9.23.2007

Super Saturday

WARNING: LOTS and LOTS of PICTURES!

Yesterday was all about fun for the Mike Mortensen family. We spent the morning/early afternoon at the mall. I was the only one who didn't get clothes, I was in one of those moods where I didn't want to try anything on, because I didn't want to get too depressed about my weight. Plus I always enjoy spending my money on my family rather than myself.

I got some cute shirts for Ainsley at the gap, for only $3. . . gotta love clearance! Gymboree was having a good sale too. Score!

We had lunch at the food court, and then on to Build-a-bear. Isaac chose to make a monkey. His name is Yankee, and he is a Texas, Ranger baseball player. I am telling you that store is a lot of fun. They had every sports gear, skateboards, sunglasses, church clothes, Halloween costumes. Even underwear. . . which could come in handy if I have any problems potty training Isaac. I can't wait to go back with Ainsley when she is older!

I felt like we were in a mastercard commercial.

Monkey : $20
Clothes : $8
Baseball mitt, bat, and ball: $5
Shoes: $7
Smile on Isaac's face: Priceless


I wish I had my camera at the mall, because he kind of looks tired here, but his big grin, covered in chocolate chip cookies, made my day! Isaac has all ready told me what kind of clothes he would like to get Yankee next.

After nap time we all went swimming. This was our first time to the swimming pool in our neighborhood. I don't know why I waited so long to go. It was like a miniature water park. Hopefully we can go a few more times before it gets too cold. (It's been a long time since I have said "before it gets too cold" and it kind of feels a little weird, but refreshing.)


Isaac thought these were pretty great!

There was a tunnel with a mini waterfall. Isaac figured out how to go around it, while Mike went under. Can't blame him though, the water was cold.


There are water fountains everywhere, and cannons that shoot water.


Here's Isaac trying to stop on of the fountains under the water.

A nice girl let Isaac play with her toy for a minute. Note to self: find one for next summer.

Kicking feet

Paddling with arms
Little alligator
Climbing on the crab (there is also a turtle and elephant)

Bathing Beauty



YEAH FOR FAMILIES, and being able to SPEND TIME TOGETHER!

8 comments:

Lacey said...

That pool looks awesome! We spent alot of time out at the Greenfield pool this past summer...very similar to what your's looks like! How fun! I want to do build a bear with Elodie but think it would make a really fun birthday party with a few of her closest friends! Little Yankee is super cute. Bummed you didn't bring your camera to the mall..would have made a cute scrapbooking page...like I scrapbook anymore!

The Miller's said...

Build a bear is awesome huh? Girl I went with Matt's little sister back in March she is 8. she was like Whitney will you build a bear with me I said yes. It was so dang fun. If only they had that cool stuff when I was little I bet I would have 50 bears. I will have to send a picture. Sounds and looks like you all had alot of fun. I think Matt and I are going to try and make a trip to TX in the spring. We will keep you up to date so dont make plans we need somewhere to stay.

Audrey said...

That pool is amazing!! So is the float thingy. You'll have to find out what store sells those.

The Tate's said...

Wow that pool has the works. We could use one of those in our neighborhood. Sounds like such a fun weekend. And I agree, yea for families and fun, you can't beat it!

Lara Neves said...

Definitely a fun day! You should so do a scrapbook page with the Mastercard commercial theme and that picture. My girls love their build a bears....I need to take them back to get more clothes.

About the photography course online...do you have an SLR camera, or one that has some manual functions? (Canon Powershot, Nikon Coolpix, etc.) You can learn stuff about composition with most point and shoots to get better pictures, but most cameras don't give you a ton of control over the lighting situations and such...so unless you have a camera that allows that it's almost not worht it to take the course 'cause that's what most of them will focus on.

There are some free photography lessons at morguefile.net (could be .com) that are great.

Lots of free photo message boards too. I've never taken an official course that costs money....just done a lot of my own reading and research and then practiced. Good luck!!!!

Michael said...

Canon Powershot S3 is the camera model, it's just a step below the SLRs. It does have a manual mode - I haven't been patient enough to use it - perhaps Brooke will be.

Unknown said...

Hey Brooke! I totally remember you. I'm glad you found our blog. It is fun to see what everyone is up too. We miss Flagstaff too. It was so much fun! Your kids are so cute. I can't beleive you have 2! That is crazy! Well- hope all is well... keep in touch.
Brittney

Lara Neves said...

Yeah....with the Powershot you can do almost everything you can with an SLR. It's limited, but it does give you manual control. You're stuck with the lens that's on it, so that limits you, but you can change aperture and shutter speed and ISO. That's what you need.

So, the class would be fine to take with that camera.

The thing that helped me the MOST, I forgot to tell you, is the book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

Read your camera manual first, then just try some of the manual modes and see what your results are. That's the great thing about digital cameras. I've had a film SLR for a long time, but once I got my dSLR, my photos improved so fast because I could see immediately what happened with certain settings. And, it's free to practice. :) I've only had my dSLR since March and I've already taken about 7,000 pictures. Scary!