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San Diego Zoo Play Days

Dez & Tam — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:12:08 +0000

We went to the San Diego Zoo a couple of weeks ago with our friend Michelle and her son Dylan. They are regulars at the zoo and are very passionate about animals and conservation. Last Christmas they adopted a tiger for Riley as a present so we decided to go to the zoo to meet him in person, errr in tiger.

We were beyond amazed at how connected Dylan was to these animals. He knew almost all of their names and gave us facts about the animals as we went about the zoo. Dylan was the best tour guide money can't buy, mostly because he is the most passionate 9 year old we've ever met and he gets so excited to tell you about these animals. It made my heart happy and I now have a new found appreciation for wildlife because of this kid.

If you would like to see the awesome things that Michelle and Dylan do for wildlife conservation visit her blog www.lifewithdylan.com

Lynae's 5th Birthday @ Horsey Board'n Play

Dez & Tam — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:37:23 +0000

We attended Lynae's 5th Birthday this past weekend at Horsey Board'n Play. We were really surprised at how cool this place was! Lots of horses, ponies, chickens, a tetherball court, and plenty of room to for the kids to roam free on a private lot. We had a lot of fun hanging out here, and the kids had a blast (even though Riley was too afraid to ride any of the horses).

New Years Day at the Thai Temple (Chino Hills)

Dez & Tam — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:55:15 +0000

We spent New Years Day at the Thai Buddhist Temple in Chino Hills. I got a new camera for Christmas that we use as our "everyday" camera, so these were all shot with it (a Sony NEX6 with the Sigma 19mm f2.8). All images were processed with VSCO Film.

Let's Go Swimming!

Dez & Tam — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:46:32 +0000

I finally got a chance to use the Dicapac WPS10 that I got over a year ago. I've been wanting to go underwater with my Canon 5D Mk2, and this is by far the cheapest way to do it as long as you are willing to forego the ability to change settings on your camera. For $75 bucks, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the results.

After swimming we all had a craving for some shaved ice from Get Shaved. This was at their Northridge location.

The Polaroid Reporter - A lightweight instant film camera

Dez & Tam — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:22:45 +0000

I've always been very curious about the older Polaroid cameras that use the older type instant film called packfilm. As opposed to the instant film that automatically pops out after taking a picture (known as integral film), this is a little different and the pictures have to be yanked out of the camera through the side. You have to then peel apart the picture after 2 minutes to reveal the print. I recently won this Polaroid Reporter from eBay for only $35. There are dozens of different Polaroid Land camera models that look similar, but this one is among the lightest and uses AA batteries.

It arrived in the mail on Saturday, conveniently one hour before we were planning on leaving the house to head to Disneyland. I already purchased a five-pack of Fuji FP100C film from Amazon, which I hear has really great color rendition and contrast. From the looks of it, what I heard was true. The results are amazing. After seeing the print just a few minutes from taking the picture, I was HOOKED. I definitely will be carrying this camera around with me due to it's light weight and great output.

A Day At Crystal Cove Beach

Dez & Tam — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 05:31:41 +0000

This past weekend we took some time off and went to Crystal Cove Beach in Laguna. This is a new beach also known as El Moro Campgrounds. It was Indy's first time at the beach, and Riley's first time since he was maybe 3 years old. We thoroughly enjoyed relaxing on the beach and playing in the water with the kids. Our cousins and all of their kids came along too. We BBQ'd hotdogs and hamburgers, some of the guys went surf fishing, and I just spent some time reading and watching Indy enjoy himself exploring the sand and toys. It was nice to unplug and enjoy the sounds of the crashing waves for once.

So Desi has been itching to use this DSLR Waterproof Pack from DicaPac. He went into the water and shot the kids playing in the water for a good hour. The pics below are what I thought were his best shots.

The kids all got together to take a token group shot. Aren't they cute?

After playing in the water for hours, Riley finally had to take a nap...

Making PushCakes with Meringue Bake Shop

Dez & Tam — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 05:20:26 +0000

This past weekend we had a chance to help out our friends Kristin and Lyle from Meringue Bake Shop with a large PushCake order. We don't have much experience with baking, so we helped with the assembling of the PushCakes, while Lyle and Kristin provided the materials. Also helping out were Steph from Hearts and Laserbeams and Michelle from Life With Dylan. We were huge fans of their Push Cakes even before we became friends with Kristin and Lyle, and getting to actually make them was a huge treat for us. The highlight of the day was definitely using left over cake and buttercream to make our own "snacks" ;-)

In the following picture, we decided to use the leftovers to make our own variation of the PushCake. It wasn't pretty, but still was delicious!

4th Of July - Veteran's Park, Yorba Linda

Dez & Tam — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 06:25:15 +0000

We wanted to try something different this year and after doing some research we found a free fireworks show down the street from us. Some youtube videos from the year before showed a pretty good turnout and a long fireworks show, so we thought we'd give it a try. We basically plopped ourselves down onto a baseball field along with hundreds of other families, and picnic'd there for about 4 hours until the show came on. It was relaxing and just good family fun - what every 4th should be like. God Bless America!

Natural History Museum - New Dinosaur Hall

Dez & Tam — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 06:49:00 +0000

Riley has recently been fascinated with Dinosaurs, so we decided to take him to the Natural History Museum. We heard there was a new Dinosaur Hall, so it was a perfect place to show him how big the dinosaurs actually were. Before we arrived, he asked us "I wanna see DEAD dinosaurs okay? Not the alive ones..." Yes our son is a little scaredy cat, but is intrigued by the size and power of the dinosaurs. He was determined to find a T-Rex and a Brachiosaurus, so we set out to find them (the dead ones of course).

Indy Baptized at St. Denis Church

Dez & Tam — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:19:05 +0000

Indy was baptized today at St. Denis Church in Diamond Bar. It was a small family only gathering, but as you can see there were still a lot of us. Indy is 6 months old here, 3 months younger than Riley when he was baptized many years ago.

The God Parents...