I’m known to hate umbrellas. It’s not the looks – I think umbrellas look really cute most of the time. I just don’t like to hold one. I’d rather run through the rain than hold an umbrella – no offense to the person who invented them. They’re genius… just not for me.  The weather has been off and on rainy lately… it’s those ‘April’ showers that got pushed back into May. I suppose now these May showers will bring June flowers. 🙂 Nicole found some great parasols at a store in Ann Arbor on Friday as I was trying to find some brightly colored umbrellas for Saturday’s wedding. She found these and they turned out to be perfect. They are cheap (quality and cost… but they do the job!) parasols made with real paper. They don’t hold up long in the rain, but they did hold up. They just get a little soggy and need some drying out time. We took off on Friday evening for a brief adventure in the rain, but not before stopping to get some fun rainboots! The goal was to take some interesting pictures against the blah sky and incorporate some fun splashes of color into them. I had a new lens to play with and some other new accessories – and it turned out to be a great success. I’m really pleased with the lens, the toys, the parasols, and maybe even the rain! Lucky for me (and the wedding party) the rain cleared up on Saturday in time for their pictures and their ceremony . . . though we still pulled out the parasols for a couple of pictures.