Mommy plus Five: March 19, 2016

Sunday, March 20, 2016

March 19, 2016 - Hello Spring

4:34 PM |

Posted by Veronica |

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And we are off...Spring Break 2016 has commenced! It was off to a rather shaky start at first. Poor Blake was stricken with a stomach bug or possibly food poisoning. He was not feeling well at all on Friday night.

Saturday morning we woke to a gloriously beautiful Spring day, and I was hoping to take the first bike ride/photography adventure of the season. I was ready to cancel when Blake decided that he felt better and really wanted to get out of the house. He was not, however, up to a bike ride...so we drove.
We left pretty late in the day in order to capture the sunset. Neither one of us had eaten yet, so we decided to try to get some dinner first. Blake was not altogether sure he was up to eating at all, but either way, we could always take it to go.

We stopped at Smokey Mountain Pizza for dinner. We had never been there before and had heard that the food was delicious. Blake and I love to try new restaurants. Well...it was delicious, but neither one of us could eat. I mean look at this spread. The food pictures are cell phone pictures. Blake would not let me pull out my Nikon...lol

Blake had a personal chicken/artichoke pizza with a salad. I ordered some angel hair pasta and a salad, and we had Brie Kisses for an appetizer. OMG, those are SO delicious!! We managed to finish the appetizer and salads but ended up boxing the entrees to go.

We then decided to hike up Camel's Back for sunset pictures. Well, let me tell you, mama in Spring is not mama at the end of summer. I have been hibernating since Fall, and my stamina is ZERO! It is so depressing! I have hiked up and down Camel's back so many times, and always after a 4.4 mile bike ride, with no problems at all. Hibernated mama can barely take the stairs at home, much less a hike straight up the side of a huge hill. *Le pant!* But we made it. Slowly but surely, we made it up to the top just in time for the sunset. It was stunning!

I then decided that night shots would be cool too, so we waited on the top of the hill until after sundown to capture some slow shutter speed images. Not my brightest moment. I did not take into consideration that we then had to hike down the hill in the dark. Oops. Blake, bless his heart, pulled out his cell phone and illuminated the path for me all the way down...very s l o w l y. About half-way down, Blake started to feel a bit alarmed at all the strange sounds we were hearing. Telling him, "Oh no worries honey, it is probably just a mountain lion," was probably not a good idea. LOL But I did hand him my glasses to see if it helped him see better. We then discovered that the poor kid is blind. He shouted..."OH MY GOD I CAN SEE!!!" It was quite funny. If there was a mountain lion stalking us, Blake scared the hell out of him! He had no clue how terrible his vision was until he could suddenly see clearly. Needless to say, we will be making an appointment with an eye doctor right away. Blake did have glasses a few years ago, but he claimed he faked the visit only because he wanted some cool Ray Bans like his big brother had. Then he refused to wear them...little brat. He definitely needs glasses.

All in all, we had a wonderful time my Blake and I. I really enjoy his company and am so grateful that he still enjoys hanging out with dear old mom. I do want to start cycling again and build my stamina back up. Post-hibernation Veronica is no fun.

Some images from our adventure...

This is the stairway down off of Camel's Back. This is a very slow shutter speed image, so don't let the light fool you, I have also lightened the image up in post processing. The path is pitch dark all the way down!

Another slow shutter speed image. An airplane flew through my picture leaving a cool light streak.

Hopefully, we can take a photography adventure this week with Garrett. He always takes us to new and exciting places. The Washington trip is still on for mid-April. We can't wait!!

In other news...chickens! They are so funny these two. When they see me in the kitchen, they come pecking on the sliding glass door asking for special treats. They will be a year old in a few weeks!