Glamping

I don't hike or backpack in the woods/mountains because I am deathly afraid of bears and cougars, but the cost of travel is so exorbitant.  The gas, food, hotel, etc.  I am on a very strict budget after last years unemployment and certainly cannot afford an RV.  BUT....I can afford a cheap tent and a blow up mattress and campground fees.

I have a vision of something like this


But this probably more my reality:


In fact, this looks very similar to the tent I just bought on sale at Big 5 for $69.95.  Honestly, this is a little too rustic of a camp site for me.  I am thinking a nice picnic table, grill, lots of grass, next to a river, and a bathroom within 20 yards.

I reserved a riverside spot at a camping resort type of place in July for 2 days.  Running water, bathrooms and convience store on site.  I made sure my tent was big enough to stand up straight without hitting my head and big enough to hold 2 double size mattress because I don't plan on camping with anyone I want to be that close to.  I have personal space issues.  And I want one of those double high mattress, which I will make up with regular sheets/bedding.  I hate sleeping bags, too confining.   

Now I have not taken the tent out of the box yet to give it a test drive in the back yard.  I am hoping I will be able to put it up by myself so I can do some solo camping.  I am really looking forward to hearing the river at night and waking early in the morning to sit by the river and drink a nice hot strong cup of coffee! 

Starting over again...and again...and again

It has been a long time since I posted.  Life had another series of crashes.

This stage of my life is turning "into a state of withering desolation".  I read that this morning in a book I am reading and thought "Oh, crap, that is ME!"  Another quote: "If anything was going to happen in my life, to and for me, I was going to have to plan it and then make it happen.

It seems like I have been at this starting over point so many times.  It's getting old and having a hard time kicking myself into action this time.  But.......time to make my plan.  And start writing the blog again!

Summer in Washington

I think the high yesterday was 78 degrees, but it was sunny and glorious.  Everything is very lush and GREEN!  All the lawns look like soft carpet, it makes you want to run barefoot.  I am really appreciating this after the last two months of  100+ temps almost every day in San Antonio.  The grass crunches when you walk on it and would probably be quite painful if you walked on it in your bare feet!

Yesterday was my grandson, Dane, 6th birthday.  He had a party with some of his little buddies in the backyard with a slip 'n' slide, trampoline, bouncy house, pizza and other goodies.  Here are a few shots from the party. 

Dane enjoying his ice cream "cake".

Cameron on takeoff!

He stayed in this position for quite a while, not sure why.  All I can say is "UNCOMFORTABLE!"

One of the sweetest and funniest 6-year-old I know!

The Wonderful Sabo Family

The wonderful thing about Texas is.....it is always sunny. Right?  Wrong!  It actually starting raining right after this shoot started. We had to move it inside, which we really weren't prepared for.  I got a few shots that I am okay with, but overall not what I had in mind.   The Sabos are awesome!  The kids are all so sweet.  I did learn that getting 11 people in one shot to be in sync is a tough task, especially when 9 of them are kids age 4 months to 18 years.   But it was still fun.  I put a lot of them in black and white because my backgrounds were distracting and not what I wanted.  B&W, plus the blurring of edges made them a bit less noticeable.

Okay, let's get everyone on the same page. 

That's better!  Poor little baby Amelia is looking a bit stressed though.

Mom and Dad of these beautiful children.

Mom and her daughters.



Dad and his sons.

Two oldest sisters.

The whole beautiful family!

Thank you Sabos for allowing me to photograph you all again.

And the name is.........

Robin Klein Photography

Boring, but everything I thought of was already being used. 

A New Direction

I haven't posted in a while because it has been too dang hot to do much exploring.  I am waiting for cooler weather.  In the meantime I have sort of fallen into doing family pictures.  So I am posting a few that I have done this week.     PLUS....I need a name so I can  make some business cards, so I need some ideas.  NOthing too cutesy or specific, but catchy.  Something that would fit any type of photography I do.

Here are a couple from last night's shoot.  The family just added a beautiful little four year old girl to their family 3 weeks ago and wanted some family pics.  She doesn't really speak English, but the kids had no trouble communicating with each other.  They spoke the international language of "kiddish".

Here here are some from a tea party I set up in my front yard for 3 sisters from another lovely family.

That's all for now folks.  I have two more shoots next week.  I am not charging very much, but it does help fill out the unemployment check a bit.

The Cove

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!  Anyone watch that?  Well, this is the second place in SanAntonio I've been that have been featured by Guy Fieri on this show.  The Cove is a dive bar/organic/local food resturant/family friendly spot all in one!  Not in the greatest neighborhood, but the clientele are normal and casual and all ages. It was very hot so we went inside, but they have a huge outside area that includes a basketball hoop, ping pong table and kiddies playground right in the middle. 

You order and pick up your own drinks at the bar.  For food, you go outside and around a corner to order and pay for your food.  At first I thought "what a hassle", but service was FAST!

                                           Food was all locally grown and organic.

           Mother and daughter

                                                    This was great on such a HOT day!

                                                                    The BEST burgers!

This guy was very popular with the ladies. Everyone wanted their picture taken with him.  Personally, I found him a little stiff and lacking in personality.

This gal was sitting at the next table and didn't know her at all, but we all loved her haircut!  So I stalkerazzi'd her to get pictures of the do.  Eventually, we talked to her and was such a sweetie.  She cuts her own hair!  Said she couldn't find anyone to cut it the way she wanted.  She had no idea I had been taking pictures of her and thought it was funny.....thank goodness!

                                           I know this photo looks "posed", but it wasn't. 

Remember peeps, my door is open and the couch is ready if you want to visit San Antonio!