The Silent "I"

And the Winner is...

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to help celebrate my 5 year anniversary of blogging, and to enter the Sony Dash Giveaway.  I think that was some kind of record for number of comments on this blog.

Without further ado, the winner is...Melanie!

Maura was the first to answer the bonus question right--the 'i' in my name is silent. When you meet me, call me "Glenna", not "Glenn-ee-yah" or "Glenn-ya" or "Glen-nigh-ya".  Just plain old Glennia with a silent i. Last night, I told my kid to call me "moim" or maybe "mothier" with a silent "i".  The eyes, how they rolled.

There were many great, creative answers to the question "What does the Silent I mean?", so I'm going to come up with a second prize.  Unfortunately, I don't have another Dash to give away, but I'll think of something. 

AND...if you stop by tomorrow you can find out how to win your family's ultimate vacation from the fine folks at Cheerios!

Until then, here's one of my favorite pictures from a trip we took to Beijing in 2004, before I started my blog.  Alex had decided he'd had enough of my picture-taking and pulled his hat over his face in protest.

Because this blog is nothing, if not random.

 

Kaua'i's Western Beaches

Surf's Up at Polihale State Park

Kaua'i has a multitude of gorgeous, white sand beaches, and we had time on our last trip to explore some that we hadn't been to in prior years.  We also spent a good deal of time at the beach by our hotel, Kalapaki Beach, due to its convenience and accessibility.  Despite its convenience, it got a little crowded some days, so we went in search of a quieter spot.

Probably the most popular beach in Kaua'i is Poipu Beach on the Western side of the island, but when we were there briefly on Friday, it seemed as though every square inch of this tiny, crescent-shaped bit of sand seemed was covered by someone's beach towel and coconut-oiled body.  One of our local friends characterized it as "the new Waikiki."  The abundance of timeshares, hotels, and guest-houses in Poipu make it a popular tourist spot.  While it's a nice spot, with shallow pools for kids to play in, and interesting fish to look at, it wasn't quite what we were looking for in terms of "beach getaway."

We drove a little further north to the equally beautiful (and relatively empty) Salt Pond Beach Park.  Near the historic town of Hanapepe, the Salt Pond is where Hawaiians have traditionally gone to gather sea salt for cooking.  It's a lovely park, with a grassy area leading to a sandy beach, with a rock-enclosed space perfect for kids to splash around it in, protected from the rough waves.

Easter Island: A Music Video by Animoto

I received a free pass to try out Animoto, a website that turns your short videos and photos into cool music videos in a few minutes.  I've agonized over iMovie attempting to do things like this, but lack the patience or skills to complete anything.  With Animoto, you just upload your pictures, choose some music, and they do the rest. The video here took about 15 minutes to upload the pictures, set the music, and then wait for it to be created. The hardest part was figuring out what pictures to use.

If you sign up, you can do a 30-second video for free, but an all-access pass for one year to create longer videos is $30/year.  You can upgrade to an HD version to burn onto a DVD for an additional $5 per video, if you need it for a special occasion.  I'm thinking about doing one for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary next year.

If you sign up using this link, you can get $5 off an all-access pass, and I earn a discount off future purchases.

Also, if you want to see some other great travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday today!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary temporary all-access pass to try out Animoto, but no other compensation or incentive for writing this review or trying out the product.

Easter Island: The Birdmen of Orongo

February 7, 2004

On our third day in Easter Island, Chile, our fabulous tour guide, China picked us up at our hotel for a day exploring another aspect of Rapa Nui Culture: the Birdman competition.  After seeing the modern-day version involving skimpily-clad men running around a lake carrying bundles of banana, we were interested to see some of original sites.

China drove us to Orongo, part of the Rapa Nui National Park.  Orongo was formerly a village set on a cliff with spectacular views of the Ocean, over looking a small island called Moto Nui.  The micro-island was famous as a nesting ground for the sooty tern, a bird whose eggs were prized by the early Rapa Nui people.  In the 17th to 19th centuries, European explorers wrote of a "birdman cult" in which young men would compete in a contest to see who could recover the first sooty tern egg of the season by jumping off the cliff at Orongo, swimming across shark-infested waters, stealing an egg, and then scaling the cliff without breaking the egg.  The first to do so would hold be crowned as Tangata Manu ("bird man") and hold a place in the tribe for the following year.  The Birdman competitions were held long after the moai-building ceased, despite any Hollywood representations to the contrary.

Easter Island: Redefining "Statuesque" for Photo Friday

This is my favorite photo of Alexander from our trip to Easter Island. The perspective makes him appear nearly as big as the moai, which are actually at huge in comparison. Our family has a tradition of standing in front of statues and posing like them.

A Boy in Buenos Aires for Photo Friday

These are two of my favorite photos of Alex from our trip to Buenos Aires. In the top one, we stopped at a fountain, and he decided to examine the water.  He looks so studious and contemplative in this picture, like a scientist examining a specimen up close.

In the photo below, he ran through a flock of pigeons in front of the Casa Rosada.  The joy of being a little boy in a big world is evident on his face, and in the lightness of his step.

For more joyful and inspiring travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday this week.

Brazil: The Toucan & The Toddler

Alexander, age 3, gets checked out by a toucan in Brazil. The Parque das Aves, near Iguassu Falls, is a great place to visit with kids.

For more colorful and fun travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.

Photo Friday - Argentina: Iguazu Falls

This week's Photo Friday is a picture I took on the Argentina side of Iguazu Falls in 2004. It was an amazing experience to stand on the precipice looking into the rushing water and the rainbows continually forming in the mist.

For more inspiring travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.

Photo Friday: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

 

Alex (age 2 1/2) and Frank (considerably older) in Churchill, Manitoba.  They look like a couple of Arctic explorers setting ready to brave the elements for adventure.

For more fun travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.

Friday Photo: Trompe L'Oeil in Osaka

The train station in Osaka, Japan has a wonderful set of trompe l'oeil murals near the Osaka Hilton entrance. The murals depict mostly Western people in humorous street scenes that could be New York or Chicago or Paris.  During our two days in Osaka, we passed them several times.  Alex couldn't resist making himself part of the scene.

To see other fun travel photos, check out Delicious Baby's Photo Friday.