NYC---the final chapter

On Saturday morning we were rushing to grab breakfast in D.C. and bumped into Vermont's own Howard Dean. Such a small world!
Then we sped off to NYC for Summer's super secret birthday surprise.
We snoozed at the very stylish Le Parker Meridien and after recovering from the trauma of losing Summer somewhere in the hotel the next morning, we played tourist for the afternoon.

Guess where we went first...

While other tourists waited in the never-ending line to get up in the Lady Liberty...we had fun in the gift shop!

silly kids!

How sweet are these moments of Baxter playing with Andy on the ferry? You've gotta love the 70-200mm zoom lens!!



Sweetheart Summer
My beautiful boy
My handsome hubby
Our CELEBRITY sighting at The Coffee Shop in Union Square.
Our last, and the kid's favorite stop of the day was to Dylan's Candy Bar. Nothing like a good candy fix before a long car ride!

stairway to heaven...
All you need is...

D.C. and Beyond---chapter 2

We had a terrific visit with Andy's Uncle Martin and Aunt JoAnn at their new home in Richmond, VA.
Later that day we traveled a few miles down the road to Cousin Hope's house and hung out with her beautiful family. We had a great visit and a memorable meal of Uncle Martin's famous fried chicken.
Mason
Ryan
Ryan with his Grandpa Martin
Our little wiseguy by the neighbor's mailbox.
Thursday morning we headed for George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon. My mom said the restaurant was not to be missed, so we had lunch there. Summer was thrilled to have sparkling cider and Baxter shows off his "beer".
The line to get into George's home was a mile long, so we opted to run around the grounds instead. There were too many photo ops!
Our naughty monkey at work...

a moment of peace
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Our little photographer tinkers with the camera settings...
Romping in The President's backyard.
Later on we had a super fun visit with Andy's cousin Jimmy and his wife, Kimmy, in Chantilly, VA. Here are his darling girls: Nina and Tery.
Jimmy and his beauties.
That evening we shared some great times with Andy's cousin Susan and her husband, Tom, in Annandale, VA.
Early Friday morning we were back in D.C. for a tour of The Capitol.
The plaster model of The Statue of Freedom is in the basement of the Russell Senate building. The bronzed version graces the top of The Capitol.
Our wonderful tour guide was an intern from Senator Leahy's office, Patrick, from South Burlington, Vermont.
We rejoined the Pasley family for our tour. The rotunda was amazing!!
One little segment of the rotunda ceiling.
A tasty tour tidbit.
The office of Ted Kennedy.
Segways: cool or dorky? you decide.
A brief visit to the National Air + Space Museum. One small step for man...one small tickle for Baxter's neck!
Then it was off to the National Zoo for the afternoon.
I adore this photo Andy took of the flamingo feet.
One cool looking bird.
This peacock did a very impressive dance to score a cute peahen. He just called to ask if we could photograph their wedding in 2009.
My baby panda, what big teeth you have...
These animals should be caged!
This is kind of sad...
But this is kind of funny...
After dinner, we decided to take a walking tour of the monuments. It was one of our very favorite memories of the whole trip! Here is the Washington Memorial. (These are all hand-held because there was no way I was lugging around a tripod!)
Playing with the lights.
The World War II Memorial.
And finally...the Lincoln Memorial. We watched a fireworks show from the steps and it was quite memorable.

Happy Mother's Day!

We wish all you mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great day. The kids started off by making me delicious blueberry pancakes and a fantastic fruit salad with mango, papaya, pineapple, peaches, and strawberries! Yum! Then we took a wonderfully sunny but epic five hour hike up Camel's Hump...encountering SNOW (on the ground, not falling) about two/thirds of the way up!

Here is a tulip from George Washington's gardens for you to enjoy!

D.C.--- chapter 1

Wedding season officially started for us yesterday, so the blog is going to get tons of love again....hooray!
So I'd better get a start on our vacation photos right away...

We started off our vacation with a coffee social with the fantastic Senator Patrick Leahy and his super-star staff at his office in the Russell Senate building. It was social indeed as many Vermont families on spring break were invited. We met up with our favorite pals, the Pasleys, and spent the remainder of the day visiting the sites with them.

