A Grain of Sand

My Lumix point and shoot camera has been experiencing a slow demise. Today it was finally lights out for my poor little camera. Ginger was playing in the sand at the beach and threw a whole shovelful of sand right into the camera as I was taking her photo. Thankfully I still have my old Canon Powershot Digital Elph tucked away somewhere - I probably should have been bringing that camera to the beach all along. Oh well.

It was a gorgeous day at the beach today- sunny, blue skies, big waves...we even went to the aquarium and to the touch tanks to pet the sea stars and sea cucumbers. We sat on the pier and watched the surfers ride the sparkling waves...there were a lot of surfers today! Of course there are no photos because...well, by that time the camera was kaput!

I am hoping this 4th of July weekend is a great one! I'm going to try to see fireworks somewhere with not too much of a crowd. In LA, that is a trick! But we'll see if we can. Otherwise, we're just cooking out, hanging out, and relaxing. As it should be! :-)

Your Questions Answered

I'm standing in front of my laptop, holding Ginger in the Ergo at the moment, trying to get her to go to sleep...please take a nap, sweet Ginger!

Since I've got a few moments, I'm going to take this opportunity to answer some questions that have been posted, emailed, or Facebooked to me over the past few weeks...

1) What kind of camera do you use?

It's evolving!

My current cameras are a Lumix ZS3 and the Canon 7D. For the Canon 7D, I have two lenses in rotation. I have a Canon 50/1.4 USM and a Canon 24-70/2.8L.

I am using the Lumix a lot now because it's very small and light, and I can throw it in my pocket and take it everywhere. I still love the 7D and use it all the time, but since I got the Lumix for Christmas, I have been using it a lot, too, since it is more portable.

Here's my timeline of cameras:

August 2006-December 2009: Canon Powershot Digital Elph SD550

I took about 50,000 photos on this camera. It was my only camera the first year of Paprika's life. It was great. Then the pixels started to die, and the flash wore out, and by then, it just wasn't cutting it anymore. We kept it until this past month - and up to that point, I was still using it often for park trips, etc.

September 2007-November 2009: Canon Rebel XTi

I took about 30,000 photos on this camera. I got it for my 30th birthday, and it was my first digital SLR. I started with the kit lens, which I had for about a year. Then I upgraded lenses. Then I upgraded again. Finally, I ended up with the lenses I have now.

The Rebels are great cameras, especially if you are transitioning from a point and shoot to a digital SLR. I used the camera every day, and felt like at the end of my second year of using it, I was just then maxing out its capabilities. I am sure there was still a lot I could have done to improve my photography with that camera, but I felt ready to upgrade when the 7D came to market.

November 2009-Present: Canon 7D

My second digital SLR. I took 10,000 photos on it the first month I owned it. This camera has everything I could ever want in a camera. Yes, it's not full-frame, but I don't care. It is amazing. If I had to choose between having a car and having this camera, I would choose the camera. (Truthfully, I use my camera more than my car). The only downside is the size. It is a beast and hard to operate when I have Ginger in the Ergo front-carry, or when I am already lugging around a lot of stuff for the girls.

January 2010-Present: Lumix ZS3

This is my point and shoot that replaced my digital Elph. So far so good. I got really spoiled by the 7D, and this obviously doesn't have many of the capabilities of the 7D (specifically, it doesn't funtion as well in low light). For broad daylight shots, it's great. For indoors, I use the 7D.

I feel a little lost with the Lumix because the menu options are so different than the Canons- but I'll learn! (Hopefully).

2) Where did you get Paprika's princes wardrobe thingy?



One Step Ahead. You can even have it personalized. The pink is a little cheesy, but when I looked at all the options on the market, this one looked like something she would like best (even if I wouldn't like it best, does that make sense?) It was super easy to put together. I put it together myself during a particularly brutal week Mr. Mustard had on Dancing With The Stars. He was working crazy hours and I took out my frustration on the wardrobe construction. It's built mostly right...a few screws missing maybe, but so far it's held together okay.


