What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Perhaps you didn't notice, but I wasn't exactly around much this summer.  

You see, I only have five more summer vacations left with my older daughter, and while that might not sound like a big deal, I can't help but hear the clock ticking.  Five years can go by in the blink of an eye and I want to enjoy every moment of it.  

Admittedly, I could have enjoyed her and maintained my blog (more thoroughly) at the same time, but as you will see below, life got in the way.  

So here it is—in no particular order—my summer vacation (told mostly in pictures... pictures which are suspiciously lacking in me; I need to remember to get in front of the camera from time to time...)

One of the summer highlights in our family is always my younger daughter's birthday.  If you didn't read my last post (the one in which I described her candy-themed birthday party) you might want to scroll up and do that.  

If that requires too much effort, here's a Flipagram for your lazy self.  ;)

Summertime at our house also means lots of pool time.  This summer there were a few things that made pool time extra special.  For me it was this pool float which I received for mother's day.  

It was also enjoyed by lots of other people.  (Like my adorable nephew.)

And my daughter, who (for those who are wondering), is using a Lifeproof Nuud Case and Lifeproof LifeJacket float in order to take her ipad in the pool.

Lest you think this child is ridiculously spoiled, I must tell you that her uncle bought her those fancy accessories for her birthday.  He's a software engineer with fancy tastes and my kids tend to benefit as the only nieces (or nephews) on my side of the family.  Thanks, Uncle Monkey!  (<—their pet name for the generous uncle in question)

Another cool birthday present which made for tons of pool-time-fun this summer is this mermaid tail.  Have you seen these things?!  My daughter asked for it and my in-laws answered the call.  How cool is this?? 

Turns out her best friend owns one too, so it was double-the-mermaid-fun at our house...

Hopefully I loaded this video correctly so you can see them in action:

Another fun pool activity was a photoshoot in which we attempted to recreate the "hair flip" pictures that one often sees on Pinterest.  Given the number of "hair flip fails" I've seen on Facebook, I thought it would be difficult to do but it was surprisingly easy.  

The previous two pictures were taken with my Canon.  If you're wondering how to take your own, start by turning your settings to the "sports mode," or as I like to call it, "the little running guy."  Then it's just a matter of pressing the button as your subject flips her (or his) hair.  This setting enables you to capture a bunch of photos in rapid succession and, in my experience, there always seem to be one or two killer shots.  If you'd like to know more about using sports mode on your camera, click HERE.

Now if you don't own a DSLR camera, never fear.  It is also possible to capture a hair flip on the iPhone 5S using "burst mode."  To do this simply hold down the shutter button on your phone.  The result will be a "burst" of several photos all bundled into one thumbnail.  Find the word "favorites" underneath the picture and click on that to see all of the photos in the series.  You can select the best of the series and delete the rest.  The shot below was taken with the iPhone 5S and I think it is as good as the ones taken with the Canon.  (If you'd like more information about burst mode, click HERE.)

Though it might be hard to believe, this summer we had almost as as much fun in the salt water as we did in the chlorinated water.

This included a week at surf camp (one of the many perks of living in San Diego)...

...and a trip to La Jolla Shores to snorkel with Leopard Sharks.  

Photo taken with Dandy Case for the iPhone,

From the beach we head inland to an amazing camp attended by my younger daughter.  It's called Art Farm and as the name suggests it's a place where children alternate between making art and interacting with animals.  Here are some examples of the art...

...and the farm...

Although there were many, many more highlights during the summer of 2014 (like the Mexico trip which you can read about HERE), it's probably time to wrap this bad boy up.  

As great as the summer was, I am looking forward to doing some more regular blogging this fall and I hope you stop back to check it out.

Adios summer of 2014!  It's been swell.