OUR COMMON HOURS

Kelli Ann Wilson December 26, 2013

christmas // daytime

This year we did things a little differently on Christmas day — it was partly intentional (working around my brother’s crazy fireman’s schedule) and partly unintentional (postponing Christmas with my in-laws because they have been very ill). In any case, here is our “home” Christmas (just us and the kids). Damian gave me a new camera lens for Christmas — WOOHOO! — so you might notice a difference in quality after the first few shots. It works SO well in low light/indoors. I can’t believe it.

Zane got lots of wooden vehicles (including a forklift!), and Lillia’s big present was a star-themed “kid cave” in the basement — it was a lot of work to get everything done in time for Christmas (thanks, Mom & Dad), but so worth it. There’s a video of the “big reveal” at the end of this post. Her reaction was priceless 🙂 Of course, she immediately started “customizing” the space (as was my hope). She’s working on a mural of some sort on the big blank wall next to the stairs. I’ll be posting more photos of the space in a couple of days as part of my New Year’s Resolutions Review for 2013.

Lillia Christmas Day from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

Kelli Ann Wilson December 23, 2013

boston // new england aquarium

This past weekend we visited my sister-in-law in Boston. We took the kids to the New England Aquarium. Although Lillia has been there before, this was Zane’s first time. He didn’t say much while we were there, but all the way home he talked about everything he saw. He was particularly impressed with the turtles, the “skeleton whale”, the seals, and the “diver”. The aquarium was surprisingly not crowded for a weekend day, and I think it was our best experience there so far. There’s always something new! Here are some photos from our trip:

A whole lotta fish.

New England Aquarium, Boston from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

Kelli Ann Wilson December 19, 2013

merrymaking

From “A Christmas Carol” by George Wither:

So now is come our joyful feast,
Let every man be jolly;
Each room with ivy leaves is dressed,
And every post with holly.
Though some churls at our mirth repine,
Round your foreheads garlands twine,
Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
And let us all be merry.

Zane decorating the tree 2013 from Kelli Wilson on Vimeo.

Kelli Ann Wilson November 16, 2013

Field Trip // Walpole Valley Farms

As promised, here are the photos that Lillia took during her class’s field trip to Walpole Valley Farms in Walpole, NH. As with the collection from the sawmill, these were entirely her creation. I’m beginning to wonder if she might be a better photographer than I am! If she doesn’t go to art school someday, I will be really surprised.

Kelli Ann Wilson November 16, 2013

Field Trip // Woodell & Daughters Sawmill

Today I have a special treat for you! Lillia’s class recently went on a field trip to Woodell and Daughters Forest Products in Langdon, NH. I brought along my camera thinking that I might take some photos for posterity, but I ended up handing it over to Lillia instead. I figured that, since she’s only 10, she would take a lot of blurry pictures and/or ridiculously up-close portraits of her friends. I was so surprised when I started going through the photos that she took. They are actually quite good — very artistic! She took a lot of photos, so I curated a little collection for you. All of the following photos were taken by Lillia with absolutely not guidance or instruction from me, using the manual setting on my DSLR. I have not cropped or adulterated them in any way, other than to boost the color a little in Photoshop (which I do to most of my own photos). We also visited a farm so I will post her photos from that part of the trip tomorrow.