A Christmas Stay-cation

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas from the Soriano family. No fancy trips or winter travels this holiday season but a nice homely stay-cation in sunny Florida.



Who needs Rockefeller Center in NYC when you have joyous Manatees in your backyard? We made the most of our stay-cation with a large emphasis of our own local tourist attractions. Our first stop is the Manatee Viewing Center at the Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, Florida. The Sea Cows were prancing in the warm waters of electric power plant runoff with glee!



A Christmas Bricktacular at LEGOLAND Florida kicked off the holiday weekend with family and friends. My measly pre-lit synthetic fraser-fur pales in comparison to the 500,000 LEGO brick Christmas Tree towering over toy hungry kids. Call it 6 tons of peace and joy!



Real LEGO Friends without the retail markup. Lasting friendships have humble beginnings on itchy St. Augustine turf. School winter break means two weeks of well needed fun and no school morning rush hour!



Home sweet home on Christmas morning. Gifts opened by my kids with joy and disappointment. Parents relieved the holidays are half over until New Year's Day. The long and treacherous journey to the in-laws begins. Oh joy!



My soon to be 22 month old daughter figured out Christmas rather quickly. Christmas tree with shiny boxes equals Peace on Earth! Back to back Cuddleuppets commercials on Sprout TV enlightened her on the true meaning of Christmas.



Ho! Ho! Ho!, the Filipino Santa with Kirkland Signature attire and a belly full of Jollibee Chicken Joy brings presents and his Canon EOS M digital mirrorless camera to capture the never ending holiday moments.



Filipino Santa was barely clicking away the slow focusing Canon EOS M from the holiday feast induced coma. Smiles and giggles inspired a sleepy Filipino Santa to move on to one more household.



Cousin chaos part 3. A three hour visit was well spent with my niece and nephew discussing the latest high school gossip and playing Black Ops 2 mulitplayer team death match over lunch. This is the true and priceless gift you cannot box and wrap. No sappy television commercial or Hallmark Greeting card can dare to repeat this true meaning of Christmas.



You can view more bundles of joy in my Christmas 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS M paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS with EF-M lens mount adapter.



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Epic

Bigger than life itself. No fabled heroes on this New Year's Day but only humbled eyes capturing a chronicle of events called my family. Year 2011 has passed and the dauntless task of 2012 seems as bright as the New Year's Eve firework's display at LEGOLAND Florida.



Cousins forever. Just like Dick Clark's Times Square Ball Drop for New Year's Eve, the countdown is ticking for priceless childhood moments. School winter break converged masses upon central Florida with several theme parks closing its doors due to over capacity. We braved the traffic and crowds and hit LEGOLAND Florida with a vengeful bite of Granny Apple Fries with delightful whip cream.



Enamored by bombs bursting in air like my wife, my almost 10 month old daughter shares the same fondness for elaborate firework displays. Armed with store bought 500 gram gunpowder cakes, my brother in law illuminates the neighborhood with theme park quality fireworks. The little ones duck and cover while the adults and the local County Sheriff gaze with mouths agape.



A thousand points of light shine bright upon the best Christmas of my lifetime. "The best Christmas" may sound cliche to my kid's gift filled eyes but it is an epic truth to me.



My oldest niece meets the youngest of the Soriano family only for the second time this year. Despite this gap, my baby daughter stares deep into her oldest cousin's eyes with a lifetime of familiarity...Epic.



You can view more photos in my New Year's Eve for 2012 Gallery shot with the Canon EOS Rebel T3i paired with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens.

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ICE! Experience at Gaylord Palms Resort

My family started the New Year with a visit to snow and ice. Not the horrible blizzard that plagued the Northeast which shut down entire cities but ICE! and SNOW! at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, FL.



2011 started with an almost 80 degree day in sunny Florida. My nieces in Atlanta, GA could not agree more with the much warmer weather. Irony and the cold weather traveled with them on New Year's Day for a chilling tour of the fabulous ice village and sculptures of the ICE! Experience.



We were encapsulated with 9 degrees of Santa and his reindeer, an epic Nativity display of such awesome stature and the all time favorite ice slide. I do not want to forget the SNOW! portion of this winter wonderland. Slushy snow activities filled the other side of the event like snow tube racing and a snow playground.



Entering this 9 degree bliss with camera gear can be a challenge. Cold fingers combined with rapid battery loss from extreme lower temperatures did not compare to the effect of condensation. When you eventually leave an overwhelming ice display, your gear will turn into a sweating, dripping and foggy mess. My weather sealed Canon EOS 1D Mark IV survived. My sister's point and shoot literally froze to death.



A small tip to the condensation wary. Bring a gallon Ziplock plastic bag to seal your gear before you step outside into a warmer environment. The sweat will form outside of the Ziplock and not short circuit your gear into oblivion. Just wait till the photo equipment warms up until you open the Ziplock.



You can view more photos in the ICE! Experience at Gaylord Palms Resort 2011 Gallery. Shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS and the EF 35mm f/1.4L lens.