Family Reunion in Boston, Mass.

Back in August I flew out to Boston for a family reunion. I'd never been to Boston before, so I was extremely excited to visit! Some of my family lives in Beverly, Massachusetts and they hosted most of the festivities.  What a beautiful area it was. Their house is absolutely gorgeous. They have restored it from being converted into 6 apartments. Supposedly President Taft used to come over to smoke cigars on the top floor and play pool - everything and everywhere has SO MUCH HISTORY! There have even been some movies filmed on their street. It is that beautiful! One night there were some fireworks over the water that is literally across from their house that just happened to correspond with the last night of our family reunion. Coincidence? I think not.  It was literally one of the best family reunions I've been able to go to! On the way home, I got to drive back with my dad! It was fun to do some site seeing with him.  What follows is a breakdown of what we did.

Friday, August 4th

  • Flew to Providence, Rhode Island instead of Boston because my flight was majorly delayed and I wouldn't have been able to meet up with family until after 9 PM.
  • Dad picked me up and drove from Providence to Boston. (THANKS DAD! <3)
  • Drove to Beverly to see the house, talk to family and have a pizza party!
  • Salem ghost tour

Saturday, August 5th

  • Peabody Essex Museum and roaming around Salem on a rainy day.
  • Sailboat with family and dinner at an old rail station converted into a restaurant.
  • Candlepin bowling after dinner

Sunday, August 6th

  • Boston Freedom Walk
  • Chicken and Lobster dinner in Beverly
  • Fireworks and goodbyes (official end of family reunion)

Monday, August 7th

  • Whale watching tour from Boston Harbor
  • Drove to Amherst, Mass. to stay with family

Tuesday, August 8th

  • Breakfast with dad and family
  • Saw the family farm that my grandpa spent a few years growing up on in Cattaraugus
  • Drove to Niagara Falls: both the US and Canadian side

Wednesday, August 9th

  • Niagara Hornblower boat and journey behind the falls tour on the Canadian side
  • Drove to Detroit through Canada

Thursday, August 10th

  • Henry Ford Museum - Greenfield Village and National Park movie

Friday, August 11th

  • Rouge factory tour where we got to see some F150s being put together and the actual Henry Ford Museum itself
  • Drove back home to Iowa.

Nathan's Senior Session

I've known Nathan since he was born, so I was extatic when I was asked to shoot his senior portraits! Here are a few of my favorites below: 

I Followed My Stars

March 14-22 I visited Paris and London by myself. This was truly my first time traveling alone, except for when I studied abroad. I was so proud of myself for navigating the cities alone, and never once getting lost. I even helped someone get to their hotel in Paris! While I could write literally pages and pages about what I did and what happened, I won't (though I'll provide a link to it if you're interested in reading more). Here I will just outline what I did each day.

This blog is named "I Followed My Stars" because my first day in London when I met up with my friend Emily. I told her about my method of getting around the cities. I had logged into Google Maps and starred a whole bunch of things that I was interested in seeing in Paris and London. Each day, I would pick a star and figure out how to get there. From that point, I would wander to the other surrounding stars. My friend Emily called it following my stars, and I absolutely loved that phrase, so it stuck!!

 

March 16 -

  • Monmarte tour with Localers
  • Climbed and walked through Sacre Coeur
  • I followed a route that took me in a circle to see major landmarks including: The Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero, Arch De Triomphe, Champs Elysess (with detours to Pierre Hereme and Laudree for a taste test!), Place de la Concorde/Luxor Obelisk, Ponte Alexander and back to the Eiffel Tower

March 17 -

  • Climbed to the top of Notre Dame
  • Walked around the grounds of the Lovure
  • Palais Royal
  • Galerie Vivienne, Passage Joffery, and Passage de Panoramas
  • Printemps roof top cafe for the view
  • Catacombs tour with Localers

March 18 -

  • The Marias
  • Isle St. Louis and the banks of the Seine
  • Arab Institute - Beautiful building
  • San Chapelle
  • Luxembourg Gardens

March 19 -

  • Coppa Club near Tower Bridge
  • St. Dunstan's in the East
  • Leadenhall Market
  • Petticoat Lane
  • Spitalfields Market
  • Covet Garden

March 20 -

  • Walked through Kensington and Notting Hill
  • Portobello Road
  • Camden Market
  • Primark

March 21 -

  • Skygarden
  • Borough Market
  • Tate Modern
  • Millennium Bridge
  • One of my favorite walks: from Leicester Square ending at South Bank. Walk by: Trafalger Square, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Westminster, Big Ben, London Eye, South Bank, South Bank Book Market
  • Back to Leicester Square

 

 

Frozen

I recently got a new camera, so I decided to go test it one afternoon at Saylorville Lake. It was only 20 degrees outside, so it was cold to say the least. When I decided to go to Saylorville, I didn't know what was going to be waiting for me.  When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Take a peek below to see what I saw, and how I captured the gorgeous frozen waves on the shores of Saylorville Lake.