A Little Out of Order

We made it back to Michigan alright, as you can see from the photo of Win on the shore of beautiful Lake Michigan in the last post.

Our return trip wasn't quite as smooth as the flight out. The flight to Florida was demanding but Win was happy the whole way. We were swimming upstream for the return trip though. At the end of our time in Florida Win managed to get quite sick. He wasn't exactly up to par for the flight back.

After 1 hour of franticly trying to entertain a tired, sick, wiggle worm on an airplane we thought that Benadryl just might be the ticket. He was very sleepy already so we thought that a dose and a half of drugs would push him over the edge and he would sleep. The Benadryl did in fact make him more tired, but that was it. Jared carried him up and down the isle for 45 minutes while he valiantly fought the very heavy eyes and overwhelming tiredness. In the battle between Win and sleep Win won.

After 45 minutes of carrying a 32 pound toddler Jared needed a break. The iPod with children's videos worked well for the rest of the flight. Win didn't really like the earbuds though.


Just before landing Win thought that the tray tables might need a little weight testing. Don't worry about the woman in front of us. She only turned around a couple of times.

Thankfully, in a very crowded plane we were in a row with an extra seat. It was really nice.

At one point I turned around and looked at the mother with a 19 month old girl who sat behind us. The mother was reading a magazine and the girl was sitting on her mother's lap sucking her thumb. Every child is different!

Win is a very good little boy who really likes excitement. Sleeping through a plane flight is unthinkable to him.

Church Picnic (T-shirt for Kiran and Sheetal)

Every year in the end of July our church gathers for a huge picnic at a local camp on Lake Michigan. Win had a blast playing with all of his friends from church and swimming in the lake. This year the picnic didn't tire him our as much as last year's did.

Win and Suzanne

Here's another one of Win and Suzanna. They had just been swimming in the hotel pool and Suzanna is drying him off.

1st, 2nd and even 3rd Cousins

Last week Win got to play with 1st, 2nd and even 3rd cousins. His favorite cousin, hands down, is Suzanne, one of his 2nd cousins. Suzanne is almost 12, amazingly responsible, and loves babies. Let's just say that she is a mother's dream. Unfortunately she lives in Germany. Win loved to run through the halls of the hotel with Suzanne in tow.

My brother Jed also has a toddler, Esther. Fortunately Suzanne has a sister, Catrina, who is also almost 12, loves babies and amazingly responsible.

Thankfully because there were 2 12-year-olds and 2 toddlers we had very little fighting (between Jed and I that is).

Suzanne with Win

Catrina with Esther

Fine Dining

On Monday evening my Grandpa and Grandma treated their whole family to a dinner in the very fancy dining room of their facility (think dress code). There were 28 of us. Win sat next to Suzanna, his almost 12 year old second cousin. He was decently behaved for a 1 1/2 year old, with a full body rash, stomachache, and diaper rash, who'd been traveling for 6 days, and who was now being asked to dine for a 5 course 2 1/2 hour dinner right at bedtime. Above is a photograph of how he coped with the the situation.
Thankfully every time he squawked my grandfather would turn around, see Win's cousin Esther, and blame her. It was a pretty good little system for Win.

Kindschi Klan

For those of you who care, here's a huge group shot of all 72 Kindschi's who attended this year's reunion. There are many more, these are just those who made it down to Florida. Rachel's Grandpa, who married us nearly eight years ago (see photo here), is one of 12 brothers and sisters. This reunion is everyone descended from them. I'm not personally a Kindschi, having married in, but Win has a little Kindschi blood in him through Rachel and Bonnie. If you click on the image you can see a larger version, and maybe even pick out Rachel, Win, and I. We should be back in Holland tonight, if all goes to plan. One more plane flight for Winfield - pray for us!

King of the Hallway

Here are two videos of Win in his native habitat lately: the hallway. We've been at the same hotel now for almost a week, and Win's favorite place to be by far is in the hallway. He thinks he runs the joint now. Most of the other guests and all the staff knows him. His number one favorite hallway activity is to run up and down flailing his arms wildly and howling "aaarrhhhhhaaaaahhhh." He also loves to crawl along the borders of the carpet, feel the railing as he walks, check on the continental breakfast, and whatever else he can think of. Here are two videos to give you a taste. The first one is short, for the general public. For those of you who are true, hard-core fans, and just can't get enough of our little crazy friend, the second video is a pretty long look into Win's world. Enjoy.

Beach Bum

Hey all. We're still on vacation in West Palm Beach, Florida. It's been a busy and fun weekend with lots of family reunion activities. Win has been a champ. We've put him through a lot for a one year old, and he's been doing great. Today was a little more relaxed schedule-wise, so we managed to make it to the beach for a couple hours. Win swam in the ocean for a long time and then stumbled around on shore eating sandy pretzels. Here's a shot:

New Experiences for Our Little Muppet

Today Jared and I took our little Muppet on an adventure in an airplane. For any of you who know Win you know that he is a very good little boy, but sitting still isn't one of his strengths. After hearing many experienced parents sing the praises of Benedryl, the traveling parent's best friend, we called our pediatrician. They gave us a dosage and told us to give it a trial run because is makes some children hyper. After the trial run we decided that it was in our best interest not to give him Benedryl. Instead we packed all sorts of fun things to play with and all types of new food. He was a champ! We had our work cut out for us but he did a great job for a 16 month old who doesn't usually sit still for long. He found many ways to entertain himself.