Enjoy!...

we stopped for a couple of snapshots on our way to the senator's office at the US Capitol Building...

Senator Leahy greeted the group and told us some great stories. I especially enjoyed hearing about his role in the upcoming Bat Man movie, The Dark Knight.
Andy captured some moments of my visit with the senator. He gave me a tour of some of his photographs, as he is a very accomplished photographer. He also shared about his family and friendship with Bono. I learned that Bono likes to sit at his desk and stare at a photograph that the senator took of a refugee. Bono says the man is pleading with his eyes...don't forget about me. Out of respect, I didn't take a photo of the photo, so you will have to drop by the senator's office to see it.
The senator arranged for each of the families who visited to have a photo taken with him. Here the kids chat with one of Senator Leahy's awesome staff members, Jennifer, while waiting their turn.

Senator Leahy at his desk.
This is my favorite.
Stop number two was the U.S. Supreme Court. The line was longer than a fun new Disney World ride and there was not a "fast pass" to be found.

The kids kept themselves entertained, and I stayed entertained by taking photos of their silliness. After an epic wait, we were able to sit in on an actual session for a grand total of 5 minutes. Andy saw Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg speak and I only heard them because I was sitting behind tall people. I'm a big fan of stadium seating!


A view of The Capitol Building from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Our next stop was the National Museum of the American Indian. The building was one of the most interesting I've seen. I loved the exhibits inside too. And the unexpected perk was the lunch from their cafe. Andy and I shared a sample platter of Native American cuisine and it was one of the yummiest things ever!
A colorful piece from the Day of the Dead exhibit.
Gold!
This is a Native American wedding dress. CLICK HERE to see the online exhibition!
Max in fine form...
The kids found this sweet family just outside the museum...
Following the urban wild kingdom sighting, it was on to the U.S. Botanic Garden.
St. Patty...

Our final tourist stop for the day was Summer's favorite...The Library of Congress. Summer told us that the library houses over 30 million books. Funny because the only books I remember seeing were from Thomas Jefferson's collection. Where do they hide all of those books?!
Andy was admiring the amazing ceilings!! Do you see any books?

lovely dogwood blossoms



more to come....

Perfect Ten!

Our family just returned from our big road trip to DC and NYC and I have TONS to share from our fun adventures; however, the photos are going to be a little out of order because the most amazing event happened yesterday that I am so excited to tell you about!....

Our beautiful, sweet, smart, silly, precious and precocious daughter, Summer, turned ten years old!!! We are officially in the double digits now. It's scary how fast that happened. Seriously.

(Just a warning to all of you parents of very young children or parents-to-be...it is true what everyone is telling you...they grow up too quickly. So enjoy every amazing moment!)

So how did we celebrate?? I surprised Summer with an afternoon at the American Girl store on Fifth Avenue in NYC on Saturday. We started off with a show, then had reservations at the cute-as-a-button cafe and ended with some shopping. We walked out with a bag that was so big that Baxter could have fit inside. (I should have snapped a photo!)

Anyway, enjoy the photos from our sweet + cozy little birthday party...


too many choices...


this darling little box was filled with fun little questions we could ask each other during dinner...


who wouldn't love a skewer of fun shaped fruits?
Summer spies the waiters lighting the candles...
she was going to kill me...

luckily she didn't blow them all out on the first try, because I can't afford a pony!
Julie gets some peppermint ice cream too...
it was an extra special day!!!

Citius, Altius, Fortius…

I just learned that the English translation for the above words are...Swifter, Higher, Stronger. If you knew that AND you knew that they were the Olympic motto you are much smarter than I am. I didn’t take Latin and I’m ok with that because I have a smart husband who did, so he can easily translate for me.

So our kids recently participated in the Greek Olympics at their school. The games culminated the students’ ancient culture studies. It has been a tradition in their class for at least twenty years and is held every Olympiad.

I was photographing the event for the Free Press, but I snapped up some photos of our kids as well. I adore school events!!

