Not that kind of photo session, folks! This is a family website! We went to Washington DC this weekend to visit family. My dad and stepmom were in town from Germany for work so we flew up to see them for a long weekend. My sister and her family just recently moved to Virginia Beach so they drove the three hours up to visit as well. The four cousins hadn’t seen each other since June and it has been much longer since the grandparents had seen all four cousins together. Before the visit, we had planned to do a photo session to update our very out of date pictures of everyone together. We had planned on doing the photo session somewhere on the grounds of the Homestead Farm, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. We didn’t want to wait to take the pictures because we would run out of days and soon it would be time to go back home. We thought about the hotel lobby, a covered area in a park, and many other options. We settled on taking the pictures in the hotel room and we are so glad that we did. A picture of my family sitting on the hotel bed will hang in my living room and will not only remind me of this particular trip but will also be symbolic of the many trips we have taken as a family and the many more hotel rooms we will be staying in!
Beautiful hotel rooms are perfect for impromptu pictures! This particular hotel room has a beautiful head board and a big fluffy white down comforter that made for a gorgeous background. The lighting was soft and the windows were plentiful.
My dad, stepmom and the four grandkid cousins:
My sister and her husband (they are still newlyweds!):
My sister and her family:
Me and my sister:
A few things we learned during our photo session:
- Snap the “everybody look at me and smile” picture first. Then let the kids goof off!
- Utilize the natural lighting coming into the hotel room through the windows. Place your subjects near the windows.
- If the sun isn’t shining, most hotels have soft lighting. Turn on the bedside or table lamp.
- Don’t worry about rearranging furniture to suit your purposes. Just be sure to put it back in its proper place.
- Take a look at your background. Make sure that you are not going to have to edit out cords, lamps, luggage or half a picture that was hanging on the wall. Some editing is good, especially if you know what you are doing. We took a few pictures that were beautiful but we just couldn’t edit some of the stuff out of the shots so they are not fireplace mantle worthy.
- Some of the best pictures we got were when the kids were having fun just being kids!
Be sure to stop by DeliciousBaby to check out other great travel photos at Photo Friday.
I know that most people have posted their pumpkin, apple and various other fall-esque pictures weeks ago. I have not because I live in Florida where fall is a mythical creature to us. It is hot, hot, hot and then it gets biting cold. Then it gets hot and humid again. Halloween is a crap shoot–it is either super hot or freezing cold. Never in between! This is what we were doing two days ago:
I was so excited when I saw that the You Capture theme was Autumn because have I got some serious Autumn pictures for you this year! This weekend we had the opportunity to fly to Washington DC to see my dad and stepmom who were in town from Garmisch, Germany. My sister and her family, who moved to Virginia Beach this summer, were able to drive up for the weekend as well. While we were there, all I wanted to do was see a real live pumpkin patch and apple orchard! Well, we found the most beautiful farm set in some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen!
Homestead Farm is in Poolesville, Maryland. The drive to the farm is unbelievable-beautiful trees in brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges; homes that look like castles; and windy roads that take you quickly away from the city and into quaint little towns. We knew we were chancing it when we decided to go to the farm because the weather man was predicting 80% chance of rain and rain it did. That did not stop our fun though!
In the pouring rain, we took the hayride down to the pumpkin patch where we picked out a pumpkin for my sister and her family to take home with them.
My two Florida grown children could not believe the number of pumpkins “just laying on the ground” and they thought it was hilarious!
We had the most amazingly beautiful and delicious caramel apple, but unfortunately no one thought to snap a picture before we scarfed them down! The farm has animals scattered throughout for you to say hi to.
There are also some great photo opps.
This is a working farm and they are open about half the year for you pick your own fruits and veggies. Cherries, strawberries, blackberries, peaches and nectarines as well as apples, pumpkins and Christmas trees. Everybody at the farm was very friendly despite the rain and the fact that the day we were there their electricity was out too! There were a lot of people at the farm, but it didn’t seem overly crowded or touristy. If we lived nearby, we would surely make it out to the farm with the changes of each available fruit or vegetable. Homestead Farm also has a little store where they sell fruits, vegetables, jams and breads just in case you don’t want to do the work yourself.
Head over to I Should Be Folding Laundry to see other Autumn pictures.
