coming soon : croatia!

family session!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since my last session with these three... This time we visited Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch, where we had the best of both worlds: the playground and the beach!




Monkey Bars!

Mom will show you how it's done... Go, Jenn!









Jillian likes to squoosh Caroline any chance she can get:

See! haha





A short Nilla break...

travelings : part 1

August was filled with lots of adventure! Part one of the traveling extravaganza was a close one; Brett and I drove to upstate New York to visit one of the Finger Lakes. It's actually the perfect trip for someone living in NJ, since it is only a short distance away, but is fulfilling enough to feel like you really had a break from the everyday.... and, of course, it's absolutely gorgeous! This is Seneca Lake:

We stopped at Watkins Glen at the southernmost tip of the lake to see some waterfalls....




As we continued north, there were tons of antique shops to stop at. This was a good one... I found lots of stuff... Cool Stuff... Great things... Things that Brett had to shove into the already full car! We are now happy owners of a cracked row boat oar (that adorns one of our walls downstairs), a tool which aids in the making of homemade butter (I was informed), and a beautiful teal metal bowl, which will also one day be hung as a decor element. We shall see.

This is Sydney:

The main attraction at Seneca Lake is the wonderful vineyards.... Even the antique shop had some grapes a grownin'....

Each time I pick a B&B, it's a very selective process.... Animals... Check! Unique/beautiful decor.... Check! Great innkeepers... Check! Bragdon House met all of the requirements:



This was our room... so pretty!


The inn is run by a mother/daughter pair, so it would only be fitting that all the rooms at the Bragdon House are named after famous women. Our woman of note was the great Betty Boop, hence the room name "The Betty". Boo-Boo-Bee-Doop!



Dexter was one of the pets of the house. He would show up just as quickly as he would leave, but a ball of love, nonetheless.

We were able to witness the new arrival of Cookie, 4 months old at the time:

And here's Mack:







And on to those wineries! Seneca Lake has this great trolley tour that takes you around to 5 wineries and a microbrewery:













The weekend we visited, there was a garlic festival (just to explain the random pics of garlic)....

Colorful Geneva:





We meandered home, stopping at random towns on the way.... Only a few pics, but this was one of them:


Hope you've enjoyed. Next stop: Croatia!