Beach- Day 6

This was our last full day camping at the beach! This day we went back to Assateague Island (Maryland) to enjoy our day!

The boys have a blast at the beach!

 They could spend all day just playing, or laying around in the sand!

I can be found usually bent over, picking up shells that wash up on shore! 

 I love when we are visited by the horses!

And the horses love walking all over everyone's beach towels and eating and pooping on anything they can! As a matter of fact, the guy in the right of the photo had a "present" that was left on his beach towel! ;)

Some of the horses just stand and watch the ocean for hours!

 This sweet little pony enjoys lunch on the beach.

 Then she decides to take a nap! I love how the other horses just watch her sleep! There's something wonderful about a sleeping baby!

 Sandy toes!

 And one happy family sad to see their beach vacation over! :(



We stayed for a week, but I'm not posting photos of our last day. We didn't do much but pack up our camper and then eventually head home! We had soo much fun and I cannot wait until next year until we go back!

Beach- Day 5

During our fifth day at the beach it was raining, so we decided to take a little road trip. We ended up driving to Assateague Island in Virginia which is about a 2 hour trip from Assateague in Maryland (where we were staying). I had saw online that they had a lighthouse, and I knew it was something that I wanted to photograph. It was literally pouring, so the conditions weren't that great but we really had a fun time!

I love this chippy little lighthouse!

 Sorry, this photo is out of sequence. It was really cloudy and just plain BLAH when we first arrived! This photo was after we had gone to the car and it had gotten sunny! I hiked the trail to get some better shots! lol

I tend to over pack when we go on a camping trip. This year I packed even more than last, and had decided to pack their rain gear! It worked out perfectly...and these little rain jackets look so darn cute on them!

 Ben was very nervous at the top of the lighthouse. I couldn't get a photo of him relaxed and smiling nice.

 Here they are at the top. Still very nervous looking! lol

 Here is a view from the top. It was pouring...so it looks very hazy! I just took a couple quick shots because I didn't want to get my camera soaked! As you can see from the photo there is a lot of stagnant water that surrounds the lighthouse. This meant that the mosquitoes were BAD! I normally don't get bit up by bugs, but they were feasting on me! They were flying into our cars and they were just everywhere! I never in my life have seen mosquitoes this bad!

 Love these old windows and their views!

 Like I said, the weather was soo crappy! But eventually and it figured it waited until we got to our car...it cleared up and became beautiful! So Ben and I hiked the trail (the only way of getting to the lighthouse)! But it was totally worth it!

 After we visited the lighthouse we decided to take the "nature loop" scenic drive. And it was totally worth it! There were amazing views and amazing wild life! We saw a huge eagle perched in a tree, many beautiful birds and this huge snapping turtle!

 I love the placement of the bird in this photo. It was soo serene there and such a perfect way of ending what would normally be a stay in the camper type of day!

Beach- Day 3

We spent our third full day of vacation at Assateague Island in Maryland! I blogged about it last year, it's the island where the wild horses roam! It's so fun driving on the island, because you never know what you're going to see! I totally fell in love with this little pony! I wish I could cram him in the camper and take him home with me!

The baby stayed close to it's mother at all times. They were to the left of the road and on the other side of the road was it's "pack."

 The baby just whinnied and whinnied and eventually the baby and it's mother decided to cross to the other side. As they were crossing, the horse (which you can see on the right came out to block traffic, so that the mother and baby could safely cross!

Apparently, (I read this information today) there is one male "leader" of the pack who protects the mares. This must be their leader. By the way, the lady to the left of the photo is "pony patrol!" lol

 Here they are all together, making their dramatic descent onto the parking lot! lol

 I could stand there all day long and just watch and photograph them! My husband makes fun of me and says that they are just horses, but it's not often that you see horses just roaming around free!

Ben and Alex enjoyed playing in the sand.

 And running from waves!

