WW - Adam tramples his opponent

Extreme close-up:

Ouch!  He didn't even know until we looked at this photograph later.

Visit by Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom for more participants.

Ruby Tuesday - Ferraris

No car defines red like Ferrari does!

Nothing is cheap if it has the Ferrari name, even Adam's new cap was $30!!!


I love the red horses on the floor mats.


Even the engines are red.


As are the tails.



These photos were taken by Doug at Tutto Italiano at the Museum of Transportation in Brookline, MA on August 3rd.

WW - The Overlook at Chesterwood

Every once in a while I hand the camera over to Doug.  I should do it more often!

Car Safety - What about Headlights?

Sylvania 9003 SilverStar Ultra Headlight

When people think about car safety, they immediately think of seat belts, air bags, and properly inflated tires. But they hardly ever about their headlights. Considering that 42% of fatal accidents occur at night, this should be number one on the list.

Those that know us know that we are car fanatics. Doug meticulously maintains all our cars to ensure that they are always safe. In our high end cars, we have HID Xenon lights which are great for our aging eyes. But in our 2001 Toyota Echo, we have an old pair of headlights sitting behind pitted plastic lenses (145k of mostly highway miles).

When we heard about the Sylvania SilverStar Ultra headlights, we thought we would give them a try. Supposedly, they have the brightest, whitest, street legal lights which increase down-road viewing up to 25%, as well as sideroad viewing. You don't need to wait until your headlights burn out to replace them. After time, the light output from headlights simply fade until they are no longer safe. We found SilverStars at our local Wallyworld (Walmart) and picked them up. They weren't the Ultra version, but should still be a marked improvement over our factory bulbs. After installing them and taking them for a test run, my first reaction was, "Whoa, are you sure these aren't aimed too high?" It was much brighter than the old headlamps and I could definitely see further down the road.

There is a small price to pay for the extra white light however. Looking at Amazon's customer ratings, many complained that the life of the SilverStar Ultra was much lower. There is probably some "conservation of light output" law at work here. The brighter the light, the less the life. But it is a small price to pay for safe driving at night. People raved about the SilverStar Ultra for high beam usage. Make sure to check the bulb type against your owner's manual. Amazon seems to have a good system for checking compatibility.

Mothers 5140 PowerBall Polishing Tool

Meguiar's PlastX Cleaner & Polish

We didn't stop at just the bulbs. Doug wanted to polish the lenses so that the bright light could actually get out of the cloudy lenses. We picked up a polishing ball and Meguiar's PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish for the job. Doug said that it would probably cost several hundred dollars to replace the lens assemblies, so this was a great low cost alternative. The lenses came out much clearer (I was asked to do inspection after one lens was done for comparison). And just our luck, we had to drive home in the rain that very night to test our complete setup. It was fantastic. I'd say that this setup was just as good as our HID lights. We could clearly see the edges of the road in the rain at night without trouble. No need for adding extra fog lights either.

So if you're concerned about safe driving at night (which you should be but I'll try not to guilt you into it) check out these products.

Photo Hunters - Road

Sunrise.





Sunset.



Now who started singing "Swiftly flow the days"? This first photo was taken at 5:40am (according to the EXIF data) on the way to the airport for one of my many business trips.  This past week, I actually got to the airport so early that it was still dark out.  I missed the turn for long term parking and ended up going in and out of the expensive short term lot, feigning stupidity for the parking lot attendant (I've only done this trip about 20 times and should know better). To top off the trip, I got lost on my way home tonight because my iPod wasn't working and ended up on some back roads in New Hampshire.  Where the heck am I?  How can I screw up this trip which I've done in my sleep at 3am?  Must be old age...



The second photo was taken on our way out for vacation last month.  I was so slow packing that we didn't depart until dinner time.  Luckily, I was in the passenger seat and had my point-and-shoot (a.k.a Silver Surfer) handy. 

Photo Story Friday - Dova Plays Soccer

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Since Dova's big brother is a soccer star and she is always trying to keep up with him, you'd think that she would be excited to start in her first youth soccer team. She's done two soccer camps already, each time starting out well because she wanted to be with her brother, and ending up with her not wanting to go anymore.  We assured her that the soccer league was not as intense as the camp and that there would be plenty of boys and girls her age.

Dova's first game of the season started on a bad note.  We were running late for the pre-game practice and approached the fields with what seemed like hundreds of kids in blocks of different colored shirts already in practice.  It must have looked overwhelming to her and she started to say, "I don't want to go!"  She tried to pull my arm and drag me back.  She started walking back to the car herself, but seeing that her whole family was still marching ahead, she reluctantly followed.  I was afraid that she was really going back to the car or even walking home, because she's got that kind of temperament (I blame my friend who shares the same birthday as her). We said hello to her coach, and told him that she was being a little shy.  He said not to worry, she can play when she's ready.  So we sat on the edge of the fields and watched all the other kids practice.  They were all running around doing fun drills, laughing and listening to the coach.  I looked around and saw no other little kids glued to their mom's lap.  We tried to engage her by bouncing the ball off her feet or having Adam play with her.  But she refused to budge.  The coach checked in a few times, but she did not move.  At one point, we dragged her off the chair but she ran back to it and toppled it over.  She started to cry and scream that she just wanted to go home.  At this point, Doug thought it was a lost cause and was ready to take her home.  But the tough mom that I am refused to give up.  I kept holding her and talking to her until she calmed down.  Of course I couldn't take  photographs of her in this state as this would have meant the end. 

