So long to a blurry June.

We had a busy month.
Soccer season ended.
This year, my twins both played.
Each on separate teams that practiced on separate days at different parks in town.
Luckily for me, they had games on Saturdays, at the same park.
I took pictures of them on the last game day.
They both got medals.
Why? You may be wondering.
Did their team take first?
Or second?
I dunno.
In this town, we are afraid of hurting the fragile feelings of children, and we discourage hurtful competition that may make a child feel inferior.
Therefore, everyone gets medals!
YAY EVERYONE!
Thus avoiding hard life lessons like: being a gracious "I am happy for you" loser, or a "non-gloating jerk" of a winner, and that thing called general sportsmanship.

Sometimes being politically correct is for the birds.
And that statement is not even politically correct.
I meant to say, being politically correct it is for mammals of the winged variety.
Anyhoo, I took pictures of them on the last game day, with their well-earned medals, and had to take a standard "jump" shot.
Therefore, I forced my ISO to 6400.

And with that shot, I forgot to turn the ISO back down.
Meaning, that the next 5 bazillion shots on my camera were grainy and craptastic.
Especially when I try to print them any larger than 2 inches.
I took some really cute shots of my daughter, Shianne, who has (much to her fathers horror) grown up quite a bit recently.
I had to manipulate them in photo shop to look "artsy" to compensate for the ISO grain.

A little filter action, and some 70's colorizing.
Also, sometimes yard trash AKA "Sam's future project" crap makes for cool photo props.

The ISO was still forced all through the family BBQ.
Here is Grillman at work:

Sam took over the BBQ duties.
This is a big step in our marriage.
I grew up with a Dad who frequently threw dead carcasses on a flame, and we gladly scarfed them down, carcinogens and all.
I love grilled meats!

Every holiday after we were married I would ask Sam "So, do you think you would like a BBQ grill for *insert holiday here*?"
And he would always answer in the negative.

Finally, what translated to him, was my own personal obsession with wanting a grill.
He bought ME a grill for Mother's Day, 2009.
For me.
So I marinated, and started grilling, and one day, just like that, he took it over.
I knew he would.
There is something primal about men throwing raw meat on an open flame.
Meat.
Fire.
Good.

I have also mastered the art of The Rainbow Jello.

Truth be told, I hate Jello.
I hate the flavor of gelatin, and the texture.
But I cannot resist the OOoooh and AAaaah factor of serving up The Rainbow Jello.

Perfect for a summer BBQ.

Also in all its ISO 6400 glory, is The! Parade!
We have been in the local parade promoting my husband's business for two years now.
He got all of his Jeeping buddies suckered into it, and we are quite the spectacle.
Here is everyone lining up, and waiting for the Parade to start.
You can see we had a few big rigs.
I would have gotten out and taken a decent photo, but my thigh skin was stuck to the vinyl seat and would have ripped clean from my bones.
It was 186 degrees that day.

The little girls were practicing their "Rodeo Princess" waves.
Clearly they are too young to be concerned about waggling triceps.

What made the Jeep entourage awesome, was that periodically they would stop and do "stunts."
Get your inner red-neck prepared for this!
They would climb each others' tires.

Again, I didn't get a decent photo, because I happened to be riding in one of the stunt Jeeps.
They didn't just stack one Jeep on another Jeep...no way, they would stack five Jeeps. Sometimes we would have a Jeep on two of our tires, and we would be up on another Jeep's tire.
That's some gooooood stuff, right there.
My older kids were pimped out in Bowling Pin attire.

A super pride-filled day for all.
In 6400 ISO.