Monthly Archives: September 2011

5 Things Friday: Star Wars Fever

Star Wars has been a rather large obsession in our house for a few years now. We have the Legos, the costumes, the Wii game and the action figures that have all threatened to take over our house. But, for the last couple of months there has been a shift in playtime priorities. Somehow Luke Skywalker and Han Solo have been put back into the toy box while Spiderman, Batman, Spuerman, the ridller etc. etc. take over our lives.

It’s a nice change of pace – although I admit that I am getting a little tired of hearing the Spiderman theme song. One thing I have noticed, however, is that Superheros don’t inspire as many fun (and crazy) online discoveries.

So, in recognition of the phenomena that is Star Wars, I present you with five of my most fun, strange and simply crazy Star Wars-related internet finds.

1. Light Saber Train Handrails
Let’s ignore the fact that George Lucas is doing this to squeeze even more money from dedicated fans and just marvel at the pure genius of Light Saber handrails. If we had sen these when we visited Japan last year, then I think my kids heads would have exploded.

Via cnet.

2. Y-O-D-A YODA
Who doesn’t love a little Weird Al (in small doses of course). I think this is his best Star Wars song, set the the tune of “Lola”

If you like that one, then I would also recommend “The saga begins” set to the tune of “American Pie. Sidenote: Does Weird Al ever age?

3. Yoda Pie Chart
Someone shared this on Twitter last week and I love it!

Via Garr’s Posterous 

4. Scandinavian Retro Star Wars Posters
Stylish and informative. Could definitely see myself hanging it in my kids bedrooms – that is if I were the sort of person to hang things on walls (it’s shameful).

Via Ohdeedoh.

5. And finally, from classy to a little crazy – Star Wars French Ballet Disco.
I think this one speaks for itself.

 

This weekend looks like it might have to be a quiet one. Woke up with a nasty head cold this morning (I’m blaming my husband for passing it on) so I think I’ll spend the weekend sipping tea and lying on the couch. I’ll also be praying to the weather gods that we get a sunny day on Monday for the TeeUp for Down Syndrome golf tournament. It’s not much fun photographing golfers in the rain.

Photo by me. 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this quick trip into Star Wars fanaticism. Happy Friday.

Newport, Oregon Day 4: Yaquina Head Lighthouse + Kite Flying

Warning: A plethora of photos follows (I just love the word plethora.)

On our fourth day at the beach we decided to take a short drive to visit the lighthouse. Not the original Newport Yaquina Bay lighthouse – although if I’d read this first I might have sent us in that direction (I love ghost stories).

The one we visited is called the Yaquina Head lighthouse which attracts a lot of tourists and thousands of tiny disgusting flies. We were told that the flies are only there for two months of the year (lucky us!) and that they don’t bite or spread disease. And, honestly, after waiting in line for a while to go in the lighthouse, I was wondering what was more annoying – the flies or the obnoxious tourists who kept complaining about them.

But I digress. The Yaquina Head lighthouse is beautiful and we were lucky enough to visit on a perfect (although slightly chilly) Summer day.

There is a little walkway nearby that leads to the rockiest beach I have ever seen. Incredibly beautiful in it’s own way, even if it was a little difficult to walk on.

We even managed to spot a few seals on the nearby rocks – although my camera’s zoom wasn’t quite strong enough to catch them clearly in a photograph. I promise they’re on that rock somewhere…

After our little adventure down to the beach, Mayumi and I ditched the kids to climb the stairs to the top of the lighthouse.

After a brief encounter with an old guy who shared very STRONG opinions about my flip flops (and also gave us the information about the flies), we walked the five steps to the top.

One person at a time, 5 steps and then stop. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great view and interesting to see, but I expected to be able to walk around up top and I supposed I was a little disappointed. I mean shouldn’t they explain that before you climb the very tall spiral staircase?

Next, we all jumped back in the mini van to visit the (poorly lit) information center where my Dad and Kei watched the informational video (no surprises there) and I followed the kids around telling them what they could and could not touch.

This next photograph is a favorite – I love how the different personalities come out in just one quick image. Hilarious!

A about 30 minutes past nap time, we decided it was time to head back to the house before things got ugly. After everyone had sufficiently recharged, we headed back to the beach for a little kite flying (the boys) and running in the freezing cold water (Karin and, by default, Mayumi).

Finally, a little time to explore the rock pools before the tide starting coming in and I feared my children would be washed out to sea.

The end of another perfect day.

Falling into Autumn and Trying to Get My Groove Back

When did I begin referring to Autumn as “Fall”? I got to work this morning and began a conversation about the sudden turn in the weather (read: rain, rain and more rain) and found myself saying “Fall” without a second thought. On days like this, I feel as though my Aussieness is slipping away and I need to put the Wiggles on for the kids, stat.

Good thing we’ll be getting a little dose of Aussie again in a few months thanks to an impending visit from this guy…

(Photo unashamedly stolen from my brother’s facebook page. I think it may be a Grandpa Geoff creation).

Thankfully he’ll be bringing his Mum and Dad with him because I’m not sure my Aussie accent will get much of a boost from the gurglings of a seven month old.

