POW WOW

POW WOW
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the Pow Wow at Walpole Island which borders Michigan and Ontario,Canada. The island is considered Canadian land.
Things are very green this time of year.
Z had fun with his cousin (in pink). They ran around like crazy.
I just tried to keep up with them all day.
We had fairly good weather. It rained for 15-20 minutes, then passed. Then it would rain again. Overall, we lucked out with the weather since this time of year you never know what you will get.
The Pow Wow was fun. I always enjoy the bright colors of the Native American dance wear. Since I don't go often, I at first felt very "white" even with my 50% of Native American blood from this specific tribe, Chippewa, who originated on Walpole Island. Soon later after eating fry bread, I found the sound of the pounding drums very familiar. This inspired me to dance with my son Z and his cousin out in the dance circle with all of the natives who were in their full dance wear. It was at a point in the Pow Wow when the announcer invites everyone to dance. It was fun and probably the most fun I had at the Pow Wow. The scattered showers cut our stay at the Pow Wow short, but it was just as well since we were travelling with little ones. Then we headed to a cousin of my deceased grandmother's who lives on Walpole Island for a bit. Upon leaving both little ones did not want to leave and both of them had meltdowns. That was not fun, but once we were driving it didn't take long for them to fall asleep in the car. It was interesting to see Walpole Island again. The last time I was there was 15 years ago. So yeah, I was due to go back again to see it. It was a nice time of year to go there.

H3 at the Ren Cen

H3
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's my little guy climbing into an
H3. Of course, how could he resist. This model was a golf cart size.
I've never seen such a mini Hummer.
It was cute, like a baby beast. We recently returned from
a trip to Michigan for a family reunion (for my mom, her sisters and cousins). We saw this H3 in Detroit at the Ren Cen, short for Rennaisance Center, which is the tallest building in Detriot. They had a display of cars on the first floor, which makes sense since it is the "motor city".

DO ART ANY TIME

DO ART ANY TIME
Originally uploaded by V G.

I love this sign. This was in this past LA Times Sunday paper.
I usually don't get a chance to read the paper, but I was up early last Sunday just long enough to see this before my little man woke up. It is so inspiring.
http://www.islandsofla.com/
Go to this website to check out more about this. It is interesting and speaks to my inner actvist side that I used to enjoy expressing a lot during my art college days. It reminds me too that art is very much a state of mind and a point of view.
Here is the LA Times article. Copy and paste it in your browser.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-islands11-2008may11,0,840613.story

Back to Usual

Beach
Originally uploaded by V G.

He's back to his usual funny self. You would never know that he was so sick last week. I'm glad for that. He is sleeping a little extra this week, but I think it's good for him. He lost at least 1 pound last week due to no appetite. Here he is full of energy stomping on an abandoned sand castle. He is very good at squashing sand castles.
It was an overcast day...a little cool, but not too cool. In a way it was perfect. Little guy loves the beach.

Happy Mother's day to all you moms out there!!!
Enjoy your day!

Kite

Kite
Originally uploaded by V G.

Nothing like flying a kite.
Z took over holding the kite string to find out that the wind really does pull.
He immediately screamed for me to take back the kite. He held the kite just long enough for me to get a photo which I am amazed I was able to do.
He liked flying the kite. We had another small dragon kite from Target that looked cute in package, but didn't fly very well. It spun around in a spiral and crashed almost every time I tried getting it to fly. Oh well, it's still a cute kite. Hmm... I still have the package. If I can find the reciept for the dragon kite, maybe I'll return it. It seems like a kite should be able to fly. I had a feeling that the dragon kite might not fly well, but I loved how it looked. So much for looks. The kite in this photo flys like a charm. It's simple and wonderful... I love it when things work.

Snail Speed

Snail Speed
Originally uploaded by V G.

I feel like I've been going snail speed lately, but at least I'm going.
Part of it has to do with my son being sick with a double ear infection, which includes periodic red ears, high fever and vomiting.
Any kind of art attempt gets put on the backburner (again).
So, like a snail I'm going at a slow pace, but I keep going.
Remember the story of the Tortoise and the Hare?
Since my son is sick, I'd better get to sleep while I can before he wakes up and NEEDS me. He isn't sleeping well with a stuffy nose to add to his list of current ailments.
I hope everyone is staying healthy out there.

Camping at Refugio

Hiking
Originally uploaded by V G.

This was the reason for my recent lapse in on-line blogging activity.
It was camping at Refugio near Santa Barbara. It was a nice trip and went by too fast. We stayed 3 nights. We met long time friends Shanna, Mark and Max from SC there. Max is one year older than our little guy. They had extreme amounts of fun playing in the dirt and sand. It was a great trip. I give it high marks as far as campsites go.
My only complaint is that it was very windy at night. We were warm in our sleeping bags, but the sound of wind ripping through at all hours of the night makes for a light sleep. That's when the RV lifestyle looks appealing. I still want to travel by RV one day...just for a week.
I know they are gas hogs, but maybe just a little RV. That doesn't make sense does it, a little RV? You know what I mean, just one that isn't the hugest beast out there but has all of the cool RV things.
Anyway, there is still something cool about just a tent too. We enjoyed it. I'm fine as long as I am warm and the sleeping air mattress has air, I'm good. Oh, and my morning coffee, then I'm set.