The End of Band Camp Concert

On the last night of band camp, the parents are invited for a preview of the field show music.



Our fieldshow this year is "The Holy Egoism of Genius"   

More info on that strange title later, cuz I have to show you what they do after the performance.

The marching band invites their families down to the field to see what it's like to be a band-o.



Matt's cousins, Jon and Steven, went down for a quick lesson.



They were terrific!  I think they have already been bitten by the music bug!

The evening concluded with a drill demonstration.  Go Sundevils!



"Give me marching band or give me death"

Band Camp

Did you know that most high school marching bands are on the field for five full days before the first day of school?

Dawn to dusk, in the HOT sun working on technique.

So how do us Band Moms help?



In addition to supplying ice water, lemonade and shade, we also serve a delicious lunch each day.

Ever serve lunch to 200 starving kids?

Well I have!  And let me tell you it's the most rewarding experience!

Have you ever heard 200 teenagers say "thank you" to each and every adult they encounter?

Well I have!





We like to make lunch the high point of the day for our band....

So....

We cater in the main dish from local restaurants (our week's menu consists of pizza, spaghetti, In N Out burgers, fried chicken and Chinese food)



But that's not all! We also put out watermelon or grapes, salad, cookies and lemonade!  (And at a cost of less than $4.00 per kid!)




and LUMPIA!  (The star food of the week.)

And Oreos:  The second star!



Oh, and did I mention that we serve lunches FAST?

Yep - our goal is to have all 200 through the line in 5-10 minutes.




“There's no such thing as a free lunch.” Milton Friedman

The Terradactyl

No I don't mean THAT kind of Terradactyl.....

I mean THIS kind:



You see, our poodles think a paraglider is a TERRADACTYL.

Poodles think Terradacyls... I mean, paragliders... are VERY dangerous and that they must protect our home and yard from this evil creature.



So the poodles run around the property barking.  (This is a very special bark and us humans can recognize it immediately-- so we know there is a Terradactyl on the hill behind our house.)



So this time, when I heard the TERRADACTYL bark, I ran for my camera.

Now you can decide if you want to bark at them or admire them.



Fortunate for me (but very worrisome for the poodles) he was forced to land.

Then had to get the parachute set up again....



Before he could launch himself off the mountain top.



Looks a little scary, but I think it would be peaceful and maybe enjoyable.

What do you think?  Would you try it?

Or would you treat it like a scary terradactyl?

The world makes the assumption that the tyrannosaurus rex is the most dangerous creature to walk planet Earth, but the truth is that the world’s most dangerous creature made the t-rex look like a fool.

Think of a dinosaur that is just as carnivorous and has nearly twice as many teeth as the t-rex. Now give it wings and a crazy sharp beak. This creature that you have conjectured in your mind is known as the Terradactyl and it was a killing machine. Back when it wasn’t extinct, this dinosaur would swoop down into the jungle, pick up a t-rex, and carry it upwards of 2 miles above the earth’s surface before releasing it from its claws. 

A healthy Terradactyl needed to eat up to 7 tons of meat a day and could swallow baby elephants whole. These flying predators were the cause of fear for all living creatures.  
[Me here:  so I guess fear of Terradactyls is in the genes of a poodle...from way back when poodles roamed the earth next to dinosaurs....]  

Why I'm mad at my sister.....

First of all, here's me and my little sister:

She's usually nice.

But last weekend she wasn't!

Let me sum it up with one simple photo, and I'm sure you will agree with me that I should be mad at my sister:



See.........?  Do you agree with me?


What?  You don't get it?

Well let me fill you in...maybe you want to be mad at her too.

She came down for a visit last weekend and brought 16 of my most favorite kind of cupcakes.

Chocolate with chocolate peanut butter icing.



They were just hours from the oven:  soft, fresh, sweet, oh so chocolatey.  In a word: HEAVENLY

So I ate one...


So here comes the reason I'm mad:

She left all extra cupcakes at my house....(ON PURPOSE!)

So I had another luscious little cuppy cake....later that evening.




 And another....the next morning as a snack.



And another as an afternoon snack....

And an evening snack....

 Let's just say I found those yummy little morsels of chocolate peanut butter bliss......UNRESISTABLE.

But now that it's time to step on the scale .....

