Bluebonnets 2023

“You have to let your Mom take bluebonnets pictures this year without complaining. This is her last year with everyone here.” With that cheerful start to the pictures, we started off.

But, even with that type of comment kicking off the bluebonnets pictures for this year, I still love all the pictures we got. Bluebonnets are gorgeous this year.

I got my Mom to meet us in front of her church so we could get a few family pictures. She agreed grudgingly, “You know I’m not good at taking pictures Ticia.” That may be, but we got some fun pictures, so I’m happy.

I had the kids bring books so I could get a picture of them all reading. Which worked great for a prop picture, it did also mean my kids were constantly reading and I had to make them put the books away to get other pictures.

I should have done a group picture of me and the kids reading, that could have been fun to get. Opportunities missed, oh well.

It was insanely bright on the only day I could maneuver so that everyone was able to get pictures, and so everyone was squinting in all the pictures, it was hard to tell if our eyes are open.

I’m whining a bit because I’d love to try and go out and grab a few more pictures where maybe we’ll be able to see people’s eyes, but I don’t think it’ll happen.

The kids’ solo pictures

I got the Artist’s solo pictures first. As we were heading out we were talking about how strange it is that people outside of Texas don’t have a tradition of bluebonnets pictures. I blew her mind, even more, when I said it’s only a Central Texas thing, so people within about 100 miles of where we live, and others don’t have bluebonnets as we do here in Central Texas.

Then the conversation turned to how people plan their pictures. I always tell my kids to wear something that represents them, which means I get an interesting assortment of outfits. This is probably the most common variation of outfits I see the Artist wearing. A tank top with a cardigan over it.

I had the kids pick where they wanted their pictures taken. Batman immediately headed up into a tree. I took a few pictures there and then told him the point was to have pictures amongst the bluebonnets, so he climbed down and I got some pictures with him among the flowers. And then I told him to give me a different post and this happened.

This isn’t even the whole set of pictures from the Great Book Chase as the Artist came up to interact with the hat and he ran off with her book. Of course, she had to get her book back. Leezard thought this was the most awesome thing ever.

Superman pretty much didn’t change at all. He’s probably wearing almost exactly this outfit right now including the hat. He has recently discovered the fun of adding pins to your hat, especially since he got a few from books he likes.

This is unofficially the Superman pose. I think every time I try to get pictures with him, there is at least one or two pictures with that pose in the big picture.

While my pictures are probably perfectly fine, I’m not sure I like them very much. At the last minute, I grabbed my favorite tea cup and a book and stuck the flower garland in my hair. The vest I hand-sewed, and all of the various embellishments are random items I found on the ground in different travels. This habit of picking up whatever I’ve found has led to the Artist calling me a crow because I pick up whatever “shiny” object catches my eye.