All photos taken by Jalessan.
Cartagena, Colombia in Pictures
Category: Photography
Bill Baggs Lighthouse
After a great start to the day–wherein I awoke at 4:30 AM and couldn’t fall back asleep, and then proceeded to get up and write and got a little over 2,000 words done–we backed the beach bags and headed to Bill Baggs State Park, or, how we locals call it, El Farito (Spanish for The Lighthouse). Bill Baggs is located in the southernmost end of Key Biscayne, and it boasts a historic lighthouse, biking and hiking trails, snorkeling area, family-friendly beaches, and the Lighthouse Cafe.
Here are some pictures I took with my iPhone (two of which were edited using the Instagram app I downloaded today!) 🙂
Happy 4th!
Peeking in…
I’ve been quite MIA here, I know. It’s been a whirlwind of a month, but a great one! From my son’s preschool graduation, to an amazing SCBWI conference, to staring an online YA Class with Mandy Hubbard, to getting accepted into Lynn Hightower’s Novel IV class at UCLA Extension, to a week in Orlando. Add to that summer classes ending and prepping for the new term that starts Mon (all during vacation), and you have a recipe for craziness. But I’ll come back soon, and I may just elaborate more on some of the above.
Oh! And I added my Twitter feed on here in case you want to follow me! I update that a little more lately. Something about bite-sized messages I can do from my phone makes it easier to update. 🙂
In the meantime, I’m sharing this pic from our trip. Hubby is getting into photography. He takes the camera everywhere and is always taking pictures of everything, especially nature and architecture (and he’s pretty good!). So for Father’s Day, I signed him up for a Nature Photography class. He was super excited! Anyway, on one of the afternoons after my conference, we took a walk. We were staying at Disney’s Yacht Club and the walk consisted of making the loop through the Boardwalk, where my son begged and begged for a disposable camera. He also loves taking pictures! We got him one and he spent the rest of the walk stopping with hubby to take pictures. In this one, two bunnies were in the grass and it was such a cute shot of them both, father and son, both with cameras in their hands.
A few more Chicago pics
Chicago Navy Pier
The Happiest Place on Earth
We just got back from a weekend trip to Disney World, and though I’m tired (and my shins hurt!), we had a good time. My son, in particular, had so much fun that this morning, as soon as we woke up, asked, “Where are we going to today?” When we reminded him we had to head back home, his response was, “No! I want to live here!”
Sometimes, I wish we could live there, too. As corny as it sounds, whenever I step into one of the four parks, I almost believe that magic does, indeed, happen. I feel like a kid again, going on the rides, seeing the shows, viewing the fireworks and watching the parades. I love taking pictures with the characters and reaching down into that hidden child. Of course, my body doesn’t always make that easy for me, but even with the aches and discomforts, I enjoy it there.
This trip, we only went to two parks: Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (which is a fantabulous –yes, I’m making up words here– trick-or-treating event where kids and grown-ups rock costumes and get a slightly less-crowded time at the park) and Epcot. For Mickey’s Halloween Party, the three of us dressed up as superheroes. My son as Captain America, my hubby as Wolverine, and I as Iron Woman. I’m pretty much a Halloween dork, and I love dressing up, even now. This event is probably one of my favorite’s from Disney.
Out of the parks, Epcot is probably our favorite. The intellectuals in us love all the learning that takes place, and we love “traveling” through the World Showcase. Our trip coincided with the Food & Wine Festival, and I think a marathon of some sort, so the park was packed. As we walked through the countries, we were swept by the sea of people who covered the side walks. There was no way back or forward that didn’t mean weaving through crowds, holding on so we wouldn’t get separated.
My son was now officially tall enough to ride some of the “cool” rides, and I got him on Splash Mountain and Soarin (at the respective parks). He was jumping up and down, giggling, and saying “I love this ride!” before even getting on it. He didn’t like the drop in Splash Mountain, but loved the flying in Soarin.
Here are some pictures we took.
Panoramic View of Satellite Beach Shoreline
Satellite Beach in Pictures
This time around, I haven’t taken my camera out as much. I’ve been concentrating on relaxing, playing in the sand with my little man, building sand castles by the ocean’s edge, swimming in the pool, napping mid-day. But the few times I did, I got some pretty cool pictures. The best were the coral rocks that jutted out of the coast, at low tide. I had no ideas these rocks existed so close to the shore!
Algae
Atlantic Ocean – shoreside
Looking for breakfast 
Beachfront property 
Surfers in the morning 
It's all about perspective
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
This is possibly our newest, favorite Disney resort (though the Contemporary is by far our favorite):
Alexandra Alessandri 