Category: Photos

The Tale of The Finger-Friendly Ladybug

Bug, JSL, NHL, Photos

Over the weekend, I took NHL and JSL to the park.  As I pushed them in the swing, I looked down on my and and saw a tiny creature longing on my knuckle.  Yes, a ladybug was using me as a rest stop during a long trip in the air.

I didn’t have my DSLR with me (when will I learn not to leave it at home?), so I tried to get some photos of it with my Droid.  While pushing my boys.  But not while using the hand that the ladybug was lounging on.  Somehow, I made this work.

ladybug1

Eventually, though, my boys got interested in what I had on my hand.  NHL wanted nothing to do with it, stereotyping it as a "bug."  I explained how ladybugs were "good bugs" and ate the bad bugs that would otherwise destroy plants.

JSL, meanwhile, wanted the ladybug on his hand.  We carefully moved his finger nearby.  After it tried running from his approaching finger, it finally went on his nail.  He was so happy (and this let me take an even better photo of it).

ladybug2

Sadly, the ladybug soon fell off of his finger as he walked across the park.  It recovered quickly and flew away, leaving JSL sad and missing his little friend.  Thankfully, we’ll always have a photo of his park encounter to remember the tiny visitor by.  (Yes, I might just have to print out a photo of that last photo for JSL.  He’s taken to loving putting together photo books to remember occasions.)

How would your kids react if a ladybug landed on your hand?

The #DisneySMMoms Report: Poolside In Art of Animation, Part 1

Disney, DisneySMMoms, DisneySMMoms2012, Photos

The Disney Social Media Moms Celebration might have been coming to a close, but there was still one more party to attend.  This was going to be a very special one, which is saying something given how wonderful Disney parties are.  We were going to the then-still-unopened Art of Animation resort for a poolside party.

For those who don’t know, the Art of Animation resort sits right across from Pop Century, a favorite value resort of ours.  For the longest time, there was a half-built resort there.  It was supposed to become "The Legendary Years", themed for the 1900’s through 1940’s to complement Pop Century’s "Classic Years" area of 1950’s through 1980’s.  Unfortunately, various circumstances side-lined those plans and the area went uncompleted for years.

Having stayed in Pop Century many times, we were used to seeing this uncompleted resort just over the water.  We were excited to see what they had built.

As we approached, the exterior of the building showed off the fun spirit of the resort and the characters who inspired the various sections.

outside

As you walk into the main building, Animation Hall, you are greeted by the various stages of animation.  There are rough sketches, plenty of colors, and finished products.  On one side is a colorful check-in area (vacant at the time, but by now likely quite busy) and the other side had a cafeteria (again, not operational when we visited it).

inside

Our main focus lay beyond another set of doors, though.  As we exited Animation Hall, we walked into the Finding Nemo section of Art of Animation.  Everything was designed to make us feel like we were under water.  The sides of the buildings showcased underwater scenes, the tops were waves, Crush, Dory, Nemo, Marlin and company were all around us.  Even the seagulls ("Mine?") were there above the tops of the buildings.   In the center was a huge pool.  (Sadly, we weren’t going in it that day.)

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As soon as we got our seats (right near the pool), we went to eat.  We had only just entered and the fun was just beginning.

Disclaimer: We paid for our own trip to Disney World to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Though we were given an incredible deal from Disney, they never asked us to blog about this event. All opinions expressed above are my own.

Note: To see all of my posts on DisneySMMoms 2012, go here.

Instagram Addiction

Photography, Photos, Smartphone/Tablet Apps, Smartphones/Tablets

instagramSoon after we got our smart phones, Instagram came out for Androids.  I downloaded it immediately and tried it out.  I’ll admit that my first impression was poor.  I didn’t see the draw in taking small photos of things and putting filters on them.  After a few posted photos, I moved on.

Sometimes later, I decided to give Instagram another shot.  This time, I found I loved using it.  I still steer clear of the filters, preferring instead to show the photos as they are taken.  Still, it is a quick and easy way to share out photos.  I could have Instagram tweet out the photo and still keep a gallery of my photos for people to look at.

Granted, Instagram isn’t perfect.  For one thing, there’s no spell check within the app.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost sent out an update with a mistyped a word because there was no red squiggly line alerting me to the incorrectly spelled word(s).  Secondly, Instagram itself doesn’t have a gallery.  I can’t just tell people to go to Instagram.com/TechyDad/ to view all of my photos.  Even if you load up one of my Instagram photos, there’s no way, in a non-mobile browser, to click to see more photos by me.  This is the exact opposite problem that many websites have.  (Ignoring mobile browsers and crafting their site only for non-mobile visitors.)

Thankfully, there are a few sites that can load your Instagram photos in a gallery-like format.  I’m partial to Instagrid.  You can view my Instagram photos on Instagrid here: http://instagrid.me/techydad/

Now that I’ve added that link to my header, I can easily direct people to my Instagram feed whether they have a smartphone or not.  So if you aren’t on Instagram, take a look at my photos from time to time.  If you are on Instagram, why not follow me?  Let me know your Instagram names in the comments and I might follow you as well.

GE Kids Day Animal Encounters

Animals, Fun, JSL, Memories, NHL, Photos

My boys love animals. So when we went to GE Kids Day in Albany’s Empire State Plaza, they loved seeing the different animals that were there.

First up were some bears.  Ok, perhaps these weren’t real animals, but they still loved seeing the Care Bears.

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They also liked seeing some of the other costumed animals roaming around.

other_costumes

Onto the real animals, though.  As we approached the two by two petting zoo, we saw this cute turtle and rabbit pair.

bunny_turtle

From here, we moved on to some goats who were quite happy that kids were offering them leaves to eat.  It was like an all-you-can-eat-goat-salad-bar.

goats

Moving on from the goats, there was a red kangaroo that was taking it easy in the hot, midday sun.

IMGP0383

Then, there was a black and white lemur whose screech was quite impressive.  (Sadly, he stopped screeching as soon as I got my camera set on video mode.  Mischievous little lemur!)

lemur

A blue and gold macaw was sitting pretty on a perch.

macaw

Prowling around their cage were a pair of coatimundi – omnivorous animals that are related to raccoons.

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There were also a few lizards and an alligator that NHL and JSL got to pet.

lizard

After the petting zoo, we moved onto an animal experience of a different kind.  NHL and JSL got to ride a pony.  NHL has ridden one before, but this was in kindergarten so he likely doesn’t remember it.  This was JSL’s first pony ride.  They both donned helmets and one after the other got atop Zoe the Pony for a ride.

pony1pony2

Alongside the pony ride were some baby chicks, goats, and sheep to look at as well.

babyanimals

Given that the boys and I made lots of new memories and that this experience has deepened the boys’ love of animals, this was a wonderful way to spend a day.

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