Category Archives: Photography

Classic New York

Yes, I’m still wading through my New York photos despite the fact that I’ll soon have a bunch more photos to post from the part of the world I’m in right now. I just keep finding images that I want to share. What can I say? It’s an illness.

The thing about photographing New York is that you often find yourself capturing familiar images like the iconic shots of Radio City Music Hall, the LOVE sculpture and the Empire State Building. And, because you’ve seen those photos so many times before, it’s easy to talk yourself into walking past without pulling out the camera. But the thing about the photos I’m about to share, even if they look a little familiar, is that I was there. That makes them more valuable to me, if not to anyone else.

And every now and again I managed to capture something completely fun and unexpected. So, here’s a small collection of classic (and not so classic) photographs that could only have been taken in New York.

Around Here…

Craziness abounds at the Ishida house as we near the end of the year for school, sports and, well, patios.

A quick peek at what we’ve been up to…

The last T-Ball game of the season narrowly avoided a washout. In fact the baseball diamond was covered in so many puddles that the game was moved to the middle of the field.

Samuel showed his support with a big hug – while Thomas was trying to throw his glove my way.

Bear hug!

After the game, the team gathered for a BBQ and the all-important trophy presentation. While introducing Thomas, his coach said he’s surprised he’s not playing in the majors already.

Thomas spent the rest of the weekend carrying around his trophy (but without the fake grin).

Of course everyone is winner in T-Ball.

Samuel was there too. Here’s proof.

Recent weekends have also consisted of multiple trips to rock and paver stores, Home Depot and, by default, mall wastelands. This one is currently “under construction” which means they’re in the process of demolishing and rebuilding the entire thing. It’s a rather depressing sight. Also depressing? Those dark clouds that have hovered over Portland pretty constantly for the past 6 months.

And here’s the paving in action. Just a few more to lay and we have a mud-free and very pretty solution for our backyard. Step number 2 in our 20 year plan to get it exactly how we want it. And when I say “we” I must admit that Kei has been doing most of the work. I’ve been lending support by fetching glasses of water, cooking meals and taking the kids with me to the grocery store, hardware store and shoe store.

So, as you can see, our weekends have been incredibly exciting recently. I’m looking forward to a change in scenery over the next few weeks, even if it means I have to put up with some more rain.

Discovering St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York

Sharing more photos from New York while life keeps me too busy to blog.

I love photographing Cathedrals. There’s something beautiful to look at around every corner and, although I’m not Catholic, it’s difficult not to feel a sense of peace when surrounded by such beauty and tradition.

Wordless Wednesday: Grand Central Station, New York City

So incredibly glad I dropped by the Grand Central Terminal on my way to visit one of our New York City Offices. What an amazing building – even if part of it was overshadowed by an obnoxious Apple “store”. Wonder how much they paid for that real estate.

Grand Central is one of those buildings that remind you of how important it is to always look up.

During my quick visit, I happened upon a Transit Authority award ceremony, complete with bagpipes. I love stumbling across unexpected surprises while traveling. I managed to take quite a few sneak photos through the curtain before I was told it wasn’t allowed. Oops. I supposed if they were serious about it, they wouldn’t have let me stand there for a good 10 minutes before they asked me to stop.

I love New York.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

I love thunderstorms. I have so many memories of lying in bed at night after a steamy hot day in Melbourne, listening to the thunder and pelting rain while the temperature dropped 15 degrees celsius in 30 minutes.

Of course my children don’t have those memories so when a couple of rare thunderstorms hit our neighborhood over the weekend first there was a little bit of fear, followed by fascination and excitement and, finally, disinterest.

I did send Thomas out to rescue his soccer ball at one point. I think it’s important that he experience running through a downpour at least once in his life – assuming the thunder and lightening has passed, of course.

Our rain chains had trouble handling the deluge.

As did the gutters.

And we started filling a pool in our backyard.

Thomas recently borrowed a book from the library called “It was a Dark and Stormy Night” and saw this as the perfect opportunity for a reenactment. He cuddled up under a blanket in his bedroom to read a lego magazine.

Never the one to be left out, Samuel soon photo bombed the picture perfect moment.

Thankfully the house was still standing the next morning, although the same can’t be said for a massive elm tree branch up the street.

Feeling vindicated in the decision to cut down a 40 foot Doug Fir that towered over our house 6 years ago… Luckily the only victim this time was a rental truck.

A Stroll Through the NY Public Library

I took a lot of photos in NY (A LOT!), so expect them to appear here over the next few weeks.

I happened upon the gorgeous NY Public Library building quite by accident during my walk around midtown. While it was on my list of things to see during my visit to New York, I didn’t expect to bump into it while I walked blindly through the city on my first day. It was one of those wonderful discoveries that can creep up on you – one minute you’re navigating your way down streets lined with skyscrapers and then you turn a corner and happen upon park that covers two city blocks and, arguably, one of the most famous landmarks in the world (only partly due to Ghostbusters).

P.S. As  much as I enjoyed a peaceful walk through the library, a small part of me wishes I had the good fortune to visit on this day.

Celebrating Four With a Little Ninja Warrior Training

Sunday marked the final stretch of the Samuel birthday marathon. Apparently four is the age when children gain full understanding of the benefits of a birthday (presents! cake!). Samuel didn’t even notice that I was too busy to plan anything for him last year, but this year my Mummy guilt kicked in so we invited everyone from his daycare class and a few other friends for a couple of hours at The Playground Gym – we called it Ninja Warrior Training.