So why am I not posting a whole bunch of my own photos here today, you may ask? Well, it’s because I haven’t really taken any. The camera has been taking a short break while I try to manage life and work and everything in between. I just haven’t felt inspired to pick it up over the past couple of weeks.

Honestly, I think I was feeling a little burned out after our busy Summer and the thousands of pics I’ve been going through from Newport, not to mention the photos I’ve been taking for my day job.

I’m sure this hiatis is temporary and, actually, it’s making me feel as though I might need to pick up the camera for more every day shooting. I’ve been great at taking photos of the big moments – the vacations, birthday parties, first day of school – but I have been missing many of the details our lives right now.

Like the fact that we are so deep in our superhero obsession that both boys went off to school this morning while wearing superhero underwear and listening to the Batman theme song in the car. I’m pretty sure there’s no better way to prepare your kid for a successful day at school.

Happy rainy Autumn Monday. May the force be with you (ooops, wrong phrase).

This Calls for More Glitter!

I don’t have time for a Five Things Friday post today so I’m just dropping by to share one more example of why Sesame Street is so incredibly AWESOME!

This weekend promises a day alone with my boys which may or may not include a trip to the craft store, a night of Karaoke with the girls (song list suggestions welcome) and a whole lot of catching up on stuff around the house.

And, because I have to include a photo… A preview of one of our weekend activities perhaps? (that’s a very colorful Death Star he’s painting, by the way).

Newport, Oregon Day 3, Pt 2: A Day at the Beach

This may be the longest series of blog posts about one 5 day beach trip ever but, what can I say? I have a ton of photos to share and one post just didn’t seem like enough.

Besides our little birthday celebration on day 3, we designated this days as “hang out at the house and play at the beach” day. I also added “walk around and take random photos” to my own agenda.

Samuel and I began the day with a walk down to grab a cup of coffee (for me, not him). It was a good reminder to set aside regular time to spend with each of my boys on their own. It’s amazing how much better they behave when you can give them your complete, undivided attention.

I love the mood the morning mist provides. So peaceful and still.

Of course Samuel’s patience with my photo walk had its limits so I went back to the house and dropped him off before heading out again to grab a few more shots around Nye Beach.

Like fun mailboxes.

And the beach theme being taken to the extreme.

Then back again to the house for the birthday celebration before the kids decided to jump in the hot tub. They had way more fun that it looks in this photo.

After trying, unsuccessfully, to put Samuel down for a nap, I decided to take him down to the beach instead. Sure, we were bound to pay for it later but at least we could have a little fun building a giant sandcastle before the meltdown began.

Full disclosure: I didn’t actually “build” the sandcastle. I was too busy protecting my camera.

The sun had finally come out by this time and the beach was absolutely beautiful.

This one looks straight out of a tourist brochure to me.

After everyone was sufficiently exhausted we made the trek back up the hill to get ready for dinner at a local seafood restaurant and a walk along the beach as the sun started to fade.

I headed back to the beach to take photographs of the stunning sunset that I already posted here. The perfect end to a perfectly relaxing day.

Then & Now

The best thing about keeping a blog is the ability to look back and see how much we’ve changed. Of course, it’s a little bittersweet to realize how quickly my babies have grown – and it makes me want another one – at least until the next time Samuel throws a tantrum because his SOCKS ARE THE WRONG COLOR!

Good thing my brother booked his trip to come and visit us at Christmas. He’s bringing his wife along but it’s my teeny nephew Charlie who I am most excited to see (sorry, Ben and Emma, but it’s true). I’ll just need to soak up all the baby goodness I can over those two short weeks.

So here’s my quick look back at THEN (May, 2008) and NOW.

THEN

NOW

THEN

NOW

Now I’m just torturing myself.

Inspired by @TaraWhitney who posted a link to a five-year-old picture of her family on Twitter this morning.

Crazy Busy

I’m coming off an insanely busy weekend. Here’s my recap in 200 words or less:

Saturday (all day) – Portland Creative Conference. Inspiring, fun, informative, amazing drummers.

Saturday night – Parent’s night out. Dinner at Simpatica with my husband. AMAZING food and great conversation without interruption. Kids in bed at about 11:30pm.

Sunday morning – Small bowling birthday party for Thomas. Sensory overload. Lots of sugar. Great fun for all.

Sunday afternoon/evening – Catch up. Prepped food for the week. Laundry (even did one load twice – you don’t want to know why). Did NOT go to yoga (wah wah!). Bed too late.

And so here we are on Monday morning with the promise of another busy week. I have a short work trip tomorrow (just for the day) and then the premier of Glee! tomorrow night (champagne purchased).

Best get moving.

Before I go, though, I do need to wish my Mother a very HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY. She celebrated it somewhere in the UK on Saturday so I don’t feel too bad about not posting this on her actual birthday since I’m sure she’s having a wonderful time.

If you’re keeping count, that’s three family birthdays in the last 2 weeks. We celebrated them all with a joint candle-blowing moment while my parents were here a few weeks ago.