December 31, 2010 - New Years Eve

It was a beautiful autumn day. Not a cloud in the sky and just warm enough to leave the jackets at home. In short, it was perfect. We went to Houston's to grab one of their burgers, by far the best in town, and then strolled around downtown for a while.

December 30, 2010 - Arno's First Haircut

Rachel came over today to give us much-needed haircuts. While Margo is an absolute pro by now, this was a first for Arno. He did not offer much resistance, but we were all saddened to see his beautiful long hair go.

December 24 & 25, 2010 - Heiligabend, then Christmas

Margo and Arno are half German and half American. In Germany celebrations fall on Christmas Eve while they occur a day later in the US. We reconcile this issue by simply celebrating twice: opening German gifts on the 24th and American ones on the 25th. The solution works well for all of us except that Arno and Margo both expected new presents on the 26th ... and exactly why shouldn't it go on forever?

December 22, 2010 - Meredith

We took a couple of B&W shots tonight that are just fantastic. Meredith is beautiful!

December 19, 2010 - The Playground

After spending most of the weekend inside, it was high time to get out and catch a few rays of sunshine. We went to a park and playground nearby that provided ample opportunity to blow a bit of steam.

December 12, 2010 - Noël

Margo and Arno both sang Christmas Carols this week as part of their school program. It was great fun to watch them both. Margo's performance was at Northpark Mall, which attacted a crowd of well over 200 people.

December 9, 2010 - Paris

Just attended a conference in France which provided an opportunity to get in a few shots over the weekend. All are pretty much overshadowed by a heavy jet-lag, but it was a lot of fun to stroll through the streets of Paris from the Champs Elysees to La Madeleine and the Opera district. There just isn't a place like Paris when it comes to taking in the culture and history that lurks around every corner.

November 28, 2010 - Thanksgiving

What started with our visit to the zoo a few days ago has ironically turned into a hugely food (and wine) dominated weekend. Meredith made a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and we have basically cooked and eaten non-stop since.

November 24, 2010 - The Dallas Zoo

Much to Margo's and Arno's delight, we spent a beautiful and warm afternoon at the Dallas Zoo. It is the second largest wildlife refuge in the Southwest and also the oldest zoo in this part of the US. I believe everyone was most impressed by the giraffes, which you could actually touch and feed from the gallery.

November 18, 2010 - Miscellaneous

Time flies! We have been busy with work and travel and there has been little time to take shots needless to say edit them. Here are a few of the better ones that we managed to take over the last four weeks.

October 23, 2010 - The Trick

We took a fast digital camera and then I told Margo to dodge the shots, which produced some nice smiles.

October 22, 2010 - Night Sky

It was a beautiful night with a few clouds and a nice view of the  moon. I took a walk with my camera and used an extremely high ISO setting for the shots. The results were certainly better than expected.

October 21, 2010 - Dinner at the Monsters

Dinner usually is a sophisticated affair. It requires attention to detail, patience and a dedication for doing things the right way. Not here ... we had Mac & Cheese followed by ice cream. It went down pretty fast anyway.

October 17, 2010 - Mickey on Stage

Much to Margo's and Arno's delight, we saw Mickey Mouse at the theater today. It was a great show with lots of music and jokes. Margo's highlight clearly was the appearance of Cinderella while Arno rooted loudly for Goofy throughout.

October 13, 2010 - Just Another Night

Arno is still unwrapping presents from his birthday and didn't miss the chance to take a couple of turns on his new racer. With his spectacular hat, he certainly invokes Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull headgear.

October 10, 2010 - Arno's Birthday

Arno turned two today. We celebrated the occasion with a clown and several of his friends. Arno really enjoyed the party and was still singing Happy Birthday after he got into his bed.

October 7, 2010 - Black & White Experiments

It is really amazing what you can do with a couple of filters in post production. We took a bunch of images today and then tinkered with black & white exposure settings until they fit. It's still a long way to a great image, but we're learning ...

October 4, 2010 - Margo Reads Disney

As a voracious reader, Margo likes to entertain the rest of us with stories from her books. These are usually delivered with much gusto and enough color-commentary to keep everyone on the edge of their seat throughout.

September 26, 2010 - Playing at Home

We had a quiet weekend and lots of good food. All along Margo and Arno chased each other around. As you can see both have developed a strong affinity for the performing arts ...

September 19, 2010 - Whiterock Lake

Lazy Sunday: we wanted to walk at Whiterock Lake, but quickly found that it was way too hot ...

September 12, 2010 - Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery is one of the greatest modern art museums in the world and it surprised with its amazingly current collection. The oldest works we saw were created in 200o and the majority of exhibits weren't more than a year or two old. What was striking thoughout was the maturity of these paintings and sculptures.

September 11, 2010 - V&A Museum and the Eye of London

With several of the great museums in walking distance, we started out at the Victoria & Albert and, afterwards, worked our way towards the Thames once again. This time we went on the Eye of London, which provided breathtaking views of the city.

September 10, 2010 - London

Arriving in London early gave us an opportunity to visit the Tower and take a boat trip along the Thames before finishing the day with a phenomenal dinner at an Italian place in Kensington.

