

But, he hates radishes with a passion and he inquired whether he had to eat them or not.

SHANE: "Do I have to eat the radishes, mom? You know I hate them."

ME: "No. You don't have to eat the radishes Shane. Just eat the rest of the salad."

Proceeding to pick out the radishes (even the smallest sliver of a radish), Shane continued on.

"Thanks mom. You know that I can spot those radishes like a tiger can spot his prey."

I guess he does have 20/20 vision. No need to take him for an eye check anymore. Obviously his vision is perfect because he picked out every single tiny little radish and flicked it out of the bowl.

I should add that as Shane was wagging war on the radishes, Owen says "you know that I LOVE the radishes, mom. See...I ate every single one of them."

He was playing the "good one" role. If you have two kids, you know what I mean!