April 30, 2009

Why don't folks say "it's only a game" when they're winning?

The silly Twitter experiment worked. Instead of a million phone calls while I was gone, my family was able to pop in here instead. Therefore, I only had to make half a million phone calls while I was gone. Crisis averted.

So, the kids were awesome on the plane. Awesome! However, I am sad to tell you that children screaming with utter joy are still CHILDREN SCREAMING.

Overall, I am a little verklempt as to what to say about the trip. My mind was in a million different directions on the flight home. In short, my heart is all crumbly right now. However, this is not my story to tell and to dwell on it here would feel mawkish.

I am hoping to get back out to Vegas later this year. And it better be for good reasons, dammit.

Cares for Kids Seatbelt System ROCKS
Folks, the Kids Fly Safe seatbelt system ROCKS. If you plan on traveling via airplane with your children, I cannot recommend this system enough. Traveling without carseats and renting them upon arrival saved me loads of worry and headache.

Less is Actually LESS
Save for the backpack on my back, this is all we took with us. Yes, oh yes. I took advantage of washer/dryer access and only took a carry-on suitcase with us. I will say this, a 21 month old carrying her own backpack? Cute in theory, does not, I repeat DOES NOT, work in practice. However, we HAD to take it because Arun was carrying one. And these days, Anjali must be doing whatever the hell it is that Arun is doing. Lord help me when she figures out the differences in their personal plumbing when we attempt Toilet Usage in the next few weeks.

Lake Mead
Lake Mead is very sentimental to me because my grandpa took us there to feed the fish. Sadly, the hatchery was closed for renovation, so we will have to wait for another time to feed the fish.



Red Rock Canyon
The kids were asleep, so I just did the scenic route and jumped out to snap photos while they caught up on much-needed nappage. I had so much fun playing with light, aperture and composition. Not too shabby for someone wielding a lowly point n' shoot Canon, no? And I would like to vehemently note, I do not own Photoshop nor do I ever plan to. It smacks of cheating, somehow. Red-eye and zit removal is not bad, but some folks go overboard. Ansel Adams is rolling over in his grave, folks.



6 comments:

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

Nice snaps! And Arun looks like such a big boy in those pictures.

I also spend a lot of time on Flickr being envious and then wondering how many people highlighted and changed the colours in Photoshop. However, I will say that Nikons and Canons, point and shoot or otherwise, have the "vivid" or saturated colour options if you go off auto. I tend to shoot in that mode myself (Powershot G10, which is their advanced point and shoot). Also, I've figured out how some people get those colours...filters! A good filter can make a big difference. Shutter speed and aperture also make a big diff in how the colour of the sky comes out.

All that said, I TOTALLY know some people have adjusted the colours and that's okay. But like you, I just want to improve my photography.

Dee said...

Beautiful photos! I do have Photoshop but most of the time only use it to fix red eye and convert to black/white. It is fun to play around in but there's no way I have time to edit every photo! I use it mostly to create blog headers/layouts.

Moderndayhermit said...

I wish I had the flying contraption all the times I've flown with Alex!

Your picks are great!

I do disagree that using Photoshop is cheating (and not because I'm an avid user although I typically don't edit my own photos). It's a tool just like using a lense filter or owning a variety of lenses or changing the settings on a camera.

Heza Hekele said...

I thought that would be a problem too...the different plumbing thing, but, much to my horror, I found my son in the backyard one day, teaching his little sister how to pee standing up, and since no one had told her this was impossible, she somehow managed to stand up and pee on a wall in front of her. I am not quite how she did this, but she did...and my son was so proud of himself for teaching his sister to pee like a man!

Rozanne said...

Fabulous shots! I too am taken aback by how grown-up Arun looks in that photo where he's sitting on the rock. Whoa!

Anonymous said...

Loved your pictures of Red Rock Canyon, we were in Vegas a year and a half ago and just fell in love with the desert landscape!