Happy Holidays

The Rick Family wants to send out a warm happy holiday wish. This year we neglected to put together an updated address list in time to get holiday cards out. We promise we will try harder next year.

We spent the Christmas Eve at the National Aquarium at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Afterward we went across Pratt St to PF Chang's restaurant. PF Chang's is Andrew's favorite and became so after a previous Christmas eve visit. I think todays activities will become a tradition. The kids are more excited about Christmas this year than I can remember. Its great to see them having so much fun.

Morgan's favorite present was the Hello Kitty build a bear that Santa brought. Andrew had a blast with the Healies that grandmom Sue bought him. He spent Christmas day walking as if he was wearing high heals. Michi loved her Pandora Charms she got and her new Ugg boots, "They're so soft and comfy." Dad loved his new shoes.

Morgan, Andrew, Dad, Aunt Pam Pam, Bud and Faith are going snow skiing on Dec 27th. With all the warm weather we've had, our favorite nearby spot Whitetail is not yet open, so it will be off to Bryce ski resort. This is the first attempt at this winter sport for all of us. I'll try to take pictures and post an update on that trip.

We Bleed Blue!

Saturday Dan and Andrew, and the Rokas - Martin, Karliegh, and Christopher went to DC to see the Georgetown Hoya beat down of the NJIT Highlanders 84 - 44. We got scalp tickets then went to Mings restaurant, the kids had sushi, and wasabi for the first time. After the game we went to the Natural History Museum, The Kids were getting worn out but Martin was having a good time.

I don't need to say anything more about the parking or getting lost on the way home.

Thanksgiving 2011

Today everyone in the Rick Family understands all we have to be thankful for. Our day started with some last minute straightening up and watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, Michele mentioned she wants to go to New York one year to see it live. While Michele and Dada started cooking I took Andrew Morgan and Karah (a neighbor) to the long gate park to play. Buddy, Faith, Pam, Stephanie, and Rick came over later for dinner. We had a apple wood smoked turkey this year and man was it good. Michele and Dada made all the extras including a traditional peach cobbler and pumpkin pie for dessert. We had a great time hanging out together, something we don't do as much these days. It was a great Thanksgiving!
Happy thanksgiving all!

2011 Winter Show

This was Morgan's 3rd Winter Show for the Susan Ina Dance Studio. This was also the first year Susan put a tap number in the show. In Morgan's first Winter Show she was a skunk with Braelyn and Makenna so this year Dan took a picture of them again. My how they have grown!

Biking to Annapolis

I like to bike to work between Union Station and Georgetown Mon - Fri. Usually when I say that to someone, they assume its a direct route, about four miles. Following Massachusetts Avenue to DuPont Circle then over the Q St Bridge to Georgetown. Actually I reverse this and go direct when heading home from work. But most mornings I enjoy Washington DC's Bike routes. From Union Station I head to Jefferson's Memorial, from there I can take one of several routes. Rock Creek to Capital Crescent, or Mt Vernon to Four Mile run to WD&O to the Custis Trail. On average I bike ride 17 to 20 miles, sometimes as much as 30 miles. However I don't like rain or snow and ice at all. I'll drive in or take the bus or metro on those days. On average I should be getting 3400 miles annually.

I love to use the Single Speed I bought from Buddy, My brother in law. It's a Chrome Alloy one geared bike. The current gearing is a 3:1 ratio, a high end ratio for on-road single speeds. The simple bike benefits me because its very strong and low maintenance. If I had an expensive bike it would last maybe two years. With this Raleigh Rush Hour bike I can consistently punish it and yet depend on it everyday.

This weekend I did what I love most with biking, I went on a long ride group ride. Saturday I went down to DC to get the bike and spent a little while taking photos like the one above. Sunday I met up with Buddy at Marley Sta Mall. I went north to BWI, around the loop then we went back south all the way to Annapolis, had lunch in Annapolis (it was pretty good shrimp with spicy brown rice) then back to Marley. All total about 48 miles. Here is a link to that ride, broken into two segments.
Segment 1 (Strava) or (Endomondo)
Segment 2 (Strava) or (Endomondo)

Billy Goat Trail

After Soccer we went to the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls MD yesterday. I tried to get Morgan to go with us this time but she would hear nothing of it. Andrew asked Karah, a neighbor, and school friends Karliegh, Christopher and their Dad Martin to go with us. The trail to Marker 2 took us two hours to complete and Andrew took a dive in the water after slipping on a rock. He was fine and luckily it was close to the trail marker 2 exit. After that we all went for ice cream.