Side note: if you live in Portland and you’re looking for a big padded room where small children can run around and burn some energy, then you can’t go wrong with this place. The entire space is reserved for just your group and parents are free to stand around and chat while the kids have fun with free play and a few activities that are set up by the Gym’s “coaches”.

The party was great, with the only wet blanket coming courtesy of the birthday boy himself. Turns out that the only person he wants to play with is his big brother, so he spent a good portion of the party sulking and refusing to play after his friends arrived.

No one else seemed to notice, only his slightly mortified parents.

The coaches set up obstacle courses for the kids and then they were encourage to do the course over and over and over again. Awesome!

At one point Thomas declared the course to be too easy. I think he was looking for more of a Ninja Warrior challenge. Still, it didn’t stop him from doing the course over and over and over. Thomas also made it to the top of their wooden tree for the first time after many past attempts. He conquered a big fear.

We took a short break for birthday cake and snacks. I wasn’t able to get a photo of the candle because I was instructed (by a very bossy four-year-old) to stand right behind him as he blew it out.

And, no, of course I didn’t make the cupcakes. Helen Bernhard has been my dedicated birthday cupcake supplier for about six years. Samuel chose the vanilla cake with a Batman ring while Thomas went for chocolate and Superman.

Then it was back to playing. Thankfully, the birthday boy perked up. It might have been the sugar hit.

Oh, wait. Invasion of personal space alert!

These next couple of photos crack me up. I wish I knew what happened here to cause Samuel to make that face.

Thomas decided his obstacle of choice was the rope. He would have spent all day hanging on this thing if he could.

Finally, a genuine smile from the birthday boy. On the drive home he asked “how many days until my next birthday?” I think that means he had a good time.

 

Scenes from Weekends Past

Happy Friday! As we begin our well-deserved long weekend, I thought I’d share a few photographs from weekends past. Here’s what we’ve been doing between work and travel (I think they call it living).

1. The last piece of my birthday puzzle was a wonderful night out with my husband while the kids enjoyed a sleepover. We had delicious cocktails and enjoyed some live Jazz at The Secret Society while we waited 90 minutes for a table at Toro Bravo (totally worth the wait). Then we went to see the Avengers. We were running a little late so we sat in the front row which sometimes made for challenging viewing. There’s a lot of action in that movie. Well worth seeing though, even when sitting just a few feet from the screen.

The Bees Knees cocktail was…well…the bees knees. I may have had more than one.

2. The occasional sunny day has allowed us more time outside. A trip to the local farmer’s market means a side visit to the playground. Both of the boys are working on their Ninja Warrior training.

Don’t know who the other kids is in this picture. Friendships come and go quickly on the playground.

3. Speaking of Ninja Warriors, Thomas earned his yellow belt in Karate which is good for two reasons – yellow is his favorite color and a new belt equals renewed passion for Karate.

4. Practicing for a yellow belt has the side effect of little brother wanting to get in on the action.

5. Spring at a Japanese school means it’s time for Spring Festival. Thomas was joined by 109 of his Kindergaten classmates to sing about 20 songs (only a slight exaggeration) in English and Japanese. Thomas is the blurry one walking across stage in his blue Hapi coat – one of the few who dressed up for the festival. It apparently made him hot so he took it off before he even walked off stage.

I assure you that he was more excited than he looks in this picture.

With limited space, it’s a wonder no one lost an eye during this song.

Of course there are more photos – of neighborhood bike rides, jumping castles and dunking machines – but they will have to wait for another time. Right now, the weekend – and the sunshine – is calling my name.

Plans for this weekend include a few boring things like renewing car registrations and organizing my US residency paperwork. But thankfully also a ton a fun activities such a riding the “bat bike” (pictures of that impressive Kei creation coming soon!) and hosting about 15 four year olds at a Ninja Warrior birthday party.  Wish me luck with that one.

Signing off with one final picture of Batman/Ninja Warrior/Birthday Boy.

He’s Four!

My baby turned four on Saturday. FOUR!

I say this every single year, but I’m just not sure how this happened. How did that teeny tiny little boy turn into a four-year old?

We celebrated quietly with birthday cake, hot dogs (birthday boy’s choice for dinner) and, of course, a few presents which included a new backpack and a batman lunchbox that he’ll use when he starts Pre-K in September. We’re hosting a larger party with his friends next weekend.

At four, Samuel…

  • Still gives the best hugs and kisses on the planet (and becomes extremely upset if he doesn’t get a hug and kiss goodbye).
  • Can be the most stubborn person I know (wonder where he gets that from?…)
  • Is incredibly observant, pointing out almost everything he sees in the world around him – and has a million questions for us to answer.
  • Still wants to hold my hand.
  • Is currently all about the sounds that letters make and words that rhyme.
  • Is obsessed with ninjas, superheroes and pretty much anything that his big brother is interested in.
  • Would rather play with his brother than do just about anything else.
  • Is sweet, frustrating, loving, smart, wonderful, angry and happy – sometimes all within the same 5 minute period.

While I miss my baby, watching him grow up is a wonderful adventure.