
I must make a confession. I was excited about this theme because unlike light or patriotism, this theme is a piece a cake if you live with Little Man or my tomboy of a girl. They live and breathe for critters. And although it often makes my hair stand on end and my stomach churn, I suck it up for them because I do not have the heart to stomp on their dreams. Or to hurry their childhood. From the second their little eyes open they have one thought on their brain. Critters. I am greeted by snakes and stink bugs. Even spiders. Dragonflies send them into hysterics. And frogs and/or toads are coveted in my home. And they will go to any lengths to catch one. They are indeed a prized possession.

You may remember the talented toad I shared on my facebook page. (The kids played with him 24/7 until he was freed back to the wild.)

Or my post dedicated to all things amphibious. How did I ever get so lucky? Yes friends, it has become My Fate As a Mom. My life is filled with Buckets O'Critters, Heaven Help Me!
And if you are a member of this family, you have to be willing to try just about anything. Even kissing fish! Because Families That Play Together, Stay Together.

Their insatiable appetite for all things living amazes me. They have awakened a new world to me and I love being able to witness it through their eyes. Ample material is just a walk to the creek and back.


But recently we were able to spend a week on the beach in the OBX, NC with a new variety of species to explore. The most disgusting one by far was this crazy honkin' beetle Little Man found at dusk.

But it wasn't until he added it to a bag of another 25 beetles that it easily became the most disgusting discovery to date. Watching them be released all at once was a nauseatingly inducing feat; something out of a sci-fi movie. You can thank me later for sparing you those pics.
The beach seems to suit my kiddos just fine. They could spend endless hours with a net and a bucket.

Little Man enjoyed the tiny crabs as much as the bigger ones. He would let them pinch him and then time how long they stayed on his finger.

Capturing the crabs as they entered or exited their holes was quite the task. Especially for a patience-challenged individual like myself. They are fast!

Between the crabs, the sand fleas, and the jellyfish that washed up on shore by the bucketfuls after some stormy weather, the kids had plenty to keep them thoroughly entertained and their little cousins squealing.
This is certainly The Quintessence of Childhood. As much as I may resist it from time to time, I'm happy they are making these beautiful memories.

I am a sucker for collages and thought it would be fun for these critter pics since I had so many. You can grab this template here. It is a layered PSD file that works with PSE and Photoshop. The font used in the above collages is called blocked off, easily my favorite new free font. You can find it here. If you are having trouble downloading fonts, check out my tutorial on How to Download Fonts. Plus you can snag my 10 favs while you're there.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Can't wait to see what kind of critters you found in your neck of the woods.
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Make a few new friends by visiting and commenting on the previous entry in the linky list.
Each Thursday, a few of our favorite images from the Crazy Days of Summer Photo Challenge will be selected and featured at Project Alicia and Live and Love Out Loud.
You can find more details about the meme as well as updated themes in my Summer Photo Challenge Page located in the tab to the right under my header.
The theme for Week 8, July 22nd is motion. I can't wait!
Don't forget to stop over at Kristi's place to check out her critter shots.
OMG that is a HONKIN beetle. And you kissed a fish-ewwww! :) Love the pictures-especially the one of your girl looking into the jar with a muddy hand. NICE!
ReplyDeleteWOW! Fantastic collages; thanks for the template! Really stunning captures, though I enjoyed looking at the crabs a little more than some of the other critters!
ReplyDeleteThat kissy fish pic is awesome! LOVE IT!! And wonderful captures. Thanks for the collage template! I was looking for something like that. It seems like it takes me forever and a day to do collages on PSE.
ReplyDeleteSo...did it taste like fish?
ReplyDeleteThis is so unfair you have children with obsession with critters:) Nobody can't beat that amount of critters shots...nobody. I love the shot you kissing the fish, gorgeous. You should make a huge poster of that in to your bedroom:)
ReplyDeleteWOW! I love these. Lots of great photos here. Thanks so much for the collage. I love it!!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Love the shot of that beautiful green bug - the beetle would not be my favorite critter either but in general I love them and had great fun with the challenge this week.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the dancing frog shot!!! :)
ReplyDelete(when I read 'critters' for this week's theme, I didn't even think about bugs (duh!), but rather furry critters...hope they still count! :) )
PS - thanks so much for the download! I got it! :)
ReplyDeleteYou always have amazing critter shots, Mama. Love the dancing frog!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots...thanks for the download:)
ReplyDeleteTiffany
Such an awesome theme! We love critters in our household, too. At least the kiddos.
ReplyDeleteI love your photos!! Thank you for the download - I can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Jo-Anna
Your kids really do like the great outdoors don't they - although I did too. Now I much prefer the AC and clean stuff.
ReplyDeleteLove it! This post was meant for you and it turned out great! Can't wait to use the collage (:
ReplyDeletei just LOVE all your photos!!!!
ReplyDeletethe reason i started following your blog? that pic with the frog on little mans nose a lifetime ago, so i knew you were totally going to rock this week! (like you ever DON'T rock it!)
I just love that it looks like the frog is dancing! Your kids have THE MOST AWESOME adventures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the downloads too- that is so kind of you!
I love the critter collages! Thanks for the download.
ReplyDeleteThese shots were so fun. Love them all. :)
ReplyDeleteMarla @ www.blueskiesphotoblog.com
That dancing frog it too cute. I'm not sure I'd want to kiss a fish, but your picture is awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! Love the theme for this week.
ReplyDeleteWow that is a collection of critters alright! Thanks for being so willing to share your favourite fonts and templates - I grabbed both!
ReplyDeleteThose big beetles are ick!! The snake too. The dancing frog and you kissing the fish? Hilarious!!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful!
ReplyDelete:) I'm not sure how I found your blog (think it was a link someone shared off of facebook and I emailed it to myself... lol! it's been a couple of days!) but I've enjoyed taking a peek around (and nice to know you're a close neighbor to the north!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the template -- I look forward to playing with it... maybe getting a few of my own creeper crawlies in it! lol!
Ick! This post gives me the shivers! lol! But the dancing frog definitely makes up for all the other icky bug-things. :)hehe
Have a great weekend!
The dancing frog? Hilarious. Kissing the fish? Too funny and too brave for me.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos as always! Love all the critters! Thanks for the template too :D
ReplyDeleteLOL on the dancing frog. Love the kissing the fish on the lips.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day!!
Grossity gross gross. Great shots. LOVE the frog one. Anything with transparent wings and more than 4 legs skeeves me out though so, eww!
ReplyDeleteHi Alicia! I was hoping I could switch my entrie from the kitty to the frog shot? I felt a bit wimpy w/ my kitty pic, & then we had an adorable tiny frog show up on our doorstep the other night. Pretty sure it was fate! Lol. Thanks so much, no worries if not!
ReplyDelete