Playing with Preston

Just look at that cute little mug.............and he's ALL BOY! We "kidnapped" Preston for a day, and brought him home with us so Jenni and Will could have an evening alone. It's so much fun to have time with a grandchild, one on one, and we had a great time with Preston.

Ron rented a 600mm telephoto lens, from Glazer's Photography in Seattle, with the intent of photographing the Trumpeter Swans. Preston got to go on an adventure with grandma and grandpa out to Skagit Valley to look for the "big birds." When he saw them, he called them "ducks." He was grandpa's helper, and he had a grin on his face the entire time, because I let him loose and he could walk up and down the country road where we set up......except he did try to head for a few mud puddles a few times. He got excited when a car came by, and would call any truck a "bus."

Mount Baker is always spectacular, and this evening was no exception.

Grandpa had fun with the rented lens, while Preston and I tried to get the swans to fly...........they would squawk when we got too close and start walking the opposite direction.

We finally did get a few to take to the air.........grandpa said it was really hard to keep them in the camera frame when you are using that large of a telephoto lens, but he managed to get a few shots off. They are so beautiful when they are in flight.

Ron will put on his website the best photos he took, that he wouldn't let me have! (www.ronsouthworth.com)

Preston would laugh and giggle when he saw grandpa. After he tried to jump in the mud puddles, I decided to put him on my shoulders for a while because he only brought one pair of shoes.............I think he actually likes to get packed around.

It actually got pretty chilly out, so I was glad that we were all layered with a sweater and a fleece.

Grandpa has to put the camera on a special tripod head that swivals, when he wants to take pictures of birds.......because they move so fast, you need to be able to follow them just as fast. That lens is pretty heavy too.......I don't think you could hold the camera up without the tripod.

Preston liked looking at the swans, but didn't like the Navy Jets that flew overhead. He would look up at the sky and get real quiet, and then come over to me and say "up!" He felt a lot safer with grandma holding him.

After dinner, Preston had a bath...........his favorite thing was to take both hands high above his head and slap them down on the water, splashing everywhere. He thought it was pretty funny that he got me all wet! He's getting pretty good at communicating what he wants.......he would go over the TV and touch it, and say "Cars!" He wanted to watch the Disney movie "Cars." So he sat on my lap and watched the movie until he fell asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night with the hiccups, so we sat in the rocking chair for a while to get him back to sleep......which of course grandma LOVES........he just cuddled right up. I drove him back home today, and he slept most of the way. I'm glad that we live close enough that Preston can come stay with Grandma and Grandpa once in a while. We had as much fun as he did! Come back soon Preston!