Mountain Fun

My mom, Jen and the boys, and I went up to the mountains this weekend to have a fun, short little getaway. We went up in the winter when everything was covered in snow and we wanted to see what the town and lake looked like in the summer without any snow. It definitely looked different! :) This is what the lake looked like in February, frozen and covered in snow:

And this weekend (not the same angle):

Sunday afternoon we just hung out and went on a walk around the lake. After it was dark I went out to see the stars and oh my! It was GORGEOUS! I decided to get a little creative with my camera and take pictures of the stars. It took me a really really long time to figure it out…I had all the settings right (shutter speed, aperture, and ISO) but the camera WOULD NOT take a picture. I would press the button and it would make some noise but just wouldn't take a picture. I just didn't get it. I broke out the instruction manual…I Googled…and then I figured it out (without the help of the manual or Google thank you very much!). I took it off auto focus and put it on manual…and ta da! Problem solved :) I used a tri-pod and spent a good hour out there just experimenting. It was addicting, I'll tell ya! I won't bore you with all of them, but here's the best one from Sunday night (shutter open for 30 seconds):

Monday morning Jen and I went on a walk around the lake. It was so peaceful! :) Then we drove over to Lake Arrowhead and were going to take a boat tour but it was broken down so we shopped a little and headed back to the cabin. We hung out at the lake (Green Valley, not Arrowhead) for a few hours. E playing in the sand:

Me and Isaac laying out on the dock:

Isaac playing in the water:

Later in the afternoon we decided to go back to Arrowhead to do the tour (after we called to find out if the boat was fixed, and it was). The tour was kinda boring, but interesting at the same time. On the lake:

We ended up having dinner in Arrowhead because we were all hungry after the tour (and it's about 25 minutes to the cabin and we would then have to make dinner…). My plan was to go home Monday after dinner (everyone else stayed till Tuesday night), but I was slightly addicted to experimenting with my camera and taking pictures of the stars, so I decided to stay until the stars came out, take some pictures, and then go home. I'm so glad I stayed :) Since we don't have stars at home it was the only chance I'd get in a while to do it. Again, I got some really good ones, this is my favorite (shutter open for 49 seconds):

It was a short little trip, but so much fun! :) And I am totally in love. With my camera, that is :)