By this point, the practice was over and the game was beginning.  Three players were in the field and there were two subs, with Dova being a possible third sub.  After a rotation, I told Dova, "Look, the coach needs you sub, are you ready to play?"  And miraculously, she said yes.  She got up and I motioned to the coach that she was ready to play and he put her in.  We couldn't believe it.  It was somehow the magic bullet that got her to play.  She ran around, dribbled the ball a few times, and looked like she was even having fun.  After finally peeling her off my lap, I took out my camera.


Dribbling the ball down the field. She didn't touch the ball too many times, but when she did, I was shooting away.


Swinging ponytails.


Kicking the ball and looking where she's going.  Don't you love those pink cleats?


Where's the ball? The coach asked the players to point to the ball so they knew where it was. I just like this shot because of the bokeh (blurry background).  All these shots were taken with a Canon Rebel XTi,  70-300mm f4.


Dova ate oranges at half-time with her team. Integrated right in like nothing happened. Unbelievable!


Getting ready for a goal kick. She was still a bit tentative about playing, but did everything the coach asked her to do. I love the fact that she's still shorter than the top of the goal.  My baby girl is playing soccer!


Lining up for the "good game" slap. Looks like she's got the soccer hairstyle down.  Afterwards, I asked her if she had fun and if she wanted to do it next week. She said yes! By the time the next game rolled around, it was back to her old antics. I missed it because I took Adam to the NASCAR race. Oh well, I'll be sure to take her to the next game and rev her up again.

Thursday Thirteen - Pictures from CN Tower in Toronto

Here are some pictures from my late night trip to the CN Tower using my iPhone.  I totally missed having my real camera because there was an awesome shot of the moon rising next to the tower that the phone refused to capture while I was driving.  Next time!


The CN Tower at night.


The stripe of light going up the side.


High tech security arch which puffs air to sniff you out.


View of the Blue Jays game below.


Standing on the glass floor. That's the tower support directly below (behind) me. I thought I would have trouble walking out onto the glass floor, but apart from some sweaty hands and feet, it was fine. The fact that it was nighttime helped because there were a lot of reflections off the glass, so it didn't seem like I was stepping out into thin air. There were definitely people who were crawling on the floor next to the window, unable to step out.


Sitting on the glass floor over the Blue Jays game.


On the observation deck. It was pretty windy, but the tower didn't sway at all.


Moon over Lake Ontario.


Sitting at my table at Horizon's cafe. The 360 Restaurant was all booked, but there were plenty of tables here. I believe they use the same kitchen, so the food was just as good!


I got a salad for dinner because I was still stuffed from an Indian buffet at lunch.


And dessert of course, creme brulee. There were crystallized ginger pieces with the blueberries and crystallized orange peels in the whipped cream. These accompaniments were much better than the creme brulee itself. Chai tea had a stir stick the shape of the CN tower. Didn't keep it because the kids would just use it to poke each other's eyes out.


Glass sculptures of the CN Tower in the gift shop.


I considered buying a snow globe, but they were all too much. Cheapskate! I did have to pay $23 just to take the ride up. This sparkle lava lamp was pretty cool but a lot smaller than they look here, about 8" tall.

Vote for Me - The Biggest Nerd!

Karen over at 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires nominated me (mommy bytes) for the Biggest Nerd at MomDot's first semi-annual Dottie Awards. So please vote for your favorite blogger in this and tons of other categories by Sept. 22.

Thanks a bunch!

WW - Naphal by Rick Brown

This was an old dead tree on the grounds of Chesterwood, which was transformed into a fascinating sculpture, Naphal by Rick Brown.

And a big shout-out and thank you to Al, who photoshopped that nasty mom from Dova's dance picture last week.

Ruby Tuesday - Red M&M, NASCAR Style

Check out the red M&M on car 18 from last Sunday's Sylvania 300 race.  This photograph was taken before Kyle Busch ran into trouble with his sway bar and crashed (video).



This is just a teaser post for more NASCAR and Sylvania action to come as I'm traveling for work again...

Photo Hunters - Wild

Not much wilder than a shark!

Photo Story Friday - Rain at Canobie Lake

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I've heard that it's extremely difficult to photograph rain, and to focus on the effect it has on people, rather than the raindrops. When we got caught in a huge thunderstorm with hail at Canobie Lake Park, it was EASY to photograph the rain.

This is my family taking shelter under the hamburger stand when the first few drops fell. Can you say despondent?




And this is what the rain looked like.



See, easy to photograph as hail pie!

Thankfully, it cleared up after an hour and we took all our usual rides including the alpine sky ride.


Doug and Adam always seem to be together when we take this ride. Here they were two years ago:


As an extra bonus, here's Doug at 18 riding with his own father in 1977. Hopefully, I will be taking this same shot with Doug and Adam when Adam is 18!