Where have I been hiding you say?

I'm back!!! The summer is over and I'm back from all my vacationing. This was the first year in my 10 years of teaching that I have REALLY taken the summer off for fun and adventure and boy...am I tired. I traveled all over the place. Whether it was just me and my dog driving across the country, or joining my family, my vacation(s) were a blast. I am sad it's over but excited about a new school year beginning. I need a fresh start so I hope this year is smoother than last.

I took lots of pictures on my vacations so perhaps you will see them on some of my cards and creations in the future...I don't post much in the way of personal photos, but maybe a sneak here and there will be ok.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures...I just loved having a new camera to take great shots!

This is a picture of my uncle Ronnie's prized collection of restored John Deere "30's". These are the last 2 cylinder tractors ever made by John Deere and are collectors items. He now has the whole series and he's so proud of them.

Solution to the energy crisis...WIND GENERATORS! There are TONS of them going up in small towns in Iowa and while visiting family, I had to get out of the car and take some close up shots before they were completely assembled. This is a photo of the blade turbine. I could walk underneath the blades!
This is a picture of the beautiful sky and Lake Superior. We were traveling along the road heading to dinner when I saw this beautiful sight!
This is one of the only pictures I took of the Mt. Olympus Theme and Water Park in the Wisconsin Dells. What a fun place! If you want to kill your back and break your neck on some old wooden coasters, this is the place for you! I don't think I've ever been on a ride as rough as the one called ZEUS. I think there were 7 go cart tracks there and we hit them all. Poseidon's Rage is a wave pool that is just a blast!!! The water rides are super fun too...

Isn't this a beautiful sight? While driving along in the Smokies we had to stop and take a picture. What beauty lies in God's creations!!!

This picture was taken at Biltmore Plantation. They have a sunflower field right along the road and I had to take some shots of the flowers with the Smokies in the background.

This little guy was discovered exploring with his brother/sister along a hiking trail in Tennessee. The two babies were just on an adventure and found some green little berries to munch on. They were about a foot away from all the hikers, and were just the STARS with their enturage of paparazzi. Didn't see mom... She must have been out for a bit.

So, I hope you enjoy the photos I posted. I had a great summer! Ker

PS:
Before I left on vacations, I had prepared stacks of cards for classes at Angela's Happy Stamper and some fun cards for myself. Now I'm back and need to upload all my goodies... Stay tuned.