 I'm mad.     :P



Simple Weight Loss Tips

Tip #1: Never Keep Snack Foods In The House

No junk food in the house. Many of the foods we eat that we know we should not be eating are based on an impulse. Impulse control goes a long way here but no one will deny it’s far harder to resist that impulse if your favorite junk food is under your nose. That’s human nature. When I have an impulse for some Chocolate, I wont resist it well if it’s only a few steps to the kitchen vs. having to get in the car to go get some.
 An impulse is defined as “a sudden desire, urge, inclination.” That means it’s short lived and will go away given sufficient time, so it’s a matter of not having foods in your house that allow you to act on the impulse while it lasts.

Newborn Khloe: San Diego Newborn Baby Photographer

Meet newborn Khloe.

I was so excited to capture her little newborn self! From squishy folds, to soft little skin, to sleepy eyes...






The best time for newborn portraiture is when baby is 6 days to two weeks old.  Most of my new mommies make a tentative appointment before the baby is born - that way we have the time scheduled.



Mom enjoys bird watching, so we had to incorporate my new 'birds nest' prop.

I have lots of props and backdrops that I bring to the warmth and privacy of baby's own home.





"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bank balance smaller, home happier, clothes dirty, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

Photowalk: Birds of a feather

For some reason, I was in a bird sort of mood during most of our photo walk.


Don't you think the black backgrounds add impact to the photos?

(The trick is to look for sun filtering through the trees and use spot metering.  More info HERE)




Now, here's a little I-SPY for you.  Do you see any birds in this next photo?



No?

Well, let me tell you this,  each itsie bitsy puff of white or gray is a bird nest!

Wait, let me switch to my zoom lens so you can see:



Pretty cute huh?

Also found lots of water birds out looking for a bite to eat....






And here's the same bird a couple seconds later:



LOVE THIS next series.

I will add some captions for you:

"Mommy, I'm cold."



"Awww....you poor little sweetie pie, let mommy warm you up"


(muffled) "Thanks, Mommy, I lub you"

"I love you too honey"




"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life." John Burroughs

Photowalk: Follow Me, I know where to go!"

Remember sniping? 

No?

Allow me to refresh you:    A 'sniper' is defined as a highly trained marksman with a high precision rifle who shoots targets from concealed positions.

Okay -now take out the HIGH PRECISION RIFLE and substitute CAMERA and you have created a
"Sniper Photographer"

We talked about it HERE

Well, as we were walking around the Wild Animal Park I saw THIS:



OH.   MY.  GOSH!

Is he just about the cutest thing you ever did see?

I asked his dad if I could follow him a bit and he said yes...




So I followed a bit,



Ran ahead a bit....





And captured what I think are really cute shots of this little fellow.





Then his dad stopped him and asked him to look at me and smile:

(I actually like the non-looking, non-smiling shots better!)

So here's my photo tip for the day :  Cute, memorable shots don't HAVE to have the subject looking at you and smiling.....

And just a note, I gave his daddy my business card and told him to contact me and I would send him these pics, but I haven't heard from him yet.....so if you see him, remind him for me, okay?

"The best photographs of children are those when a kid is acting like a kid. To capture that and all the emotions that go with it, you need to be an unobtrusive as possible. Use a telephoto lens so you can have some real distance between you and the child. This will help the child tune you out and do whatever he or she does best, whether it’s play, dream, run around, make up stories. Capture that." Photography.com

Photowalk: Not so cuddly

Okay, the next animal encounter was not quite so colorful, OR cuddly!



This alligator is 6 years old.  They keep him on a nice diet so he doesn't grow too fast.



Um....yikes.  Can you tell that she has to keep a REALLY firm grip on him and keep his tail under control because he is really strong.



And since we are on a photo walk, how about a quick tip.

Change from auto focus to manual focus so YOU can choose what is in focus -- sometimes it really changes the impact of the photo.

The autofocus would have kept focus on the alligator, but with a quick change manually we have a whole new story:



And, speaking of NOT cuddly....know what this next animal is?



Here's one more photo (taken by my photo walk pal, and wonderful hubby.  I wanted to showcase one of his photos too!)



This is an armadillo!    With a face only a mother could love?




Armadillos are prolific diggers with sharp claws.  Their armor-like skin appears to be the main defense of many armadillos, although most escape predators by fleeing (often into thorny patches, from which their armor protects them) or digging to safety.

Armadillos have short legs but can move quite quickly, and have the ability to remain underwater for as long as six minutes. Because of the density of its armor, an armadillo will sink in water unless it inflates its stomach and intestines with air, which often doubles its size and allows it to swim across narrow bodies of water.