The Rick Family's First Disneyworld Vacation 2011!

We spent a wonderful 7 days in Disney this September of 2011. Dan was able to plan everything in advance including making sure that Michele got onto Star Tours (a Star Wars ride) first thing when getting to Disney. Michele ended up getting on the ride a total of 12 times during the trip. Our last night at Disneyworld, we actually closed the ride.

When we got to our hotel, (we stayed at the All Star Music Resort) we didn't have to wait to check in. We where chosen as the Family of the Day and were escorted to our room with balloons, flowers, pins and they even took our picture. I guess someone told them it was Andrew and Morgan's first visit.

Morgan was able to get all dolled up at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique in Cinderella's Castle then Morgan and Mommy attended the Perfect Princess Tea with Rose Petal and Princess Aurora. Most of the girls wore a princess costume but Morgan wore the dress Faith used for Vince and Meredith's Rennaisance Wedding. Everyone at the Magic Kingdom and the Grand Floridian were very impressed with how pretty Morgan was in her heals, dress and pink diva hairdo.

While Mommy and Morgan were at the Perfect Princess Tea, Andrew and Daddy were busy at the Pirates League where Andrew was made up like a pirate with a skull face. You couldn't even recognize that it was Andrew under all that makeup.

The other favorite ride everyone enjoyed was Soarin'. We got on that ride several times also but the wait was always too long. Mommy beat Daddy at the Buzz Lightyear ride and we also loved the Toy Story ride.

The dinning plan was a great idea. Dan planned several dinners for us that included the characters. Le Cellier and 1900 Park Fare was out of this world. The character dinner at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway was another great dinner. Andrew got kissed by all of the Princesses who left many a lipstick mark on his cheek. Morgan also got many autographs by her favorite characters. Dan was able to get a picture with Donald and Andrew decided that Goofy was his favorite character and will be Goofy for Halloween.

Andrew was also able to take part in the Star Wars Padawan Training Academy. There he learned to use a lightsaber and actually fought Darth Vader! The force was strong with him.

One special note: Andrew is the same age (7) that Michele was when she first drove down to Disney with her parents.

We had a great time and we hope you enjoy our pictures!

Good Bye 2010

Here is the last photograph of 2010. This was taken at 7:20am on Thursday Dec 30. That morning I caught the 6:09 train to Union Station to get the sun rise light on the capital. But before the sunrise, during the twilight, I captured the above image. Its my favorite of the morning. I especially love the different colors of light in this photo. A little later after getting photos of the east side of the Capital during the sunrise, I was back on the train and back home by 9am.

We at the Rick Family wish everyone a healthy and happy 2011!

Snow Tubing at White Tail Resort

This year, Dan, Michele and the kids all had off during the week after Christmas. We saved up all of our change through out the year and it paid for our snowtubing adventure. The first day, Monday, Michele, Dan, Andrew, Faith and Morgan all went and Dan and the older kids went on the big tubing hill while Michele and Morgan stayed on the smaller hill. After a while, Michele and Morgan were finally convinced go on the big hill with the rest of the gang. Morgan did fine but Michele did not like it. It was too fast! The next day just Dan, Andrew and Faith went and they really enjoyed themselves. We also made plans with the Phillips' to have Joey spend the night and go snow-tubing on Wednesday. This was the first time Joey had ever had a sleep over. Dan and the boys had a great time and Joey didn't want to leave. We plan to just chill the rest of the week and on Friday night we are having dinner with the Phillips' to celebrate their 9 year wedding anniversary.

Christmas 2010

This year's Christmas celebration was a good one. The kids woke early and saw what Santa had left and then opened the rest of their gifts. Santa brought Andrew an Elephant Pillow Pet and a Mini Husky Pillow Pet. Santa brought Morgan an American Girl Bitty Baby doll which she takes everywhere. After all the presents where opened, we got ready and headed up to Pam Pam's for Christmas Breakfast. After Pam's then Michele got creative and made a Ham and a Gratin (from scratch) for dinner. She got a mandolin slicer for potatoes and it was fun and quick to use. Once dinner got started we ran over to Kevin and Missy's to exchange gifts for the kids then hurried back and ate a delicious dinner. We all crashed that night from all of the excitement. Santa treated us good.