September 9, 2010 - Breakfast at the Orange Inn

This was truly one of the best breakfasts I have had in a hotel. It provided a great start into each day while we were in Germany ...

September 8, 2010 - Roermond and Hariksee

It was Meredith's birthday and we wanted to do something special. Starting the day early, we met Werner, who is a very good friend of the family, to visit Roermond in Holland. After walking through the city, we had lunch at the yacht club where everyone had the famous Dutch french fries. Finishing the trip, we took a boat tour on Hariksee. In the evening we met Lars, one of my best friends, to close the day with a nice birthday dinner.

September 6, 2010 - Schloss Moyland and Burg Linn

It was my Dad's 85th birthday and for Arno and Margo certainly an occasion to dress up. After celebrating, we visited the Moyland and Linn castles in the area. Moyland is home to one of the best and largest private Joseph Beuys collections in Germany and Linn is a fascinating medieval site.

September 5, 2010 - Krefeld

Back at my parents house and on a playground, Arno and Margo had fun playing and running around. It was quite a change for them to be outside without us at their side all the time.

September 4, 2010 - Duesseldorf

We had a relaxing day strolling along the Koenigsallee in Duesseldorf with Nils, Elizabeth and Jule, who visited from Oldenburg. The best part about Germany really was escaping the heat in Texas!

September 3,2010 - Krefeld

With Meredith, Margo and Arno arriving in Germany, we had a great start into our vacation at the grandparents.

September 2, 2010 - Meilenwerk in Duesseldorf

The Meilenwerk is pretty much any classic car afficionado's dream come true. Once a train switching station, it has been restored and is now used by classic car collectors to store their priced possessions as well as by dealers who sell the dope.

August 9, 2010 - Redwood Forrest and Santa Cruz

Thad, one of my colleagues, took me for a hike into the Redwood Forrest and to dinner at Crows Nest in Santa Cruz. These trees were huge and probably well over a thousand years old.

August 8, 2010 - Sonoma Day 2

More wine, more food, more fun ...

August 7, 2010 - San Fran and Sonoma

Visiting Georg and Martina in San Fran meant lots of great food and wine along with the perfect summer. We drove straight from the airport to their cottage in Sonoma. How could anyone want to live anywhere else?

August 1, 2010 - At the DMA

Here is our most interesting underwater shot so far ... plus a couple of photos taken in the DMA scupture garden.

July 17, 2010 - Finally

... its been a while! First two of the laptops and then my camera: we've had our share of casualties recently. I managed to take a few shots here and there.

June 27, 2010 - In the Water

There is little that beats the price-fun ratio of a $30 underwater camera with a 5 megapixel resolution. The shots were easy and the quality is surprisingly fair. Here's what we got out of it ...

June 25, 2010 - Washington DC

I had about an hour in-between checking out of my hotel and leaving for the airport during a business trip to DC. It was enough to walk around the Capitol once and get a shot of the Library of Congress. Wish I had had more time ....

June 12, 2010 - Fort Worth

We finally made it back to Fort Worth for lunch and a visit to the Modern. Tadao Ando's architecture is extremely beautiful.  Here are a few of todays' snapshots.

June 10, 2010 - Arno

Just a few shots ...

June 8, 2010 - Quick Swim

It's not exacly the caliber of Eadweard Muybrigde, but we had fun.

June 6, 2010 - Some Oldfashioned Work

Black and white clearly beats color when it comes to relaying moods. Great for portraits ...

May 29, 2010 - Memorial Day Weekend

We have had a great, long weekend with little to do other than cook, eat and drink. Connie and Royd came over for dinner, which was as interesting and engaging as ever. We also painted at the DMA ... just a bunch of lazy fun!

May 24, 2010 - Austin's 16th Birthday

We celebrated Austin's 16th birthday in style with a glass of champagne and a new PS3. It was a great weekend and all of us enjoyed the opportunity to come together as a family.

May 22, 2010 - Margo's Ballet Performance at White Rock North

Margo has had another stunning performance during which she danced very well. It is amazing how little the crowd affects her. When I looked behind the stage curtain just before her entry, she had muscled herself into the front of the troupe and was ready to go.

May 16, 2010 - The First Swim

The weather stayed warm and sunny all weekend, which meant that we finally had the opportunity to swim in the pool ... it's about time!

May 5, 2010 - Flight over Dallas

Tuck, one of my esteemed colleagues, granted me the rare opportunity to fly over Dallas today. His aircraft is an experimental plane with stick controls and was just awesome to experience. Got to fly a little myself at 2,500 ft. Unbelievable!

May 2, 2010 - Margo's Fourth Birthday

Margo has had a great birthday and loved all of the excitement around her. As is obvious below, everyone had lots of fun during the private ballet lesson. The "guardians", meanwhile, managed to drink an entire case of wine. How did that happen?

There are more shots under 2010.

April 25, 2010 - Margo's Ballet Performance at the McFarlin Auditorium (SMU)

This was part of the Dallas Ballet Company annual dance performance for students of all ages. Margo was in the "Desert Bunnies" troupe and, as the youngest performers on stage, they were quite a success with the audience.

Earlier this year - Arno & Margo

A couple of cute shots ...