He liked putting his sippy cup inside the barf bag and then drinking from it like a hobo.
He played with some magnets that Jared brought home from work.

He read the really neat stories that the airplane had.

And he ate...a lot.

Those were only a few of the things that he did to pass the time. He also got little pieces of beef jerky put them into a plastic cup and then drank them. That passed about 20 minutes. He loved looking at all of the other airplanes as we taxied out. After 2 hours of sitting he walked up and down the isle and went to the bathroom with pregnant Mom. All 3 of us in a airplane bathroom was a little bit of a squeeze!

If anyone needs help passing time on an airplane ask Win. He has lots of ideas.

Also, do notice the shirt that he is wearing, complements of his Aunt Johanna.

Rachel

More Skills

Like his cousins Chloe and Esther, Win has some gardening skills too. He knows how to throw green tomatoes like baseballs and how to pull on the hose.He also knows a little about auto repair.

Liz & Dave's Wedding

A few weeks ago, Rachel shot her most recent wedding. The pictures came out amazing. Here are a few to wet your appetite. If you want to see more, check out the slideshow, or view some of them in the updated website in the weddings section.

Those Tips that I'd Promised

A couple of posts ago (in the really long post) I promised photography tips in the future. Here is tip number one. I'll also include pictures of Win to keep everybody satisfied.

Quantity! It might seem simple but very few great photographs were taken solo. Now that most people are shooting digital this idea is within easy reach for non-pros. Here is a screen capture of my computer right after I downloaded the pictures of Win eating oatmeal.
Yup, that's 111 pictures of Win eating oatmeal, and you thought that I just knew how to capture the moment. Now this example is a little excessive. Win was being really cute practicing eating with a spoon and I didn't feel like I had gotten the image that I wanted yet. So I kept shooting.

The point is that good photographs usually come from a series or collection of ok and bad ones. That is ok. Just be sure to delete the unworthy images before you fill up your hard-drive and frustrate your husband. Think about keeping only about 10% of the images that you take.

More later.

Win has been practicing eating with a spoon and fork lately. I thought about letting him go at it solo and seeing what happened.

It started off good enough. . .

. . .with a satisfying bite

Then things took a little bit of a turn.

Who needs a spoon when we've got 2 perfectly good hands.

Tigers Baseball

Last weekend Win's Grandpa Goose brought him a Tigers baseball from the Friday night game that we went to. Even since we've been home Win has spent every day running around the house practicing his throwing. I bet that he throws that ball 200 times every day. Here are a couple of clips. He would appreciate tips that would help him with his form...Nathan?

A Rare Site

Yup, it's a little hard to tell from this blog but Win does have a mother. Here is a rare shot of Win and I, courtesy of Grandpa Goose.

Skills

Win has been working on his skills lately. Kicking and throwing are his current tasks. Here is a picture of him kicking. Kicking is kind of like baseball or golf--sometimes you connect with the ball, sometimes you don't (ok that's how I play golf). Later we will post a video of his throwing skills. He has been practicing them a lot lately.

Win plans on mastering throwing and kicking skills before he moves on the move advanced things. You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills.

Cousin Chloe

Jared, Win and I spent the weekend at Grandpa Goose and Grandma Jan's house. We went over there for a great weekend with friends. Jared's sister Janna and her family were there too. Win got to spend a little time playing with his cousins Luke and Chloe. Here are 2 shots of Chloe blowing bubbles for Win.

What camera should I buy?

Friends and family,

I'm so glad that ya'll like Win's blog and have supported me as I have discovered the world of photography. Everyone has been so encouraging, it means a lot to me. Win's blog has been a great place for me to practice my photography, knowing that someone will see it.

Over the past year many of you have come to me with this question, "What camera should I buy?" I LOVE this question because I have opinions about it. If you know me, even just a little, you know that I love to share my opinions-freely. So here goes, free advice.

Cameras and photography are really important to most people, especially people with families. Good photographs elicit emotions and memories that are so important in our lives. Most people know that they want those types of images of their life but they don't know how to get them. Camera companies know this too. They sell cameras based on this desire. They claim that their cameras take better pictures than you old camera. This claim may or may not be true.

Gear is important but photography is in the photographer, not the camera. Do not be discouraged though, photography isn't that difficult. You don't have to like numbers or gear to take better pictures. There are a many REALLY SIMPLE tips that will improve your photography 10 fold. They don't cost anything and you don't even have to press any new buttons on your camera.

Back to the main question, "What camera should I buy?" Now if you have a camera, that works and takes more that 2.0 megapixel pictures then your camera is better than my own point and shoot. Possibly you don't actually need a new camera. Now, say your camera is broken, film (did I say that?) or you really, really want something new you might be in the market for a new camera. Just make sure that you buy one that fits your lifestyle.

