Did a shoot in Kismet Tuesday and it’s sad but I have to admit it was my first time to Fire Island (well, other than a school field trip about 100 years ago). It was so pretty- kind of a Key West meets New England vibe. The pictures of the family are coming soon, but I wanted to post the scenery ones today.

A big thank you to Beth W. for watching the boys this afternoon/evening so I could go do this shoot. And big kudos to her too… Patrick and Jack both got stung by bees today going into the neighbor’s yard to get their wiffle ball- Patrick got stung 7 times! There was drama and tears, but Beth was on top of all of it with benadryl lotion and motrin. Thankfully, they aren’t allergic– but we only found that out today!

I walked about 100 miles all over the island. Going to be paying for that today for sure. But while the ferry schedule wasn’t exactly what I had hoped to time the light right for a beach shoot, it ended up all good. I had some delicious lunch (just me and my kindle-ahhhhh!) and finished up at the perfect time to cover the rest of the destinations in fabulous light!! There was a time I would have been freaked out about eating alone, but it was so nice and relaxing. And I read a lot, too!

I have a newborn shoot this morning and then off to Conneticut to see my friend Robin and baby Eoin. For those of you who follow the blog, you’ll remember that Eoin (pronounced Owen) was born almost 4 months early and spent almost 4 months in the hospital before coming home this past weekend! Go little man!! Pictures of him coming soon…

The ferry:

A little wake taken from over the side of the ferry.

The lighthouse and a deer that was no more than 4 feet away. Cool!

Bike would’ve been better if it was blue or pink, but purples okay too.

And the view on the ferry home. Niiiiice!

And one funny note- I saw a high school friend on the ferry back to Bayshore. Small (and random) world!!

This was really the only part of the trip (other than visiting with our friends in Michigan) that I was remotely looking forward to.

A little more driving was needed to make it to our destinations for the day.

I found out that the house that was Ralphie’s in the movie A Christmas Story (a favorite of mine which I usually watch for the full 24hrs that it’s on TV on Christmas Eve) was actually located in Cleveland, and that there was a museum, gift shop, and house tours- I was SO in!

We watched the movie in the car about 5 times on the trip to get ready for the house! The boys really loved it (and we watched it another 6 times after seeing the house) and John and I were laughing from the front seats.

A little walk around the museum while we waited for our turn for the house tour. This guy was in the movie as the delivery man who brings in the ‘major award’ in the FRAGILE crate. He lives down the street from the house and was the boys on set guardian while they were filming in Clevland. He had lots of good stories to tell.

Pictures from the house and museum, with some of my most favorite quotes from the movie.

“Ralphie, I can’t get up!” or “I can’t put my arms down! Oh, you’ll put your arms down when you get to school”. or even “Getting ready to go to school was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving. ”

“He looks like a deranged Easter bunny!”

“Oh! The theme I’ve been waiting for all my life. Listen to this sentence: “A Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time”. Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+ + + +!”

“In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan”

“Now, I had heard that word at least ten times a day from my old man. He worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium; a master.”

“Only one thing in the world could’ve dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.”

“Would you look at that? Would you look at THAT?  What is it?  It’s a leg!  But what is it?  Well, it’s… A leg, you know, like a statue.  Statue?  Yeah, statue.  Yeah, statue.  Ralphie!  My mother was trying to insinuate herself between us and the statue.”

“Fra-gee-lay! Must be Italian. I think it says Fragile, dear.”

“Sons of bitches! Bumpuses!”

“Not a finga”

“Randy? What’s wrong? Whatcha cryin’ for?   Daddy’s gonna kill Ralphie!”

“Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf. I hate meatloaf.” (Timmys favorite line. Cracks him up every time.)

“Be sure to drink your Ovaltine. Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!”

Not only did we purchase a Tshirt that says ‘Oh, Fuuuuudggee”, a bar of Lifebuoy soap, a Little Orphan Annie Decoder Pin, but also a leg lamp for our very own. Can’t wait to light that baby up in the front window!! Cause it is a Major Award, afterall.

We also visited the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and I wasn’t overly impressed. It was okay, but it was mostly about the costumes it seemed. And, there were no pictures allowed except for on the main floor where there wasn’t much in the way of displays anyway. Uch.

Onward to Michigan to see our friends and go to the Tigers game…