Camper

Walt Disney World Reflections

There are so many photos from Disney that I'd like to share with you but in an effort to keep from overwhelming you, I'll send them to you in storyboard form over the next few days as they come out of my Photoshop Elements program.

We ate at Tony's Restaurant our first evening at Disney. All you Lady and the Tramp fans know that Tony's is the restaurant where Lady and Tramp first "hooked" up so the Tony's at Disney, is of course, modeled after the restaurant in the movie. Not only was it huge fun, the food was actually very good ... this from a self-avowed critic of all Italian cuisine.

I was lucky enough to get some fun photos from that evening which you see in the storyboard above. Descriptions are as follows:

Upper left: Campbell playing in the fountain that was just a few feet from our table.

Upper right: The Lady and the Tramp statue that sits atop the fountain.

Middle right: Campbell and Krista eat spaghetti a la Lady and Tramp.

Bottom right: The actual fountain mentioned here.

Bottom left: Krista and Adam

Middle left: Tony's menu.

If there is a Walt Disney World trip in your future, I encourage you to include Tony's in your dining plans. It was not only a delicious experience but a charming one as well.

Dotti

PS - I'm posting today over at Focusing on Life. Stop by and say "hello"!

Disney World - As Seen By Campbell

We're home from Walt Disney World, a trip that was a dream come true for Campbell. But that's what they say about Disney World - "... a place where dreams come true." They certainly did for Campbell. In a few days, I'll have some more photos showing some of Campbell's dreams coming true but for our first "home from Disney" post, I thought you might like to see Disney through Campbell's eyes (with a little help from Mommy and Daddy).

Each photo that you see today was taken either by Campbell or one of her parents on their final visit to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Campbell loved both parks and couldn't get enough of the various roller coaster rides, including Splash Mountaing, Space Mountain and Test Track. I think she rode Test Track no less than six times. Fortunately, she just did meet the minimum height requirement that allowed her to ride these faster rides.

Campbell was the height of fashion in her Princess Sunglasses, Mickey shirt and Ariel locket. Speaking of that locket, for weeks before our trip, she told all of us numerous times that it was her dream to have a locket. Not just any ordinary necklace -- a LOCKET! Well, as the man says, Disney World is the place where dreams come true.

No trip to Disney is complete without a photo in front of Walt and Mickey. Remember ... this was all started by a mouse.

And, of course, Mom and Dad had to get into the act with the obligatory Cinderella's Castle photo.

Lucky Dad! He got to do all the rides that went around in circles because Mom doesn't do circles. Roller coasters, thumbs up; circles, thumbs down. For Campbell, however, all rides were thumbs up.

There you have it, our first installment of our very own Disney Story. I'll be back in a day or two with more photos and more stories.

Dotti

 

Natural Bridge (KY) State Park

Last weekend, Peepaw and I decided to take advantage of the lovely early fall day to travel eastward to Natural Bridge (KY) State Park. If you haven't visited Kentucky and any of its state parks, you're missing out on a treat. It had been years since we'd been to Natural Bridge. In fact, the last time we were there, the sky lift was not in place. Although the trail from the lodge to the bridge is only about a half-mile, that trail goes up, up, up, so this time around we opted for the adventure of the sky lift.

Here is some of the scenery we saw on our ride up to the bridge. As you can see, there was still a lot of green but some vibrant fall colors were splashing about the forest. We've also had ample rain this fall filling the creeks below us with water and sparkle.

When we got off the sky lift, we had a short walk through the forest to the underneath side of the bridge. Colors seemed to be more prominent here at the slightly higher elevation.

It was another short hike to get to the top of the bridge where we were greeted by these wild flowers. Once on the bridge, another hiker offered to take our picture in exchange for taking a photo of her and her companion.

Our next hike took us about three-quarters of a mile to an overlook opposite the bridge where we were able to get views of the complete bridge. Again, the walk to and from this lookout was easy but gorgeous. The colors haven't peaked yet, but they were still radiant. The tricky thing about fall color in Kentucky is that if you hold out for the "peak", you might find that a lot of early leaves have already fallen, thus diminishing the overall glory of the season.

