Kelley's Last Day in San Diego

I loved watching Sara with Andy.

Andy could go from tired....

to fussy in 0.34 seconds.

And then asleep if Mom was sitting next to him to rock him and keep rocking him.

We went out for lunch and Jack had fun playing with his lizards in the fountain while Sara ordered our food.

Andy behaved very nicely while we were out for lunch.

And then it was time for me to be dropped off at the airport to catch my plane home.  I was sad to leave my friend and her two boys (I missed seeing David as he was in Northern California with his Dad...his step-mom had just passed the day before I flew out to San Diego), but looking forward to flying home to see my family.  Even though I was gone for just a few days, it felt like longer than a week because I did sooo much.  I learned sooo much about photography in the workshop.  I went to the San Diego Zoo.  Twice!  To the Scripps Aquarium.  To La Jolla.  To the beach multiple times.  I could not have asked for a better min-vacation, except to have had my family with me.

Day Four in San Diego

Sara picked me up from the photography workshop house and we headed straight for the Scripps Aquarium.  This house was right on the ocean and had a gorgeous view of the beach with floor to ceiling windows.

I have never been to an aquarium before, so this was a fun experience seeing so many sea creatures.  I loved the jellyfish, but was very thankful they were behind glass.

Jack liked the little jellyfish.

This tank is filled with water coming directly from the Pacific Ocean and had many different levels within filled with different species.

Outside was another area for children to explore and play.  This little sailboat racing station kept Jack's attention.

Andy slept through most of our visit, but woke up when we walked outside and the sun shone in through the top of his stroller.

Once we finished walking through the aquarium, we packed up and headed to the beach so Jack could play on a playground.

The day ended with a quiet evening and baths for the boys.  I loved this time with my friend Sara and watching her be a mom.  She is filled with so much patience and made me wish that San Diego was within driving distance.  I miss my friend and not seeing her children grow up in person.

San Diego with Blue Lily - Day Two

On day two with Wendy and Tyler, we learned about file storage/organization (because when you're taking 300-800 photographs in one photoshoot, it's helpful to have a method in sorting and storing all of those files!).  They also had a two siblings come to the house as models for an indoor studio session.  Since I have no plans for using a flash, I only watched the others in setting up the lighting and how to use with their cameras.  Before sunset, we drove out to a deserted bridge and met a couple who would be getting married in April but were willing to don their wedding duds and allow us to photograph them.  They were a great couple and the bridge was a great sport.  It was very chilly and she never once complained about being covered in goose bumps.

We learned more about shooting into the sun and how to get the correct exposure.

We had fun checking out each other's photographs on our camera's LCD screens.

We went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant afterwards.  Wendy and Tyler were not just awesome photographers, but they were wonderfully positive people to be around.  I loved that I was there in the back of the van to see this quiet moment as Tyler reached over just to hold onto his wife's arm as she drove.

I could not have asked for a better weekend for learning more about photography, running a photography business and making new friends.

San Diego with Blue Lily - Day One

My second day in San Diego was Day One with Wendy and Tyler of Blue Lily.  We started off the day learning about posing couples and families.  We were rolling as Tyler told us how we can teach a man to sit.

And how to stand.

Just before sunset, we drove out to the beach to practice catching catchlights in each other's eyes before the model family arrived.

I always love the long piers found at beaches!

Wendy and Tyler photographed the family first, showing us how they typically run a photoshoot.  Then they let us have a turn.  As you can see, there were people in front of me.  I'm not very good at telling strangers to move out of the way and let me take a turn, so I paid more attention to the lighting and positioning of people/cameras to learn what Wendy and Tyler were teaching us.

It was a fun first day.  I had been very worried that I would be one of the least knowledgeable photographers in the workshop, as it was geared towards teaching amateurs how to make the jump to shooting professionally.  This day was a major confidence booster in realizing just how much I had learned about my camera over the past year since I started shooting in manual mode.

After this shoot, we went out for dinner at the In n' Out burger restaurant.  I tried to stay up and hang out with everyone back at the house after dinner, but I ended up slinking down to my room to go to bed before 8:30pm PST.  Traveling across three time zones is tough!

Kelley's First Trip to the San Diego Zoo

Kelley flew into San Diego for a two day photography workshop with Blue Lily. Always love flying out West and seeing the mountains!

Kelley's good friend Sara picked her up at the airport with her three year old Jack and four month old Andy.  We headed straight to the San Diego Zoo!

Jack was excited to show me his favorite place to visit and led the way through much of the zoo.

We saw enormous lizards.

Monkeys named Eloise.

Orangutans named Clyde and Janey.

Monkeys who climb as high as they can.

We even saw stretchy monkeys that go as far as little arms can reach.

We saw little crocodiles who looked hungry.

Bright coral flamingos.

We saw swimming otters.

And koalas that woke up for us after getting a little medicine and vitamins squirted into their mouths.

What an awesome first visit to the San Diego Zoo!

Visit with the Moss-Mozdirs

Monday morning I was getting ready to head over to Sara's for the next two and a half days.  She was scheduled for a c-section the next day and couldn't wait because this baby was measuring 42 weeks when she was only 36 weeks along.  But David called and said the party was starting early...Sara went into labor over night and they were already at the hospital.  So I took a cab ride to the hospital and spent a little time with Sara and David before she was taken back to the operating room.

David and Sara let me come back to the recovery room before Andy was even an hour old.

Andy was getting his first bath and was pretty laid back about it.  I suppose when you come into this world weighing over 10 pounds, not much will phase you.

Andy was very quiet and chilled out as he was passed from one family member to a next.  Her brother Sara wore these purple gloves to make sure the tail end of his cold wouldn't be passed along.  Charley made a 3+ hour drive to come down and meet Andy on his birthday and stayed for little more than an hour before he turned around and drove back home.

Grandma Sher was so gracious and gave me loads of time to hold this sweet new boy, but I know she was just bursting with happiness and excitement to hold him once up in the New Momma room.

I spent the night at the house with Jack so David could stay at the hospital with Sara and Andy.  I woke up to find this sweet little boy playing with his lizards (Jack called them his Wizards).

He was such a good, good boy!

On Tuesday afternoon, Sara's mom Sheri drove Jack and me over to Coronado.  She lives on one of those boats with her boyfriend.  Look close, it's the second line from the left and the second boat from farthest away.  Sheri said it's a tiny space and she relishes taking showers at the homes of family and friends.

We went out to lunch at one of their favorite Mexican restaurants.  Sara waited tables there throughout high school and part of college.  The food was delicious, but the company was better!

 

 After lunch, we walked a few blocks over to the Pacific Ocean and dug our bare feet into the sand.  It was heaven!

We had fun chasing this little guy around the beach, searching for seashells and digging holes in the sand.

Sheri found a sand dollar and gave it to me for good luck.  I think I was adopted as an honorary daughter on this day and the feeling was mutual.  We had such a wonderful day together talking about life, marriage, children, grandchildren, parenting, school and about the people we hold closest to our hearts.

Wednesday morning found us all back at the hospital and I got a few family portraits.  Jack was a proud big brother, flopping all over the bed with his parents and his new baby brother.

It was hard saying goodbye.  Sara lives too far away and too much time passes between our visits.  She apologized for being stuck in the hospital and not being a great hostess to show me around town, but I think bringing a baby into the world was a little more important.  Like on the way out to California, I had a short pit stop in Phoenix before I was back up in the sky on my way home.  This sunset carried us for a good hour.