Sandusky Bay on a Boat.

So!  A couple of weeks ago my parents rented a cottage on Sandusky Bay.  We went up for a night to spend the last official weekend of summer doing things like this:

Fire on Lake Erie.  YES.

And hanging out here:

Private beach and boat on a bay?  YES.

The morning that we were there, though was a bit too cold to swim.   So we took the kids out on a boat ride in Sandusky Bay (the cottage had a dock spitting distance from it).  The pictures turned out pretty neat.

This was actually supposed to be a Wordless Wed post last week but then everyone got sick with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.  It's going around like wildfire right now.  And of course we all got it the first real week of Kindergarten.  But if we can survive that the rest of the year will be easy, right? SIGH.  Anyways here's some pretty pictures of Sandusky Bay!

First up we went and checked out Bay Point.  My grandmother had a place there when I was growing up so I spent LOTS of time swimming on the beaches there.  It looked a lot different back in the '80's though.  The whole Bay side was tiny rental cottages while the entire Lake Erie side was beach.  Now?  Not so much:

It used to be pretty heavily forested but it looks like they cut most of that down:

I have decidedly mixed feelings.  The Lake Erie side still has a small area of trailers (what my Grandma used to have there)

And the point part looks as wild and sand bar like as ever.  We used to hike there as kids when we could.  Sometimes it was accessible, sometimes the lake was high and you couldn't get through.  Either way it was an adventure because the whole thing is a changing sandbar - you never knew what you were going to find:

The google earth view shows it - the peninsula coming down from the top is bay point.  The "land" furthest into the bay is the point.

Then we went over and checked out Cedar Point.  It also looked a lot different when I was a kid.  I remember when they built the Magnum (1989) and it was SO HUGE on the skyline.  And before that the biggest thing we could see was the Ferris wheel.  Now not so much:

Also I should mention that if you are interested in going to Cedar Point on land they are about to start their HalloWeekends which is always a good time.

I tried to get a picture of the coaster skyline through the spray from the boat but...

Iit was tricky.  Especially since I had a 3yo on my lap.  I think I got a pretty decent shot, though:

I kindof have this feeling that now that school has started (the dude starts this week!) I might actually have time to blog about all of the fun things we did this summer.  Stay tuned.


Disclosure:  I am a Cedar Point Blogger however this is not a sponsored post.  I liked the pictures from the bay and would have put them up regardless of my relationship with Cedar Point just because they are neat.

AHA! Cleveland.

So last night we took the kids downtown for AHA! Cleveland:

"AHA! is a multi-day festival of lights celebrating Cleveland's recent downtown development boom and will "illuminate" changes to our urban landscape. The event will take place from August 7-9. AHA! will complement Gay Games 9, also taking place in downtown Cleveland and Akron."

It was INCREDIBLE.  Seriously so very cool.  One of the neatest art instillation that I've seen. I'll just go through and talk about the individual pieces.  All of the descriptions are from the AHA! website:

The Pool - Jen Lewin's participatory installation.

"The Pool is an environment of giant, concentric circles created from interactive circular pads. By entering the pool, you enter a world where community play and collaborative movement create swirling effects of light and color. Imagine a giant canvas where you can paint and splash light collaboratively."

When we first got there the pool wasn't turned on yet.  And the kids still had fun playing on it:

 But when it turned on... well...

I could post about 50 more of those pictures.  So much fun.  And taking someone who just learned to walk to one of the coolest places to walk... ever... was pretty awesome:

The Global Rainbow - by Yvette Mattern.

"The Global Rainbow, consists of seven parallel beams of laser light, representing the spectrum of the traditional seven colors of the rainbow, and is designed to be projected across large open sites, particularly densely populated areas. The Global Rainbow will be projecting the light beams from the Great Lakes Science Center over Mall B, into the sky. This spectacular rainbow will have the capacity to be seen from up to 36 miles away on a clear night!"

