Places to Go/Things to Do - Location Scouting with T (Washington D.C.)

I really miss blogging and being in this space, but my "real" job has been crazy busy lately, so some things had to be put on hold.

In the meantime, a few weeks ago I photographed a wedding in DC and the couple wanted to take photos close to their apartment before heading to the venue. So I brought T and his friend location scouting and discovered a gorgeous park with unbelievable light (the wedding photos turned out AMAZING!).

Things to Do - Project 52, Weeks 29 & 30

Happy almost September (how did that happen so fast?)! Sorry for the lack of posts lately, we just returned from a month in Europe (10 cities in 30 days).

For the most part we had a great vacation, but that was A LOT of time to spend together and I think we're all craving time with friends and space from each other. So goes family bonding.

I took over 3000 photos (of course), which I'm slowly going through. I'm hoping to post some of Florence, Italy and Alghero, Sardinia (our first two stops) in the next week or so. Until then, here are some photos of summer at home . . .













WEEK 29

(1) Trees outside the apartment pool we join for the summer.
(2) Apple camp.
(3) An afternoon at the pool.
(4) T and P at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
(5) P, T, and Cole at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens on a really hot morning.
(6) F at the Kennedy Center before the King and I.
(7) Peak bloom at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
(8) Before Dinosaurs Alive (IMAX) at the Natural History museum.
(9) P on the Kennedy Center's balcony.
(10) Sibling bonding at Yards Park.













WEEK 30 (not in chronological order).

(1) T waiting for the owner of our airbnb in Florence after 15 hours of travel time (9 hour flight to Vienna, 4 hour layover, then a 2 hour flight to Florence).
(2) Playing chess in the bathroom at the Mansion on O Street (such a quirky place).
(3) T broadcasting from the Newseum.
(4) An afternoon at the apartment pool.
(5) Self portrait at the Mansion on O Street.
(6) The view from our rooftop patio in Florence, Italy.
(7) T at the Mansion on O Street.
(8) The girls in my office.
(9) A few minutes after we arrived at our Florence apartment.
(10) Dinner out at our favorite neighborhood Ethiopian restaurant.

Places to Go - Wednesday Night Camping at Shenandoah River State Park (Bentonville, VA)

A few weeks ago, I had a relatively easy weekday schedule (no real estate work, no weddings to edit) and Dan just finished trial, so he had a few mellow workdays too. Thus, we decided to take the kids out of school a few hours early and head to Shenandoah River State Park to camp for a night. I've wanted to spend a night here for awhile now, but weekends are usually booked solid up to a year in advance.

And now I see why. The campsites are AMAZING!! Huge. Private. Water views. Plus, since the sites are walk-in (a really short walk), you don't have to listen to cars all night long.

Dan fished. We hiked (we didn't see a single other person on any of the trails). P explored. T kept the fire burning. F read (of course).

We saw snakes. And butterflies. And honeysuckle.

Turns out camping on a Wednesday night is pretty awesome. I wish we could go all the time.

Shenandoah River State park is only 75 miles from Arlington (about 1.5 hours away). They also have a zipline course that looks super fun (I really want to try it next visit). You can find more info on the park here.



The baggage carts were a huge hit. Somewhere along the way they became a "ride".








Seriously, how gorgeous is this campsite?



Several of the park's trails leave right from the campground. We're hoping to take the kids overnight backpacking this summer (fingers crossed), so T decided to test out his new pack.

Places to Go - Spring Break 2017, Part III - Easter Baseball (Washington D.C.)

For the final chapter of spring break 2017, we spent Easter Sunday at a Nationals game. (They won!). It was 90 degrees in April (seriously?), but we had shady seats so all was good.

I don't usually bring my DSLR to such events, but I thought it would be fun to try photographing during the harsh light of early afternoon. Plus, I like to take photos.

The signs on the neighborhood balconies were cracking us up.

Anyways, have a great weekend everyone! See you next week!

Places to Go/Things to Do - Let Your Voice Be Heard - Women's March on Washington

So MANY people (500,000 plus) and so much love. What more can I say?

THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!!























(This was my favorite. Along with "Free Melania" which I couldn't get a photo of).