Artsy Fartsy

Back before Sylvie came along I was known to take a photo every now than then that didn't feature my little girl.  Since I got my iPhone a few weeks ago, with it's freaky-good little camera, I've been taking some random shots of things that catch my eye, and then playing with them in my spare time with the various photography apps that I've picked up.  I got a bunch this weekend.

This first is my favorite.  After assuring me that he understood the limitations of my ski skills (given that I've been on sticks once in the past decade), these are the "options" that Chris gave me on our fourth run:

Here are a few more from the weekend:

I've put my favorite iPhone photos in a gallery here, for anyone who might be interested.

Sugarbush 2011

As promised, here are the best of the rest of my shots from this weekend at Sugarbush, where the Greens hosted us in their excellent, trailside condo for Sylvie's very first "ski" weekend.  Although the skiing part didn't go exactly to plan, Sylvie had a great time with Zachary and Avery (as she always does).  Her dad got in some good time on the mountain with Chris, skiing conditions that were more mid-February than late March (the temp was too, but it was worth it for the snow).  Even Melissa got into the outdoor fun - Jess taught her how to snowshoe.

Sylvie was super-excited when we agreed to let Zachary sleep in her room, on her air mattress.  Sure, the sleepover got cut short by a late night "incident," but it was cute to see their excitement at the front end.  Here's a bit of dialogue from the following morning, as the pair reviewed events:

Sylvie: "Zachary?  Is you have an accident?  Is you wet the bed?"

Zachary: "Yes, Sylvie.  I had an accident."

S:  "That okay, Zachary.  Accidents happen.  It okay."

Z:  "Oh Sylvie.  You're so adorable."

All in all, another great trip with the Greens.  We owe them some serious hosting.

More in the March 2011 Gallery.

Maybe next year

We got up this morning and asked Sylvie if she wanted to try ski school again.  Her answer was fairly unequivocal.  "No."

So we are going to give skiing another try next year...

I have a lot of good photos from the weekend, and a little bit of video.  For tonight, though, here's the tale of Sylvie's first - and only - ski "run."  I got all of these from a safe and anonymous distance, with the telephoto lens.

When Chris and I first snuck up on the ski schoolers, it took a while for me to find Sylvie.  That was because I was looking at the kids on the ground... and Sylvie was in an instructor's arms, wailing.

It wasn't long before they were headed indoors.  I figured that was that, but Melissa convinced me not to go inside to check on her.

To my amazement, within three minutes she was clomping back out, a resolute look on her face, accompanied by a  young man who is now my hero.

He walked her to the "magic carpet" (the moving belt that serves as a lift up the bunny slope) and sent her on her way.

At the top, Syl still looked pretty disconsolate.  She promptly plopped down and started munching snow.

But then the instructor rejoined her, and got her interested in her skis - and then into her skis (no easy process)...

Properly equipped, she seemed ready to give it a try.

And away she went, holding the hands of the same instructor (who by then had spent a good 15 minutes attending to Sylvie individually).

All things considered, not so bad - and now she can say she has "skied."  

Unsurprisingly, Sylvie has already revised her skiing history.  When Melissa asked her to name her favorite part of the weekend, she didn't hesitate: "Skiing!!"  

So next year...

Up on skis

Seriously. But as it turns out, I caught the best moment of Sylvie's first (and possibly last) day at ski school. We are told she pretty much cried the whole morning and refused to so much as stand up in her boots, never mind the skis.

Still, when I told her a few moments ago that I am proud of her for trying, and she does not have to go to ski school again tomorrow, she looked at me like I was nuts. "Tomorrow another ski day! I can try again.". So we'll see. I think the skiing may have to wait until next year.

Excellent day on the mountain for Sylvie's Dad though.

Snugs

Best friends!

Fairy princess

Or, "Delusions of Grandeur."

Don't mess with the Princess

"How does this $^*@! thing work?

"Mess with the bull, Daddy.  You'll get the horns."

Pleased

Technology

This video (of a walk Sylvie and I took with Pax this weekend in the warm(ish) pre-Spring sun) represents something of a technological milestone for me.  It was taken - and edited - entirely on my new iPhone.  I used the "1920s" setting on the video app.  Struck me while editing that there's some small irony in the fact that Apple has deployed its near miraculous technology... so that I can take us back to the days of blurry, jumpy, scratched-up video.  Fun stuff though.

See if you can recognize the little TV jungle she sings about 3/4 of the way through...

Aunts and Birthdays

Sylvie admonished me this morning for slacking on the happy birthday posts.  We missed Aunt Lia's on Saturday, and would have blown Aunt Emily's today but for Facebook's handy birthday reminders.  Gotta be better about that.  Anyhow,

Happy Birthday Aunt Lia and Aunt Emily!

Sylvie made you cupcakes (the finger-licking came only after completion).  You'll need to come get them though.  Her delivery range does not extend past the end of the driveway.

What's gonna work?

TEAM work!

Pals in the grass

Another beautiful Saturday.

Elevation

Syl really likes her new chair.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A few random shots from the week...

In honor of the occasion, Sylvie did her best Bono impersonation...

Rock Star

 Here's Sylvie's latest family portrait.  You can see how she's improved - she even included my beard!  She explained to us that she is "doing a big jump."

In these next three, Syl is showing off both her new chair and her new zebra jammies.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

We are not the only ones...

... Pushing the season. Daffodil!!

Pushing the season?

Perhaps just a little. But it sure feels nice to play outside.

By the way, if you are noticing a certain amount of artsy-fartsy in some of my photos lately, you aren't imagining things.  I am playing around with a couple of apps on my iPhone (Instagram and Camera+) that have some fun filters.  Technology!