Yeah my kids called this "the Night Rainbow" and basically freaked out over it.  They danced under it, wanted to see where it was coming from, and were even more excited to see that it originated at "our science building" (aka the Great Lakes Science Center):

It was very impressive.

Drawing Lines by Iván Juárez.

"Artist Iván Juárez created Drawing Lines using “light” as a starting point. A continuous thread moves across elements in the garden to filter natural light and create new passages and spaces. The installation’s architecture is being broken apart. Its walls are transparent."

This instillation was in the Reading Garden of the Cleveland Public Library which is one of my favorite downtown spaces.  I used to bring my lunches here to eat on nice days.  Very different watching my kids experience it!

They were more into catching lightning bugs than the art.  But that's cool:

Transformations by Obscura Digital:

"The artist studio Obscura Digital will present a monumental art projection on the exterior façade of the original Public Auditorium, one of the city’s most recognizable architectural landmarks. Obscura recreated the building in a virtual 3D program and simulated the projections before creating the media. Using ultra-high definition projection technology, Obscura is transforming a 370-foot wide by 70-foot tall expanse of the façade into a canvas animated by fluid imagery of natural and manmade ephemera."

This was cool.  But... yeah.  I hate to be this guy...This was neat but it barely used the building at all.  There was very little interaction with the actual architecture.  As far as digital projections on buildings go it's really hard to beat the one on the Disney Castle. That's the only other time I've seen a digital projection like this one.  I've since learned that the Disney one involves many more projectors than this so I was a bit spoiled.  It was definitely cool, though, and worth seeing. 

Believe in CLE.

"Believe in CLE is a yoga movement taking shape in the heart of Cleveland. Through the power of collective consciousness, Believe in CLE connects the unifying force within our community by raising awareness, generating energy and accelerating the exciting revolution happening in Cleveland, Ohio."

I didn't participate in this but it was amazing to see.

 
Other Stuff and Things:
The Dude liked the fountain:

There was a drone flying overhead the whole time?  Which was... creepy:

The kids thought it was really cool, though:

I talked to the operators for a bit and they said that they were there with the official event photographer.  So I'm guessing the videos will be online somewhere at some point?  Anyone know where?

Our kids have learned by now that they can't go anywhere with us without ending up looking at architecture.  This time it was the Cleveland Convention Center:

The Dude just straight up sat down knowing that we would be awhile:
 

And of course the Terminal Tower looked fantastic all lit up:

 All in all it was a very cool event.  And it's still going on tonight if you want to go!  Yay Cleveland!

My favorite guys in my favorite city.

Cleveland Photography Session Giveaway!

So!  Remember when I said that I was going to have a giveaway for a portrait session with I Heart Life Photography?  That day is today!!!  YAY!  But first I have to subject you to lots of photographs of my family because I am super excited about how the images from our photo session with Valerie turned out:



Yay!  Valerie at I Heart Life Photography (or on facebook here) was excellent.  Easy to work with, fast with her turn around (it takes a long time to edit this many pictures!), and captured some really stunning images:

Along with making sure that each kid was represented:

And taking the posted photograph that I wanted.  This one was taken in the same place as some of our wedding photos.  What a difference nearly 10 years makes!

Seriously.  10 years!!!

I could honestly post every picture from the session here - 40 images in all.

I think my favorite image from the session is this one, though.  It so completely captures the personalities of each of them.  The big guys are messing around and the little one is all "they are crazy people.  I live with crazy people."  I love it:

Yay!  Not to obsessively pin photo collage walls.  Because that is SO happening now that I have some wonderful images to work with!

Would you like your very own session with Valerie?  You can enter to win!  The fabulous prize is:

Lifestyle Photo Session

60 minutes on-location photo session for up to 5 people

Receive 12 digital pictures with print release

Photo session location within 30 miles of 44107 zip code.

Expired in September 2015

Entry is easy with the rafflecopter below.  I will choose and email the winner next Monday, June 23.


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure:  Valerie at I Heart Life Photography provided a photo session for my family in exchange for hosting this giveaway.  All opinions are my own.  All images in this post are from I Heart Life Photography.