Christmas Snowflake

The Susan Ina Winter Show was on my birthday this year. Morgan was in two dances. During the SnowFlake dance, Vinnie had to lift her and spin her around and he didn't drop her which made me very relieved. Dan took pictures of Morgan in her costume at home and had her do some poses. There was one point where we had her blow on some fake snow. Well needless to say, I am still finding it all over the house. Looking forward to Thanksgiving!

-Michele

Back to the cliffs

Aunt Pam-Pam, Cousin Faith, Andrew and Dad headed back to the Billy Goat trail. This time we had enough time to tackle the west second half of the trail. Poor Faith had stomach problems from her kidney medication she stated again on Friday. But all said it was a great hike. Andrew may look scared in the pic above but he was a trooper the whole way.

That might Pam and Michi and Da-Moma headed out to Longerberger Basket Bingo. The Kinds and I stayed home and turned off all the lights ate popcorn and watched How to train your dragon.

Happy Halloween

Halloween 2010. Here's my Captain Rex and Padme. The kids had a blast Trick or Treating. They filled up our cauldron with all of their loot they received.

The kids actually got to wear their costumes 5 times this year. Andrew changed up during our Church's Cars O' Candy and was Bobba Fett. I had gotten that costume last year at Tot Swap and it was way too big for him then. This year he went through a growth spurt. I had him try on his Captain Rex costume 3 weeks ago and it was too small so we ran out and got the next size up. We got our monies worth this year with all of the functions we went to.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Michele

Family Portrait 2010

Buttons & Morgan

Morgan got to bring her PreK class mascot home this week. She was VERY excited. Buttons and Morgan had a great time together. He got to stay with us for a week and was a very good house guest. Buttons also joined us while we went to the Corn Maze and helped Morgan from getting lost in the tall corn. We took a hay ride which was lots of fun. Buttons also went with Morgan to dancing school and watched Morgan take her Jazz class. The Rick Family will miss Buttons but we are sure that he will enjoy his next adventure.

Billy Goat Trail

I took Andrew, aunt Pam, cousin Faith and her friend Rebecca to the Billy Goat Trail on Saturday. It was a tough 3 hour hike. Andrew had fun showing the best way across the bolder fields. Here is a photo of Rebecca the bravest of all.

Something that surprised most was the lack folks wearing hiking shoes. It seemed everyone had tennis shoes. The terrain is not a walk thru the woods, well it is but with many large and some sharp boulders thrown in. Also I was surprised that given the terrain and the abundance of sneakers that I did not see anyone sitting on the side with twisted anckles.

Lets see if next time I can get Michele and Morgan out there.

Through the woods to see Grandma

Daddy, Morgan and Andrew went to Davidson North Carolina (BTW Davidson College is ranked number 9 by US News) to spend 5 days with Grandmom and Grandpop. Andrew and Morgan loved the homemade breakfasts and fancy dinners. They were kept busy all week.

Wednesday was all day at the Gastonia Schiele Museum of Natural History.
Thursday we went into downtown Charlotte for the Discovery Place and Children's Museum. I hated the Children's Museum, It was so dirty.
Friday was "the best day ever" at the Lazy 5 Ranch.
Saturday was relaxing in the AM then Swimming all afternoon (Thats today)
Tomorrow we head on the long journey back home to see Mommy.

Summer means a trip to the Carnival

The best carnival in the area is the Glen Burnie Carnival. Andrew was sure to remind us when it was happening, No summer can be completed without a trip to the carnival. We made the trip this year with the Phillips, Joey, Katlin, Missy and Kevin. Michele asked me not to bring the camera but I wanted to play a bit.

Most of my pix were meant to show motion. Here are the settings I used
Panning. This technique is following the subject to keep it in focus but makes the background blurred.
Continual focus, to keep the moving target in focus on the single AF point.
Small Aperture, to get a slower shutter and large DOF. If the AF falls off the subject a little the DOF will keep things better in focus. I dont have to worry about the background because its blurred from panning and the next item.
Slow shutter. I used about a 1/30 or slower to help blur the background. This also blurred hand and head movement but I think that adds to the artsy theme.

