Wish You Were Here in sunny Hollywood Beach, FL!

Holly Hoops!

Holly has taken up a new hobby of hooping! She is even making and selling customized hoops to friends. I talked her into bearing the cold on a brisk winter day for a hooping photo shoot.

Holly, 10 years old

It was 5:30pm on a beautiful Saturday evening in October, and Holly says to me, "Let's do something fun". I suggested a photo shoot, and she happily agreed! I've always liked this road near our house and decided to stop on the way to our "planned" location.

Blog Action Day 2010 WATER

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. The topic for October 15, 2010 is WATER.

What does it mean to you to have clean water?

"Water"

To me, it means so many things. It means life and beauty and health. It means beautiful rivers and lakes and oceans to photograph and swim in. Unfortunately, there are many people on this earth that do not have access to clean water...890 million people, actually.


African women walk over 40 billion hours each year carrying cisterns weighing up to 18 kilograms to gather water, which is usually still not safe to drink. More than 3.5 million people die each year from water-related disease; 84 percent are children. Nearly all deaths, 98 percent, occur in the developing world. Clean water is a necessity for life and we should help all people have access to it.


Fortunately, there are ways we can help with the water crisis. Water.org is a Kansas City based nonprofit organization that raises money to build wells and provide sanitation education to people in developing countries. Their vision: A day when every person can have safe water. You can donate to water.org, and support artists and businesses that donate a portion of their proceeds to water. org. 


While the developing world faces a water crisis, we in industrialized countries use more than our fair share of water. Educate yourself on water conservation and keeping our rivers clean. What is one thing you can do to help keep our own water clean?



Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

Lake Ontario

This past Labor Day weekend, Holly and I had the pleasure of visiting upstate New York and Lake Ontario. It was our first time ever to New York state or seeing a great lake! We stayed on the South Pond of Lake Ontario and witnessed a very windy storm moving over the lake. On our second day there, we visited a few New York State parks and the adorable little town of Sackets Harbor. The scenery was beautiful and we all enjoyed putting my camera to use.

"Lake Ontario"

Wish You Were Here - Catalina Island!

In March 2010, Holly and I took our annual mother-daughter trip to Catalina Island, CA. We took an inland tour on a Mercedes Unimog off-road vehicle, parasailed over the ocean, and sea kayaked right next to sea lions! In addition, it was our first trip with my new Nikon DSLR camera - There was gorgeous scenery everywhere to photograph.

"Wish You Were Here - Catalina Island"

Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone

Holly participated in a Coterie Theatre Student Production Workshop through Pembroke Hill Summer Camp. At the end of a 2 week camp, they gave two performances of "Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone" on the Coterie Theatre Stage.

"Sally Cotter"

Quixotic Fusion: Paix Reveuse

Holly's image was used in a projection in Quixotic Fusion's latest show "Paix Reveuse" during the song "Goodbye U" performed by Laura Scaraborough. Watch the video below for a glimpse of the show, which was amazing...

Quixotic Madrid Theater 2010 - 2:30 from Quixotic Fusion on Vimeo.

Quixotic Fusion

Go Angels!

Holly and a really large hula hoop

I grabbed these photos of Holly right after she had posed in the video shoot for Quixotic Fusion's show, Paix Reveuse, at the Q offices. They keep these extra large hula hoops there, and Holly couldn't resist hooping for the camera!

Lauren!

As I was snapping some graduation photos of my beautiful step-sister Lauren, I asked Holly to jump in and they had fun!

Watch out for incoming snowball!

Our Farm

Wish You Were Here: Louisville

In April, Holly and I took our mother/daughter trip to Louisville, KY! Our first stop was Churchhill Downs were we took a tour and got to walk right up to the track. Next we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum, where we watched bats be made for Major League players. Holly even got some batting practice in at the Museum!

My Child, My Story pictures

When Holly was 5 years old, I was asked to submit our story of Holly being born with Amniotic Band Syndrome to a website devoted to ABS.  It proved to be a rewarding experience by meeting and sharing stories with other parents of children born with Amniotic Band Syndrome.

A few years after that, I received an e-mail from the Kansas City Star announcing a contest for Childrens Mercy Hospital titled "My Child, My Story". Parents of children who had treatment or care received at CMH were encouraged to write in their story. We already had our story written, so I decided to send it in.

We were chosen as one of the top ten finalist and were asked to film a short video to share our story online for CMH. It was a fun experience and nice to give back to such a wonderful hospital!

Here are a couple of the pictures the marketing agency for Children's Mercy Hospital took of us before the interview. Who knew a lime green couch would end up being a good background?

"Holly"

Ginny and Holly are now blogging!

So here we begin with Holly and I's first blog! I'll try my best to keep it updated with lots of pictures of what Holly has been up to. I hope you enjoy!