Family Photo Shoot

I had the opportunity to take photos for a friend and his family recently, and I thought I'd share them with you.

Sometimes, I think my scientific/analytical abilities stunt my artistic/creative abilities. Too bad I can't think of a job that smushes them together--I'd probably be in heaven!

The little boy, who is about 3, was a hoot. He did NOT like staying still and showing me his "big boy" smile :).

Mother and daughter:

The whole family!

Dad and his little girl:

The grandparents with big brother!

Three generations:

Wonderful smiles!

Baby girl! I could have taken pictures of this one ALL DAY! She was such a "natural" in front of the camera :).

And finally, the kids. Big brother is throwing grass on little sister's head, in case you were wondering...

What a fun time! I love taking pictures of kids and families!

Wild Animal Park

Our new home is about 5 minutes from the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park--an open space preserve where animals can roam more freely than they can at the Balboa Park zoo, and where they can be with other animals found in their natural habitats.

I am all about the Wild Animal Park. I hate seeing animals caged up. It makes my heart sick.

Anyway, here are some photos from our trip there with Tony's parents--enjoy!

Lovely trumpet flower:

The birds were beautiful, and some were very strange looking!

For the guy below, I was all "Aww. Poor little guy, you only have one eye!"

Then, I was all "Ooooh. You're a creepy little guy aren't you?"

Obviously, these two were up to no good.

There were a variety of antelopes, deer, and gazelles scattered throughout the park:

This picture makes me laaaaauuuuggh :).

Wild ass.

Giraffes! Amber thinks I resemble a giraffe, because of their long necks and reticulation. Sigh. She may be right.

The rhinos. Totally. Awesome.

Oh, hey! And some Ryno's were there too!

The gorillas were just starting to be active when we got there. They kind of scare me.

The people next to us kept calling these guys "groundhogs". Ohmygosh. Have you not heard of Meerkat Manor!?! AHHRGGHH.

It was a great outing! Since Tones and I live nearby and have Zoo membership, I hope we will visit a few more times and see more of the park!

Julian, CA and Point Loma

While Tony's parents were here, we traveled around to show them some of our favorite places around the county.

Julian, California is an old prospecting town that's now famous for its apple pie (or any pie, for that matter), antique shops and local history. I've visited there a few times now, and I really enjoy all of the cute stores around the town.

I also liked these chickens. They make cooing noises instead of clucking, and are very small. I wanted to slip one in my purse and name her Francis.

We also traveled to the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. I would like to reiterate how much I love the ocean.

I also really loved the succulent plants covering the cliffs. Up close, they looked like they were covered in florist's fake water.

We all had a great time basking in the sun and exploring the coves near the tidepool.

(Crab down there!)

More pictures of the Wild Animal Park to come soon!

Moving!

Well, over the last two weeks Tony and I were able to finish moving from our apartment to our new house.

Our house.

Strange.

I'll be back to a more regular posting and updating this week :). There's lots to tell! Tony's parents stayed with us for a bit, and there are some cool photos of fun "San Diego" things that we did while they were here.

But first, I wanted to show you guys the pictures of our moving process. We had hired movers, but, long story short, we ended up getting a trailer *cheap* off of Craigslist and hauled 3 loads of our stuff (including the Cougar) ourselves.

All the boxes (and the kee kee tower) went in the first trip:

And all our furniture (which did not come out unscathed to my total dismay) came in the second round:

And I thought I would post a photo of how Saffron helped. I call this pose "supervising"

More to come soon!