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I refer to her as the bubble hoarder.  Typically when we are outside, she walks around with her bubbles, doesn't really ever want to put them down and lately doesn't even want to blow bubbles.  She just wants to hold them.

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Checking on Dad's progress on a frustrating home repair/improvement project.   

Two lessons learned.  Mommy learned that if I fake sneeze, I get eye contact and smiles!  A wonderful discovery since as soon as things dry out we are taking this one's 18 month pictures.  My oldest learned to cast a fishing pole tonight, at age 3.

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A lesson in settings tonight.  Do not forget to change your aperture to get the right depth of field.  Remember you can change your ISO in you in-laws very dark dining room so you don't have to use the flash and can close your aperture.  Oh well, you can still see how happy he is with his Lego cake.

She wanted to sit by the birthday boy so badly.  Love this top one where she is nodding her head and he is wiggling his tooth - both in their own worlds.

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Thanks to a friend who invested in a balance bike last year for our oldest.  With limited interest last summer, I am happy to report, she is starting to get the hang of it thanks to a small hill on our driveway.

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Playing with the macro filters I bought today since it was bright and sunny and I figured I wouldn't need my tripod out.  Fun.

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We were supposed to see Grandma-great yesterday, but she stayed home sick.  Instead, we visited her today and I loved to see the way my oldest ran to her arms for a big hug.  Both we so excited and I know it made her day the way my daughter threw herself into her arms for a big hug.  So happy she gets to have this special woman in her life.

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She climbs everything.

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This image is actually from a couple nights ago, but is fitting for today since it is raining again.  Love that my girls love to be outside as much as their Mommy and Daddy do. 

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After some serious rain, what seemed like endless dreary days, we welcomed a real spring day with a brand new jumbo box of chalk.

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A lighter post today.  Nutella toast for dinner, just because.

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At least they can jet ski in and out if they need too.

 Huge picture post today, lots more flooding, so lots more pictures.  The sights of the river where no property is affected are amazing, the sights of businesses flooded and houses underwater are heartbreaking.  We live on a lake, so were fearful of our rising water levels, but they have already started to go down.  The Grand, however, continues to rise. 

If you look close you can see the sandbags under the garage door.

Probably my favorite picture, the railroad trestle, weighted down with salt filled rail cars.

Water running along the bottom of the railroad trestle.

You could reach down and touch the water on the other side of the retaining wall, very unsettling if you really thought about what that meant.

Sandbags down by the museum.

Pumps running to empty hotel basements and parking garages.

Water starting to cover office building windows, you can usually walk under the bridge in the corner of the picture.

Sixth street dam, which is currently just a small bump in the river.

These last two, I was once again drawn to play with low light, since were were down close to sunset.  The light wasn't truly low, so I just set my exposure down.  The top image is busy, but there were so many people around it was hard to just capture my husband walking toward us.  Love the light reflecting off the water of the bottom image.

Found this gem of a spot on the drive home.  I'm sure these rusted old trucks are normally high and dry, but the flooding provided some great reflections.  If only I didn't have so many images for today, I would share some of the close-ups I got too.

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A common sign to see.

The big news around here is the flooding that started to become a big problem today and will continue to be an even bigger problem over the weekend.  I took the girls on a ride so we could see the water and I could snap some pictures to remember the biggest flood since 1904 in Grand Rapids.  Most of these were shot from my car, so composition and lighting were not my primary focus, since I was also driving.

On/off ramps to the expressway, which is starting to look more like a causeway.

Chicago Drive was covered by water in several spots

Parking lot

My businesses in Grandville were flooded.

This last one is what I consider my 'learning' picture from today - low light, in the backseat of the car.  Love the graininess of it, but wish it was even darker.  May need to tweak this some more in PSE.

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 A brief lull in the rain allowed us to get outside for some puddle jumping.  This was my youngest daughters first time and even with her 3 sizes too big rain boots, she had a blast.  Giggles and smiles galore.  They were both sopping wet by the time we came in!

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A new game, referred to as 'Up-down' was invented by Grandma and Dad one night when I was working.  It has since been a favorite to play whenever their are two willing adults to manage to quilt.

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I had seen this on Pinterest a while back, but was waiting until my little one was a bit older to try it.  With another rainy day here, decided this was a good day.  The girls had a blast and stayed in the tub for over an hour playing with their colored foam and then in the foamy water afterwards.

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Another cloudy, gloomy, rainy day.  More to come this week too, so this picture not only reflects the weather, but my mood.  So tired of cloudy skies.

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Playing around with my new to me Lensbaby today.  The effect will take some getting used to, as will getting my aperture right withing the camera body.  I love these last two of my baby though.  I think I need to first get the center focus how I want it and then work on shifting it.  Love, love my new lens.