Day 152: Dots

Day 151: Jellies

 

Today was my class field trip to the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.  It was a long day, but lots of fun.  I have to go back to an aquarium when I am not on a field trip.  It's kinda hard to get a good shot with a class full of second graders and most of their parents surrounding you.  I took out my camera and sneaked over to the jellies when my class was riding the elevator up to the top floor and the adults were waiting for the next one. 

P.S.  If you scroll down and look at this image on the same screen as yesterday's image, doesn't it look like Owen is looking up at the jellies?  I can't wait to take him to the aquarium this summer.  He will just flip out when he sees all those fish!

Day 150: Wind

Riding his new tricycle outside, Owen was looking up at the trees blowing in the wind.

Day 149: Coffee Beans

One of my birthday presents (as I unwrapped it, I could smell what it was before I could see it)

Day 148: Green

I got a new lens for my birthday and I am so excited about it!  The day today didn't lend itself to photo-taking and I didn't get to test it out very much, but here is one shot I got (unedited, straight out of camera).  I can't wait to experiment a little more.

This is a plant backlit by the sun outside of PF Chang's where Jeremy, Owen, and I were having a celebratory dinner in honor of Jeremy's new job.

Day 147: It's My Birthday...

...and I'll post 5 pictures if I want to!

It was a pretty awesome day.  I got to sleep in until 8:15 (zzzzzzzzzzz). Then Jeremy, Owen, and I took the Oakland/Alameda ferry to San Francisco for a short trip to eat lunch, see the sea lions, and ride the merry-go-round at Pier 39.  Then we took the ferry back to Oakland in time for Owen's nap.  (Someday it will be nice to be able to do something for a whole day and not worry about naptime, but for now we're learning how to do things like this for half-days.)  Later, we had a yummy Casa Orozco dinner, margaritas, ice cream cake, and back to bed early for me.

Back in the day, 34 was my pager code (yes, I said pager code) and it's kind of my number, so 34 is destined to be a good year.

Update 6/8/12: Owen is still talking about this day!  We'll be driving along in the car and all of a sudden I'll hear from the backseat, "I went to San Francisco on a boat, and I saw the sea lions, and they went, 'awr, awr, awr!" and the black one jumped into the water..." 

San Francisco skyline

Clam chowder bread bowl...yum

Owen's first merry-go-round

Going 'round and 'round, up and down

Go under the Bay Bridge and see if you don't have the Red Hot Chili Peppers song in your head the rest of the day

Day 146: Balloons

I got these balloons for my birthday from my class (delivered by someone- I still don't know who- in a teddy bear costume, complete with a mascot-style head). Sydney of course was afraid of the balloons, so they found a temporary home in Jeremy's studio so Owen could play with them.

Day 145: Sale

 
$4 and $6 t-shirt sale?  (Added bonus- $2 tank tops!)  I'm there!

Day 144: Mirror

 

That is one round post-dinner belly!  New pjs from Robin and Matt, thumb in the mouth, and cotton ball in the hand...looks like Owen should be ready for bed, but that was NOT the case! 

Day 143: Walk

 

I went to the car wash, and Owen and I took a walk around the neighborhood to stay busy.  It's so hard to get pictures of him, because he's always either looking down or on the move.  Here he is saying, "Cheese!" because he saw me with my camera. 

Day 142: Sidewalk Chalk

Owen is just as happy playing with simple toys and household objects as he is with expensive electronics.  One of his birthday presents from me was some sidewalk chalk.  Didn't he draw an amazing picture?  Actually his artwork is the scribbles around the outside; I think cousin Samantha drew the Hulk.

Day 141: Eclipse

 

I knew this solar eclipse was coming today, and I had Jeremy set a reminder on his phone so I would remember to go out and take pictures.  But I didn't need the reminder, because around 6:15 I noticed these weird shadows in the kitchen and the hall (these were taken outside on our neighbors' house) and it also got strangely dark, with a weird tone of light.  I guess I missed the "ring of fire" but this was pretty cool, too.

Day 140: Birfday Pawty

Day 139: Sidewalk

 
I'm a little obsessed with shadows. 

Day 138: Traffic

 
Not exactly how I thought I'd be spending Owen's second birthday...

I wanted us all to spend Owen's birthday together as a family, and since I had to be at my school's music performance, I dragged Jeremy and Owen along with me.  Unfortunately this had to be the night when the freeway (and the frontage road, which I wrongly decided would be quicker) were gridlocked due to a gravel spill.  A gravel spill?  WTF?  My short little 12 minute commute took an excruciating hour and a half.  Jeremy fed Owen his dinner in the car, and traffic was moving so slowly that I was able to make phone calls, text, take pictures, even eat soup.  We were late to the show, but once we got there, Owen had a blast!  He got to play on the big kids' playground, play with my handsoccer ball, and he also had his own little fan club of my students, past and present.  So at the end of the day, things may not have gone according to plan, but seeing Owen's humungous smile made it all feel like it turned out okay.

