This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
May
7
2013
It sounds rather impressive – like it needs an announcer voice and some dramatic music after it is announced.
The kids liked it – plenty of areas for climbing.
And the view from the top of that rock was pretty good, too
And that was just at the visitor center, before we drove to any of the impressive formations.
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Apr
30
2013
You already know how our time at the airports went, so I’ll skip those parts.
The first order of business, though, was getting packed. My wife bought new luggage tags for the occasion. Here is most of our luggage, right before I loaded it into the minivan:
Before we left the house though, here is how the kids felt:
Apr
23
2013
I’m still compiling the photos and recaps of our trip to Las Vegas, but until those are done you can enjoy these panoramic photos of various places near there.
For each of these, I took multiple photos from a spot and used Autostitch to blend them into one big photo.
Right-click on a photo and select View Image to see it full size.
This photo is not from Red Rock Canyon; it is from a hiking trail near there. It should give you the general idea of the area though.
Autostitch: poor man’s fisheye lens.
Be sure the camera strap is fastened around your wrist when you hold the camera over the side of Hoover Dam.
That’s the visitor’s center on the left. The rock formations that the people come to see are on the right.
That one was not very impressive, but we were on the canyon floor so it was hard to get a good panoramic photo. If we had more time there, we could have gone to some higher elevations and had some better views.
These next two photos are my first attempts at HDR photos. I took a couple of photos from the same spot but with different exposures.
That one turned out okay, but the next one is not.
I think the default hue and saturation settings that Corel PaintShop Pro applies when making HDR composites are too aggressive. That, and I should take more than two exposures and I should ensure the camera does not move at all between shots.
But it was fun to try.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.
Psalm 50:2
Apr
16
2013
Having recently flown for our vacation, I have some thoughts on various aspects of dealing with Southwest.
Most of the interaction with the company was fine.
My first recommendation to Southwest – hire more pleasant, more helpful people for the Las Vegas airport
Now for some background on the problem: we did not have a birth certificate for Delta. Southwest wanted documentation that Delta is less than 2 years old.
The first phone call was to add him to my ticket, since I couldn’t buy him a ticket online. The lady on that call said we would need to bring proof of his age, such as a birth certificate, passport, or medical record.
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Aug
21
2012
Some of you may be thinking “Hey, we already had a round of vacation photos from 2012!”
You are correct, but we took another vacation so now you must endure another set of photos and recap.
I suppose you don’t have to, since you are free to browse to another blog instead of reading this one.
We drove to the Western Hemisphere’s longest suspension bridge:
Then we drove across it:
Aug
20
2012
A Letter to the Couple Who was Watching Us from a Window
I got the impression that you thought I overreacted. You saw my child start crying, then you saw me yank him over to our vehicle and start smacking him.
Yes, I really did do that.
You may have thought to yourself that I was a bit harsh on him, that I should realize that 3-year-olds just cry sometimes. Maybe you thought I should have relaxed, cut him some slack. Maybe you thought my nerves were fried or I didn’t get enough sleep the night before.
I don’t know what you were thinking, but I do know that you were watching us. You were right next to the window of a nearby building and I could see your expression. It wasn’t a full-fledged glare, but it did convey concern.
That concern is what I want to alleviate. You see, although you had a pretty good view of our situation, your view was not good enough – you couldn’t see the yellow jackets that were stinging my son.
Sincerely,
The Touristy-Looking Guy with the Floppy Wide-Brimmed Hat
And that’s how our Tuesday on vacation started. It was supposed to be a fun day – playing miniature golf, eating lunch at a restaurant, and visiting a museum.
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Jul
23
2012
Warning: vacation recap ahead.
Visit 2010’s recap of our trip to Maranatha for a refresher course, or to see how similar trips to Maranatha are. We want them to be similar, because kids need traditions.
I tried one new (new to me, at least) ice cream flavor at the sweet shop: Caramel Apple. It was slightly disappointing; I would not get it again. There was not much flavor. If I had read the full description on one of the posters I saw afterwards, I might not have tried it in the first place. The poster called it something like a “lightly-flavored” ice cream. In other words: bland. My favorite is still Royal Coconut, which they did not have there this year.
Now on to the photos:
Like all good vacation spots with kids’ programs, there was an opportunity for tie-dye T-shirts. As usual, Alpha was the only one of our children who wanted to participate.
About Me: 
Crocker Chronicle
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