Ashland '11

Friday, September 28

Here are a few photos from last weekend when we went to Ashland with friends and no kids!  Thanks Aunt Marcie, Grandma & Grandpa for entertaining the girls.  Everyone had a great time.  

Click here to see a few more shots.

Macro Monday - The Wasp Nest

September 26, 2011

Last week I found part of a wasp nest just lying in the backyard. (To write that sentence I just had to Google "laying vs. lying").  Blogging would be quicker if I only posted photos without explanations.  So, I went to take a picture and discovered  there was a wasp tending it.  I don't know where it came from and the next day I was checking up on it only to find that it had disappeared?   What a mystery!  Glad I remembered to snap a shot before it was gone.

Close Up Photography

Wednesday, March 23


As usual, I'm waiting until the last moment to post my photos for a photography assignment over at Views Infinitum.   I'm lucky that the nicest lens I have happens to be a 60mm macro.  I really should use it more. 
Here are a couple of the ones I liked best.  If you know me, I'm sure you're impressed because I really don't like bees, but this one was holding pretty still and didn't look like it was going to attack. 

  1/100s,  f/14.0  ISO 800

 1/100s,  f/10.0, ISO 800

 1/80s,  f/6.5  ISO 640

 1/80s,  f/2.8  ISO 1600

 1/80s,  f/4.0  ISO 800

I used a Canon Rebel T1i with a 60mm 1:2.8 macro lens for all these shots.  I got pretty lucky with the animal shots, but using a tripod for the other stuff would be helpful.   

Oh Mexico

Thursday, March 10


Well, I got back from Mexico over two weeks ago and I'm finally done working on the photos. 
I went on a snorkeling tour to Cabo Pulmo and even though the reef and fish were not that exciting, seeing a mama and baby humpback whale, flying manta rays and sharks made it very worthwhile.  I really missed the good camera, but I just didn't want anything to happen to it.   I was pretty happy to capture this shot.  

There were hundreds of these guys jumping up all around our boat.  I still haven't figured out why they do it.  I'm still kicking myself for not taking a video.   I had a great time and since our timeshare turned out to be so nice I will have to take my family there soon. 

You Capture - my weekend in Body Parts

Wednesday, March 9


Last weekend we made an impromptu  trip to Seattle to visit the cousins and go to the Emerald City Comic Convention.  The following body parts are not all real or human.  There were some impressive costumes and several characters were unknown to me. 

I do know these guys though, not personally of course.

Luna dog's nose.

Jumping body parts.

Resting body parts.

And a possibly broken body part. 

That kid in the pink shirt who was jumping really high, well she got a sharp leg pain and has been unable to walk on her right leg since Sunday night.  She is actually getting around great with crutches and feeling less painful.   We have to wait a few days to see if a hairline fracture will show up on the x-ray.  


Click here to see more Body Part photos.

You Capture - things that start with L

Wednesday, February 23


Well I just got back from five nights in Cabo (and it was awesome), but I totally forgot about L words. I was just working on my photos from the trip and found a few even if they are in Spanish.  

La Luna  

La luz (light) de la luna

sea Lions

 Lobster

Lantern

Click here to see more L words at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Lambs, goats, and llamas, oh my!

Tuesday, January 18


  The girls and I were invited to visit the new lambs at my soon to be sister in law's farm.   In case you didn't know, Sydney luuuuuvs lambs, so it was the best. day. ever!  Here's the proof:

After that we went to visit my Grandma at the hospital.  She fell and broke her hip last Sunday.  She is doing pretty well, but tomorrow she is going to a nursing facility to get some rehab before going home.  I'll be heading to Salem for the day to transport her and get her settled in the new place.   

Barf pails and slug trails

Tuesday, October 26


What crazy weather this weekend.  Luckily we stayed fairly dry during soccer games.  Kyla had a full social schedule which included sleepovers, parties and too much sugar.  She stayed home from school yesterday, but bounced back quickly and seems to be back to normal today.  Note to self:  If your kid complains of a stomach ache in the middle of the night, even if it doesn't seem very bad, it's always a good idea to leave them with a towel or a barf bag, just in case.   Kevin got the middle of the night surprise and preliminary clean up and I got the detail work the next morning.  She didn't quite make it to the bathroom.  So glad we didn't get new carpet this year.


Hopefully this story will make the following picture seem pleasant even though it's related to slugs.  

Can you see the heart?  Stay healthy everyone.

You Capture - Animals

Thursday, October 14

I tried to get some animal variety this week, not just cats and dogs, although I did spare you the spider photo.  Those things are everywhere lately, along with the slugs.

My friend Amy has chickens, but they were being kind of shy, so I got this one through the window.

The kids are finding caterpillars on the playground after school.

