2 hours daddy... 2 HOURS!

We decided to take a last-minute family (overnight) trip.
Our destination: Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island.

I admit.. this was our very first family overnight trip with the boys-- being at such a young age and traveling... well, if it takes me 1.5 hours to do grocery shopping with the boys, imagine what it was going to be like taking them to the beach, the amusement park, the museums..never mind trying to get them to go to sleep in a strange place at night....

I knew we could do it, but I wasn't sure how the boys would react to the hotel, the change of scenery.. and well, the beach! (As you can tell from the pics below... we were a little hesitant at first and we (sorta) got used to it.)

The reason for the title of my post is because technically our trip was suppose to take 1 hour and 15 minutes without traffic. Yes, we did bump into a little traffic.. but for some reason my husband decided to take his own route.. and changed his course a few times. At the end I realized it took us 2 hours to get there.. and well, my son reminded my husband! ;-)

2 hours daddy!!

I used my macro the whole trip- yeah!
Our view from the room- it really was blue!

Our next door neighbor ;-)


Hmm.. Alex didn't take to the sand very well at first. OUCH! Mommy's feet...
But he eventually got used to it (notice he's still on the towel though!)
Aiden had no trouble exploring in the sand.Alex loved watching the waves crashing.

If you know me, I am all about the silhouettes!

A couple of friendly teenagers gave us a sparkler.. the boys were all over it!

On our way home...

Jamie and Jose

OK. I admit. I love blogging. But there's a problem when I do blog.
I find myself reviewing a wedding to put up just a few photos on the blog.
But when I do, I find myself starting to edit photos.. one after another.
I find myself saying- just 5 more... just 3 more to put on the blog...

(And my husband asks why I stay up so late every night :-)

It's very addicting- especially when you have such a great couple like Jamie and Jose.

I remember very distinctly Jamie, Jose, and Kara (Jamie's twin sister), meeting with me in my office. I remember having another inquiry for this exact day in August who was suppose to meet with me as well (before they were!) My policy is that I'm not able to reserve a date without a contract and deposit (sorry!), and they wanted to meet with me. It happened that they literally met with me the day before this other couple (sorry about that!)-- but I have to say, I truly just clicked with all of them. Both Jamie and her sister were getting married in the same year (lots of planning in that household! :)

I was truly honored when both of them selected me as their photographer (thank you!)

I was very inspired at this wedding - there were so many beautiful opportunities to capture delicate moments. (And I don't think I told Jamie this, but the bridal suite she got ready at the Goodwin Hotel was the exact room I had gotten ready in before my wedding- except there was new wall color :-) It brought back some nice memories.

Thank you Jamie and Jose, for allowing Jake and I to capture your moments.

Here's a sneak preview:

I don't know why this photo just caught my eye. But when I turned it into Black and White- POW! I knew it had to be! I think it's the simplicity of the photo with a complicated dress process (all those buttons :-)

I wanted to have a little fun in this picture (thank you Kubota!)
I had to include the sister shot (thank goodness they were wearing different outfits and hair do's!)
I remember seeing some beautiful lighting coming through the windows (but there was a couch blocking it). Hopefully the Goodwin didn't mind too much ;-) (There weren't too many dust bunnies underneath!)
Again, love the lighting!Simple. Yet elegant.

Had to include the natural reaction Jamie had after Jose dipped her!

And their kiss after their very first dance as Mr. and Mrs. :-)

Amy & Beau

The Greater Hartford Jaycees Boathouse is one of my favorite places to shoot- it's right on the water and offers such beautiful greenery.. and well, for Amy & Beau's wedding, it offered a little more water than we bargained for!
For those of you that have been there, there is a boat launch located right on the property.. and well, due to all of the rain Hartford has been having-- that was "under water". The dock.. yep, that was an island. And a portion of the parking lot... yep.. you could have rowed a boat!

But Amy and Beau are such great people (and great sports) that we ventured out to to the greenery portion of the property, fighting off swarms of mosquitos to get a few shots.

They had such an amazingly beautiful (perfect blue skies w/ a touch of fluffy clouds) day.

Enjoy the sneak preview!! Huge thank you to Christa for helping to capture their day!

Oh, and Beau, thank you for subscribing ;-)

Of course we have to honor the flower girl (and her feet too!)

I'm not quite sure why I think this is such a cute picture.. but what comes to my mind is:
"We all have days like this". :-)

Camelia & Paul

Simple and Elegant. Close Family. On the Glastonbury Green.

I love these quaint, elegant affairs. It was a gorgeous Sunday morning, the sun was so bright.. the air was so warm. When I first arrived to setup, I found the family gathered around, splashing in the fountain water with their feet... chatting.. and just found them to be so relaxed.

Here are just a few photos from their very special ceremony: