My poor blog, feeling so ignored

If I thought life was busy before, it is even moreso now! I can't believe it has been a month since I posted. As of last Friday I was 3 1/2 months behind in pictures!

I can't really complain too much, I have been having lots of fun. In September, I was asked to join the board of directors for The Mommies Network, a non-profit which provides support and social networking sites for moms. I've been involved with my local site since its inception nearly 3 years ago. Now I am overseeing all technical issues and development for all 109 sites. It is really exciting and a great opportunity for me to work with some technologies I have not had the chance to use in my day job.

Enough about me, what about the pictures? For the long Veteran's Day weekend we went to stay at my husband's childhood home with no internet service (because no one lives there regularly anymore). It was nice to get disconnected for a few days and in the evenings I had a chance to catch up on pictures. I am now only 1 1/2 months behind. :)

Catch-up time... Kings Canyon, Part 2 - July 2008

Enjoying wildflowers





Once, this was a Sequoia Grove...





Dragonflies near Hume Lake





Sunset





Lots more coming!!

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Sunset at Montana De Oro

I am two months behind in pictures... again. Sigh. At this point it is the rule rather than the exception.

Last weekend we spent the evening at the beach watching the sunset. Here are a few pictures of Mae.

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Pretty things right in camp

After almost a week in Cedar Grove, we moved back "up top" to Grant Grove. The first morning we were up there, I enjoyed taking pictures of the meadow right next to our camp site.

Groundsel past its prime:



A bumble bee out collecting pollen:



Corn Lily flowers in the sun:



We joked that this squirrel was being paid to sit there and look photogenic. He was so cute. My telephoto didn't really zoom close enough to really get a good closeup.



My dad got a great shot with his lens, however, did an amazing job. Look at this!

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Cedar Grove, Part 1

Every year we go camping in Kings Canyon. I have been going since I was a baby. It doesn't matter how many times I have been there, I am still in awe of how beautiful it is. I can see why Ansel Adams spent so much of his career in Yosemite. I think I could photograph Kings Canyon for decades and never be bored.

The first half of our camping trip was spent down in the canyon in Cedar Grove. I got up early one morning to take pictures in Zumwalt Meadow.





I love this flower. It is called a Sneezeweed... what a name.



I wanted to stay longer but about 1,000 mosquitoes mistook me for breakfast so I decided to go. We also got a chance to go on a hike to the site of an old camp and mine that is near the road's end. There is not a lot left of the camp but there is a historic trash pile.



There is also the remains of the cabin the last owner of the camp lived in. I think I'd prefer a tent.



The view of the canyon from the mine was impressive.

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Early July

It seems like we were all over in July. When we weren't away from home, we had family visiting us. Opportunities for photographs were non-stop. Here are several from early July.

Getty Villa in Malibu:





Sweet Spring Nature Preserve:







Montaña De Oro:

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Gardens & Art



The week of July 4th we stayed in LA. As we always seem to do when we're down there, we visited a beautiful garden and saw some amazing art & architecture. I think something about them just calls to our cameras and we can't stay away. This time it was the LA Arboretum and the Getty Villa.

I had not been to the Arboretum in years... probably since High School. Mae was fascinated by the peacocks & geese. They weren't shy either, a peacock got about 18 inches from my face and gave me a look like "who are you?".





Check out that super lens!! I'll be dreaming about getting one myself for a *long* time. My cheap little Tamron telephoto did ok at capturing a dragonfly.



The Getty Villa in Malibu is someplace I want to go back to when I have a chance to actually stand still for a bit. Laura is finally old enough to "do" museums but Mae has gotten to the age where she won't sit still in a carrier or stroller that long. I made the best of it and got a few pictures of the Villa and a few of the girls.

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3rd Place

I almost forgot... I won 3rd place at the county fair for my lotus picture. Yay!! I also got an honorable mention for my LA skyline at night image. Here they are:

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A day in San Francisco

Heat wave... well at least it was the weekend of the summer solstice. Autumn had a dance performance at Pier 39 in San Francisco and we thought we were going to get lucky and escape the heat. I guess that was somewhat true since it was 105 degrees at home and only 95 degrees in San Francisco that day. The idea of 95 degrees in San Francisco still makes me shake my head.

It was an beautiful day in SF. I think everyone in the city was out enjoying it too. I know we did.







The dance performance was great too. Autumn tried to avoid the camera all day but once she started dancing, I got her. She had to look my way and be smiling! Sneaky me!

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Smoke-filled sunsets

The wildfires this summer were not near us but they did send us lots of smoke and ash. They also gave us some stunning sunsets. I spent a couple evenings at the Baywood Pier trying to capture the amazing colors.

June 10th:







June 11th:

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She sells sea shells...

Has it really been since June 9th that I posted. Oops! I guess summer has been moving faster than I thought. I am going to try to play catch-up in August. The pictures may come out of order, but who can tell besides me anyway?

Here are some seashore images from June.











And last, my three girls at the beach (yes, in sweaters... love that CA June gloom):

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