The first question that I have is, "what are you going to use it for?" The answer to this question for most people who ask me about cameras is, "I want to be able to take really good pictures without having to fuss with the camera too much." I will assume that is where you are. You want a good camera but you don't really want to take up photography. I won't bore you with things like ISO, spot metering and changing lenses. You can get great pictures with a point and shoot so don't despair and think that you have to pony up lots of money and lug around a huge camera to get good photos. I have a little illustration that I think is helpful.

Imagine that you are on a road trip and the destination is good pictures. You have a car (camera) and you know where you want to be (good photos) but you are having trouble getting there. To solve your problem you walk down the street to the auto dealership and tell the salesman that you are trying to get someplace but you are having trouble getting there. He, being a salesman, tells you that you need a new car. Not wanting to deal with any more hassles you tell him that you want the most expensive vehicle that he sells. He brings you around the lot and shows you an beautiful 15 passenger van with cruise control, power everything and an iPod plugin. You ask him if this vehicle will get you to your destination and he says, "absolutely!" You drive that thing for an hour and then it stops and you still aren't at your destination. That is when you realize that you didn't need a new car, just gas (simple photography tips) in the car that you already owned. It wasn't a new car or vehicle repair knowledge (knowing the technological side of photography) that you needed. While the iPod plug in sounded nice it wasn't the feature that you needed to pay for. What you needed was gasoline and possibly a map-both very simple fixes that don't cost that much (well not quite as much a a new car). Possibly the car that you had needed more than gas and did need replacing, but a 15 passenger van isn't the best replacement for you.

I see lots of people with big expensive cameras that are like a person driving a 15 passenger van when they don't need all of that space. It is clunky and expensive. Now a 15 passenger van is great if you are a youth pastor but most people don't need all of the extra features and size. Following is am image that I think is pretty funny. The redhead is Jessica Claire, one of the most respected photographers in the industry. I'm talking really, really expensive and really, really talented. The guy is the bride's uncle. Who looks like the pro? Who is the pro? Imagine Payton Manning in jeans and a t-shirt standing on a football field with a $9.00 football from Wal-Mart. I am standing next to him, wearing brand new top of the line football gear and holding a $700 vealskin football. Yeah, that is what this picture looks like to me. Got it? No matter what equipment I might be wearing I still get scared when people expect me to even toss keys to them.


All of that being said I will finally cut to the chase and tell you what to buy. There are many great cameras out there. This is one of many so don't think that this is the only good camera out there. This is just one that I think balances features with price well.

Canon PowerShot A570 IS

Here are a couple of things that I like about this camera and would look for in a camera.

Canon, I am not much a brand name follower but Canon has lead the industry for a while. Their cameras almost always dominate top 10 lists and the like.

6.0 megapixels is a happy number (even though this has 7.1). Anymore and the you are paying for extra seats in your 15 passenger van. Any less than 4.0 and you are a little limited (but only a little). Camera manufactures have marketed camera by their megapixels. This is a little deceiving, you don't really need any more than 6.0, tops. They can be a little hard to find though because of marketing.

IS stands for image stabilization. This is a great feature that enables you to take pictures with less blur.

Personally I like batteries over a charger. You can buy rechargeable batteries but if you forget to charge them you can always stop at a store and pick some up. Consumer's Report says that Energizer e2 are the best pick and most economical battery for digital cameras.

Screen size may seem like a simple feature but it is one that is worth paying for. It is hard to take a good picture if you can't see it.

Cameras should fit your lifestyle, small cameras fit into more pockets that large ones. A camera that is with you in your pocket on a trip will take much better pictures than one that you left in the car because it was too big to carry. Ask anyone who has been on vacation with me. I'm really bad at getting my camera out. It is just too big to be convenient.

Those are a couple of features that I like about this camera. If you are looking at a camera and want to know what I think just email me and I will check it out for you.

As for all of those photography tips that I kept mentioning, I will post some of those later. This post is getting a little long. From now on I will occasionally give simple photography tips and tricks that you can use with your point and shoot camera.

I'm leaving you with this picture. These were taken by [b]ecker, another amazing photographer. He used his cell phone (ok it was an iPhone) to take them. Pretty good images for a noncamera!


Rachel

Our little Fruithead

Win really like grapes. For that matter he also really likes watermelon, prunes, apples, cantaloupe, grapefruit, strawberries, bananas, oranges, and anything else that grows and taste good in a smoothie.
He is not a huge fan of raw spinach.

To Each His Own

Yesterday a package arrived in the mail for Winfield. Inside were some great clothes for Win that my mom had found at a garage sale. They fit him perfectly. There was also a pair of gloves and a matching hat. Possibly she had noticed something from an earlier post. We opened the box and I put the gloves on him. He smiled really big and walked around the house in them for 1 1/2 hours until it was naptime and I took them off. He thought he was really special because he had lobster-hands.
He also turned over our food stool and climbed into it. He sat there for about 20 minutes bouncing and dancing to the radio. Personally I wouldn't find all that much satisfaction in wearing gloves in July, sitting in an upside down footstool and dancing to the advertising jingles on the radio, but I guess Win and I have different definitions of fun.