 

Day 137: Birthday #2

Tomorrow is Owen's second birthday!  Two years has gone by so quickly, but I can't even think about that.  When I asked Owen what he wanted for his birthday he said, "Cake!"  So this is the answer to his wish: cupcakes (gluten-, egg-, and dairy-free) with chocolate frosting...and the Hulk!  He accidentally saw them and of course he wanted one.  Then he barely ate any dinner and ended up in tears because he wanted to eat his cupcakes.  (Does he understand the concept of "tomorrow"?  Who knows.)  But he's going to be a happy little two-year-old tomorrow when he finally gets to eat one.

Day 136: Birthday #1

I had grand plans of the photo I was going to take today-- it involved this birthday cake, candles, and soft lighting.  Well, that did not work out, and I guess I need to work on my candlelight photo-taking skills.  At least I had this boring backup photo.

Day 135: Bath

It's been a struggle to get Owen in the tub lately.  Today I got him in the tub by starting a mini-argument with him saying, "I'm getting in the tub!" fully knowing that he'd say, "No, I'm getting in the tub!" By golly, it worked.

Day 134: Laughing

What a fun Mother's Day.  I decided I wanted to go to the zoo, and this time the whole family tagged along-- Owen, Jeremy, Mom, Dad, Robin, Matt, and Laura.  Owen got a kick out of having everyone there.  He still becomes fascinated by new things each time we visit the zoo, even though we go quite often.  This time it was the train.  By just looking at this photo, it's tough to tell what Owen's expression meant (when he saw this later he thought he was crying) but it's laughter.  He saw the train chug by on the other side of the fence, and that excited him.  I like how his Grandpa and Grandma are in the background.

Day 133: Surprise!

 
A surprise dinner for my mom's birthday, arranged secretly by my dad, who does not own a cell phone and made secret phone calls from work and the tree farm to keep everything on the sly.

Day 132: Green Lantern & Black Batman

 
Owen: "Knock, Knock!"
Me: "Who's there?"
Owen: "Green Lantern and Black Batman."
Me: "Green Lantern & Batman who?"
Owen: "It's Owen!"

Day 131: Flower Pot

Day 130: Band-Aid Mustache

Yep, that's a band-aid on Owen's lip.  He (barely) hurt it when he fell down, but a Hulk band-aid made it feel better.  He refused to take it off, even through dinner, but after awhile it just kinda fell off.

Day 129: Swirls

I had to drop off some paperwork at the realtor's office, right next door to the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton. I love the building and all the fun stuff outside around it, like this sculpture.

Day 128: Sandal Weather

 

Day 127: Bedhead

Owen can be kind of a cranky crybaby when he wakes up from a nap.  He takes after Jeremy in the fact that he needs a little quiet time to wake up, so usually a little Yo Gabba Gabba is just the ticket.  Oh, and also Chip and Dale have been reunited!  Chip is still the favorite, but now Owen likes to have both of them, and he makes me sing, "Chip Chip Chip Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers...."

Day 126: Aloha Mr. Hand

My old Beastie Boys concert t-shirt; still have it (and wear it) 17 years later

Day 125: Appreciation

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week.  On Tuesday, each of the kids brought a flower and they put them all together in vases.  On Wednesday they brought handmade cards.  On Thursday, the PTA made a yummy Italian lunch, and on Friday the kids each brought in a piece of fruit for a fruit basket.  It' nice to feel appreciated. :)

Day 124

Owen went to see Dr. Ong today and it was the best doctor visit ever!  Not a single tear.  We've been talking about Dr. Ong all week to prepare him: "Isn't Dr. Ong nice?  He helps you feel better!" and "What's your doctor's name?  Dr. Ong!"  So when we got to his appointment he was excited and we had fun.  And best of all, no hernia!  We thought he had a recurrence, but luckily it was a false alarm.

What does all of this have to do with the photo?  Owen got to keep that popsicle stick that Dr. Ong used to look at his throat, and he also got to pick out a sticker.  He chose the dinosaur fossil sticker and he decided to put it on his shirt.

Day 123: Memorial Portrait

I have a lot of wine glasses.  Most of them are real wine glasses, like, purchased from a store.  Some are even crystal.  But I got this one for free at a wine festival, and it was my favorite one.  And now it is gone.

Day 122: Ivy

Day 121: White

 
This is St. Raymond's Church again, to practice light metering when shooting white things.