Holly Goes Lightly: 2013: A Poor Quality Photographic Retrospective

I asked for a camera for my birthday. Initially, I wanted a nice point-and-shoot camera, because I thought a DSLR was out of our price range and too difficult to learn to use. Also, owning a DSLR comes with other expectations. I would feel pressured to learn Photoshop (the real kind, not Elements), and join Instagram and learn how to make digital watermarks for my online pictures. However, my goal for 2014 is to win the Seneca Park Zoo annual photo contest. To optimize my chances, I decided upon a DSLR Canon EOS Digital Rebel. Thankfully, it has an "AUTO" button, and joining Instragram is apparently not a prerequisite for ownership. So, better pictures will be taken in 2014. Also, tomorrow I'm off to the zoo to capture the snowy owl in the snow.

Pictures in 2013 were taken mainly on my iPhone 4. They are of poor quality. Nevertheless, here's a selection of photographs that capture the goings on of the Jennings family in 2013:

Daniel helped us bring in 2013! (This is Daniel, right before he nodded off while sitting up, and right before I dove to rescue our friend's carpet from his sparking cider.)

This is Ella's reaction to the tree coming down on January 2.

Caleb turns 10. That's two whole hands.

Grandma eats some pizza.

The family that reads together stays together. Also, this is the start of Ella's I'm going to wear a winter hat inside all the time phase.

Argh. Dog. Wet. Cold. Ick.

Ella turns 6!

So does Dan! And that's the best picture I got of him on his birthday.

Cold winter nights are spent playing Battleship.

Ella takes up residence on the stair landing.

Ella keeps warm by growing a mustache.

Caleb plays the piano at his school's ice cream social.

Easter! The sun may be in their eyes. I don't know.

We take cousin Macklyn and aunt Mary to the Strong Museum of Play for their very first visit.

I find this picture of John in a box. Hee hee.

So I watch my nephew for an afternoon and this is what he does.

Spring arrives!

We hang out in a lot of parks while Caleb has baseball practice.

We participate in "Crazy Hair Day" at school.

More hanging out at parks.

Sometimes, dirt is found.

Caleb. Baseball. Life.

At the piano recital.

Ella reads a book to her class.

Ella has a dance recital. This was her mood that day. She sat down in the middle of her second dance. Right on the stage. Then she walked off.

Caleb gets awarded for being a generally smart and decent individual.

Ben turns 8.

Summer arrives. Water balloon fights commence.

We go to Letchworth with the cousins. Holly gets chastised by a park ranger for reasons she won't even write in her blog. It's the first time Holly has been very, very sad inside Letchworth Park.