randomness

i was looking at my most popular flickr photos again because it's interesting to see how it changes over time. i was surprised to see this one at number 37.



it's a long exposure i took in the dark of one of my nieces' toys ... it was some sort of spongebob squarepants spinning toy that lights up. i think it's kind of cool and am happy to see that other people have thought it is too!

here's the same toy held (mostly) still.

my parents

i haven't posted in a bit, so here's a picture of my parents at the carnegie museum from a couple weekends ago. i will eventually (maybe) get around to posting more photos from that day, but as usual they're all on my flickr page so please feel free to check them out. namaste!

uploading to youtube

i have been trying to methodically upload most of the little video snippets i have taken with my cameras over the past couple of years to my youtube page. please feel free to check them out and leave me comments if you like them. almost all of them feature erik, and unfortunately most of them also feature me speaking to him in a really annoying voice, so you may wish to watch them with the sound off. just kidding! it's kind of neat listening to all the little squeals and burbles he made as a baby, at least it is to me anyway! here's one to whet your appetite.

here's a funny

a nice weekend

the weather is much cooler this weekend than it has been lately and i am really loving it! unfortunately we had planned on swimming at a friend's house today and it was just too cool and rainy. but i am still thankful that the oppressive heat is letting up and am looking forward to going to bed (soon) with the windows open and fan on. i hope it lasts because i would really like to get outside and do some weeding this week, and i hate to do that when it's super hot and sunny.

i was at the lab for a little while yesterday and today because i have been working on some cloning that is just not going well. i have repeated this step about 5 times over the past 2 weeks, and haven't been having any success. FINALLY when i went in and looked at the plates i had prepared on friday night, i had a bunch of colonies meaning that my ligation (probably) worked. i'll be (hopefully) confirming that tomorrow, but i finally have some hope that i will soon be done with this cassette and can move on. small victory.

maggie and the jack rabbit

in my family, riding the jack rabbit at kennywood is a rite of passage. i first rode it the summer before my second birthday. erik rode it for the first time just before he was two and a half when we went to kennywood for mother's day. maggie took her first ride on the jack rabbit last saturday, just after her second birthday. by all measurements, she was not quite tall enough to meet the 36 inch requirement, but some tall shoes, a pony tail on the top of her head, and an attendant who didn't pay much attention to measuring her all contributed to her getting to ride.

maggie and her daddy in line


she appears to measure up! notice the shoes :)


they jumped in the back seat, at we were off! this is right at the top of the first dip:


climbing the hill just before the double dip:




raise your hands, little buckaroo!


back at the station. yay!!!

a fun weekend

here are some highlights from last weekend when my cousin robin visited pittsburgh with her family.

on saturday, we went to kennywood and spent more than 12 hours there! it was hot and crowded, and with 7 children and 7 adults more than a little chaotic. i'm pretty certain everyone had a good time (except maybe robin's daughter anja who doesn't really like rides much, but i think she might have had at least some fun).

erik waiting for his cousins (there was a lot of waiting that day)


in line for the kangaroo, our first ride of the day









on the carousel-

erik and anja


adam, marisa, robin, maggie, and jack


my mom (granny)


erik and maggie share a hug with the water bottle


erik takes a quick hot dog break


maggie took her first ride on the jack rabbit, but i will make a separate post for that. she's such a cutie! i'm not sure that she loved it, but she didn't hate it!

here are some other pictures from that day.









i think erik's favorite thing of the whole day was the sierra mist-er.












robin and justin


stick figures in peril


i like this set of four photos of the first hill of the phantom's revenge











i can't resist another hug picture


i had the chance to take a few long exposures of the lights. some of them came out well, some, not so much.









erik managed to stay awake until about 5 minutes before the park closed. he was so burned out by the end of the night that he didn't even wake up getting into and out of the car, and barely budged when i changed him into his pjs and put him into bed.



up next: maggie's first jack rabbit ride and sunday at the museum and bier garten!