Portraits of Faith

My sister Pam asked me to help update her daughter's portraits. Above is my favorite. click on it to see more.

Feathers were hung with fishing wire, using a lamp as a template for Faith's height. This was done before Faith arrived. I was hoping it was not a bust, and I would get the confident shot right up front. I'm glad it worked. I actually hung ten feathers, ten for her age. But using the 70-200 lens the feathers were too spread out. But what I got I think was good. It would have taken too long to move them.

(White) background is inspired by Zack Arias. Four gelled speedlights, two on each side. One speedlight high and one low for even coverage. Using speedlights gave me the benefit of variable output to get cool transitions. Mostly fired at 1/8th. The flash gel was changed up or removed to change the background colors.

Foreground was three speedlights. One camera right for key/definition. One camera left-center for fill. One (borrowed from BG) grided pointed at the main feather, also lucky to also point at her hand and arm. The foreground lights were positioned close to prevent spill onto the background.

Lighting pattern is inspired by David Ziser. My results I think were close but not exact. Flash used were Nikon S26s and Canon 550ex. Because I used the Nikons I could only shoot at the fastest sync speed 320 (1D Mark 3). Because my flash was not as powerful I also shot at iso 400. iso 400 is not a big deal for the 1D. Most of the shots were at f8 for maximum sharpness throughout.

2010 Dance Recital

Its that time of year again, Its time for the annual dance recital. But this year is cracy busy. Not because Morgan is involved in more dances, nope she still is in only one. But Michi has decided to take up tap dancing again. Hope you ebjoy the Pics. Click the one above for more.

Also enjoyed my first at home studio. Whada-ya think?

Andrew's Kindergarten Graduation

Andrew graduated from St. Philip Neri's KB Kindergarten class on May 27th. Grandmom Sue, Grandpop Bob, DaDa, Morgan, Daddy and Mommy attended the ceremony. I balled liked a baby. Andrew's class held letters and used them to symbolize things from Kindergarten and at the end they held them up and it spelled 'We are now first graders". After that they sang 'The wind beneath my wings". That song always makes me cry. When your children are real little and people say enjoy it now because it goes fast, well Dan and I realized how true those words are. I can't believe Andrew will be in First Grade already. My how the time has flown.

Andrews AFB Airshow - Awesome

We suffered for 2+ hour in the hot sun waiting to get on the bus and back to our car, all for the fun we had at the 2010 Joint Service Open House and Airshow at Andrews AFB. Missy and Kevin asked us to join them for this event. But truth be told this particular airshow is a tradition for us. Anyway, we were one of the first to the base. So early that from Fed-Ex field to the base, the bus driver got turned around twice. We spent the hour before the show hanging around the static airplanes and kids area. I was surprised the kids lasted the whole day, and I think hanging out with the Phillips helped the kids make it. It was a blast regardless of the suffering at the end.

Like a Billy Goat

This is a place holder for the trip we took on the Great Falls billy goat trail (A) two weeks ago. Its a procrastination holder because I wanted to get up some of the pix from our trip yesterday. See above!

Andrew and I took Sean and Olivia Dean out to Great Falls Maryland on a famous trail along the Potomac called the Billy Goat trail (A). This trail is not for the meek. We spent 3 hours on the trail before we reached an "early out" point. I thought we completed about 3/4 of the trail at that point but lucky we talked to a trail ranger who informed me that we only completed 1/3 of the total distance. That was our clue to take the early our path (at trail marker number 2). Maybe one day Andrew and I will complete the whole trail. Then we can get started on trail B and C.

Lost Tooth

Andrew lost his first tooth today. It came out while eating a banana. He was very excited.

Rick Family Easter

I could only talk Morgan into getting her picture taken. But pixel peep at the dress fabric for extraordinary detail. Side lighting caused that. BTW Easter was mostly a recovery day.

