Fun new vintage lenses!!

On our way back from San Antonio in May, Byron and I stopped at a Flea Market! What fun!! Aisles and aisles of random antiques, treasures and, well, a lot of junk! I ended up buying a hanging plate rack, a clock for the girl's room and my biggest treasure - vintage photography stuff!!

I ended up getting a steal on a 1970's camera and 4 lenses! THEN when I got home and showed my parents my find, my Dad G. pulled out his old 1970's minolta with a leather case and more lenses!!

Last week I bought a lens adapter from Amazon to be able to mount these lenses on my Canon EOS. As soon as it came in, I went outside and started shooting!! 

These are from the Canon Reflex 500mm 1:8 zoom lens. It is hard to get sharp focus, but that depth of field is amazing!!

The next two are from the Canon 70 - 210 mm - LOVE this lens! I wouldn't use it for portraits, but so  great for shooting for fun!

I'm sure I will be taking these lenses out to play more soon!!

Field Trip - Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

A few weeks ago the kids and I headed up the road to a little town called Pilot Point to attend Homeschool Day at Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch.

When we arrived we loaded into a tram and were ready to start our adventure.

The tram's first stop was to see and pet some animals I didn't know existed. Such as the Zdonk. A cross between a Zebra and a Donkey!

There was also a Zorse - that's right a zebra/horse!

We were also able to pet some beautiful horses.

The tram then took us to see zebras! We were not able to pet them, though, because though they are beautiful, they are not very friendly.

There were also these guanacos or spitting camels (they looked very much like alpaca).

The tram's last stop was to see and pet some camels!

I can almost hear him saying, "Guess what day it is!?!?!...

Hump day - yeah!"

After the tram ride we had more fun learning all about the animals at the ranch. 

We learned all about lemurs and even saw a 4 day old lemur baby!

SOOOO CUTE!

We took a barrel train ride...

And went on a scavenger hunt!

The kids even pet a baby kangaroo and a snake!

We all had a super fun day!! Mig has asked me almost every day since if we can go to Sharkarosa today.

We will definitely be going back!

More pictures from our vacation...

Ok - so if you can't tell, we had an awesome time on our little vacation. I promise this is my last San Antonio post (until the next time we go down). 

So there are just a few more pictures I wanted to share here. You can't go to San Antonio and not see the Alamo. 

Our last stop when seeing all of the missions was the Alamo and Riverwalk. 

This time, I was so impressed with the big statue in front of the Alamo. The artistry is so amazing!

Here is the picture we finally got after our meal at the Tower of the Americas.

The Riverwalk:

This little bird was hiding in a bush on the Riverwalk.

This statue is how I know where in downtown San Antonio I am. It is called the Torch of Friendship.

And another on the Riverwalk.

The kids had a super fun time at GiGi and PopPop's house, too. They did crafts, went out for milkshakes, saw newborn deer and even had an ice cream making contest. With out GiGi and PopPop this trip would not have been possible. Thank you guys!!! We love you!

More from San Antonio

On our second full day in San Antonio Byron and I spent some time with some friends that just moved to San Antonio. Then we went to lunch at Los Patios - which is beautiful and has shops and a nature trail nearby. That evening we saw a movie - Godzilla! 

The next day we headed out to the Japanese Tea Gardens. For some unknown reason, it is called the Japanese Tea Gardens, but you are greeted with an elaborate sign that welcomes you to the "Chinese Tea Garden". HA!!

When Memaw and Papaw lived in San Antonio, Papaw would take my sister and me to the Tea Gardens at least once a year. At one time there was a sky ride that would go from the entrance of the zoo and over the Tea Gardens (some call them the "Sunken Gardens"). The sky ride is no longer there, but the gardens are still serene, beautiful and a great site seeing activity!

We battled the rain on our visit, but it was still so beautiful!

Byron took the camera from me again. I tell you - I am so much more comfortable behind the camera, but I love how this next picture turned out! 

I even got a few of my handsome guy!

Beside the garden is the Sunken Garden Amphitheater, which is still in use today. On the day we visited, it was not being used, so we snuck up on stage!

That evening, Byron made dinner reservations at the Chart House Restaurant which sits at the very top of the Tower of Americas.

I had really wanted to get a picture of us standing in front of the tower before we walked in to send to the kids, but as we approached the tower it began raining. I was pretty disappointed that we didn't get the picture I was hoping for, but as we ascended the tower on the elevator, we looked out to see the most beautiful rainbow! We ended up being seated with an amazing view of the rainbow over the city of San Antonio. Talk about romantic!! Byron couldn't have planned it any better if he had tried!

The restaurant rotates very slowly around the tower so that during your meal you get a 360 degree view of San Antonio. The food was so good! It was definitely a night to remember!