Laying Low

Just a couple of quick photos from recent weekend adventures...

We took O. to his first carnival a few weekends ago. A few of the rides were his size. He had a great time, but rode them very, very seriously.

That same weekend, there was hot air balloon festival nearby. We attended the balloon glow, which is what the balloons look like when the pilot creates flares at night. None of my night shots turned out, but one of the dusky shots was okay.

They also had margaritas.
And last, the extent of the tree damage from hurricane Ike. We really lucked out with a mid-sized pile of branches and power out for only 3-4 hours. Several of our neighbors were not so lucky with major damage to their trees. I can still find power poles that are snapped in two.


O. was excellent help with the yard clean up. We decided that we were making a treenest for him, and then he was happy to pick up branches.

Zoo Trip

Toddler photography is challenge greater than I ever would have realized. This was demonstrated for the umpteenth time yesterday, during last weekend's zoo outing.

Zoo photo: we ate lunch here.

First, there's the speed factor. I'm convinced that there is no shutter speed low enough to capture a two year old in constant motion. For every halfway decent photo, I have ten more of blurry blobs that I've deleted from the memory card. It's safe to say that the experience of seeing unusual animals at the zoo was completely lost on O. For him, it was all about having an unusual space to run through.

Combine the speed problem with the fact that a toddler's expression and mood varies from microsecond to microsecond, and add on a side of the same toddler is so distracted by the camera that he forgets that mere microseconds ago he was in full glee, and you have a series of photos that show O. in the expression just after he was completely adorable.

Evidence 1: O. loved the fish tank. Really, he did. He acted as tour guide for every new group of people that came to the fish tank, saying "LOOK! At the FISHIES!" and "LOOK! Fishies here, TOO!" But you'd never know it from the photo below, which is the best of the bunch.

"Nice fishies!"

Evidence 2: Here we are, waiting for our pizza at lunch. He was excited about the pizza, eating out, being in the presence of a hundred or so other kids, and the zoo banners hanging from the ceiling ("Zebra!!" "Lion!!" "Bird!!!"). But whatever you do, don't say "Hey, O., can you look at Mommy?" You get this:

Waiting for lunch

Evidence 3: Well, here he's just being a little punk.

Posing, but not liking it.

There were a few good photos. O. liked this giant beetle statue, because he thought the back of the shell was a slide.

O. loved this cobra snake sculpture. I thought we were never going to get him away from it.

"Nice snake!"

The highlight of the trip may have been the waterfall. This is a really great idea. On a hot day, this hit the spot.
One last photo. The zoo has a train that circles the whole park. We knew about the train beforehand, and talked it up for O. He was so excited, and talked about how he was going to ride the train, on and on, talk talk, jabber jabber. We waited in line for our turn and finally the train came. O. walked right up to the train and climbed aboard and sat down. And then nothing. Silence, stunned silence. No comment, nothing, for the whole train ride. This is how he looked the whole trip.

This is serious train riding, folks. He recovered promptly after the ride, fortunately.

Pretending that his father's head is a drum.

Neatest Park Ever

One of the lesser-known treasures of our area is the Rochman Park. It was built by a local investor as memorial to his son. This park has a Dungeons and Dragons theme, complete with dueling wizards, dragons, and gnomes. The main feature is a castle, which means Owen is in heaven.


The castle. (Pardon the bad photoshopping on this one. I think I focused on a cloud instead of the castle, and the castle become too dark to see anything. I lightened everything so that you could see the castle, but this made the sky look strange. I'm sure there's a way around it, but I need to learn more about photoshop first. Or, I could just learn to take better photos in the first place. Never seem to find time for either.)


Owen loves this place.


I like the ogre guarding the castle entrance.


The castle is a maze. What you see in the photo above is likely no less than four different paths through the castle. And that's just a part of one corner. Children and husbands easily become lost. Fortunately, there is only a few exits, so at least they're contained.


View looking upwards at one of the towers.


The level of detail is insanely amazing. Everywhere you look, there is something else to see. In the photo above there is a goblin, towerguarding a corner.


A finer point; a handmade tile.


Still astounded by the details; this is one type of the light fixtures.


Again, sorry for the surreal-looking photoshop job. What I was trying to photograph is the flying dragon, carrying a skull in its claws.


The park is set in a grove, and the trees complement the area perfectly. Above: a carving in one of trees.


Our little monkey, scrambling up a knight's effigy mound.


And sliding down the mulch.

That's all the photos. There is much more, just too much to take in at one time.