On the ride back down the mountain, I asked Peepaw why we didn't do this more often since we used to do this kind of thing frequently when we were newly married and when Krista was a small child. When we lived in Glasgow, Mammoth Cave National Park was our second home. He didn't have an answer, nor did I. But we vowed to make changes and begin taking more day trips around the state where we live.

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn."

                                                       ...  Elizabeth Lawrence

Dotti

10.20.2011

Family Time

Last week, Peepaw and I had the pleasure of going to Pennsylvania to visit Grandma-Grandma, aka, my mom. Grandma-Grandma is the moniker that Campbell gave to her great grandmother when she began to understand the family relationships and it stuck. I think it’s cute. 

We spent three days in Lancaster County before traveling to Virginia for my nephew’s wedding. Early fall has to be my favorite time of year there. Krista, Campbell and I were there in early October last year and both times the weather and the scenery were perfection.

 

After breakfast each day, Peepaw and I set out for a morning walk around the neighborhood. My mother lives in a neighborhood that backs right up to Amish farm country so the views are amazing, the Amish people are in frequent attendance in the neighborhood, all of which adds up to some very interesting things to see and photograph on a morning walk.

 

The first day we found hickory nuts and acorns as we scouted out photos for my Picture Fall class, the subject of which was “What Remains”. While I’m sure I’ve seen hickory nuts before, I’m not sure I could have identified one until Peepaw identified one for me.

 

 As we roamed around the neighborhood each day, we saw several Amish women on their bikes as well as the ubiquitous horse and buggy. The women on their bikes fascinated me. Not only did they wear long skirts, they all had boxes strapped to the backs of their bikes to carry their wares. What was in those boxes? Groceries to take home? Produce for the farmer’s market? Wouldn’t it be fun to know? Since the Amish people don’t like to have their photos taken, considering it a sin of vanity, I was careful always to shoot them from the back. One of the things I loved was the juxtaposition of these 19^th century customs and the 21^st century American subdivision.

 

 

 

The Amish people, of course, eschew the use of any electricity or manmade power. No cars, no gas-powered furnaces, no air conditioning. Consequently windmills, which Amish use to pump water, dot the landscape in Lancaster County.

Another thing that I love about my mother’s neighborhood is the pride of ownership that is always so evident in the homes. Everybody has lovely, well-tended yards with nice landscaping and they always seem to decorate for whatever holiday is at hand.

  

 

One street over from my mother’s house is a good-sized commercial greenhouse operation where the array of trees and flowers always amazes me. It’s the kind of business you’d expect to find out in the country, not in suburbia. This year I was treated to an array of late-season hydrangea bushes.

The fall colors were a bit ahead of the colors here at home. Here is some of the eye candy to be found in Lancaster County this time of year, all of which have put me in the mood for fall in my hometown.

Although I captured a number of butterfly photos in our backyard, I had to go all the way to Pennsylvania to catch a shot of the coveted Monarch butterfly but I do think it was well worth the wait.

Finally, on Saturday when it was time to fly home, we were rewarded with a perfect evening to end our trip. The sun was setting as our plane made its westward journey yielding many photo ops for me. This is one of my favorites. Do you think I should try to sell it to Southwest Airlines?

 

There is a harmony

In Autumn, and a lustre in its sky ...

                                         Percy Blythe Shelley

Dotti

10.13.2011

 

Life Is Good At The Beach

When George Gershwin wrote the lyrics, “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy …” he didn’t have a clue about what Summertime in 2011 was going to be like! When we got home from a two-week beach vacation, it was my intention to do an immediate post about our trip since I took hundreds of photos. Well, here I am, three weeks later, finally getting around to it!

Last month, the five of us loaded up the cars and headed to Kiawah Island, SC, for our annual family beach vacation. Once the holidays are out of the way, Campbell begins expressing her longing to go to the beach. And Krista and I are right there with her! We’re all beach bums and Kiawah has become our second home. Since Krista plans to include some vacation stories in her Dear Campbell post, I won’t say too much here. But I would like to share some of my photos from this year with you.

Our condo was a short walk from Kiawah's only hotel, The Sanctuary --- yes, there’s only one hotel, that’s why we like it here --- which is home to two very lovely courtyard gardens. Since I like to walk first thing in the morning, I often trekked over there, camera in hand. Here are some of my discoveries:

 
Balloon Flower - Amazing little flower, isn't it?

