family time

a little something we had cooking before leaving to london and holland.  at rockefeller state park several weekends ago with a beautiful family of four.  children always make interesting subjects -- so honest and full of expression.

Holland Day 5 - Rijksmuseum

i'm posting a bit out of order.  i owe you pictures of the keukenhof and the surrounding tulip fields, but i need a lot of more time to filter through and edit the images.  seriously, i think we took over 700+ images over the past two days -- way too shutter happy for our own good.

today, we found ourselves at the rijksmuseum.  the museum was re-opened in april 2013 after a 10 year renovation.  i don't know what it was like before, but it's a really nice space now with plenty of skylights and a mix of old and modern architecture.

these photos are from my iphone.  i had my camera with me but find it so difficult to take good pictures in a museum.  the next best thing is my iphone with HDR turned on.

holland - day 1

vondelpark, amsterdam

pete and i found sometime to travel this month, this time to london and holland.  pete's going to post about london next week and i'll try to give you the play-by-play of our activities this week.

we got landed from heathrow this afternoon and had an early dinner of roti-kip at riaz before strolling through vondelpark.  i kind of like this park -- lots of picnics with young people (peacefully, by the way) riding bicycles, smoking pot, drinking a ton of beer and wine and dancing to house music.  it's a pretty nice way to spend a sunny warm afternoon.

will it ever get warm?

hoping for a warmer week.  mother nature is taking her time this year.

sock-monkey man is now 7 months!

our little fatguy is growing up so fast!  brady, now at seven months:

pictures of paris coming soon.

for the grandparents

brady enjoying what remains of storm nemo.

japan day 10 -- kyoto and kennin-ji

i haven't forgotten about my last full day in japan.  here we are exploring kyoto, a lovely city full of historic goodness.  i heard a story somewhere that america spared kyoto from its world war II bombing campaign because a senior government official had spent his honeymoon in kyoto and loved it.  if you get a chance to go, read memoir of a geisha beforehand and stay in gion.  and when you see a real-life geisha, it'll feel like you've been transported in time.

sidewalk along the canal (the shirakawa river) 

the canal with a blue crane (right)

shinbashi street

hanami-koji street

hanami-koji street

courtyard of kennin-ji

no shoes in the temple

ceiling of the main hall of kennin-ji

kamogawa river

pete and i bid you adieu until paris later this month.