August Break Day 31.... Good Night August

August Break Day 30

August Break Day 28

August Break Day 26 and 27

I felt like spreading a little fun today...  Enjoy!

August Break Day 25

August Break Day 24

We went to the children's discovery museum, only to find that they were closed while finishing a new exhibit.  We didn't let that get to us, though.... there was the grounds to walk on, a creek to squish in, sprinklers to run in, birds and squirrels (chipmunks?) to watch, a pond to listen to, and wild berries to eat.  It was a good day at the discovery museum. :)

August Break Day 21, 22, and 23... whoops!

I guess I sort of missed the point of August Break the past few days, huh? : ) 

I'm ridiculously sleepy right now and its been a long couple of days, so while I intend to have some fun processing all of the photos from this day later, for now they're comin' to you with the bare minimum (cropping, and since I'm still not getting those bright sunny days right on my manual settings quite yet, some exposure correction).

Those are just are a few shots from our day in the Napa Valley.  I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself and for our wine tasting experience, being taken around in the limo was so much fun!  The only downside was that I didn't have the time to hold everyone up while I took all the photos I wanted to, so next time I'll be going with my camera and no schedule or agenda.  In a way it was a blessing, since I made an effort to forget about the pictures I didn't take and enjoy the good wine and even better company.

August Break Day 19 and 20

Where does the time go?

Yesterday was a day off, yet a busy day of appointments, errands, and stealing a few minutes of simple moments with my little one. 

Oh, and he got a Chia Pet for his birthday in March (which, for the record, was an awesome gift for a 4 year old), which we finally got around to.... planting?  Waiting for the seeds to soak was torturous, but well worth it... they were so gooey and interesting on our fingers, and against the contrasting texture of the ceramic elephant.  Now waiting anxiously for growth....

Today was R & R.  We completely ignored our house chores until the very last moment before bedtime, while we lounged, and talked, and giggled, and lounged some more.  I finally got the chores done, with the second wind I always get around the time I should be drifting off to sleep.  I'll be reluctant to roll out of bed for my early morning tomorrow, but will smile to see a tidy house when I come downstairs.

I didn't get around to taking pictures today so I will give Day 20 a photograph from another day; another picture from our lovely evening in Capitola last month... He looks a little intense in this picture... but he gets that way sometimes.  And did I mention that he loves to whistle? 

Tomorrow I will pay one of our beloved babysitters a ridiculous amount of money to play with my charming little munchkin while I take an 8 hour wine tour in a limo with some girls, to celebrate my lovely friend's birthday.  It will be worth it and I do love giving our young friends a little extra spending money before they start their new school year (for most of them, it being their first year at college).  I have always wanted to do this wine tour, and time with good company, good wine, and beautiful scenery is always time well spent.

August Break Day 18

I had a long day today, so when I got home from the gym the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner.  Z and I hung outside, meeting new neighbors, riding his scooter, and enjoying the warm summer night until we couldn't call it dusk anymore. 

Once I got little man settled, I realized I was starving!  I needed something to eat ASAP and while I was tempted to grab the easiest and nearest thing (which happened to be a container of Trader Joe's dark chocolate rocky road) and devour it, I also realized I should nourish my body a little better than that. : )  I had some leftover quinoa with peppers, tomatoes and feta cheese in the fridge from dinner a few nights ago, and a zucchini that needed to be used or else it would need to be made into zucchini bread, so voila! - quinoa stuffed zucchini boats! 

Its not exactly the prettiest food in the world, but it sure was yummy!

August Break Day 17

This is sort of a duplicate for anyone reading here from my other blog... not the same photos, but the same subjects. :) 

My little brother and Z were watching School House Rock on DVD while I was making dinner last night, and I couldn't help but steal a few shots. 

I just love those little feet belonging to Z (even when they're super dirty, haha.. or maybe especially when they're super dirty).  I love, love the lines on the bottom of his feet.  He had the deepest creases on the bottoms of his feet when he was born.... I so clearly remember.  This was taken in super low light (just overflow light from the dining room into the living room at dark) with no flash.   Still muddling my way through manual mode.  I can't wait until it all becomes second nature so I can focus more on my composition.  In the meantime, I am so enjoying my time behind the camera so its a good, worthy process.

August Break Day 15 and 16

August Break Day 14 and A Lesson

Last weekend my son and I went berry picking for the first time together.  We came completely unprepared, which I only realized when I saw other families in their sun hats, applying sunscreen, appropriately clothed and shoed.  Nonetheless, we got our baskets and went-a-pickin'. 

I pulled out my camera and started snapping, trying to find my settings for this extremely bright, late morning adventure, and three shots in... dead battery.  Talk about the epitome of unpreparedness!!!

I have a story about buying two extra batteries, losing and buying chargers, and then losing two new extra batteries, but its a pretty boring story so I'll skip to the moral.... And the moral of the story is, "whatever, just buy another battery!". 

But with the help of Picnik, I'll add another conclusion... sometimes its not about the perfect picture, but capturing a memory from a perfect day. 

The photo wasn't great, but the end result reminds me of how I felt that day.... very nostalgic and full of memories of picking from the ample blackberry bushes around our property with my brothers and parents, eating warm berries straight from the vine, stained fingertips and purple mouths, and the anticipation of blackberry pie, and while watching my little guy I smiled knowing that someday I'd look back with fond memories of this day, too. 

Yeah, I wish I had more photos of my seriously lovable 4 year old studiously choosing the perfect berries to pick, or his little pursed, purple lips when he sampled one that wasn't quite ripe, or the baskets of our beautiful loot when we finally had sweat enough for the day.  But the great thing about summer is that blackberries grow until September.  I sometimes learn lessons pretty quickly so next week when we go back (who knew we could go through that many blackberries so quickly!?), we'll be armed with hats, appropriate clothing, and plenty of battery life. :)

August Break Day 13 and a Project

Last weekend, my son and I were cleaning up his room and I realized we were getting nowhere.... each area we cleaned up became a stack of stuff in another area, another "miscellaneous" bin, and another temptation to either throw everything he owns away in the middle of the night and blame it on trolls, or shove it all under the crawl space under his new bed. 

Solution: rearrange! 

This was fun, in the moving-heavy-furniture-by-yourself-while-maneuvering-around-random-piles-of-kid-junk-and-getting-sweat-in-your-eyes-but-having-a-vision kind of way. 

I've had a vision for my son's room ever since we moved in, but it just wasn't happening... I don't know, maybe the chi was off or something, but I think its finally set up right.  My favorite part of the new set-up is a little reading nook I was able to carve out of the new space.  It just needed a little something.... so I shamelessly copied an idea from Kelle Hampton's Enjoying the Small Things blog. 

And while my letters are only halfway done and it was a learn-as-you-go kind of process, we had fun with this little project. 

Hoping to finish up tomorrow and get the letters hung, buy a little bean bag or floor pillow, and get inspired to finish the next stage of Captain Fantastic's room... building a tree. Stay tuned!

August Break Day 12

August Break Day 11

Two boys with sticks.... 

This photo is my son hanging out with my dad at a family bbq this summer.

August Break Day 10

August Break Day 9

August Break Day 8

My view as I walk into my office.... especially if its before coffee!

August Break Day 7

Succulents will grow anywhere!!

August Break Day 6

And this is basically the reason I went to the gym yesterday....