On our massive Virginia road trip, I drove the kids up to Hershey, Pennsylvania to meet up with an old friend. We visited Chocolate World (I have coined the trip Chocolate Disaster…that is for another post, another day!) and on the way home, we stopped for a potty break at Boyd’s Bear Country in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When we stop for bathroom breaks, we try to avoid gas stations. With small children, there is no easy way to keep your little ones from touching all sorts of nasty things in the bathroom. By stopping at touristy places such as Boyd’s Bear Country, usually we can find a clean enough restroom that doesn’t make me cringe when I open the door.
After racing the little ones to the restroom (which was incredibly clean!), we wandered around a little bit. I chose to stop here because the potty break timed well as we were driving past. I wish that we had been able to spend a little bit more time here because the kids had a blast. Everywhere you turn there was a Boyd’s Bear, mouse, moose, etc.
There is a restaurant where you can get a country buffet meal. There were some great spots for the kids to wander as well. The kid’s activities include an Adopt-a-Bear program and a place where you can actually make your own Boyd’s Bear. Oh yeah…the fudge is divine!
Stop by Debbie’s at DeliciousBaby to check out other Photo Friday submissions!
On our summer road trip, we visited a friend in Tappahannock, Virginia. While there, we got the grand tour of her work and what a cool job she has! She works for the Menokin Foundation. The Menokin House is the home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It is an 18th cetury house on 500 acres of land. There is a small visitor center where you can see a scale model of the house, explore a little archeaological ”dig in a box,” and fields and fields of corn! As we walked the grounds of the house, I could only imagine how it looked during its prime! The Menokin House is being restored and they are stabilizing the remaining structure.
An original door
A side of the house – You can see the glare of the plexiglass that they are putting up to help preserve it.
Thanks to DeliciousBaby for hosting Photo Friday. Check out all of the other great travel photos!
I found out that my sister has moved to the birthplace of Mr. Peanut, the mascot of Planters Peanuts. I made it my mission to find Mr. Peanut and a peanut factory to tour while we were in Suffolk. I knew my kids would get a kick out of it as we love peanut butter! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a roasting plant in the area. If you know of one, please forward me the information!
We did find a great little Planters Peanut retailer called Suffolk Peanuts. As soon as you open the door, you can smell the peanuts roasting. They have one of the original roasters and there is a very small Mr. Peanut in the corner!
Of course we had to buy a burlap bag of peanuts, salted in the shell!
Stop by DeliciousBaby to check out other great Photo Friday pictures.
When my husband and I traveled before we had kids, we dreamed of finding the great pastry shop tucked in a corner on a quiet little street. We dreamed of a great wine bar in the middle of the bustling city. We dreamed of a quiet afternoon at an art museum. Having kids hasn’t stopped us from dreaming of and finding these things but we have also added parks and nature walks to our itinerary. Every time one of our kids spots a playground or a city park, they shout out loud with glee. Our travel itinerary often looks the same with each trip. We love to get an early start and spend the morning at the place of our choosing whether it be an aquarium, manor home, a museum, a factory tour, etc. with the kids while they are in a happy mood. I am not going to lie-you will often hear me bribing my children with a visit to a “cool new park” to get us through the rest of the exhibit. Then we eat lunch and head for a park. Many times we go to the park and have a picnic. The kids love the picnic and I love saving the money that we would have spent on a restaurant! It also helps us avoid the stress of making sure our children behave in a restaurant. The kids love to check out the new parks and are so funny when they compare them to the parks we have at home.
Finding a park to head to is a great way to have your kids let off some steam and explore other parts of the cities you visit. On this road trip, we are in Virginia Beach dropping my sister off in her new house. We had to get the kids out of the house (four under the age of 7) so that she could get some unpacking done. I did a little Internet search for city parks and recreation and found Mount Trashmore, an awesomely huge city park that was created by compacting layers of solid waste and clean soil. The kids loved hiking up the hill and rolling down the hill.
How can you find parks when you travel? We found Mt. Trashmore listed on both Trekaroo and Visit Virginia. Debbie, at Delicious Baby, has a great way of finding playgrounds when she travels by using Google Satellite.
Head over to Mother of All Trips to see what everyone else is dreaming of!
