Friends

Ashley and I have had the pleasure of attending Friendsgiving’s the past few years.

Last year, one of our couple friends were living in Houston. We ventured down there and had a great time together.

This year, and luckily for us, they’re living in East Austin now and wanted to host again!

I was so freakin’ impressed by the effort that went into this year’s dinner party.

From the printed menus, to the assortment spread of starters, the beautiful florals and the delicious apertif, it was all a quite lovely treat.

Oh and the one of the best parts??? They wanted us to bring our pup, Chuy! He was a very good boy.

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We were asked if we wanted to join a few friends for the Women’s March on Austin and we said yes.

It turns out that tens of thousands in Austin also said yes, and millions across the nation also said yes.

Here’s a few photos from that day.

Some hand painted signs

Taking a rideshare to the protest

The Contemporary Austin participating in the protests

Underneath the Paramount marquee, headed to the Capitol Building

Sisters

The front of the Women’s March on Austin

In the march, with handmade signs

The march, with the State Capitol in the background

Marching for everyone

Women’s March on Austin friends

Walking along the Capitol lawn

Ash using her new camera

The Texas Capitol building with marchers

On the Capitol lawn

Looking toward the Capitol promenade

Texas Capitol Building promenade with protesters

It was really kind of an incredible experience, thanks for looking, I hope you join us all next time.

See you again soon.

For Casey’s birthday, we celebrated a little early in Austin. We decided that we definitely needed to go downtown. We visited old and new places. And of course I took some photos.

First stop was a place she hadn’t been to, Handlebar. They have a rooftop and a seesaw. I love that seesaw.

Then I decided we needed to take a trip down memory lane, to the Library.

I was unable to convince anyone to partake in a long island ice tea race, which was probably for the best. We’re classy nowadays.

We tried to hit up another new(er) place for Casey, Barbarella, but decided we just didn’t need to risk hepatitis, so we headed home for a different kind of fun.

I’m obsessed with sparklers, and I have a lot of them right now. But I need more. You could always do with having more fireworks. Every. Time.

Happy Birthday Casey!!!

This year I got to shoot the 7th annual July 4th celebration hosted by Premier Party Cruise.

I thought it would be extra fun to bring along a Fujifilm Mini 90 Neo along with several packs of film.

Most of these are shot on full auto mode with flash. I was worried the flash would blow out faces but for the most part, even in near darkness, the camera performed very well.

The Fujifilm Mini 90 Neo is a capable little camera that even features a “Bulb” mode. Bulb mode is a way to keep the shutter open for as long as needed, usually reserved for very dark scenes. In this case, the bulb mode allowed me to capture the fireworks show at the end of the night.

Instant film cameras are always a big hit at events. While the film is not cheap at about $1 per image, most folks seem to enjoy the experience; the flash, the way the film ejects from the camera and the few short minutes spent watching the image form.

There’s something magical about having something you can hold in your hands.

We decided to go camping last minute, well after a last minute invitation.

I’ve been to Krause Springs before, it’s not real camping by any stretch, but its still fun. With the recent rains, a lot of the camp grounds we used to pitch our tents on were under water.

About to join the others, but first, a silhouette portrait

We took a short little float trip from our camp site over the Springs, I didn’t bring my camera though. Next time!

Another silhouette portrait

My friend Brian brought his Kayak and let a few of us take it out for a spin.

Kayaking is much harder than I thought

I’ll tell you what, my body was not ready for kayaking. I struggled with balancing and moving forward with any kind of rhythm.

The flotilla, or, in English, the float squad

We also lucked out and had some groovy neighbors. They were out there for a week or so when we showed up. And were a trip, literally.

Camp Neighbors

They definitely had the right idea. They even helped jump start our camp fire when the boy scout method was developing too slowly. Oh well. It is always fun to watch someone with a bottle of lighter fluid eager to play with fire.

Tea lights under the tie dye flags of peace and love

I’m sure we’ll be back to Krause Springs soon. I want to practice kayaking, enjoy the natural springs longer and get some photos of the night sky out there.

See ya soon with more outdoor adventures.

A few weeks ago, we took a trip up north to see Justin for a little birthday get together that promised good company and BBQ. I brought sour patch kids because they’re amazing and go with everything.

And as always, good music and funny youtube videos.

Joplin, the elder golden doodle

And cuddles.

Justin and Natale’s Toy Australian Shepherd, Z

And licks too.

A tender moment between Joplin and Ashley

And some good old fashioned hand holding.

Birthday Strawberry Cheesecake

And a surprise cheesecake!

Wu-Tang forever!

With a special touch. Protect ya neck! C.R.E.A.M.

Little Buddha looks on

I’m not a soldier of any one religious sect. I realized you can never put a circle around the truth and say that it belongs to one sect. I’m a student. . . . I’m not a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Christian, a gangsta, a thug, or a prophet. I’m not any of these things, although in a way I’m all of them.

RZA, The Tao of Wu

Good ol boys from Drip

Good conversation and planning a multi-day kayak adventure on the Devils river.

Rallying the troops for adventures

Sometimes momentum is hard to overcome and recklessness abounds.

Preparing prayer lanterns

Always a bit tricky to get started.

Launching prayer lanterns

Happy Birthday Justin!