We had an adventurous Easter weekend. We went to Massanutten on Friday and Saturday. Spent Friday at the water park (Andrew went body surfing!) and then half of Saturday exploring and the second half being sold a timeshare. Everyone was very friendly right up until we said no. Honestly the resort was nice but we felt way too much like we were in a car showroom with more salesman than customers. We were pushed hard into buying on the spot and that in itself became an easy out. I slept well Sat night knowing we made a good decision. We are planning to visit the resort again but as visitors not owners.

Trip to the Zoo

It was too early in the season but it was still free. we took a trip to the DC Zoo today. Many of the animals were in the warm inside. By Morgan (age 3) and Faith (age 8) both had a blast searching and seeing the ones that were out.
I took my 70-200 with the 500d Closeup filter. With the close up I was able to get some cool Pix. Near the lions habitat there was a guy setup with his Nikon D700 and an 800mm, He let Morgan and Andrew look through the viewfinder.

Blizzard Season

Well its 4 Days of being stuck at home. We're getting back to family games, home cooking and chores. AA County has left us plowed in like many other neighborhoods. Georgetown staff all around the DC area are still reporting stuck at home. BWI reported we got 25 inches (seems like a lot more) of snow Friday night and Saturday. I was out shoveling Saturday and made the kids a snow tunnel leading to a snow "tea room". They also got some man made snow mountains to climb and slide.

Looks like we'll have more to come tonight. Another 10-18 inches forecast.

Busy weekend

We had another busy weekend this week. Andrew started swimming again, Morgan started her first lessons. Andrew had fun at another Lego class. But the high point was the Smithsonian Educational Research Center (SERC) visit. They had a live Birds of Prey exhibit today. Andrew loved this one as much as the one he saw in NC. Morgan got a little scared when a hawk started flapping her wings but she still liked the owls. After the exhibit we walked the grounds in Edgewater MD. Click the above photos for more. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time there in 2010. We'll probably send Andrew to camp there.

New Portrait

Michi never likes her portrait taken. I'm glad I was able to capture this one today. Its one she actually likes. This was taken on the trails at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater MD.
Its a totally staged shot. I found the tree she's leaning on and asked her to go a few feet off the trail and stand next to it. The pose is her idea. I think she had a great pose.

Christmas 2009

Boy did the kids hit the jackpot this year with their gifts. Santa gave Morgan a kitchen and he brought Andrew the Clone Trooper Helmet and blaster that he wanted. We had Christmas Breakfast with Bud, Pam, Faith, Stephanie, Rick, Jessica, Daniel and Nicholas. It was fun watching everyone open up their gifts. We gave Bud the new Star Trek movie on DVD and when everyone was done opening gifts, he put the movie on and Dan, Bud and I watched it. Before we knew it, it was 4pm and we were hungry again so the guys got us Chinese food for dinner. We then came home and crashed. Dan is taking Faith and Andrew Snow Tubbing on Monday and Tuesday so we will be getting ready for that this weekend. Merry Christmas everyone!

2009 December Blizzard

We experienced our first Christmas Blizzard. Twenty-one inches of snow was recorded at BWI Airport. Andrew and Morgan had a blast playing outside while Dad shoveled! Saturday we dug out the Yukon and traveled to Annapolis Mall but everything started closing so we decided to go see Avatar while the snow fell.

Sunday we woke to more snow and the kids again enjoyed playing in the snow while Dad shoveled and Mom stayed inside baking.
The kids decided to use their beach buckets to make castles in the snow. Unfortunately, we may not find one of the shovels until spring...


Click on the picture above for more pictures.

Heritage Christmas Play

Morgan and Andrew were involved for the first time in the Heritage Christmas Play. They of course loved getting dressed up. Andrew was very serious about his roll.

I was asked to Photograph the event for them. Turns out the church really love the animoto slidshows. There are a few photos that I think will make it into my portfolio. Click the above pictures to see the rest.

2009 Christmas Card

We took a traditional trip to a Christmas train garden today. This is where we captured the Rick Family Christmas Card photo for 2009. Cards will be heading out this week. We went to the B&O Railroad museum in Baltimore. We brought with us Jamie Stiffler. Jamie loves trains and as a bonus put up with my picture taking. The B&O museum had a LEGO train garden, very amazing scenery. We also tried to take the kids to the Ellicot City firehouse train garden but it opens next weekend, Dec 5th. We ended the long weekend by putting up the tree and decorations. This year Andrew and Morgan are so very excited.