family nature day

(Long time, no time for blogging... I have a good explanation but that's a whole other long post and today is just for photos!)

 You know what's really pretty this time of year? Sedona, AZ, especially along Oak Creek Canyon. Yah, I know, I say that every year but it's one of a few places that I never grow tired of seeing. Fall though, is still the prettiest up there.  When Peter's plans on Monday fell through  leaving us the whole day free to do what we like, it didn't take much coaxing to convince every one that a day out in the woods was exactly what we needed. 

One warm October afternoon, fresh pine scented air, a winding woodland trail and my little family out exploring together. 

This time of year on the trail, the cool wind blows along the canyon's winding creek, sending the orange and yellow leaves above to float through the air. Chase said it was raining leaves. The West Fork trail is always on my Fall to-do list, and with lot's of new photos I'm thinking that a little Fall-mini scrapbook could be in order! 

Happy Wednesday to you all! 


xo ~ Tara

Wednesday's quote

While I sit here patiently (sorta) waiting for msn to sort out the email issues this morning, I figured I'd post a quick photo/quote. On our way up to Oregon last month we passed by a few hot air balloons that were descending for the day, which made for some great closeups! It's always fun to photograph something out of the ordinary!  

Today I will edit photos, clean up my craft room and prepare a few things for the etsy shop. With the kids back in school I'm still trying to figure out a good schedule for myself, haven't quite gotten back into the swing of things just yet. Blame it on the month long vacation or our ridiculously hot summer days but I need to get moving on the mommy-school-schedule again! 

Here's to half way through the week - already! 

Photo post, week 1

I've decided that editing photos while on vacation is a very slow process and with that, I only have a handful of photos to share this morning. Seeing as how we've been here for a week, I'll have a considerable amount of photos to sort through once we make our way make home!

 

This past week, we: visited other Grandmas house and spent some time with Peter's side of the family.(My mother-in-law has the prettiest flower gardens!) Went to Marine World. Picked fresh fruit from the trees in my moms yard, and did a little bird watching from the kitchen window. All in all, a very simple and laid back week!

 

Tomorrow we make the drive up to the Oregon house where later in the week, we'll be meeting up with one of my sweetest crafty friends. The weekend cannot arrive soon enough! I'm off to the park with the kids again, enjoy your day!

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



Balboa and the Beach

 With every new place we visit, it offers a chance to discover something new, something inspiring, something pretty and photo worthy. This trip, and this maybe true for other vacations taken prior to, there are 2 things that seem to draw me in: 

1. Gardens   and   2. Architecture 

I've always loved the history of old buildings, the carving details, the angles and at certain parts of the day - how the light creates intricate shadows over the buildings face. We had hoped we were going to be able to see more while visiting, but that heat over there quickly got the best of us and we found we weren't moving all that fast. So, this trip turned out to be more of a strolling along the beach, evenings walking along the harbor with frozen yogurts in hand and incredible views from our hotel room!.

Here's our hotel! We stayed in the tower on the left, all the way up on the 23rd floor. The kids were amazed with the lights in the evening time - wait until I take them to Vegas! Our room overlooked the hills to the left and the harbor and the Coronado bridge on the right. When we arrived the kids were greeted with a s'more kit and wooden sticks, the hotel has fire pits that light up in the evening especially for roasting marshmallows. Needless to say Alaina and Chase both think this hotel is the best! 

We spent some time at Balboa park, but later ditched our plans to go up to the zoo and instead spent the afternoon at the Science Center (which happens to be air conditioned!!). They have a good dinosaur exhibit and even a few Ansel Adam photographs on display.... and it was air conditioned. It's almost embarrassing to say, living in a town that can reach 120 in summer time, but  combine a little humidity with sun & heat and we were done for. The museum was a great break though from the sun and I was impressed with the hands on exhibits. 

I brought my trusty ole Anscoflex along for the trip. Love-love using that old camera, and I forget how fun it is until I get my little light box set up on it and start shooting through the view finder. Even though I look ridiculous taking the photos, sitting here editing them makes it worth it! I love how 'grainy' they are. I don't think I've used this camera all year and it now has quite the collection of dust to work with. :)

We spent our last night in Oceanside right on the harbor. Funny, it's just a 40 min. trip north of where we were, but it was overcast, cool and breezy, perfect for searching the beach for treasures! 

First trip to San Diego, not too shabby!
xo ~ Tara