Photo Hunt:: Looking Down

Last year the kids visited Paris for the first time. They got a real kick going all the way up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was my first time to the top as well; when I visited as a teenager, my sister and I could only afford to take the elevator to the 2nd floor. It was an amazing experience to be able to look down over all of Paris.

I wonder what adventures are in store for us this summer?


This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Looking Down. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

Photo Hunt: Missing

This is our family holiday photo from 2005. My mother loved it, but she always felt sad looking at it because one of our family members was not able to be with us for the holidays and is missing from the photo.


So I Photoshopped that family member in. Can you spot him or her? My mom was delighted with the the doctored photo and proceded to display it proudly along with the more accurate versions of our various family holiday photos. Hey, she loves having the family all together, in virtual reality or IRL.


This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Missing. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

Photo Hunt: Digital

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does Anna Kournikova have to do with this week's Photo Hunters theme, digital? This happens to be one of the first photos I (or Alfie, I forget who) ever took with a digital camera. This was in July of 2000, and we saw Anna Kournikova compete in the Stanford Bank of the West Classic (she lost). We had just bought a digital camera and were playing with it like little kids. I remember Alfie (or I, I forget who -- no, actually it was Alfie) accidentally erasing all the photos we had taken during a weekend in Santa Cruz because we (no, he) didn't realize the command was "delete all" instead of "delete". I can't remember anything about the photos that were deleted, only that they were the best photos ever. We've never made that same mistake again.

The photo above is 198 kb; at the time we thought it was monstrously large. I don't think they even make digital cameras that shoot photos less than half a megabyte these days. When I look back to those days of film cameras, of developing your photos (and throwing half of them away), of keeping track of the negatives, I'm so glad we have digital film technology today!


Here's a collage of me posing with my current point-and-shoot camera, a Sony Cybershot.



This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Digital. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

The possibilities in a square of paper

It's amazing what a square of paper can become. Thanks to the art of origami, a square of paper can become a flower, a frog, a fish, a hat, a bird, a box, and practically anything else you can imagine. It can become a way to teach kids about proportion and spacial relationships and following directions. It can become a way to spend a fun afternoon with your kids. It can become a beautiful work of art.

Photo Hunt: Dusty

This is one day during last year's UK summer vacation where I wouldn't have minded a drizzle. It was as hot and dry as Manila in April. The dust kicked up by these bikes was incredible! I think most of it ended up on the spectators cheering from the sidelines...

This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Dusty. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

Photo Hunt: Road

A clear, blue sky, an English country road, a pair of doting aunts and horses to ride. For a child, a summer day doesn't get any better than this.


This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Road. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

Photo Hunt: Trees

The redwoods around Bear Mountain in Felton are spectacular, and there's no better way to see them than by riding through them on an open railroad car pulled by a narrow-gauge steam train. We rode the Roaring Camp Railroad two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the one-hour trip and the barbecue lunch at the train station. They have great themed events for Easter, Halloween and Christmas -- and I'm hoping to get press tickets for their Day Out With Thomas event!

This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Trees. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

Photo Hunt: Closed

It has been 2 weeks since we drove to Lake Tahoe and back in a snowstorm, and already it seems like a long time ago. We've had a whole week of temperatures in the 70's and 80's and it seems impossible to think that so much snow could fall from the heavens. But I only have to look at this photo to remember the treacherous conditions that closed so many roads and highways, and caused so much trouble.

This post and photos were inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week: Closed. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below.

My Favorite Machine

I always knew I'd own a Kitchen Mixer. My mother owned one, and I have many happy childhood memories baking cookies and brownies and cakes with that mixer. She always said a Kitchen Aid mixer was expensive, but it would last a lifetime, and my 9-year-old self really took that to heart.

Self Portrait

Until a couple of weeks ago, the only way I could take a self-portrait was to stand in front of a mirror, or hold the camera at arm's length and end up with a huge, distorted face.

Back to the Photo Hunt: Mostly Black

My blog has been suffering again. Part of it has been a deliberate decision to step away from my computer and get moving, but I've also fallen into a blogging rut of sorts. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's Facebook, maybe it's work or maybe it's my newfound addiction to English Premier League soccer, but I've been spending fewer evenings transferring my thoughts into blog posts. I want to get back to posting more regularly, and there's no better way to start than by getting back to some of my favorite memes, starting with TN Chick's Saturday Photo Hunt.

Many Hands Make Light Work

I think I've figured out a way to cure childhood obesity. All you have to do is build all elementary schools on steep hills, put all the classrooms at the top of the hill, and put the parking lot, playground and cafeteria at the bottom of the hill. At least that's what it felt like a couple of weeks ago, as I was trudging up the slopes of Roosevelt Elementary School with a huge box of Leapfrog Tag readers and books. I was delivering the Tag Reader classroom kit that Leapfrog gave me to donate to a kindergarten classroom as part of their Tag. Give. Read. program. My friend's sister-in-law teaches fourth grade at this school, and she introduced me to a lovely kindergarten teacher named Jennifer, who was delighted to receive the donation for her students.

