2012- 500 Most Interesting Photos

Happy Fathers Day to all dads. Today is your special day!

Two thumbs up! :) Fazoli's, Columbia, SC (US)

Three generations.

Kolton enjoys feeding some of the animals at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden, Columbia, SC (USA). Riverbanks makes for a great day of education and fun. On the National Register of Historic Places and home to over 3,000 wild and exotic species of animals, fish, insects, reptiles and birds, Riverbanks is an excellent educational outing. Ranked by Tripadvisor at 4th best zoo in America, the "Petting Zoo" portion of Riverbanks, the most tame area of the complex, is a big hit with children who live in cities and have never seen farm animals. This is one of Kolton's favorite parts of our visit. (Additional information: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverbanks_zoo www.riverbanks.org , or www.multivu.com/mnr/49267-tripadvisor-popularity-index-to... )

Fazoli's, Columbia, SC (US)

Kolton has found a great way to beat the boredom of traveling long distances. Instead of asking "are we there yet" every few miles, he simply watches his favorite videos and snoozes intermittently. He's a great kid/grandson! :)

I may be a little biased or partial, but these are two of my favorite people in the whole world. :)

It's a tradition going all the way back to when I was a little boy- reading Arthur S. Maxwell's well written and beautifully illustrated account of the Christmas story. (If you're not familiar with the name Arthur S. Maxwell, he was probably better known as "Uncle Arthur" from "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories," which was a best-selling children's series in the days before many parents began allowing the television, videos, or DVD's to put their children to sleep.) This particular set of books is probably 47 or 48 years old. It's the same set that my parents used to read to me when I was young, and it's the same set that I used to read to Kristin when she was younger. And time marches on...

When Kristin was Kolton's age, I'd take her to Shoney's in Clemson, SC every Wednesday night after church. Kid's ate free on Wednesday nights with a paying adult, so that became our little routine: go to church, listening to "Adventures in Odyssey" on the radio on the way, and then after church eat at Shoney's. We still laugh and talk about our fun times even today. Sadly, there are no local Shoney's in my area anymore, and I have to travel to Greenwood, SC, Asheville, NC, or Lavonia, GA to find one. Since Lavonia is closer than our other choices, and since we were already heading to Rome (GA) to visit my brother and his wife, we took advantage of the opportunity to stop at Shoney's on our way down. (Unfortunately, Papa didn't get to indulge on his favorite Shoney's treat- the super-rich hot fudge cake dripping with chocolate, and topped with ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry. But that's okay- that gives me an excuse to go back!)

Didn't have the Canon with us, but we did have the Sony videocam. (low-res still shots by the video recorder as it took video)

I got Kristin to shoot this as we left the gas station upon our arrival in Columbia for lunch at Fazoli's and an afternoon at the mall. Gas is slightly higher here than back home. I knew we should have gassed up before leaving Greenville.

Kristin and Kolton at the 2012 Norris Christmas Parade.

Based on this picture, it seems we've learned some bad table manners in that we've forgotten you're supposed to sit up straight at the table.

Kristin shooting me shooting them. (Norris Fest, 2012)

Several days of intermittent thunderstorms and a holiday weekend kept the grass and bush guy from making his appointed rounds where I work. I arrived at the office Tuesday morning to find this "arrangement of flowers" on the office lawn. Fifteen minutes after I took these shots, the lawn guy arrived and took everything down, making our lawn look like a lawn again, rather than a flower bed.

I think this is what she was seeing on her side: www.flickr.com/photos/gregorylggregory/7315554796/