Catching Up with the Dude’s: Big Boy Undies, Getting Published & Rolling, Rolling, Rolling…

Happy Summer y’all! It’s official. Get out there and soak up that vitamin D.

But first, a quick Dude Family update.

Big Boy Undies

I guess Little Dude likes to wait until his birthday to cross milestones off his to-do list. He took his first steps on numero uno. And he mastered the art of potty training almost to the day of #3.

He showed no interest in potty training. Zero. Until he did. And now he’s a peeing machine. He prefers to pee in the bathtub…especially in his boat. But he doesn’t discriminate much…rocks, tennis balls, dogs, and especially Daddy’s feet.

It’s pretty cool to watch it click. Ah, pee and poop are such proud moments for Mommy & Daddy’s everywhere. 🙂

Rockin’ Big Boy Undies

Getting Published

In the off chance that I haven’t chirped enough about how amazingly rad Mrs. Dude is, we now have published proof.

Mrs. Dude is a super cool photographer with an amazing eye. Oh, you want proof from someone other than her husband?!

Ok, how about The Knot! Yep, the super popular wedding mag just published Mrs. Dude online and in print. Pretty awesome. Check ‘er out…

The Knot: A Vintage Destination Wedding

Although, her specialty tends to be newborns. Makes sense, right? Amazing Mom = great with newborns. Here’s a pic she snapped this morning…oh, no biggie, just a sunrise treasure washing up on the beach. 🙂

Mrs. Dude Rocks

 Rolling, Rolling, Rolling…

The theme for the Dude Family summer seems to be Rolling. The Princess and Little Dude celebrated their B-days with dueling parties last week.

The Princess scored a bike, skateboard AND roller skates. The Little Dude scored a skateboard he’s been dreaming about.

And The Littlest is now a rolling machine.

Our gorgeous summer days are filled with hours of rolling.

Thumbs Up!

Takin’ Care of Business

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dm7cPbBO6Y[/youtube]

Rollin’

And the Dude? I’m just kick’in it. Lovin’ the kiddos. Lovin’ the Mrs. Soakin’ up the NOW.

Enjoy the summer y’all! Wake up early to catch that sunrise, stay up too late kickin’ it around the campfire, enjoy some cerveza watching the waves crash with sand between your toes. Life is short.

PS – In addition to rolling around the world, The Princess is now sharing her art with the world. As one of her summer projects, the 8 year old aspiring artist has setup an Etsy shop to share her view of the world. Starting with a few pieces of nature photography, but much more art to come. Let’s get creative!

The Dude, A Camera, & A Canvas

I’ve always said to Mrs. Dude that “anyone can be a photographer.” Since before the Mrs. picked up a camera and started her amazing photog career, I claimed digital cameras and Photoshop threw open the doors to any yahoo that wanted to claim their title as “professional photographer.”

An endless supply of mediocre photographers littering the interwebs tells me I’m right.

On the other hand, thousands of dollars in equipment, endless hours honing ridiculous technical skills, and an artistic eye that no money or time can buy tell me the Dude is dead wrong.

Mrs. Dude, you are truly rad!

So, I straddle the fence with my own photog skills. Am I just one of the masses with the luxury of a digital camera in hand? Or does the Dude have an eye money can’t buy?

On the fence?! Nah! I’m super rad…when Mrs. Dude is there to tell me what to do and edit my shots. 🙂

Last night we gathered up the Dude clan for a quick run to the beach so I could capture Mrs. Dude’s baby belly in the perfect light a sunset throws on the dunes at dusk.

The way I look at it, we only need one great shot to make the trip a success.

The Mrs. showed me a few pics, and I must say…I nailed it! With complete direction, of course. But now Mrs. D says we aren’t posting any yet!

Wha, wha, what?! The world deserves – no NEEDS – to see the Dude’s phtog skills.

Wait?! I think not.

Little Hands, Big Belly

Little Hands, Big Belly

Awesome, right?

Honestly, I’m so biased that I have no clue if it’s any good – my wife, my kids, my baby belly, and my shot. How could I not think it’s amazing?

But what I do know is that we need this hanging in our room for inspiration leading up to the big event a short two months away. A gorgeous canvas as a daily reminder of where we’re headed and why we’re going in that direction. I love it.

Luckily, I just scored some great canvas prints from PrintCopia.com, so I know where to get this jobby job taken care of.

The PrintCopia canvases are the shiz – heavy-duty,  well made, great picture quality…an all-around gorgeous print. Check out the rad shots of Little Dude flying we just hung up…

Little Dude Flying Canvas

Little Dude Flying Canvas

Hook it up if you have some great pics (or hire the Dude…I hear I’m a rad photographer).

By the way, PrintCopia also has car magnets, custom banners, & signs.

However, I will mention one tiny detail…

I have Mrs. Dude convinced I’m a “doer.” I’m up early gettin’ at it – whatever “it” may be, and I love to say that “I got stuff done” today. As I get older, the jobs keep piling up, so I guess I just keep on truckin’.

But the reality is that I’m pretty lazy at heart. My yearbook quote in high school was,

“I’m lazy. But it’s the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn’t like walking or carrying things,” by Lech Walesa.

And I’m sticking to it.

I love to get ‘er done, but sometimes the laziness wins out, and this is one of those times.

The canvases from PrintCopia are gorgeous and of high quality, but I’m a bit dismayed to report that one of two canvases (i.e. 50%) arrived with a blemish right in the center of the picture. Nothing a little white paint can’t fix, but a factual review is a factual review. I submit to you evidence numero uno…

However, overall, these are fantastic canvas prints, and a trip to the post office to send it back just seems like a lot of work, so the Dude’s laziness has won out. We’ll make it work.

With that said, if PrintCopia wants to send a canvas of the Dude’s awesome photog skills displayed above to make up for the blemish, I’m happy to report to the masses of the great customer service. Wink, wink. Nod, nod. 😉

In the end, the lessons contained herein are…

  1. Hire Mrs. Dude for your pictures. The Dude is all talk and takes all necessary direction from the true brains in this relationship – i.e. the Mrs.
  2. Buy a canvas print for your home – your Mrs. will thank you…FYI – Christmas is right around the corner!