Category Archives: travel

Balancing the break

Here’s me trying to find balance while my kindergartener was home ALL day for many days over Easter break. Balance…uh huh…whatever that means…

Day one…Location scouting.  How fun!  Just what every boy dreams to do on their day off, right?

Day two…Games day. How is it that the youngest always wins? and without help?

Day three…kitchen time. Noah’s favorite – homemade cheesecake!  

and hey, let’s throw some cheesecake into the cupcake mix…I mean…recipe…

Day four…bowling with the boys for the first time.  We’re still waiting for Simon’s ball to roll down the lane…

Day 5 and 6…San Francisco. First stop, Exploratorium.

Fort Mason was holding an event called Off The Grid.  Loved this roach coach fest. Such yummy smells, interesting food and live music.

I’m always so impressed when the boys are willing to try new foods.

And the SF zoo. You will never see Noah so happy as at the zoo. It’s like he feels at home…

Not being much of an animal person, I trend watch.  Wishing for extinction on some things and the preservation of others!

Tagged , , , , ,

WPPI – 2011

About a month ago I had the greatest time attending WPPI in Las Vegas.  The opening night was a SONY Runway show hosted by fashion photographer and America’s Next Top Model judge, Nigel Barker.

Before the fashion show, Nigel promoted the SONY gear and gave tips on how he shoots.  He pulled people from the crowd to do a mini shoot with the lighting set up that he’s been using for a series he has called ‘RAW’.  The book will feature timeless black and whites capturing RAW emotion.

I met up with fellow photographer and friend, Jenelle Quigley of Beauti Photography.  We were excited to sit in the audience of speakers Elizabeth Messina, Jose Villa, Sarah Petty, wedding planner Jill LaFleur and many others.  As for the tradeshow…I visited the Kelly Moore booth about a thousand times before finally deciding on a bag!  Loving my B-hobo!

We did occasionally leave the Convention and one of those times was to enjoy a misting from the fountains at the Bellagio.  Bear with me one more time as I share another image of the fountains.  I loved the silhouette of the other gazers, not to mention hearing them gasp as they watched the fountains for the first time!

 

Tagged , , , , ,

Hey baby, let’s go to Vegas!

Our most recent adventure was a few family days in Las Vegas…the city that never sleeps.  No big deal we thought, sounds like a night at our house.  I’d admit we were a little crazy taking our children there…without a stroller!  A person can afford to eat at the buffets there considering how much walking you do.  Here’s a few of the family friendly things we fit in:  the Secret Garden and Dolphin habitat at the Mirage (caught ourselves a peep show…from the dolphins!  I suppose this is to be expected, we were in Las Vegas after all!), the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay where Simon said the elephants were his favorite (he also said that about the SF zoo and there were no elephants there either), The Magic and Tigers of Rick Thomas (Noah’s still wondering where the lady disappeared to), the fountains at the Bellagio and of course, the hustle and bustle and lights of the strip.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

We don’t mind sand in our stiletto’s

A really great chance for us to meet up presented itself when Wayne received the opportunity to attend the SFN (Society for Neuroscience) conference in San Diego.  With only a couple of broken up days together, one vehicle and two active boys that had just spent many hours in that vehicle, our options were limited.  #1 on the list was the beach…ahhhhh….the beautiful Coronado Island.  And then just as the sun was going down we ended up at Seaport Village.  To all of you that scraped snow off your windshield this morning, we hope these photos will warm you up.

Tagged , , , , , ,

Mini vacation in So Cal

Last weekend we took a road trip down to southern California.  On the way down we stopped to visit some friends just north of LA.  We managed to pack in the sights of Malibu, Santa Monica and Venice Beach all in one day!  Typically the beaches are hopping but because of ‘winter’ they were pretty much abandoned…buncha sissies!

Down by the Venice canals we felt like we had entered another world!  So serene!

Anyone recognize this house?  Location hint…Venice Beach…

Tagged , , , , , ,