Gianna and Joey

One more image from the weekend festivities, with Gianna posing alongside her brother Joey. Like his Poppa, the little man cleans up pretty well!

Granddaughter's Big Day

It was a big day for our eight-year-old granddaughter Gianna. Her First Holy Communion, a true milestone for a wonderful girl who is growing up so quickly. She was a model of seriousness throughout the ceremony. Well, almost throughout; she could not resist a wave toward Poppa and his camera!

Easter Fun

Grandma and Poppa had the fun of Easter when Gianna and Joey arrived (along with their parents, of course). Here they pause from plinking away at the piano keys to give Poppa a chance to add to his growing collection of grandchild images.

At the Pool

Prior to the wedding, a couple of hours at the hotel pool gave the boys a chance to have a bit of fun.

The Flower Girls, Again

Two more views of our granddaughters, who call themselves twins when they are together, and who were so wonderful as flower girls a week ago at our nephew's wedding. Love those special dresses!

Joey

Joey, who will turn four in August, is the other little boy whose smile brings another smile to Poppa's face.

Bobby

Nearly two, his smile lights up Poppa every time he sees it.

Teenie Boppers?

Suffice it to say that, left to right, Joey is 3, Gianna is 8, and Carolyn will turn 8 next month. They sure do love playing with iPhones and Blackberries when they are allowed to borrow them from their parents!

Family Reunion

A joyous visit to my mother's home was a highlight of our family trip to Minnesota. Here she had a whole section of her family, with my wife and I accompanied by both children, our son-in-law, and all four grandchildren. She had a wonderful morning as you can see in this shot.

Flower Girls of the Year

This evening my two granddaughters, Carolyn (7) and Gianna (8) were honored to be flower girls at the wedding of my nephew. Needless to say, Poppa is proud of the two young ladies that impressed everyone with the excellence of their processional work!

Gianna Turns Eight

Yesterday was my eldest grandchild's eighth birthday, a fact I find hard to believe. At the family party, she showed off her American Girl Bitty Baby, all dressed up for the holidays in the dress she herself wore on her first Christmas.

Here we see her today with the doll, and in 2002, in the tender loving hands of Santa, wearing that wonderful dress. And if you blow up the image enough and look into Santa's eyes, you will see a proud Poppa in the red suit, holding Baby Gianna.

One of many great memories for me.

Gianna & Joey

My souvenir of our recent visit with Gianna and Joey, a nice chance to grab a few portraits.

Birthday Party

Since Grandma & Poppa were unable to be in Boston in May, we missed the birthday parties of both Carolyn and Bobby. What better reason than to have a party in July when they were here in Illinois?

Since the girls are close to the same age, it is easy to get good shots of them together, often with their arms around one another. The boys have nearly two years difference between them, so my favorite shots are separate ones.

Party day was fun time, for sure!

The next post will begin a look at some Color Studies.

Goggles

In the woodshop at the DuPage Children's Museum, each child must wear goggles at all times. From the standpoint of the museum, this is a safety issue. From the standpoint of the photographer, you know you will get a great goggles shot. Here are three of my four grandchildren.

Heritage Portraits

It was Grandma's idea, not mine, but it was a great idea. On the way to lunch with the four grandchildren, we took two portraits off the wall in the hallway. In the parking lot, we had the foursome place their hands on each of the portrait. With some post-processing, we now have photos of the great-grandchildren "in touch" with their heritage a generation older than we grandparents. We have the photos both with and without the names and we think that sometime in the future the grandchildren will like these as much as we do now.

Identical Twins

I recall using the term Identical Twins with reference to the two seven-year olds at least five years ago. Since they like acting like twins, it went over well and I wrote that term on my Facebook page. One of my FB friends, a former student in my English class, reminded me that was a line in the theme song to the TV Classic Patty Duke Show. (Thanks for the tip, Alyssa!)

Here the girls, dressed alike, are seen in a hall of mirrors at the DuPage Children's Museum. They spent two days trying to pass themselves off to people as twins. The boys are sharing their enjoyment of dinosaur toys in our family room.

Nothing makes a grandparent happier than seeing his or her grandchildren happy and enjoying time together. I am a most happy Poppa today.

The Fab Four

The Fab Four was back together this week and the music I hear is still ringing! My Fab Four would be composed of our four grandchildren, and the Boston pair was visiting for several days of baseball, zoo, museum and fun.

Last night after the local pair had gone home and the visiting pair were tucked in asleep upstairs, I located my scrabble tiles & some head shots and I put together my new Fab Four poster.

Hope you like it!

Leaving Boston; Headed to Europe

Nice timing -- my 150th post, just as I shut down my computers to fly to London and begin the longest and largest travel adventure in my 62 1/2 years. Posts will come when I find access to WiFi or when I break down and buy some Internet aboard the Eurodam next Friday.

Meanwhile, one more pair of photos from the recent Boston trip. We had the fun of watching Carolyn play tee ball and perform in a season-ending gymnastics show (the sidelong glance was what made the photo for me!) and we had the chance to hold our newest angel, Bobby, before heading home. Nice to know that Boston is less than two hours away -- once we have boarding passes and clear airline security.

Special Guest Photographer

For the first time since I began this blog, I am pleased to host the work of a special guest photographer. Out for a Saturday evening dinner and a pleasant walk along a marina, I was able to collect several interesting images of boats, buildings, sky, sunset. But none of mine are as wonderful to me as the pair we see here.

At six years old, it is no surprise that my granddaughter Carolyn would be able to snap a photo or two. And since her mother has been a professional photographer, we could assume that some talent is part of her heritage. But I think most six-year olds would find an average Nikon DSLR equipped with a 28-300 mm zoom lens to be pretty heavy to hold and shoot. Not for Carolyn!

The first shot, a shot of her dad with the skyline in the distance, was shot while I stood with her and reminded her how to handle the camera. Once she was able to capture that first image, I went to stand with my son. The result? One of my favorite images of me! With a little bit of levels adjustment to account for the fading light, and a touch of straightening, I think she did an excellent job.

Thanks for being my first guest photographer, Carolyn Beato.

Silhouette Collage

One more souvenir of the recent Boston trip is actually also a pre-souvenir of the game in August which Bobby will attend at Wrigley Field. It will be his first Cub game at the age of three months.

Last winter Bobby's sister Carolyn and his cousins Gianna and Joey got silhouette collage pictures from me, so here is Bobby's. The base image, of course, is the Wrigley Field scoreboard, and the multi-crossing pattern is that of the well-manicured outfield grass at Wrigley.

Looking forward to our game, Bobby!