 
What's for breakfast? Why, purple coneflower, of course!

 
I have no idea what this is but I'd love to have it in our garden.

 
We do have this, a Sunset Coneflower.

A favorite activity is to visit Bohicket Marina on the neighboring island, Seabrook Island. It’s a fun little place with some good restaurants, a pretty marina, and the loveliest sunsets in the state of South Carolina. 

 

No vacation to Kiawah is complete for us without a visit or three to Charleston. We made two memorable forays to Charleston this year. For our first adventure we did a Pirate Treasure Hunt, setting off  in the Beautiful Historic District to find the answers to our clues. Campbell was our fearless leader, seen here, pirate clues in hand.

 

The second big Charleston adventure this year was a trip to Ravenel Bridge. Steve and Krista rode their bikes across the bridge while Adam ran and Campbell and I drove the sag vehicle.

And finally,

 

mission accomplished -- and reunited on the other side.

After all that exercise and excitement, a trip to one of the Shem Creek seafood restaurants was in order. Shem Creek, on Sullivan's Island, has a real seafaring atmosphere to it. Shrimp boats pull right up alongside the restaurants to unload their catch.

 

Back on the island, I don’t believe a day passed without at least one person in our group visiting Freshfields Village, where we found our groceries, delightful little shops and other fun activities. This friendly guy is but one of the family of frogs that grace Freshfields Village. 

 
On Memorial Day, when Krista, Campbell and Adam headed for home, Steve and I found ourselves in a bit of a funk so we headed to Charleston. Steve humored me by being a good sport on a photo walk around the residential streets. I’ll share more of those photos in another post. But we did work up an appetite so we headed to Charleston’s newest restaurant, Husk, and had a fabulous lunch on their second floor porch.

 

Since Thursday was our 39^th wedding anniversary, we once again headed into Charleston for a celebratory lunch at 82 Queen. We didn’t even get inside the restaurant but opted instead to eat in their charming interior courtyard. The food was spectacular! I don’t think there is a bad restaurant in Charleston but I can recommend both Husk and 82 Queen without any reservations, although you might want to make reservations if you decide to visit.

 

 Nobody ever likes to leave Kiawah, but our two weeks were over, it was time to head home. But of course, I made Steve stop the car for one last photo. When we first started going to Kiawah 25 years ago, I was all about the beach, first and last. But over the years, I’ve grown to love the marshes, too.

 

Nobody ever likes to leave Kiawah. As Campbell says when it's time to leave, "I'm going to miss Kiawah!"

 

We all are, Sweetie!

It Must Be in the Genes

 

Every year just about this time, Krista and I both get almost overwhelmingly homesick for the beach. You see, we're not "winter people" and when the mostly grey, damp chill of Central Kentucky sets in each January, inevitably, one of  us will start a conversation with, "I can't wait to go to Kiawah!"

It must be in the genes because just a few days ago, Krista and Campbell had a conversation that went something like this:

Campbell: Mommy, I'm tired of the cold weather and I'm tired of wearing my hat. When do we go to the beach?

Krista: Not for another four months, Sweetie.

Campbell: Four months! OH, NO!! THAT'S FOREVERRRRRR!!!

Campbell may have her daddy's genes for not getting so cold in the winter but she also has her mother's and grandmother's "When Do We Go To The Beach" genes.

How long did you say? Four months and five days? THAT'S FOREVERRRRRRR!!!

DotDot (counting the days . . . )

The Windy City

See, this is what happens when you are remiss in your duties for six months at a time - things get forgotten.  And how I managed to forget our family trip to Chicago I have no idea!  Campbell looked forward to this adventure for months ahead of time. She was excited about staying in a tall hotel and being way above the ground. She was excited about going to a big city.  But most of all she was excited about wearing the fancy, long dress that DotDot bought special for Uncle Taylor and Aunt Lauren's wedding. The weekend was a great success - here are a few of the photos we took.  I apologize for the quality of some of these - for some reason we never used a regular camera, just our phones.

The Friday before the wedding we took some family time and went exploring.  This is a shot looking up at the Navy Pier ferris wheel.

