Betts Park | The Beauty Around Us

Our Twin Granddaughters’ Fifth Birthday Celebration

Harper and Juniper’s 5th birthday was earlier this month. Yesterday, Stacey hosted a party to celebrate her daughters birthdays.

The girls’ birthday party was held at Betts Park, here in Warren PA, from 3:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

Bob grilled hot dogs,
which were accompanied by light refreshments.

The party had two themes: Trolls and Beauty & the Beast. If I remember correctly, Juniper chose the Trolls theme and Harper chose the Beauty & the Beast Theme. Both girls, however, like Trolls and Beauty & the Beast. Stacey’s choice of pavilion was excellent, as it was close to a playground. All the children had a great time playing on the playground equipment, while waiting on the hot dogs to cook.

Highlights of the birthday party included a pinata filled with toys, an appearance by Belle & her Prince, and the opening of presents.

Juniper hit the pinata.
The pinata fell but did not break open.

Belle and her Prince with some of the birthday party attendees

Juniper wasn’t thrilled with Belle and her Prince.

Lastly, here are three pictures of the girls opening birthday presents. The girls were thrilled with each present that they received.

The party was well attended by all three sets of grandparents, as well as other family members, and Harper and Juniper’s friends.

Marge and Linda’s Adventure

These are the two pictures that started it all. Marge posted a couple Bitstrips comic, starring herself and me, on her Facebook page.

It was my idea to combine a lunch date with a nature walk.

We met at Betts Park, here in Warren, at 11:00 AM. It was a good thing we dressed warmly, to include several layers and gloves. The temperature was only 10 degrees, when we set out on our walk.

We weren’t the only ones at the park, braving the cold temperatures.

This sheepdog was taking its owner for a walk.

How cold was it? I believe these photographs will give you a shiver or two!

I took this photograph of Marge, as we were finishing up our walk.

After our walk, we went to Chido’s Restaurant for lunch. We each ordered beef stew and a side salad. The stew was a good choice, after such a cold walk!

An Afternoon at the Park

Stacey, Harper, June and I spent a couple hours at a local park.

The girls enjoyed crawling in the grass, having a picnic lunch and exploring the playground equipment. I didn’t get any photographs of the girls swinging, sliding or bouncing as I was participating in their play.

Michelle B.’s Family Photo Session

The month of August was a photograph intensive month for me. It seems all I have done is click, edit and upload!

On August 11 I conducted an engagement photo session at my brother’s camp near St. Marys, Pennsylvania.

On August 12 I conducted a family photo session at Allegany State Park near Salamanca, New York.

On August 18 I photographed a wedding.

On August 26 I conducted a second family photo session. This photo session was held at Betts Park in Warren, Pennsylvania. I finished editing and uploading the photographs from that photo session last night. I created a collage this morning and am sharing that collage with you in this blog post.

Michelle B.’s Family Photo Session

Such a lovely family! I enjoyed photographing each one of them.

A. Family Photo Session

On October 9th I photographed a friend’s three children in their football / cheerleader uniforms. The photo session was held at Betts Park, in our hometown of Warren PA.

Blake and Ryan weren’t too happy about having their pictures taken.
Kendall was OK with having her picture taken.
The ground, though, was wet and she had to do a split!

“Do I really HAVE to smile, Mom?”

Now, that’s the way to do it!

Looking good, Blake!

Looking good, Ryan!

Kendall’s friend, Katelyn, came to the photo session too. I took photographs of Katelyn and Kendall in their cheerleader uniforms.

Kendall and Katelyn

Flying High

This photo session was very enjoyable.

Low-Flying Geese

As Stacey, Mike and I were saying goodbye at the end of their engagement photo session, we heard a lot of honking. As we turned to our left, I held up my camera and snapped this picture. I had been using a prime 50mm lens, while taking pictures of Stacey and Mike. I didn’t have time to frame the picture, let alone change any camera settings. The camera was in aperture priority; the f-stop was 3.2; the shutter speed was 1/500; and the ISO was 200.