Aztec Dancing, a Birthday Party and Puppies

aka, what could make a better Saturday?

Katrina was invited to a birthday party where a group of Aztec dancers would be performing.

As soon as we got there, Katrina realized that she had forgotten her goggles. We never had goggles when we were kids and went swimming. We had no choice but to get used to the chlorine burn, but kids today....

I had to rush home and get Kat's goggles for her delicate little eyes and while I was there, I picked up my camera. I had carried it with me everywhere this morning because I'm trying to practice for this big event I have coming up. More about that another day.

Anyway, I'm glad I had my camera when I got back because the dancers were already starting. I asked if I could take pictures and they said, "yeah".

So, I did....

This was a challenge for me because some of them were hiding in the shade. I had to mess around with the auto exposure lock or whatever those buttons are called on the back of my camera. I think this is the best of the bunch and it's still very dark. Damn complicated camera.

 

I must have taken 87,000 pictures of this woman. I thought she was so beautiful. She probably got sick of my camera pointed her way. 

 

PLEASE STOP TAKING MY PICTURE

 Yeah, see...she did. Told ya.

 

They made the kids get up and dance, too. Most of them did except for my neighbor's kid, Alexander. He hid behind me and offered to give me some photo tips.

"I can give you some photo tips, Ms. Heather"

I told him that I appreciated the offer and asked if he knew a good way to take a picture where some of your subjects are in direct light while others are in the shade. He didn't know so I kept messing around on my own.

They wanted me to dance but I quickly came up with the excuse, "Oh, I can't. I'm the photographer." I was surprised at how naturally that came to me. The group had their own photographer but my excuse wasn't questioned. Perhaps they thought I came with the birthday party. 

Oh my gosh, my mother is here and taking pictures of me.

And this is when Kat caught me taking her picture. She was too into the dancing to notice before.

I really admire those woman for carrying all that weight on their head and dancing. Last year, my friend, Rita, colored my hair a little bit and I thought I was going to have a panic attack from the weight of the foil. I could hardly hold my head up and I kept having visions of my neck snapping and dying right there in her chair. I barely made it without much complaining. She is a lot younger than me so I didn't want to make her think I was weak and old so I kept my head held up high.

I was so relieved, though, when that foil came out.

 

We can't forget about the drummer. The drummer always gets stuck in the back. I know this because Trent is a drummer and I can never get a decent picture of him during his school concerts. I think I'm going to ask if I can hang out on stage next time.

oh, and before we went to the party, Katrina fell in love with this puppy at Petsmart. I'm going to make it a small picture because it's totally out of focus. 

I'm really cute, but I poop everywhere 24/7

So that's my day. What did you do?