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BenRoe blogspotEveryone else has a blog, so why not us? What better way to subject friends and family to commentary on our everyday life and travels? And pictures? They're not just for wallets anymore.... |
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August 21 PICNIC IN THE PARKCathleen, Janeane, and I had a wonderfully relaxing picnic at Springview park yesterday, and I was able to take some pictures. Yay! It was a welcome break from a very busy work schedule where it seems that all I do is read/edit on the computer. (But, hey, when it brings in the big bucks, how can you argue? <ha!>)
So I was very much looking forward to taking pictures of Theo and Emma because kids are so unaware of the camera that it's easy for them just to act natural (see Emma and Theo album). Though at times I think Emma might have wondered why the heck that big black thing was always pointing at her, she became a very cute ham at the end!
 For part of the time, Emma climbed the play structure, which was mostly yellow. Ick! Great for photo ops, but TERRIBLE for an ugly reflective yellow light that was nearly impossible to fix in post-processing. So, being the resourceful girl that I am, I turned several of those shots into more "artsy" renditions. And they don't look half bad! Unfortunately, I didn't get as many good pictures of Theo. He was so relaxed and mellow (good for mama!) that he didn't really care that I wanted to take pictures of him. (What?) But that's okay -- there will be many more opportunities.... August 17 SANTA CRUZWell, I know it's been FOREVER since I updated the blog, but now I've got pictures coming out my ears! So I better keep up.
Dave and I went to Santa Cruz to help celebrate his Aunt Arlene and Uncle John's 50th wedding anniversary. They had gotten married there, so what better place to celebrate it 50 years later?
We had a great time! Our first night we piled into our cars for the Boardwalk, an absolute must-see and do. I was most looking forward to the Giant Dipper, as it was the first roller coaster I ever rode. My sister Debbie took me on it when I was five year old and finally tall enough to reach the minimum-height line. WOW! I've been on several roller coasters all over the country since then, and the Dipper is still one of the best EVER. They must have ratcheted up the speed or something, because at five years old, I don't remember it being quite so hair-raising!!
The next day we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium, and we all became completely lost and enthralled by the jelly fish display. Who would've thought that there are so many dang different kinds of jelly fish?? I lost count, and the pictures I got only represent a fraction of them (see the Santa Cruz album).
The next evening, for the "official" celebration, we went to dinner at a FABULOUS Italian restaurant in town called, what else? Ristorante Italiano! It was absolutely delicious. Before we started out, Dave had a "special announcement" (no! we're not getting married!). As a special gift to the happy couple, he had collected photographs of their original wedding, all their early years together, all the kids and the grandkids, and made a video out of them set to music. It is fabulous! (If you'd like to see it, click here. Cathleen, you can also find a link there to Dave's Roseville video. I finally found it!) Dave spent hours and hours on this project, not just scanning the photos and putting it together, but also trying to find a way to make the projector work so he could show it on "the big screen." It came down to the eleventh hour on the afternoon of the last day, but he did it! (Thanks to a little Santa Cruz computer shop guy who pulled it together about 45 minutes before they closed -- phew!) But it was a huge success and all ended well.
The next day we had to come home and back to reality, but we had a super time. I think we should definitely make it an annual getaway! July 07 CONGRATULATIONS, KYLE & KELLY!!I know it's high time that I posted the pictures of Kyle and Kelly's graduation from Chico! I've been lagging, but I have emergency surgery as an excuse (sort of...).
So we arrived that Saturday at around 7:30 AM to kick off the day with a bloody mary, as is the tradition in Chico. We followed this up with drinks at Riley's and Joe's, then made it to Kyle's ceremony for lots of pictures, had a celebratory lunch with the family, and finally crashed with a nap. Dave and I took a break from the celebration to catch a movie at the Pageant, an indie movie theater (also a Chico tradition) with reclining couches. The next morning we did it all over again for Kelly's ceremony, though I think it's safe to say we were all a little less motivated to start with the bloody marys the second time around.
 But a great time was had by all, Dave and I reminisced about our own graduations from Chico and our time spent there, and it was a fine send off for Kyle and Kelly from their own Chico State adventure (see pix of the event in the photo album)! June 29 HER NAME WAS LOLA... SHE WAS A SHOW GIRL...Guess what we've inherited -- another CAT! And a baby at that! Someone left a kitten on my mom's doorstep this week, and somehow she found her way to our house. It was love at first sight for Dave ("Isn't she just the cutest kitten in the WORLD?!"), so now we have three. Cathleen has warned us that if we're not careful, we'll become known as "the people with all the cats." Great.
So we were trying to think of a name for her. The first day it was Yoda because of her fuzzy head and big eyes. But we nixed that because hopefully she won't look like that for much longer.
 Then Dave went through all the sports terms he could think of ("knuckleball" springs to mind, but I nixed that one). Then we thought of Lily, but for some reason it just didn't seem to fit. There were a host of others we bantered around, then Dave came up with Lola from the Barry Manilow song, "Copa Cabana." I didn't like it at first, but it has definitely stuck. I call her Little Lo-Lo, and she comes running as if she knows her name already. So Hank is not the baby anymore (though he's still my baby -- all 15 pounds of him!). Although he and Lo-Lo are only six months apart in age, you'd never know it by looking at them. He is massive in comparison, and could eat her for lunch with a half-hearted chomp. I'm still not quite sure if he views her as a snack or a part of the family. He get's a gleam in his eye that says, "Just wait until I get you alone, my pretty...."
At this point, it's constant care -- kitty formula and all (though no baby bottles, thank goodness!) -- but she grows more independent by the day. Yay! Check out "the cutest kitten in the world" in the Little Lo-Lo photo album. June 03 DEEP, DARK WORLD OF MACROWell, I have had a crash course in macro photography thanks to my class at Sierra. I really wasn't looking forward to it in the beginning, since the thought of shooting landscapes (as the class was titled) didn't thrill me. However, it's amazing what the right equipment can do -- what amounted to a couple of magnifying glasses (called close-up lenses, which screw on to the end of the camera lens) and some guidance went a long way toward making it fun. And I learned a LOT!
This past weekend we spent almost eight hours on both Saturday and Sunday contorting ourselves on the ground to get that perfect shot. It's all in the angles, and focusing is a royal pain. Because you have to get so close (usually only 2 to 3 inches away), your focusing margin error is nill -- I'd say in the millimeter range. I held my breath a lot. So if you ever encounter someone laying by the side of the trail or in an open field, looking through a camera attached to a very low tripod under a white photo studio umbrella (blocks the harsh sunlight), think of me over this weekend! The looks on people's faces as they passed us (or stepped over us as was sometimes the case) was priceless, but they gave us a cheery "hello" nonetheless.
Saturday we went to Sierra Discovery trail (up I-80 to Hwy 20), and Sunday we went to Sagehen Creek (I-80 to 89 North), which was stunning! We hiked about 6 miles on Sunday just because we kept finding meadows filled with flowers and couldn't help ourselves. It's ridiculous how giddy you can get at the prospect of discovering a whole new world. Looking at flowers so closely is like traveling to another planet. Most of them I've never seen before (and we have to name them for our final critique -- yikes!), and almost all of them look like an invasion of alien pod creatures.
So without further ado, check out my favorites in the Macro Aliens album from the nearly 400 (!!) photos I took this weekend. Cathleen and Amber, are you ready to join me for a class in the fall? They have some cool ones coming up! I'm such a geek....
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