We don't have a dog, but I see this one every time I get a chance to eat at the food carts in my neighborhood. I call him cart dog or beggar. 

Last but not least, our crazy cat.  She is always opening the bottom drawer to pull out plastic bags and chew them.  I have tried to tell her how unsafe this is, but she never listens.  I may have to resort to a safety lock before she endangers her life.  Bad kitty!

Click here to see more Animals @ I Should Be Folding Laundry.

You Capture - Vehicles

Friday, July 16

Where have I been?  Last week I was sick and missed a night of camping with my family, but glad I made it for the second night.  The weather was perfect and has been all week.  Here is a non-motorized vehicle that they got to spend the camping trip with.  Thanks Gma and Gpa!

Here is our vehicle as seen from a semi's hub cap.

And the inside of our vehicle after camping.

 

This truck belongs to my Gma's neighbor.  I like purple.

This week both girls were in camp, Kyla did Kung Fu and Sydney did one day of gymnastics and three days of yoga camp.  They are having a great time while I have been catching up on laundry and editing photos.  


Click here for more Vehicle photos.

Elephants, Tigers, and Bears. Oh my!

Tuesday, May 25

On Sunday the girls and I along with two other families, got to go on a "behind the scenes"  tour at the Oregon Zoo.   It lasted over 2 hours and we got to visit, give snacks to and touch several animals.  I could probably do a separate post about each animal, but instead I'll link you up to the zoo's info page and just show a couple of my 200 photos.  If you want to go straight to the photo album (only 56 photos), click here. 

After it was all over, the girls suddenly realized what a special even this was.  They just kept saying, "Mom, that was so awesome!"  I know! 

First stop was our own personal show/feeding session/photo op with Chendra the elephant. 

Then I asked her handler to show me the end of her trunk.  

Then he told her to blow.  Doh!  I'm so gullible.  My first instinct was to protect my camera, but I wasn't fast enough.   Thank goodness for filters and I hope mine is OK after washing it with a wet wipe and drying with my t-shirt.  I also hope Chendra isn't sick, because I definitely inhaled some elephant germs.  At least I had my glasses on!

Then we got to meet Mo the Humboldt Penguin.  He walked right out of his habitat into the office to meet us.  My photos are a little blurry, but here he is giving Kyla's leg a hug.  Too funny!

Next stop was the bears.  We stayed a few feet away from the door and watched Amy, our guide feed them snacks.  Conrad the polar bear seemed so tame I would have pet him if they would have allowed it. 

I took a ton of photos, but the bars were really cramping my style.  I'm kind of glad they were there while meeting Jody & Vivian, the Sun bears though. 

They started fighting over snacks once and that was a bit scary.  Check out the long tongues and claws these girls have.

Here is Pete, a Black Rhino.  He was very sweet and loves apples, but watch out, you may get slimed!  We even got to pet this guy.

The Hippos, Bubbles & Poppy were also excited to get their snack.  They patiently stood at the gate with their huge mouths open, waiting for the apples to get tossed in.  It was so cool to see these huge animals out of the water.

We had a quick visit to meet Nikki and Mik, Amur Tigers and Kia, an Amur Leopard.  One of the kids asked if why we weren't feeding them - can you say carnivore?  I didn't really get good photos of these guys and Kia was feeling pretty shy.

 

Last stop of the tour was a fun fish feeding session with the Sea Lions, Julius & Gus.

Well, I don't think I missed anyone.  Thanks again to my friend Amy, the zoo keeper and tour guide.  We had a truly unique experience and day at the zoo we will never forget!

Macro Monday - Can you guess?

Monday, May 24

These are both of the same thing.

Do you need a hint?  We went on a behind the scenes tour at the zoo this weekend.   I'm still working on the photos because I took around 200!  Don't worry I'll tell you the answer since I only know of two people who would try to guess.

It's a rhino!

You Capture - Comfort

Thursday, April 8

Last week was so busy it seems like there was no time for comfort.  A couple of weeks ago when big sister was gone, Sydney adopted this big bunny as her little sister to keep her company.  She also decided to wear a sleeping hat??

Cereal can comfort this girl morning, noon, or night.

My sister's dog, Luna, comfortable on her blanket in the kitchen.

I found this phone in the hotel we stayed in last weekend.  Do some people find comfort in things that look old? I remember my grandma used to have a phone like this that you actually had to dial - it took for ever to dial a number, especially if you make any mistakes.

Click below to visit Keli at Kidnapped By Suburbia and see more comfort.

You Capture - Feet

Thursday, April 1

It seems like I've had feet pictures for the last couple of challenges.  Those feet are everywhere.  Here are some more without captions.  I'm supposed to be packing up to spend the weekend in Seattle. 

No one said they had to be people feet.

Thanks to Keli for hosting this week.  Click the button for more feet.