April 2009 Mosaic

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Is April really over already? And May is already starting to fill up. Wow! A third of a year down, just so hard to believe. I missed a day in April (again), but I'm still here and still taking pictures. I had a hard time coming up with fill shots this month. Need to remember to shoot more varied shots on each day in the up-coming months. It is starting to get a little harder to stick with (it's been over 120 days now), but I'm going to keep at it. Hope you are enjoying the journey!



This was the sight that greeted us at Zesto's after the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. A huge tree fell across the fence on the non-drive through side and apparently crushed a car in the process. I think it came up by the root ball due to all of the rain and wind we'd had.



The boy loves his corn, especially when on the cob. He insisted on trying mine over a year ago at a restaurant, and he ate the whole thing! He routinely devours cobs about this size, and prefers corn on the cob to french fries most days.



Can you see the symbol on the bumper of this car? Seem familiar? You should have seen the rest of the car. It had tinting in bat shapes on the windows, and it had a silver outline drawing of Batman looking over his shoulder with a flowing cape going from the front quarter panel to the rear quarter panel on the passenger side. (No idea what was on the driver's side.) It was an extremely simple line drawing and very effective. I know it sounds cheesy, and I guess it was on some level, but if you are going to do it, that's the way. It's the best one I've seen.



I love this picture. I thought it was going to be my Earth Day picture, but I actually liked the mini pine cone shot better. And no, unfortunately, that is not our front yard; it's our neighbor's. Yes, we're jealous! I'm sorry, I know it has been a bit "Luke heavy" this month, but he's so darn cute.



Another shot I totally love, though I can't really tell you why. It just makes me smile. Notice they bite their fingernails the same way. Aww! LOL

2009-04-30

I'm guessing this is not a good sign. This computer has been such a pain! I think this is the Vista version of the "blue screen of death," but at least Microsoft had the sense to change it to a meanginful color. After all, everyone knows death prefers black.

2009-04-29

Ah, finally! I have been trying to get a picture of a train on the tracks near our house ever since this project started, and I finally managed to have the camera with me when one came along. It is definitely part of our daily life. We hear them frequently, though we don't notice it as much as visitors do. But it is actually pretty rare for us to see one. Maybe once a month, I guess. Our schedule and theirs just rarely overlap. Luke still gets excited when he hears it, though.

2009-04-28

For all the time that he has spent building aircraft/spacecraft of some sort, this is the first time I recall kitty getting to ride one. Transformers have ridden them, Star Wars figures have ridden them, rocks have ridden them, but never kitty until now. I'm sure kitty is thrilled.

2009-04-27

The kitties' least favorite day of the year, Vet Day! Normally, I go with DH to help wrangle all of them while we're there, but I had to go to the vet, er, the doctor myself today, so it was all up to him.

2009-04-26

(Had to take down original photo of Luke and me, since *I* didn't take it!)



Riding the Duck Boats at Stone Mountain. Luke liked it while we were driving around on the roads, but once we got in the water, he thought it was just about the coolest thing ever!

2009-04-25

Luke's first trip to the top of Stone Mountain. He had a blast! He really really did not want to go back down.

2009-04-24

Not the best shot (too much in the foreground, and DH's hand so close to Luke's head), but I just love the look of intense focus and concentration on Luke's face. They are constructing a classic car at Steak 'n Shake. And that little hair twiddle he's doing? Very similar to what DH does when he's concentrating. Too funny!

2009-04-23

I'm sure I'm biased, but I really think the Georgia State Capitol Building is beautiful! It has had scaffolding on it for many of the nearly 13 years we have lived in Atlanta. I love seeing it all restored and beautiful. We had to go downtown this afternoon, and I snapped this one on the off ramp of the interstate.

2009-04-22

Happy Earth Day! In honor of Earth day, we went on a walk after dinner today. (It was actually a coincidence, but that sounded better! LOL) I spotted these tiny little pine cones on our route. They were about the size of a nickel (21 mm), and I liked the way the light hit them.

2009-04-21

The Pepperoni Kid! This child loves pepperoni. It started at Golden Corral probably a year and a half ago when they didn't have any cheese pizza on the buffet. They only had pepperoni, but they were just sitting on top, so we pulled them off, cut it up, and he ate it fine. Luke decided he wanted to try a pepperoni, and we were skeptical, but we said okay. He ate them all and asked for more! He now prefers pepperoni pizza to cheese, but he won't eat the pepperoni *on* the pizza (and it has to be discs of pepperoni, not the little cubes, which I actually prefer). A few weeks ago, we got him some of the cold pepperoni slices from the salad bar. He inhaled them and asked for more. He now requests them every time he goes, in lieu of dessert (yes, really!).

2009-04-20

Goofing for the camera in the back seat while waiting for the world's longest stoplight to change.

2009-04-19

Ah, the two best pals. He doesn't like Lightning McQueen sleeping in his room, though, for some reason. He has to stay downstairs. Kitty, on the other hand, goes most everywhere (as you may have noticed).

2009-04-18

DH was determined to get this game for us. Not sure why, but whatever makes him happy. So, we are now the owners of Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves with two pads. I was afraid that it would be hard for Luke, but he caught on eventually, faster than I expected really. His problem is waiting for the "arrows" to get to the top; he wants to step on the pad as soon as he sees them pop up at the bottom. Still, he seemed to have fun.

2009-04-17

More Moravian stars at our Mexican restaurant. The glass ones I photographed in January are in the "upper" part of the restaurant, where you come in. These "bronze" ones are in the back part of the restaurant and are quite a bit bigger, but still beautiful.

2009-04-16

My poor little camera! It took two years, but sometime while we were gone to Disney, I managed to wear off the symbols on the control ring on the back of my Canon Elph. I'm sure all the sunscreen and stuff didn't help. Good thing I practically have the symbol locations and functions memorized.

