Spring-time garden planting

Don't let the sweatshirts and winter hats fool you, it's spring. We were down at the Walsh Farm for Mother's Day where Truman got his first taste of wagon rides and good old Southeastern Minnesota soil.






















Truman training for the hands free phone usage portion of the Microsoft customer support training test:













More garden:








































As if we hadn't worked Josh hard enough in the garden:




The diaper Houdini strike again:


(notice he also has a phone in his hand.)

Chariot's Maiden Vogage: Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

Joe has been playing basketball Tuesday nights, so Truman and I have been taking day trips fondly refered to as adventure Tuesdays.

Last Tuesday Truman and I took our new bike trailer (called a chariot) out for it's maiden trip — a jaunt around the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. Intense gusts of wind and the slippery sandy trail cut out trip short, but we did get a chance to stop and eat lunch near the eagle's nest. I think I need to do some longer paved drives before I attempt this again, but the trip was still exciting. I found an eagle look-out point and we saw a huge snake. SSSSSssssss is Truman's favorite animal sound, probably because it's also our sound effect for peeing.

Hmm, he must think snakes are always peeing.

Congratulations, Mom!

With Mother's day around the corner I'd like to take this moment to gush about my mom who is graduating from college May 22. She's worked hard for this, and I am very proud of her. Go Mom!

I made this invitation for her today using photos I took while she was visiting. Isn't she beautiful?

I am fully equipped (with tech and design savvy) to create any number of cards or invitations. If you or someone you know is looking to create graduation announcements (or any kind of card) feel free to give me a call (619) 302-7363 or email me at brooke@spellboundjungle.com.

Mille Lacs: driving on the edge of the middle of the sea

Yesterday Truman and I took a field trip to lake Mille Lacs, a huge lake just under an hour away (yes, we live that far north =). The lake is so huge, you can't see the other shore if you look directly across the water, making it look eerily like the ocean. But even with wind blowing it was calm, so I kept getting this odd sense that I was driving on the edge of the middle of the sea.

My first good look at the lake:




I thought it was weird to see someone taking panels out of this sign at the casino:




It took me a while to find a good picnic spot, so ultimately we ate in the car parked near a giant golden fish.
















The fish:













The lake:





(don't worry I was holding tightly to him)




Then we headed to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park where we saw a deer:




and took a short hike:






















This porcupine bid us farewell:

Pirate-Lincoln

This is probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen on money. My Brother-in-Law James pulled it out of his wallet while we were on the way to a yet-to-be-blogged (awesome!) Andrew Bird Concert April 11.

What's the weirdest fore-father graffiti you've seen?

"My shoes came in on my hands"

When Joe said, "my shoes came in on my hands," he meant he carried them in the house. But this is what I pictured:











I like my version best. It's much more entertaining. Hope you had a happy Easter; we did!

Utah

I've been digging through old pictures this evening. This one was taken in Utah on our honeymoon. Every time I look at this picture I feel relaxed and happy. I remember the warm, dry air and the cool silk shirt I was wearing when I took it. I remember the crunching of coarse sand and pebbles under my tennis shoes and the story I heard several years before when I first visited Zion about how amazed Victorian-era Americans were when they first set eyes on the red rocks in Southern Utah but how it's not quite as amazing to us because by the time a modern-era child is four they've seen thousands of images of the rocks in the backgrounds of advertisements.

Regardless, it's still always breathtaking to me, even in photographs on chilly spring evenings that are far removed from a summer sunset in the southwest.

Then I remember the state of mind I was in then and the person I was. It makes me feel old in a good way. It makes me realize how much I have grown as a person and as photographer since then.

For these reasons, and others, I love this photograph.

Margot Jean

My good friend Vanessa gave birth to a beautiful Margot Jean March 21st. Here are a few images I made visiting them on her second day out in the world. Welcome, little one!

I love photographing newborn babies.