Falling for Fall

Today is gorgeous. Rewind 48 hours and you would have thought God had broken His promise and was going to, indeed, destroy the world with water again. The sun is shining now and there's just enough crispness in the air to know that autumn is here to stay. Although, I did have to turn on the A/C briefly last week. So to recap, fall is here ~ unless we get back up into the freakish 80+ degree range anytime soon.

Last weekend, we took advantage of the picture-perfect temps and took the kids down to National Harbor. It was less crowded than the summer months and therefore much more enjoyable. From the charming restaurants, to the picturesque pier jutting out into the Potomac, to the glorious grounds and gardens of the Gaylord Hotel ~ it was a treat for the senses.









This particular batch of pictures was taken prior to "The Event". And I don't mean that new T.V. show with Blair Underwood. My event involved my precious camera.

I handed it over to one of my daughters in order to get a picture of my standing on a rock. Sounds lame now, but trust me--it was going to be epic. What I failed to do was secure the strap around her neck. So when my skittish child was suddenly swarmed by yet-to-be-identified insects, my camera took a dive--lens first--straight to the concrete below it.

My shriek startled even me.

Nominate me for Mother-of-the-Year now because YES: I scooped up and cradled my Canon before even thinking to check my child for harm. My camera and I just celebrated our 1st anniversary together (J bought it for our wedding anniversary last year ~ our 15th anniversary just passed). We had it insured, but its demise never crossed my mind.

Upon further investigation (and a consult with both J's "camera guy" and a geek working at Best Buy), it was determined that the connection between the lens and body was compromised in the fall. One of the connectors on the lens is chipped. I get an error message after every single shot. I can't so much as review the images or take another picture without turning the camera off and back on. Not exactly ideal shooting conditions for a shutterbug like myself.

Soooo, it looks like Mama will be getting a new lens. I have been considering an upgraded lens for a while, but just not seriously. Until now.

Oh and you'd better believe I'll be trading in one of my kids for a really good tripod.