Legoland!

Ahhh... have to love having a holiday when the locals don't. We loaded up the kiddos and headed off to Legoland, Germany! Needless to say, the kids were beyond excited. And Mom and Dad like that, too... not becuase everyone needs over-stimulated hyperventalating kids, but becuase the incredible amount of power that yields in the few days building up to the trip... "Ah ah ah... what were you going to say? Go clean your room, son. Go to bed early when you are done." *sigh* Too bad it's just a temporary state of obedience.

We went with some friends from the Stuttgart Area Homeschool Support (SAHS) group, the Schumachers, Greenes, and the Connors. After that, we ate dinner at a pleasant resturant near a village near the park in the forest beside a peaceful pond, (peaceful until some one falls into it that is!)

Schloss Solitude

On the 25th of June we had a simple picnic at Schloss Solitude. It was a quiet afternoon after church. Picked up some sandwitches, found a nice shaded spot and had a delightful, low-key time with the family. :)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The kids were groaning as we were getting ready to go see yet another place, but they really did seem to get a kick out walking around Rothernburg ob der Tauber. They had a lot of fun running along the sentry wall, going up to the tower for the view. I even think they enjoyed looking at the churches, well, at least the first couple. :) We didn't think they would have the patience for taking the town tour, so I think I'll hold off on that until company comes and we go again, leaving the kids behind!

Photographic privacy and why I like Flickr!

This is my standard comments/disclaimer clause on Flickr that I send when I take photos for other folks. (I've looked a lot of photo sites, and IMHO, Flickr is by far the best photo site I've ever seen! :) I can tell it was developed by folks who are passionate about photography, and that it's not just a corporate venture. Here's a few of the reasons that I think Flickr is so great:

• Privacy control. You can select the visibility of each image, Private, Friends, Family or Public (So if I have an image there that you want me to take off, it's easy to change to friends only. Let me know and I'll do so.)
• Blogability. The images in various sizes all have static addresses, making them perfect for referencing in emails and blogs. If you use HTML email, a message copying images from your photostream takes only a few kb and doesn't actually contain the pics, yet gives you immediate access to unlimited megabytes of imagery in one click, so you can share and yet not be a mailbox hog.
• Max resolution. For every other site that I've seen, you have to pay for access to full resolution images that are suitable for printing at most sites. For Flickr, it's free... all you have to do is get an account, and after you log in, you will see a link above the image "all sizes" and that will give links to all of available sizes from which you can download them or link to them in other documents.
• Your friends can have free access to the full size images and they can print it themselves or use its inexpensive printing service.
• Archiving. It's a great place to keep photos of your favorite memories. Free from crashing drives and dying laptops!
• Organization. As pics are uploaded in your photo stream, (It has an slick drag and drop uploader, too) you can organize with tags that you can reference via urls for collections or use sets. Like Matt, Daniel, Ethan, Victoria, Neal, and Vivian... or more complex searches like European Potty Patrol! or Neal and Vivian, but no kids!
• Collaboration. You can comment and annotate with notes (highlight points of the image without modifying it) on individual images or send to user groups for review. There are many professional photographers who gladly provide feedback on your photos if you submit them to review groups to improve your photographic skills.

How do I get the photos I want?
All of the images that I post on Flickr are the original size and are free for your personal use. To get the full resolution photo that would make the best pics when you print, you must have a Flickr account and be one of my contacts. On any page, click the "log in" link and then, if you have a Yahoo ID, use that. If you don't have one, click on the "Sign up!" link and fill out the short registration form. Once you log in, you get a toolbar above the image on each image's page. Just click on the "All Sizes" link and select the size you want and download it... it's that easy.

If you do download any photos for your personal use, I only ask that you leave a comment or note on the photo's page. If you use it on another website, please include a link to the page in the comments and be sure to adhere to Flickr's simple terms of service, which ask that you link the photo back to it's source photopage.

Contact me if you are interetsted in for licensing commercial use.

Farewell, Cody! June 19, 2006

We are all in God's hands... And our lives are all so delicate.

To Cody, a loving Husband, caring Father, and Gentle cousin, you will be dearly missed.

This was the last time we saw Cody, as we stopped in Texas for Thanksgiving on the way from Hawaii to Germany. I recall that it was not too long since his last surgery before that. I remember thinking that he had an incredible amount of strength and courage in the fight against cancer. It may have gotten the upper hand in this skirmish, but in Jesus we are victorious over death in the final victory.