Betsy Jo Photography Blog

We went down to Harkness with this crew over the 4th weekend–

Is he a little punkin or what? (That’s Uncle Paul holding him.)

Do you think this little boy is loved?

Somebody likes ‘babysitting’ her little cousin-

We were done eating at the picnic table, ready to go down to the beach when Paul said, “Brandon Curtis!” Rather confused, I looked up, and there were my other nephews walking toward us! A fun surprise! We headed down to the water, where the night was gorgeous and the light was beautiful-

I love how their children are playing behind them in the water here:

Awww…

I love my sister for a lot of reasons. Here’s one more– she took this picture of Paul and I. And although we are rather windblown, and not prepped for a spiffy photo shoot, it’s kinda’ nice to have one of the two of us. Because when I’m behind the lens, it’s tough to be in the picture. So thanks, Katie!

I’ve been down to the CT shoreline and up to the Boston area over the last week for photography shoots, but in all 3 instances, the sessions won’t be put up on the blog… So, instead, I bring you 4th of July happenings from our family’s perspective.

We spent a wonderful day on Friday down at Mystic Seaport, with all 3 of our kids, plus our little friend Lo, who came along for Nora. It was bright and clear, with blue, blue skies and warm sun. How refreshing after the overabundance of rain over the past many weeks! We had a great day, taking in all the sights, participating in all the scheduled activities, and enjoying the oceanside.

Because of the holiday, the Seaport staff had lots of interesting activities for children. The only problem was that some of them were occurring simultaneously. It was a good lesson for the kids in figuring out priorities. Some decisions had to be made by all 4 of them as to which was the most exciting. Fortunately, they agreed, and picked some great places to go…

Learning how to make lanyards at the town green gazebo:

Tying nautical knots:

Peeking into the Oyster House:

This was a fun presentation– a re-enactment of an historic Coast Guard rescue. The following happened when the crew warned of a loud cannon blast. “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

Watching a documentary on the restoration of the ship ‘Charles W. Morgan.’ This one makes me smile– Can you tell that these kids don’t have a TV?They were enthralled…

‘Love these old buildings:

We were able to tour the Charles W. Morgan, which is the last wooden whaling ship. Mystic is a fully-working seaport, and we were able to go up onto this 40-foot high structure to see the work in progress…

…Which provided us with this beautiful view towards downtown Mystic:

The Shanty Man was serenading us aboard Chas. W:

So there was an old-fashioned game of tug-of-war on the town green. The kids pleaded for both Paul and I to take turns helping them out. I mean, we wouldn’t want to disappoint them or anything. I won’t say which side won, but if you see my kids around, feel free to ask them.

Just some cute kids we saw hanging around:

A certain young history buff was hanging on every word of the crastmen at each exhibit.

We walked into this barn and Joel yells out, “Captain Ahab!!!” I was all, “Joel, shhh, that’s not at Mystic. That’s Moby Dick.” –

‘Um, yeah, I know, Mom– Look up.’

Oh. Right. Thanks for that.Yup, he’s getting to the age where he thinks he knows more than me. And I’m starting to wonder myself. I can’t imagine where he gets it from. Not like I ever thought I knew more than my parents…

I know this is a mammoth post, so I’ll finish off the rest of our adventures in another journal entry. Which I will sneak peek right here: A few days later, we traveled to Harkness for the evening. It was a certain little boy’s first time at the beach! Can you tell he thoroughly enjoyed himself?

Warning to friends and family–

If you ask me to babysit, and the light is so sweet you could almost eat it, and your child has baby chub and highly reflective eyes, and sports a tiny tuft of baby fuzzy hair, well, be forewarned:

This just might occur:

Just a little sneak peek into our wonderful July 4th weekend. And I don’t say ‘wonderful’ lightly. We had a memorable, amazing weekend that will go down in the annals of my mind as one of the highlights of my life. I’m not exaggerating. It was stellar. It was simple. It was sunny. Relaxing. And happy. We spent much of our weekend days down by the sea– Mystic Seaport & Harkness. Oh, how I love Connecticut.

More to come, but this one makes me so, so happy:

Man, I love these kids.

And since he can say it so much better than I, here’s a piece from Alfred, Lord Tennyson himself:

This was going to be a ‘sneak peek’ but I changed my mind and made it into a full post– there are so many that I love, and I couldn’t decide on my favorite.

So this shoot had to be completed quickly, because Connecticut weather is fickle, and sometimes causes me great annoyance. (I’m not the most flexible when it comes to this recent weather.) I know, that sounds crabby, but I am ready for some hot, sunny days…

We were fighting to finish before we got poured on– half of the sky was gray, and half was a beautiful blue with puffy clouds. Let’s just say the gray won over. But this family just rolled with it, and was flexible and undeterred by the weather. I heard no complaints from anyone! Not even three little boys. On the upside, though, the clouds make for spectacular color saturation and clarity, so that worked in this beautiful family’s favor.

(Also, a big thanks to Rachel for the great location!)
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There’s something special about 3 boys. 2 of my 4 sisters have 3 sons each, and I love watching them interact and play, sometimes arguing and getting on each other’s nerves, but protecting one another with fierceness when necessary. Brothers are just unique and fun, aren’t they? I always wanted an older brother. Well, when I wasn’t busy wishing I was an only child. But that’s another story for another day…

I love this one– how the little guy is leaning against his big brother, and seems rather pleased about the whole thing–

This one begged for sepia treatment:

We asked the boys to do a serious shot– this is not easy for most people. I just said to try to not smile, but don’t look angry, either. Methinks they did a wonderful job! Doesn’t this have ‘Brothers’ written all over it?! I really, really love it.

And I had to put some of these boys’ eyes in black and white. They’re all so clear and piercing.

And I’m sure he’s always this angelic. I mean, he was last night-

These next three images are so nice. Trudi and Chris were watching their boys in this next one. They love their boys. It’s so obvious in this picture:

Speaking of obvious, there’s some love going on here, too:

So pretty-

Trudi, Chris, Kevin, Stephen & Ryan, I enjoyed getting to know you all a little better, and I had fun photographing your family. I’m so happy with how they turned out. You have a beautiful crew! Thanks for choosing me to capture these memories for you.