Written

One of the first things that people do before starting on their 60-mile walk at the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure is dedicate their walk to friends and loved ones who have fought breast cancer, in the form of little handwritten notes.

Juicy

With berries this juicy and sweet, it's a wonder any of them make it into the berry-picking bucket!



This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more juiciness, click here.

Anniversary

Back to School means back to the Photo Hunt! I managed to participate through most of the summer but all the Back to School craziness meant that something had to take a back seat. Now I'm back and raring to share photos with everyone once more.

I know which anniversary most of us will be thinking about for September 11, but I'd like to share something a bit happier -- Alfie and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage this year. It hardly seems possible that we've shared a decade of wedded bliss (okay, it hasn't been 10 years of constant bliss) but it has been a wild, wonderful ride and I can't wait to begin the next decade.


This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more anniversaries, click here.

Where the Public Good really *is* Good

When Alfie visited Salt Lake City in May, one of the things that impressed him the most about the city was the immaculate surroundings. They obviously make a huge effort to keep their public areas neat and clean. The roads are well maintained, not a pothole in sight (which to a motorcyclist like Alfie, is a major safety issue and Super Big Deal), and you don't see any litter lying around.

See those birds on the roof of the tram station? They're fake. I'll bet they put them there to scare real birds away, which minimizes bird poop from splattering all over the roof, floor and people.


They even have the latest in traffic management technology. Hey, California, why can't we have that? Heck, I'd settle for just the nice roads.


Check out their capitol building, complete with manicured lawn. The amazing thing is, Salt Lake City has a population of less than 200,000 -- which is just under one-fourth of the population of San Francisco, and about a fifth of the population of San Jose. Talk about taxpayers' money going to good use! We have so many more taxpayers in our area, yet our public facilities are shite.


The pristine condition of the buildings and public facilities, combined with the natural beauty of the surroundings, makes Salt Lake City a beautiful place to live.




And since this is a photo spread of Salt Lake City, how could I not include a photo of the Mormon (LDS) Temple. The architecture is absolutely stunning, and I don't think one blade of grass on that lawn would dare to grow the wrong way. The public is welcome to tour the grounds and select buildings in Temple Square, but the temple interior is not open to public tours.


This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more public things, click here.

Just Hanging Around

I love these lazy summer days! They're so relaxed and low key, and the kids are always playing outdoors. They love clambering up tree trunks, swinging from branches and launching themselves from any sort of height. These are the same sorts of shenanigans that landed Jammy with two broken bones in February, but that memory is long gone, and his fear has healed along with the bones.

Actually, my kids will climb anything, given half a chance.

My little monkeys just love hanging out in the summer!

This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more hangings, click here.

Count the Triangles

One, two, three, how many triangles do you see? I count 29, but there could be more. See if you can find them all and leave your guess in the comments section!

This charming building is located in the charming Danish town of Solvang.... in California! The town was founded by Danish settlers in 1911, and they took many of their customs and culture with them.


Even the public restrooms have that cute Scandinavian appeal!


This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more triangles, click here.

Open Wide......

My kids all have healthy appetites. But sometimes I think their appetites are bigger than their stomachs, and their eyes are bigger than their mouths....

I think I need to teach them to slow down a bit. And close their mouths when they chew.

Do as I say, kids, not as I do!

This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more open things, click here.

Purple is the Color of Mourning

Not that I'm mourning or anything, but when I saw this week's Photo Hunters theme I decided to dig up as many photos as I could of The Pea wearing purple. She has had tons of purple outfits over the years -- I can see them in my mind, but most of them didn't make it into our photo archive. Here's one of the earliest I found of her in a sweet, light purple onesie.

How can such an ugly monster be so cute?

The Pea still likes wearing this Mickey Mouse shirt, but it won't be long before we have to give it away.


These days, The Pea's taste runs to tank tops, not puff-sleeved blouses or patterned dresses. She looks far too grown-up in these tank tops -- they even have a little shelf bra for the rare occasion that the tween actually has something to put in them. She informed me this was a great thing so that when she started developing, I wouldn't have to spend any money to buy her bras. Sorry kid, you are most definitely wearing bras with these tank tops, and hopefully a sweater to go with it.

It all happened far too quickly!

I guess maybe I am mourning, just a little bit, after all.




This photo was inspired by the Photo Hunt theme of the week. Feel free to leave links to your own Photo Hunt entries below. And for more purple things, click here.