JACK SPARROW.....ARRRRRG

WE MET JACK SPARROW!....REALLY!....

The first week of school and we got the chance to see the Queen Anne (Black Pearl) Pirates of the Caribbean filming area. I thought it would be fun to see the ship before they were done filming and to meet Jack Sparrow (Johnny DEPP). I have heard he is genuinely a nice guy and I LOVE PIRATES!!

So, I loaded the girls, dinner, water bottles, unbrellas, camera and the girls to head to the other side of the island. Went through 2 downpours but hoped it would be nice on the southern tip. WE were correct. A few showers, but we were not deterred!
We viewed the ship and took some fun shots of us waiting. A few planes buzzed overhead and then it was DARK....time to film.
The night we got there was STUNT night. We had to wait a lot longer than we thought, but when the girls screamed upon his arrival....I knew I would win some bonus mommy points in later years for waiting it out.

He came up, shook each girl's hand, made SMALL talk with them in his pirate accent and told the girls they were beautiful and that he hoped they had a great night. He was so personal with each kid. I am a MUCH bigger fan of his work and him as a person. What a very nice guy.
Not to mention....he is SUPER smokin in a pirate outfit. ARRRG!

BACK to SCHOOL already???

The girls got some really nice teachers. They seem to be a very good fit at this point. I am happy to see the first grade teacher does SPELLING tests (the only thing lacking when Sorenna did 1st grade). The 3rd grade teacher is very alert and BIG into reading!

Sorenna already borrowed the 2nd Harry Potter book from her.

The 5th grade room Thorin is in has a huge garden they are responsible for keeping up and there are 2 teachers in her room. That should keep to focus up and the challenges coming!

All three have said they are amazed at how motivated all my girls are and it looks like it will be a great year!

SUMMER SCHOOL

The summer started with a committment to do FUN things every week. Have shaved ice every weekend, go to the beach, have dates with daddy, go to places we have never been and just ENJOY being.....PERIOD....just being! NO dance, NO school, NO appointments, meetings or BUSYness! The only thing scheduled were the 2 nights I had to go to class each week. That is the main reason the BLOG sat for 2 months untouched.

Here are some of the "fieldtrip" photo assignments I had during our adventures.

I have really enjoyed the PHOTOjournalism class. I wish there were more classes like this one. The other class is on LIEs and DECEPTion......We discuss the various ways and places people deceive us all. Food industry, medical professional, entertainment industry and so many more. The most interesting discussion for me so far has been the one on EYE witness testimony. Our brain is very complex and it willingly deceives us every day. MORE on that later!

The best part of my photojournalism class has been the challenging "beat assignments", the software introductions and seeing others work through the photos. We show the SINGLE slides in class and we learn so much from what people present. I miss the news room sooooo much!

The hardest thing in this class (other than searching for the perfect MOMENT to take a photo) has been the AUDIO slide show!

WHO would have thought I would have audio in a PHOTO class...not me!

Now that I mastered the audio slide show concept....be looking for some of that on the blog. In fact, watch the one I turned in for the assignment. I had to interview and photograph ONE person doing a cool job or hobby and relay why it was cool in 2 MINUTES!!!

There was a lot of clipping, pasting, overlapping music with interview clips! I really like what turned out to be...but 2 minutes is not a lot of time. I have A HUGE admiration for people who MAKE the movie we see in theaters. They have to have a concept, VISUALIZE it and then clip it just right to make it all work. MAN....NO WAY!

Enjoy some of my fun photo assignments and video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxrZad6yHQI

Pepere's visit and Luau

We had a great time with Pepere while he was here this summer. He seemed to be happy relaxing in paradise too!.
We did a luau, teh beach, a concert, fireworks, tons of walking, the Palace, stumbled onto a protest in downtown and so much more...all in ONE WEEK!

Memorial Weekend

We spent the weekend paying respect to those who sacrificed their lives to defending ours.
Went to see the MIGHTY MO where WWII ended (signed documents on ship to declare the end). We also toured all the area (except Arizona memorial because it is under renovations)
It was a great weekend to start the summer holiday season. It was busy for the entire 2 months we were on break.