3) What is your favorite baby carrier?

The Ergo. I have had every baby carrier on the market (literally). Mr. Mustard laughs at me because when I was pregnant with Ginger and going out of my mind with worry (will she be born alive? is she still moving? where is her heartbeat? why is her heartbeat slower today than yesterday? is my placenta going to hold up?)...um yea...when I was out of my mind with worry, I would buy used baby carriers on Ebay. That was in addition to all the carriers I had left from Paprika.

By the time Ginger was born, I had drawers of slings, mei tais, wraps, front carriers, back carriers...you name it. Big brands all the way down to mama made ones.

Ginger last week:



The truth is that the only carrier that really works for me long-term is the Ergo. I love it. We have three. Today we went for a three mile hike with Paprika and Ginger. I wore Ginger in the front (almost 20 pounds), and Mr. Mustard carried Paprika (all 37 pounds of her) on his back in another Ergo.

It's definitely been my best investment in terms of baby carriers. All the other carriers I sold on Ebay recently (and got back what I paid for them...the beauty of buying used). Ergo does not pay me to say this. In fact, they don't even know who I am!

But, having carried Paprika in an Ergo since she was 6 months old, and now Ginger, I can say it is a mainstay in my parenting bag of tricks.

Paprika in her Ergo, November 2007:



Now, my friend Ann has an Ergo and she doesn't like it because she is 5 feet tall and it feels too big for her. So, short people might not get the same experience I get from mine at 5'6.5" (yes, I count that 1/2 inch!)...


4) Do you ever sleep?

No. But, Ginger is sleeping now, so I am going to lay her down in her crib (on her lambie) and give myself a little break. Til next time! :-)

7D At The Park!

My new camera (the Canon 7D) came in the mail! After that UPS snafu, I didn't know if I was ever going to see it.



We took it over to the botanical gardens up the street, and had fun getting to know our new camera. I have to say, there is quite a big learning curve with it. Both Mr. Mustard and I were fumbling with the camera, trying to figure it out. It is definitely not a "point and shoot" type of camera...but I enjoy a bit of a challenge!



Paprika had an awesome time. Her favorite part of visiting this park is going to visit the Buddha statue. She gets so excited to go see her Boo-Dee-Ya, as she calls him. Her love for the Boo-Dee-Ya reminds me of her friend, The Tin Man. She still wants to go visit him whenever we go to that park. Paprika has a grand time talking to statues, and today was no exception. When it was time to leave, she invited the Buddha statue over to our house for lunch!



Ginger hung out in the Baby Bjorn, of course!



She really loves it in there, where she can feel safe and close to mommy!



Paprika had such a fun time exploring and running around. Here she is making a sculpture out of metal shards and a magnet. Cool & messy!



She even got to hold hands with her Daddy! A great day!

UPS, Park, Thigh-High Boots!

Monday was busy. We waited around most of the day for UPS to arrive with my new camera. I have been waiting for months and months for a new camera...and missed the delivery on Friday, so Monday was supposed to be the day. So we waited by the front door but UPS didn't come. Turns out that over the weekend someone at UPS accidentally "misplaced or damaged" the package (translation: stole it!), so now I am still waiting for my new camera. I swear I'm going to have my same 'ole Rebel XTi forever. Everytime I try to get a new camera, something goes awry!



Undaunted, I packed everyone up for a trip to the park. It was a gorgeous day and an afternoon well-spent. Ginger slept in the Baby Bjorn while Paprika had her run of the park.



Then, I took both girls dress shopping with me. Yup, I had to find something to wear because I am going to a fancy Hollywood thing with Mr. Mustard. He is always going out to parties and premieres and mixer-doodles...and I am always (okay, not always...but mostly) stuck at home. So this time, I am getting out!

I didn't end up finding anything to wear, but I still have time. The good news was that despite my fears, both girls were sooooo well-behaved at the stores. The highlight was when Paprika tried on some brown leather knee boots that went up to her waist and modeled them for everyone in the store. It was pretty aweseome! I so wish I would have had my camera on me!