This is a shot of Campbell from inside our booth on the ferris wheel.  She loved being up "super super high!"

The view of the city from the ferris wheel.

Campbell riding the Navy Pier carousel.  She named her horse "Saddle" and almost cried when she had to say goodbye.

Next stop: Chicago Children's Museum.

The morning was apparently a success - Campbell fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel. Which meant we took the extra long route and walked around the neighborhood to squeeze in as much sleep as possible.

Chicago nightline view from the clubhouse where the rehearsal dinner was held. Beautiful!

A goofy and excited Campbell before the wedding.

Newlyweds Aunt Lauren and Uncle Taylor (godfather) came back to the kid's room during the reception and ate with Campbell.  She was super pumped and in complete awe of the fact that Lauren's dress was so long it touched the ground!

Campbell cheesing at the reception with her adopted parents - Uncle Jeff (also a godfather) and Aunt Katherine.  Campbell fell in love with these two and had zero need for her Mommy and Daddy most of the night.  Thanks to Jeff and Katherine for some free (and unscheduled) babysitting!

African Beauty

I have what I guess you could describe as an African fetish, for lack of a better phrase. I have long wanted to visit Africa.  My favorite wild animal is any large cat - lion, tiger, leopard - you name it.  I very much want to adopt a little African baby one day.  The country, the culture, the people and the landscape just amaze me.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I stumbled upon a fabulous art studio site - Young Gallery -and discovered the work of Nick Brandt. I am in awe!  These are quite possibly the most breathtaking pictures I have ever seen. Elephants, zebras, lions, tigers, giraffes - unbelievable images.  How does this guy do that?  I would give my right arm to be able to take masterpieces like this!

My desire to relocate to Africa has just been piqued! And I don't know who Nick Brandt is or what he looks like but I'm in love with him after looking at his work.

These are just three of my favorites. There are dozens and picking these "favorites" was nearly impossible.  Enjoy!

Holiday Wish List II - A Charitable Gift Basket

I am big on charitable Christmas gifts.  For several years I have given chicks or ducks or some other furry creature from Heifer International.  Last year we gave Adam's grandmother an acre of trees planted in memory of her late husband.  This year in thanks for our healthy baby girl we donated to St. Jude's in everyone's name. So, in the spirit of last minute gift ideas - here are a few ideas that make a difference.

For the Children
I got one of these for my nephew.  They are fabulous because not only do they provide a "cool" bracelet to wear, each bracelet comes with a DVD that tells the story of a Ugandan child. Plus, an added bonus, it comes with fun Invisible Children wrapping paper.

Something Pink
A dear family friend was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  She is in the middle of treatment for what appears to be - thankfully - a very treatable case.  But, this close to home moment has reminded me of the ongoing struggle to urge loved ones to have mammograms.  I have book marked the Breast Cancer Foundation site and click on the pink button daily to help "earn" donated mammograms from the sponsor sites. 

In addition, the webpage has a number of gift ideas from pjs to snugglies to earrings and bracelets.  A great gift idea for any cancer survivor or, really, any woman you love as a simple reminder to get checked!

   

For the Traveler
What do you get for the person with everything? Or for the person who loves to travel? How about a trip to Haiti or Ethiopia or Thailand to lend a helping hand? Once Campbell is old enough I plan on taking a couple of these trips with her.  There are several organizations out there that specialize in these "humanitarian vacations" - a few of the better known ones are listed below.

Global Volunteers.org
UnitedPlanet.org
GlobalServiceCorps.org

For the Greenie
There are several well-known environmental charities - Greenpeace, Sierra Club and the Audubon Society to name just three.  My new favorite is the Oceana - they are dedicated to saving our oceans, marine life and shores through conservation and education of individuals and - most importantly - policy makers.  There are several ways to give to them. My favorite is adopting an animal.  One of Campbell's Christmas presents is a fun turtle night light for her room.  So, to go along with that, her charitable gift this year was adopting a sea turtle.

One-Stop-Shop
None of these strike a chord?  JustGive.org is a one stop marketplace of great charitable ideas.  You can search by keyword or category until you find the perfect gift option for the person on your list.

Have fun shopping and Happy Holidays!