2009-04-15

How old is my car? This old! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, with all the commercials and everything about cars coming with iPod docks or MP3 connections, or places offering to install them, my poor little Camry still has a tape deck! She is a 1999, so she was probably one of the last models to come with tape instead of CD. Even DH's car, the crummy Kia (also a 1999), has a CD player. Maybe one day we'll join the 21st century with our vehicles. (We will ignore the fact that I don't even have an MP3 player! LOL)

2009-04-14

I know this seems like an odd picture, but it was a very odd site. This is 7 vehicles that are all almost the exact same color red, all clustered together in this parking lot. What you cannot see are the two vehicles closest to me on my right that are also red (could not get them all in frame) and the two others across from these at the end of the row in front of me (off camera to the left). Eleven red vehicles all right there together in a parking lot of less than 40 cars. It was weird!

2009-04-13

This is "The Rice Krispy Treat Spoon," as it is known in my family. It previously belonged to my great-grandmother. I have no idea how often she used it or what types of things she used it for. It is suspected that my great-grandfather made it for her. There were two of these in her belongings. Mom has one, I have the other. I don't know how I stumbled onto using it to make Rice Krispy Treats; probably out of desperation. I bet I got to the melting part and needed a spoon only to find none in the drawer near the stove, but this would have been there. But ever since the first time I used it, whenever that was, I have used nothing else. It is the *perfect* utensil for that purpose. It is very smooth, and it is perfectly flat on both sides, so there aren't any bowls and crevices for marshmallows or krispies to get caught. The end is also the perfect curvature to fit into the curve at the bottom of my huge pot. People tell me all the time that my RKTs are the best they have ever had (seriously!). I can't help but think that part of it is due to the magic of this spoon. Thanks, Great-Grandmother!

2009-04-12

Decisions, decisions, LOL. Happy Easter!

2009-04-11

More culture! We did the Chinese Terra Cotta Warriors this weekend (it leaves either this weekend or next), and it was great. Crowded and small, but I still loved it. We did the same Luke hand-off technique with my parents that we used for Tut exhibit. Luke showed a little more interest in this one than at Tut, but not much. ::sigh:: I guess he just needs to be a little bit older. Still, I hope the exposure is good for him. They had this cut-out in front of the building, since you can't take photos inside the exhibit. Yes, that is a flat cardboard cut-out! It looked pretty real in person, and it looks even more real in the picture. Cool!

2009-04-10

While my parents were on vacation last week in Ashville, Mom took a couple of beading classes. (I'm so jealous!) She was showing me several of her bead purchases, and I realized while she was doing so that I hadn't taken any pictures all day! I thought this selection of various red beads was lovely, particularly the carved flowers (just right of center). I look forward to her teaching me over Memorial Day weekend! LOL

2009-04-09

Luke actually *watching* an episode of Mythbusters. It is a show we thought he would like, but it never held his attention for more than a couple of minutes. The Demolition Derby special, however, had him enraptured. How many different ways can you destroy a car? He loved it! He's only gotten to see about 45 mintues of it (we started it too close to bedtime and forgot it was 2 hours), but we'll watch the rest this weekend.

2009-04-08

I missed another day. I was so happy that I got every single day in March, I thought I was over the hump, so to speak, but here is another blank day. I even thought to myself "you still need to take a picture today," but I was so tired I just crashed and never actually did it. This is a shot from yesterday. Maybe skipping today was unconscious? The tire problem was more characteristic of the day, but I really loved this shot (cropped some), and it was hard to choose. Now I get to use it. Would still have preferred taking one today, though. Oh well. Note the pollen all over the petals on the right. Welcome to Atlanta!

2009-04-07

Well this was fun! A sudden cold snap caused my tires to be far too low on air, particularly the front passenger side. This is DH filling it up for me as we left the restaurant.

2009-04-06

I took this picture because I was so annoyed with this bus. I had to follow this thing on two different roads, and I swear, it stopped at every *single* bus stop on the path. Took me nearly 3 times as long to traverse those two miles as it usually does. MARTA buses are usually annoying, but it was just particularly bad this day. (But I do think that particular ad is cute; the answer (in case you can't read it) is "a little one.")

2009-04-05

Just a sign of the times, I guess. This boating shop has been at Steve Reynolds and Venture Drive for as long as I can remember. When we were up there last weekend, we saw this. Hard to believe that something that has been in business so long will be gone soon, though I did always wonder how they managed to stay in business in the first place. There are several lakes around, but are there really that may "boaters"? I've never even been inside, but I was still very sad to see it.

2009-04-04

This month should be full of culture! (We're doing the Chinese Terra Cotta Warriors next weekend.) Today, we went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Civic Center (actually the old Sci-Trek museum right next to the Civic Center). DH and I went through first, just the two of us, at 1 PM. My parents followed at 3 PM with Luke (who got free admission since he is under 5). We met them at the entrance, took Luke on the tour at whatever speed he wanted to go (took DH and me an hour and 45 minutes; it took Luke about 20 minutes), and let my parents go through at their own speed. I don't think Luke was very impressed, but I hope that exposing him to things like this early will help him be more interested as he gets older. No cameras allowed, so this was taken with DH's phone.

2009-04-03

He barely fits in there anymore. It took him three tries to figure out how to fold up his mile-long legs and get in there. He hasn't asked to ride in one of these for months, and it won't be long before he simply can't.

2009-04-02

What? LOL

2009-04-01

April Fools Day isn't always fun and games. He just would not do as he was told, so I enforced a terrible punishment: I made Daddy come sit beside me instead of sitting beside Luke. Such crocodile tears!