Our family is off on a road trip to Washington D.C. for the week starting Monday. On Tuesday morning we will be drinking coffee and eating donuts with my hero, Senator Patrick Leahy. I can’t wait!!

We’ll be checking our emails periodically if you need to reach us.

Have a great week!

xo

Baxter's teacher, Miss DeForge, reminds him that as Zeus, he must have a loud and powerful voice.
He made a very fine Zeus!
Kindergartners wait for the games to begin...
The classes enter the stadium, aka the gym...
The school Principal, Mr. Terko, reads the Olympic oath...
The athletes agree to the oath...
Summer (in the center) had a big job during the games to help the kindergartners with their ribbon dance. She was a champion!
Allyson competes in the long jump...
It is difficult to focus when there are little girls to bug...
Brigitte announces the events on her trumpet...
Thumb wrestling is one of the lesser known Olympic sports...
Baxter competes in the marathon...Amazing after all those miles he can still smile...
A musical interlude...
Summer and Jackson compete in the chariot races...
I spied lovely Summer...

The fabulous Mrs. LaFlamme participated in her last Olympic games, as she will be retiring in June after about forty years of teaching. It won't be the same without her amazing spirit!!
Baxter and Summer with Mrs. LaFlamme, the best kindergarten teacher EVER!!

New Skills

I’m happy to be home from a week at the New England Institute of Professional Photograhers. I studied under Hanson Fong, “the king” of classic portrait and wedding photography based out of San Francisco. While my style is very different than his, I learned a ton and I’m excited about the quickly approaching wedding season, so I can practice my new skills in making everyone look fabulous in lightning fast speed.
My class was big, so while we had a couple shooting sessions with local models, I wasn’t really in paparazzi mode to fight for a spot at the front. I hung back, listened and documented a bit.
After classes I had fun with friends and met so many new friends. It was a great week!!

All week long...Hanson preached...
Hanson prayed...
Hanson pulled his hair out...
and eventually we learned a few things about posing...
or did we??? ("dad" is John and "mom" is Sarah)
my class hard at work...
my pal, Roger, poses with the bride. He did a killer Hanson impression the night we honored our teacher.
Hanson was just telling us to use a hood to prevent lens flair from happening. Am I so wrong to like rainbows?
Leah
marvelous Marlene
comic relief
Hanson demonstrates the beauty of window light
everyone was busy practicing with the window light and all I could see was the potential for this...
the pretty bride
John in the background made this shot an award winner.
I met smiley Tom at a NEIPP class several years ago.
impressionism? nope..just daffodills reflecting in the car window.
star shooter Andrea
Andrea and moi
down by the beach
There would be more party pix, but my point-n-shoot battery died after 5 minutes. bummer.
Elise, Amber and Kevin
the remains of an action-packed Corona
me and Mr. Kubota
back to work...
spring is springing
My super pal from class: Judith
The 3 Stoogettes: me, Andrea and Barrie
My sweetheart daughter made this card for me when I returned! xo

School's in session!

Hi all!
I'm hanging here with my pal, Barrie Fisher, in our totally cool pad at the Ocean Edge Resort in Brewster, Mass. We're attending the New England Institute of Professional Photograhers aka NEIPP for a week of learning and fun. She's studying with the king of Photoshop actions, Kevin Kubota, and I'm studying with the master of posing, Hanson Fong.
I don't have any photos to post yet because we have been submerged in classroom work, but I'm sure I'll have something to share by the end of the week.
Have a fabulous week!
daria

The Need for Peace

Hi everyone!
I've been insanely busy lately. I'm not complaining, but I just don't have enough time to blog about all the cool things I've been up to. The Free Press has me running around like crazy and I just finished up a couple of Vermont Life photo assignments for the summer issue. On Sunday I am off to a photography workshop in Cape Cod for a week. Too busy, I tell you. And wedding season hasn't even started yet!
So here I am, finally blogging about a war protest in Burlington that I covered on March 22nd...

















Peace!

Vermont Hooters!

I hope you weren't expecting something else here. :-)

p.s. Summer spotted the owl and Andy took this awesome photo.
I didn't know any of this was going on because, like the owl, I was sleeping in on Sunday.