Canada in Monochrome

October 26, 2016 ~ veronimama ~ 1 Comment

Despite my initial aversion to black and white film, I’ve been completely convinced that it captures some of the most beautiful photos. It’s hard to imagine that a gorgeous landscape of bright orange and red leaves scattered on a mountain over a fjord might be equally as beautiful with no color at all, but it’s true.

We brought one vintage Canon point and shoot (that actually used to belong to my parents when we were babies), and managed to shoot 3 rolls of black and white film. Since I carried the DSLR most of the time, Margaret took most of the film pictures. I have a tendency to “save” the film and try not to waste pictures which leads to way fewer photos than if I had the digital camera. Margaret doesn’t have that issue, so we have plenty. Enjoy!

Canada in Color

October 14, 2016October 26, 2016 ~ veronimama ~ Leave a comment

Margaret and I just got back from a five day trip to Quebec City where we spent most of our time wandering around the city and exploring. We had been wanting to go on a trip just the two of us, and after looking around at airfare, we figured Canada would be pretty cool.

I hate to say it, but overall I was not impressed with Quebec City. It was definitely nice to take a few days off of work and spend some quality sister time, but after the first day of exploring, I was over it. The town itself felt like a giant downtown Disney minus the rides, complete with cobblestone streets, quaint little façades, tons of souvenir shops, and tourists as far as the eye could see. I absolutely appreciate the historic beauty, but tourist traps are not my cup of tea.

The parts I enjoyed the most were walking the historic walls around the city, riding on the bike path, and driving through the mountains and seeing all the beautiful farms. The weather was beautiful except for one dreary day, so we were able to spend most of our trip outside which was so so nice. We were lucky enough to be there at the perfect time to see all of the trees in their gorgeous fall colors. I have honestly never seen such intense oranges and reds in my life!

We rented a car to drive up north toward the fjord, and took the scenic mountain route which ended up being verrrrrrrry hilly (duh, mountains), but also beautiful. We pulled off at the économusée du fromage (Cheese Museum YES PLEASE) and our dreams came true as I chugged a glass bottle of milk and Margaret ate a block of Brie like it was a sandwich. We took some pics with the local wildlife and acted as though we weren’t from the Midwest and had never seen cows. Or a farm. Or dairy products.

We pulled off at a quiet little trail entrance in the mountains and climbed the most gorgeous path. We kept hearing people’s voices but couldn’t see anyone until we realized they were way above us, climbing the giant rock face of the mountain! Margaret was determined to “touch the butt” and make it all the way up to where the rock began, so up we went. Coming down was definitely the hardest part, especially with two cameras in hand.

On our last day, we rented a tandem and spent the afternoon riding on the city’s beautiful bike path. It wasn’t quite as idyllic as it sounds and involved a few arguments, vulgar hand gestures, and nasty looks, but that’s to be expected when you throw two sisters on one bike. Right? We didn’t fall though, so that’s what really matters.

We shot 3 rolls of black&white film too, so check out Canada in Monochrome too!

Picnics in the Park

August 5, 2016August 5, 2016 ~ veronimama ~ Leave a comment

While her brother is visiting family in California for a month, we have Z all to ourselves! I love them both dearly, but having just one of them is SO MUCH EASIER than two of them. We’ve taken full advantage of the mid summer weather this week and gone for so many walks in the wagon and trips to the park. Per her request, we always stop at the grocery store first to pick up grapes, strawberries, and cheese for our picnic dinners. She’s a cheap date 🙂

She’s also jetlagged from their trip to China….

In an effort to keep her awake at least past 5pm, I took her to the park and splash pad to keep her distracted. It totally worked.

It took her awhile to warm up to the whole idea, but once she got one toe in the water, she didn’t want to come back out. I had to coax her out of the water with pretzels and a juicebox so we could head home. She did the no-pants-dance in the bike seat since she was totally SOAKED. She thought it was hilarious and held her shorts off the bike to dry while we rode.

I was getting some serious baby fever watching all the adorable babes running around in the sprinklers. Not even the kid licking the ground and eating wet diapers could save me from myself.