Scratch, scratch. In my 5 years of living in Syracuse I think I have made it to NYC more times that I have to the Adirondacks. Door to campsite you can get to some fabulous places in 90 minutes, and I just don’t know why I don’t go there more often.

scratch, scratch. Oh, yeah….the bugs….

Actually, the bugs are not really keeping us away, but they were pretty bad last month when I got to visit the Adirondacks two times.

First time, I didn’t spend much time outside because I was there on a girls weekend and we were too busy eating and laughing indoors. We did very much enjoy our view, but rain and bugs kept us from exploring too much.

Just last weekend I braved the bugs with my family and some good friends for a night of camping at Eight Lake Campground. We provided a nice meal for the bugs, but I am so glad we braved the blood suckers.

Just seeing my kids out in the woods inventing fun makes it so worth it. Can you see the bow and arrow that was constructed?

Doing some exercises to make the water seem warmer.

beach portraits.

Tag on the beach.

Our campsite—very large.

This hike was appropriately named.

Happy Trails.

This is a great time for photos. When your kids are still kids, but almost moving on to adolescents. They can be silly one moment and  then the next they give you a totally adult look.

I like it when the grownups can be silly as well.

Thanks for having me out.

Just a big fun share from a recent family session.

Maybe I’ll photograph your family next!

I’m thinking about the beach today a bit, but mostly I am thinking about some good friends who just moved and are currently staying at the beach. It isn’t that far away–we went for the weekend, but not everyone would want a 6+ hour drive for a weekend, but Bethany Beach was worth it for us.

I think it sounds like a fabulous place to spend the summer while you wait to move to your new town (like our friends are doing). Luckily last fall we had the chance to visit them at their favorite retreat.

Echo loved riding a bike around the neighborhood.

And bird watching, or kayak time in the sound was wonderful.

The view from the top of the house was pretty good.

Beach vacations are a good time to try silly foods.

And, the beach!!! It was too cold when we were there for swimming, but we did see dolphins.

And, shell collecting was a favorite activity.

A trip to the candy store on the boardwalk is a good thing to do when you want to shake the sand off.

I’ve gotta schedule a visit again soon.

The busy, busy time is approaching and I am excited to do more sessions outside. I’m also wondering if I will see any fascinators at my weddings this summer. I hope so.

Here are some favorites from a recent family session.

The dad in this family is a biologist with quite a skull collection.

Thanks so much for having me out to photograph your family.

The semi-pet.

I have been meaning to go back to this garden ever since I discovered it last year. From Syracuse Sonnenberg Gardens is about an hour and a half away. We made a day trip out of it when we went, stopping off in Skaneateles on our way home for dinner. We went in early Spring, and it seemed like it was undergoing a lot of work, but the rustic not perfect feel of the place was perfect for my family. There was also pretty much no one around, so we could pretend the the house and grounds were our own personal estate.

We stated off with a little wine tasting and then explored the gardens and greenhouse.

My kids and husband enjoyed all the statues.

Inside the house was really cool, and when we were there they had a lot of dresses on display which my girls enjoyed.

Totally worth the drive.

I got to photograph this cute little girl last weekend. What a sweetie.

Thanks for having me out.

The weather for next week looks gloomy, but this week has just been amazing. Luckily, I got to get out from behind my computer for a bit to photograph a really cute family of four that is soon to become a family of 5.

A little sister will join these boys.

I can’t wait to come back out when their little girl arrives.

Is anybody watching—if so I am sorry that this post is a day late in coming. I hope I haven’t started a bad habit already, but I took a lot of photos in Guatemala as I am sure you can image.

I hope you are not tired of Guatemala yet. This post won’t be my last one in this area—I was thinking that it might be, but then the post would have been way too long.

In case you were wondering what my accommodation looked like in Panajachel, here you go. It was a lovely 2 bedroom house. Our hosts were right next door and we could walk right into town.

This is the running part of into town where you gotta move fast during the blind curve.

One day we took a boat over to San Juan.

It is sort of known as an artists town and I loved photographing the murals as well as the color that just shows up on everything.

The detail in the mural shows some of the aftermath of Hurricane Stan.

the street.

Guatemala is known for it’s textiles.

This is how the natural dyes are made.

The view from the boat.