A few more

What are the odds?

Two sisters, both pregnant and due on the same date? I feel bad for the grandparents ;-)

Fortunately, both of the lovely pregnant women are family, so I get to meet both of the cute bundles of joy in the very near future.

We celebrated today with a fantastic shower in Rochester. I was a little off my game photographically speaking, but I do love the two shots (same pose) of each of them below.

LOVED the cake!




Cousin, meet your cousin!

Light

Artificial and natural (since we finally had a little sun here in Michigan) to highlight my favorite little subject.


Texture or no texture? It feels a little heavy to me.

Who knew a worm could be so interesting.

Texture or no texture?
The look I got when I wanted to go home. It is still cold after all!

Indoor flare....gotta love it!

This is way too blown out, but this was the first time he figured out the flash was coming from somewhere other than my camera.

I don't know why, but this one makes me laugh!

New Toy....I mean, tool!

I have wanted to try using more off camera flash for a while now. I am able to use the master/slave function on my Canon Speedlight flashes, but they are limited as the two flashes need to be able to "see" each other and that doesn't always work for the types of shots I am going for.

I have had pocket wizards sitting in my B&H shopping cart for almost a year now, but manually setting flashes is not something I am proficient at. Everyone tells me it is not that hard, but I just have been hesitant. Then I heard about Radio Poppers, which would allow me to use ETTL functions on my gear but the units don't require "line of sight" to communicate with each other. They were originally supposed to be out in February, so I decided to hold off on the Pocket Wizards, but like most new products, production was delayed and I was getting antsy. They still have a few more weeks to go, but I was able to place a pre-order and I am soooo excited to play with them.

Splish Splash

This is why I love photography!

When he's 16 and tells me "I hate you mom!" I'll know he still loves me, but I'll want a different memory of him to fill my heart at that moment. Moments like the ones below that have made me smile all night just looking at them.






Tonight on the couch before bed

Me: Do you know I really love you?
Him: (nods yes while staring at the TV, avoiding eye contact with me)

a minute or two later

Him: (turning his head to look at me) I reeeally love you too mommy.
Me: (smiling from ear to ear while my heart melts)
Him: (turning his head back toward the TV and then to me again) But I love daddy MOST!
Me: Me too, buddy, me too.

WOWZA!

Check out this photographer's work! Rarindra Prakarsa



And then come help me lift my jaw off the floor!

Part 5: M-I-C.....K-E-Y....

You know the rest. These are WAY out of order, but I can't stay awake long enough to rearrange them tonight.

Not Part 5...you might want to skip reading this one

Don't be sad, there is a Part 5, full of all your favorite characters. However, I am trying to do something I have to do on my computer for work that I have been putting off for the past 2 days because I have been posting vacation photos instead. Hopefully none of my current students read this blog ;-) I am an excellent procrastinator.

So instead of a picture post, I know you are dying to know about the highlights of my day.

I'll start in reverse order to keep you in suspense.

#3 I got to watch LOST with my husband! I KNEW it was Michael! But can someone explain to me the Jin and Sun thing?

#2 We got a credit card statement and I found that on our last 2 visits, each visit they charged us TWICE! I can see one accident, but 2 double charges in one month! I am calling Ruth to the Rescue and the manager at Olga's will not be getting a "happy" visit from me tomorrow. Grrrr!

#1 My son jammed a big peanut up his nose! I was going to take a picture of it, but I am sure you can imagine me wrangling both of his arms down with one of my arms, using my other elbow to tilt his head back and with the hand of that arm venturing into the depths of his nostril with tweezers! Let's just say it wasn't fun. And here I thought people told you not to give kids peanuts just because of possible allergies. Hmmmm.

Part 4: Friends and Fun

One of the things I miss most about living in California is spending time with my fellow Dave Matthew's Band groupie...I mean....friend, Tammy. Fortunately, we were able to meet up on our trip and I not only got to visit with her, but my son was overjoyed to play with her older daughter! It was also the first time I got to meet her new bundle of joy who was born in January.

