The Sunflower Field

Last year my friend told me about a field of sunflowers about an hour away from us. It's privately owned but planted and maintained for the community to enjoy. And that's exactly what I did! I wasn't able to check it out last year but I went yesterday while we were off, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Panoramic cell phone pic

 

 



Caught a little bee flying between the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrapping Up the Softball Season

The 2015-2016 12U softball season officially ended for Danielle with the tournament on July 31. I had some pictures from the last few games that I saved to post but never got around to it, so I'm doing that now.

Danielle subbed for a 14u team coached by one of her old coaches.

She slid under & around the tag - it was beautiful - but the ump called her out. Maybe the dirt was in his eyes?



Reviewing the day with her biggest fan.

This picture is kind of amusing to me. For whatever reason, the coach decided to switch things up this inning and moved Danielle from centerfield to 2nd. In this picture she's watching a long ball fly out to centerfield, where the girl missed it and allowed 3 runs to score. It was ugly.

Another successful slap.

It was really foggy for our morning games during this tournament.

Danielle had a really great season. This was her first season hitting left handed, yet she finished with one of the highest batting averages on the team. She played in 60 games and only sat a total of 4 innings! She made lots of great defensive plays. We really liked the coaches and we enjoyed most of the girls. Considering all those things, it was very difficult to decide to find another team for next year. Danielle would like to play softball in college, so she decided she needed to find another team that would help her develop even more as a player; A team where more of the girls were looking at softball as something they wanted to do long term versus something to do on a weekend in the summer when there wasn't anything else going on. She was the only player on the team that didn't return, and only one of 4 new players on the team she joined. It's kind of an uncomfortable decision to have to make, but hopefully it will pay off for her in the long run. She is a hard worker and a good player, so I'm sure she will make the most of her opportunities.

Photo Sundries

Here are some random photos I've periodically saved to post but never gotten around to it.

Cell phone picture of the sunset one evening a few weeks ago. We had several amazing sunsets within a couple weeks. The kind that make it look like the sky is on fire. Tyler might have taken this one. I can't remember now.

Setting sun shining my loofah plant.



Love catching the twinkling sun on the water droplets after I water the plants in the evening. I know there are filters you can buy that create that sparkle, but I don't have anything like that. (That kind of seems like cheating to me.)

Hummingbird in the rain

The bee wasn't as in focus as I wanted, but I like the colors the sunlight brought out in his wings.

 

 

Managed to catch a picture of the bee displacing some pollen when he landed. Too bad the bee wasn't in better focus, but the pollen is pretty clear.

This is a hairstreak of some sort.

 

Cell phone pic of some clouds during sunrise one morning a couple weeks ago. The sunrise was beautiful, but this was all I could capture on my way into work. 

 

Picture Day

Today was picture day for the jr. high sports teams. She let me get a picture before she left. How is she this old?? Tyler had band pictures a few weeks ago. I'm looking forward to getting those back, too. School pictures for both kids are next week.