Our New Year's Day with the animals

This year on New Year's Day, Patrick thought it would be fun to take the dumplings to Animal Kingdom over at Disney.  It's hard to believe we've only been one other time with just Caleb five and half years ago.  Yep, we mostly hit up the Magic Kingdom and Epcot.  Anyway, we arrived around lunch time and conveniently forgot our stroller.  Caleb and Madeline took a lot of photos with their phones (and Patrick's), and I spent my time chasing after them.

I knew that we would be going on the safari.  So I schlepped my 80-200mm f/2.8 lens around with me...all day.  It made for a pretty heavy bag on my back all day, but it was worth it to bring it.  The safari ride is extremely bumpy.  So in order to avoid camera shake, I really cranked up my ISO so I could also dial up my shutter speed.  I took a lot more photos of the animals but am only sharing a handful.

We all really enjoyed making our way through the Maharjah Jungle Trek.

After the trek we headed over to Dinoland for some Fossil Fun games and a mini roller coaster (Primeval Whirl) for Madeline and me.

We had such a great time and were so glad we managed to find some time to enjoy this part of Disney that we really don't see.

Well, I still have to work on my Year in Review post.  Caleb had two days of tennis tournament play this weekend, which meant very little time at home for us.  He has really enjoyed playing up in the 12s. And although he didn't win this weekend, he loved the challenge of playing 12s in a higher level tournament and did well!  It was a great learning experience on so many levels.  We are so proud of him.

A week from today this precious boy of ours will be turning ten.  Ten!!!  The two digit club.  WHAT?!  It's crazy!  Well, this weekend, of course, he wants to play in a tennis tournament.  And thankfully this one is held just a stone's throw from my sister's place.   But what to do about a birthday party...so, we decided we're going to take Charlie our RV (also known as the players lounge or party bus) and have a little cookout/party during the tournament on Saturday.  When we shared with Caleb our idea of how we could help him to have a birthday "party" the weekend before his birthday while still allowing him to play in the tournament, he just lit up.  So that's the plan.  My sweet mother-in-law, Bammy, will be coming down from Connecticut to help him celebrate.  So we are looking forward to having her here.  And you better believe I'll be baking up lots of cupcakes to take with us.  Fun times await for this special birthday boy!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

As I scroll through the photos I have taken in the month of December, I can't believe it.  I went from hardly picking up my camera in November to shooting "overdrive".  I still have so many photos I want to share.  So I will be on a posting frenzy.  As is usually the case, I will be late with my "Year in Review" post.  I will probably get that up in the next week. For now, though, I want to back up to the weekend before Christmas.

Since it had been a few years since we attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, we thought we would make time for it this year.  We arrived around 4:30 because we prefer to keep our visits short (it helps us keep our sanity as the evening progresses.)  We usually go to Tomorrow Land first. So we made our way to the People Mover.

Havi is in this phase where she is afraid of the pitch dark.  So she needed some cuddling during parts of the ride.  Next up was the Raceway.  Caleb was so thrilled to be tall enough to "ride alone".  He had been looking forward to that solo drive for....ever.

The sun was setting as we were in line and on the track. So I couldn't really capture any decent photos.  But since there was a bit of a back up, I thought I would try to snap a photo of me with my precious shotgun rider.

Then we decided to grab dinner before the dinner crowd had the same idea.  After filling up, we headed over to Carousel of Progress...only to find out we were 5 minutes too late, as the ride had just closed for the evening.  Boo! The dumplings were singing the theme song all week long. So they were a bit disappointed we just missed it.  We decided to head over to Fantasy Land to ride the Barnstormer.

We were so thrilled that the wait time said 5 minutes.  Madeline and I ran all the way to the top and walked right on the roller coaster.  No waiting!!!  We had so much fun, we ran all the way down as we exited the ride so we could do it again!  This time, we had to wait once just so we could ride in the front row.  It was worth it!  The front row was a blast!  Good call Madeline!

Then we scooted on over to Ariel's Grotto.  Poor little Havi was upset with the dark.  But she managed to settle down a bit and enjoy the ride some.  Then I rode the carousel with both Caleb and Madeline.  

After the carousel, we grabbed some hot chocolate and sugar cookies.  Then we thought we'd head over to Pirates of the Carribean before the parade....only it, too, was also closed for the evening.  Poor Caleb was looking forward to it.  What a bummer.  Well, we decided to wait for the parade, and we're glad we did.  Havi insisted we go "home now".  Being at Disney in the dark was just too much for her.  At the start of the parade, she didn't even watch.  She just played with my phone.  Then Patrick held her, and she actually began to enjoy it.  We were so thankful for the turn around.

We headed home once the parade was over, and all three dumplings promptly fell asleep once we began driving.  It was a fun night and cold enough toward the end of the evening to enjoy hot chocolate, which hasn't been the case much of December.

So now that I'm caught up with sharing all that happened before Christmas, I will have to share our post-Christmas Christmas celebrations...yes, you read that right...plural.  We partied for three more days, in fact! lol  Stay tuned...

One day

It didn't occur to me until I uploaded my photos from shooting one day last week that I pretty much shot all day long, from early morning to sundown.  I guess I really wanted practice at lugging around my new, super heavy lens.  It sure is a workout.  No doubt my arms will thank me later.  So, here's the day...

Caleb likes to hit the tennis ball against the house.  He does this every day. And don't even get me started on how grown up I think he looks here.  Somebody tell time to slow down.

I took some selfies with Havi.  I just love how sometimes the focus is off or soft.  The images just so seem so raw and in the moment.

Madeline got a new delivery of ants for her farm.

Then  we headed over to the tennis courts for a little practice and match play.  I took all these shots through the fence, on purpose.    So that is why they look a bit soft.  I also forgot the lens hood.  Still, I like how bright and airy they are.

I love this shot above.  It looks like he's looking right at me.  In actuality, he's looking at the point of contact. 

 Next up, his Raffa follow through.

I tried to capture a little flare and fun on the playground with Havi while Caleb was on the courts.
Really, she did have fun. lol

Then Havi and I headed home while Patrick took Caleb and Madeline to the store.  As I was sitting outside with her, she pointed to the sky.  I turned around and saw a rocket being launched.  I quickly ran into the garage and grabbed my camera.  I didn't even change the settings from earlier and just started snapping.  That worked out fine as I tend to underexpose my shots at sunset to capture more color in the sky anyway.

Those black specs in the photo above are actually birds.  Then I snapped a few shots of Havi as the sun was going down, all on auto white balance.  You can see the color of the light change over time.

Then it was time for some sunset snaps and silhouettes.

Patrick had made it home with Caleb and Madeline by then.  So I asked Caleb to do a jumping shot.
Not bad for a first try in this location.

Anyway, I really enjoyed shooting that day.  My new lens does pose a problem with my beloved camera backpack.  You know, the one I bought for our China trip but still use every day?!  It can only fit if the lens is attached to the camera body when stored.  So that means shifting some things around.  With this lens, though, I'm finding that I'm only bringing one extra lens with me, my 35mm f/1.4, leaving my other two prime lenses at home.

Well, this weekend Caleb will be playing in yet another tennis tournament.  I'm so excited that Bammy will be able to watch him play.  Be looking out for a monthly tennis recap, as it's been a busy one.

One last bit before I go...I want to give a big Happy Birthday shout out to Bammy!  She's turning 39 again.  And we have the privilege of celebrating with her.  Have a great weekend.  And keep cool! We will be hitting the beach!