A rare shot of me and Tammy's beautiful girls.

Tammy and little Delaney. Her initals just happen to be DMB....get it?


Yes, my husband would like a daughter of his own.


Miss Avery showed me her graceful ballet moves!



I love her expression in this one!








Then we headed down the to the beach. That is the complex where we stayed behind the kids. Needless to say, I didn't want to leave to come back to dreary, cold Michigan.



A little kite fun!


The picture below might be my favorite of the day...pure joy on a child's face!


My son loved playing in the sand...well, more like loved to throw mud and eat mud!

Checking out a small crab.
I rinsed my son off a little.

Which was pointless of course.

A great time was had by all!

Part 3: We are family

It was so fun to see our family in California. We didn't get to see all of them, but we sure did have a great time with those we did see.

My Aunt and Uncle came for lunch the first day we were there.


We stayed with my parents. Thanks to grandma's excellent library book selection skills, reading "I love trains" and "I love airplanes" became a nightly ritual.


We spent the next afternoon at my brother and sister-in-law's house and let the kids play.


Never ask my nephew "Is that all the higher you can bounce?"


Of course not silly Auntie Jen Jen!


Of course if one of them does something...everyone has to try it!



My husband enjoying his vacation.

My cool brother.



My sister-in-law.
My parents who made our vacation possible...we love you guys!






My brother did something no one else could do...convince my son that swinging was fun!

Thanks family!

Part 2: Legoland

I loved playing with legos as a kid. Who knew they could make a whole theme park around those peggy little plastic pieces?

There was a fountain with muscial instruments and around the fountain there were pressure sensors. As people stepped on them, the instruments would play music and water would shoot out of them. Too bad it wasn't outside the park, as we could have saved a bunch of money on tickets and just let my son run around it all day like he did inside the park. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it! I guess we'll have to go back someday.

The first ride of the day. My son didn't dig the line (even though it was very short) and it was melt down number 1 when he had to get off the ride!

See the giraffes and the monkey?

Two other monkeys!
Ride #2 also was also a big hit...until they had to stop and get off.

If you ever see this duo in open waters...quickly get to dry land! Dear husband, those are NOT bumper boats!
The helicopters were also a BIG hit!

Who is having more fun here?

Look at those lips. My son makes the best train sounds!

They have great non-ride activities for little (and big) kids.

Every family trip to California so far, we seem to find a shark head photo op.

This pressure activated fountain was also fun, until my son backed up and got his diaper all soggy.

And they have a lot of cool things made out of legos.

A life-sized, lego version of my dream car.

Darth Vader and my handsome Jedi.

My son's idol...Thomas the Tank Engine.

A replica of me! I had the exact same shirt on that day.

Maybe this looks a little more like me ;-)

A look-alike of my honey!

How we all felt at the end of the day. Can you tell which one is made of legos?

There's more to come! Aren't you on the edge of your seats?

Looks like we made it!

For all of the embarrassing things I say about my son, the pictures I post that he may regret someday...he'll want to print this one off for the archives for sure! Warning...you may never hear this again!

My son was SUCH a good boy on the airplane...both ways, even with a 1 hour delay stuck at the gate on the airplane! I packed tons of treats to bribe him to be good and I think I used 3 of them total! Way to go son! I am sure most of it had to do with the calming presence of my patient, humorous and loving husband. Thank you husband!

This is a warning that there will be LOTS of personal photo posts over the next couple days from this trip!

My little man while we wait for dad to get back from the remote parking lot...because I am frugal!


The first day was the only cloudy day of the whole trip. My son still thought the shades were necessary.

My two men!
And where there's a slide...there's fun!


My son really liked the pier and would watch the waves and the surfers. I liked the milkshakes at Ruby's at the end of the pier. I mean, walking all the way to the end and back has to burn off a few calories, right?

Stay tuned for Disneyland, Legoland, visits from family and friends and of course, eating wet sand!