tarpon springs

My parents were so great to keep the girls overnight for us so that we could getaway for an overnight stay in Tarpon Springs. You can see the whole town in a day. It's perfect for a day trip. We enjoyed walking along Dodeconese St. next to the harbor which is full of Greek food restaurants and little touristy shops mainly selling sponges. Tarpon Springs is famous for its sponging industry. We also visited the historical museum which gave us our first glimpse into Florida's history. It was fascinating! We love history :)

I took my new fisheye with me, and got in some good practice!

Us, being cute :)


We ordered this massive Greek pizza for a late lunch/early dinner. The menu said it fed "two or more." I'd say it was more on the "more" side.


Tarpon Springs is known for it's Greek culture. So, we had to go inside the Greek Orthodox church. It was fascinating!


David is a part time seminarian himself, and was enthralled to talk to Father Cristodolos about the Greek Orthodox faith.


The church was full of icons and amazingly beautiful artwork.

last 'o the nutcracker

Getting ready backstage. Can you tell what I got for my birthday?


Our neighbors. Betcha didn't know I'd stick your photo on here :)


Me and my dad.


The dancers were all awarded roses and Chistmas gifts after their performance. If only A would have stepped forward a bit! From my vantage point, all you can see is her red dress.


It's a Nutcracker Christmas ornament. How appropriate!


Tired little dancer!


And, finally, a real smile from M. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift. Mostly I just get lots 'o attitude.

my little model

So, I'll just drag out my Nutcracker photos. Actually, it's such a fun busy time for me. My parents are here visiting, so I'm just posting in little chunks. That's the life of a mom, anyway. Just do things in chunks, and eventually big jobs are done. :)

nutcracker rehearsal

These are all from our dress rehearsal last night. The girls did such a good job! It was quite a lot of exhausting work to get them ready, but still very fun. I still have a few more to share!

A was part of the opening scene when Drosselmier arrives with the Nutcracker.






M's pink tutu.




Goofing off on stage.






The girls ran through the entire show twice. After the first run-through, they were allowed to watch the show from the front. This was their only time to see the show, as they were backstage during the actual performance.

nutcracker peek

I've been up to my ears this week in tulle! Here's a sneek peak of more to come:



Oh, and Heather, here's a prime example of where you PS skills would come in handy. See that tripod in the background? I've love to clone it out of the picture! But, I haven't a clue how to do it well...any tips? Pretty please?

using flash

I'm determined to learn how to use my external flash this year. Call it a New Year's Resolution or a photographer's development plan. It's something I've been wanting to learn for a long time. These were taken at night in a darkish hotel lobby. I bounced my flash over my left shoulder, and the result was nice, diffused light. I was pleased! Yay, me :)

festival of lights

Hollywood Studios has a festival of lights/light show during the Christmas season. I had fun capturing it. There was some fake snow too. It was so packed, though, but we still had lots of fun. If you're going, it's best to check the schedule, because last week they only had it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Major photo overload ahead:









(I'm trying to learn to use my external flash. I'm definitely in progress. More on this in my next post!)

a little teaser

Just a teaser for what we were up to this weekend...now I've got you hooked! :)

my beautiful friend

I had the pleasure of hanging out with my old friend Tiffany (aka T-Love--totally an inside joke). We go back a long ways, all the way to our Greeley days at UNC. And, even though we've both re-located to Orlando, we just don't see each other enough--ok hardly ever. But, we don't hold it against each other. It's sure a treat to hang out, though. We had fun reminiscing about our first fall when we took each others' photos using my old 35mm film "Barbie" camera. Yes, that's right. I own a Barbie camera.

Tiffany, you're beautiful! We really should try to see each other more often!

thanksgiving snaps

So, I'm a bit "behind" in posting my thanksgiving photos. We have an annual tradition of writing out "thankful links." It was fun this year to see the girls be able to write their own.







We celebrated thanksgiving with close friends. We're so blessed to have them! Here's our host, Mr. Cannon, carving up the big bird.



The most amusing part of the day: static electricity in the bounce house. Just look at A's hair!





The kids at the kid table were very dismayed by a nearby wasps' nest, so they all moved to the grown up table. I'm sure you're jealous that they were able to play and eat outside. Well, just think of the suffering we undergo in the summer heat...we're in the blissful days of Florida weather at the moment.