Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Holiday Pictures 2012!

This year, we decided to do things a little bit differently when it came todoing our yearly holiday pictures....instead of heading over to a portrait studio at Sears, as we typically do, Dad sought out an independent photographer. Since the prices were comparable, we went with her.

We met her at the Botanical Garden in DC so we'd have a pretty backdrop, but could also be warm inside. We took a combination of pictures with all of us together...
And also some of just me by myself. It took me a little while to warm up to the session, but Mom and Dad are fun, and the photographer was, too. She really got me to loosen up and take some fun pictures.
This one was an impromptu one with mom while we were waiting to set up for another one. We were obviously having a great time!
I have to say...even I think I'm looking much older these days...
We went outside and got playful for a little while...the three of us just kind of acted silly like we always do, and the photographer did a great job capturing that energy.
When we were getting towards the end of the shoot, I was just kind of running around, doing my thing, and the photographer kept up pretty well...NOW I'M RUNNING OVER HERE!
We did some last silly poses outside as the session was winding up...heyyyy! That's my face you're squishing!

There were some Christmas lights set up on the trees outside that must look lovely at night...I thought that even though they weren't lit up, they looked really pretty!
After the session was done, we were hungry and ate some lunch...the pictures got back to us pretty quickly, and not only were they great, but they got back to us in time to use them for Christmas cards, thank you cards, and to make prints for all out family to have! I think we'll try to do this again next year!

Special thanks to Kate Jett Walls for being lots of fun and taking beautiful pictures of our family!

Her website is at:

http://redturtlephotography.wordpress.com/about/

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Our new cat Laura!!

So....we have huge news....after the sad passing of our cat Norma last year, it took us some time to be ready for the idea of a new one...luckily, Mom works with someone who fosters cats, and she had one that she described as the best cat ever! Just after Thanksgiving, the woman from the foster place brought her by, we filled out some paperwork, and had ourselves a new cat!

While she went through many names before she got to us (Dazzy, Daisy, Dizzy, and Beezus) I finally dubbed her Laura. I will never tell anyone where I got the name from, but it's one that seemed to fit her.

She made herself right at home from the moment she was dropped off!
She explored our apartment, and did a great job finding all the little nooks and crannies that she could play in.
With all that exploring, and playing, she also took lots of little naps (Ohhhh....THAT'S where the term "catnaps" comes from...)

From the moment she was dropped off, her and I were pals...we play together, and act really silly together! We hang out and play a lot...
Sometimes, I don't think she gets my humor...
We have lots of little toys for her to play with...she runs around so fast sometimes, that we can't even get a good picture of her. (We have that in common....there are enough blurry pictures of me to last a lifetime!)
Sometimes she spends time in a lot of weird places....for example she really like hanging out in the bathtub. It's always funny to go and use the potty, only to find a cat sleeping in the tub next to you. WHAT?! 
As much fun as we have, we so much running around and playing...sometimes, we also just like to chill out on the couch and watch TV....she's also pretty good at that, too...

Now, if we could just get her to stop attacking our toes while they are under the blankets...

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Zoo Lights 2012!

It has been awhile!

Mom has pointed out on several occasions that this may be the longest stretch without a blog post in awhile....ironically, while there has been a lot to write about, we have been so busy doing those things, that I haven't had time to actually document any of it!

In December we went on our annual trip to the Zoo Lights display at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There was a lot to see this year, and we wanted to get right to it!

But....there was another mission at hand. As we walked around the zoo, I saw a few kids with glow sticks. That's right! Glow sticks! All different colors, too! I decided right then and there that I had to have one...I MUST!

The entire night was no longer just about seeing the lights...it became about seeing the lights while heading out to find me a glowstick!

As is tradition, we started off walking around the visitor's center which was set up with a bunch of trains, lego villages, and gingerbread houses. There were a lot of really nice displays set up!





We walked around and saw more of my favorite displays...there was the lit up elephant sculpture that usually graces the entrance to the elephant yard...it was really pretty....but yeah, where on Earth did they have those glowsticks?
A lot of the displays are animated, in that they use different sets of blinking lights to give the illusion that things are moving...take this ant eater...the way the lights were set to blink, it looked as thought the ants were crawling right down the log to be sucked up by the anteater...
By far my favorite display was this set of flowers....they slowly transitioned from one color to the next....I was thrilled to sit there and tell Mom and Dad what the next color was going to be...
It was really neat, and I was having a great....wait, did that kid have a glowstick!? Let's go that way!
This was a neat little spot near the ape house...the lights washed over the walkway, and made it look really pretty to walk through...the ambiance was too cool...this is my superhero stance....what, Dad?! Did you just talk to someone who knows where they're handing out the glowsticks?

TO THE ORANGUTAN HOUSE!!!
SUCCESS!!! There were people from some place called Pepco (product placement and corporate sponsorship works!) handing these things out! I can't even tell you how excited I was to FINALLY be part of zoo lights by being a glowing boy myself....
Mom got a glowing necklace, so that we both had a neat way to glow and be part of zoolights! I have to say, I was pretty excited...
I WAS THIS EXCITED!!!
Glowstick in hand, we made our way out of the zoo, catching a glimpse of a few more displays....I love the zoo....I love Christmas lights....and this event always brings together the best of both worlds...soooooo very cool. :-)