I enjoyed just sitting and relaxing! I think my pale stomach is just hilarious! This is the first time that my belly has seen the sun in probably 10 years! lol I may be a little too old to wear a bikini, but I worked my butt off this past Spring chasing those men around the hockey rink! lol And by the way my stomach is just as pale now as it was then! I used SPF 70 on it because I knew it would probably burn. It didn't burn and I didn't even get one tan line! :(

 I had to include this photo! It makes me laugh! Every time that I try to get a photo of me and my husband together, he always makes a funny face in at least one of the photos! lol

He said that this is his "stressed out from vacation" look! lol I did end up getting a nice photo after all!

 We decided to take a little walk on the beach and we came to a group of horses just taking a rest! lol I didn't get to see this last year, so it was quite a delight to come upon this! I guess they like to enjoy the beaches and work on their tan lines too! lol

 And as we were leaving we drove up to this group of horses who found a watering hole. We stopped and watched them. They jumped in got wet and went on their way! I know...they're just wild horses, but they are so fascinating to me!

We plan to go back to Assateague in the next day or two, and I cannot wait! 

Beach-Day 2

We're having a wonderful time in Maryland! Today we went into the town of Berlin to the Farmer's Market and to eat lunch at Rayne's Reef!

I absolutely LOVE Berlin! It's soo small town and reminds me alot of South Western Pennsylvania. The only difference is that all of our old stores are shut down and boarded up!

 Last year when we visited Berlin, I blogged about meeting this cute little Golden Retriever. Well guess what? He was in exactly the same place since I last saw him! Right in front of his owner's business! See him laying down outside the door? He is absolutely adorable! And I found out that his name is Brady!

 I talked again to Brady's owner (I apologize, because I didn't get his name) and he said that he has read my blog and recognized my boys! lol

This was very exciting because I have never met anyone who has read my blog before! :)

I love this shot of Brady, if you click on the photo to enlarge it, it looks like he is smiling as he basks in the sun!

I am going back into town in the next couple of days to take some photos. I'll have to get the owner's name.

 Here's me and Alex as we wait for our lunch at Rayne's Reef! They have the most delicious food in this quaint little diner! I had a tuna salad wrap, which was yummy, and Alex had french fries only! lol

 Chris had a tuscan chicken wrap, which he enjoyed, and Ben ate two hot dogs! Besides seeing Brady again, I think this little lunch spot is another reason I must go back to town in the next couple of days! ;)

 I love how beautiful and quaint this little town is! The details in the signs are amazing...everything is just amazing and wonderful to look at!

 And the store windows are dressed so beautifully as well!

 Last year when I had visited this store (Victorian Charm) she had a Vera Bradley window display. I was quite tickled when I saw this window display cause we all know how much I love Richard Gere! :)

At the bottom left of the window you can almost see the little white dog that is lying there. He lays there all day long, and was there last year as well! One little tip...he's not very friendly...not like Brady at all!

 After spending the afternoon in Berlin, we went back to the campground where we got these shots!

The boys had such a great time! And I look forward to going back to Main Street in Berlin sometime soon! I am going alone because there are a lot of antique stores and places where I do not want my 4 and 5-year-old inside! lol Oh and I plan to take my bike there are a lot of places that I want to photograph!

Tomorrow we are going to Asseategue Island...I cannot wait! :)

Beach-Day 1

Hello! This is our first full day at the beach! Oh how I've missed this place! No other campground has been the same ever since the first time we came here last year! We're at Castaways Campground in Berlin Maryland! It's in between Ocean City and Asseateague Island!

Today we spent the whole day at the campground. They have a bunch of organized activities for the boys so they were happy staying here for the day! Tomorrow we plan to go into the town of Berlin! I blogged about this town last year. It's where the movie "Runaway Bride" was filmed! That blog post happens to be one of the most read posts of mine ever! Not sure why, but it's a wonderful town and I could only dream of living there!

Here are some highlights from Day 1.

The boys really had fun playing on this inflatable bouncy thing out on the water. They said they were playing "Wipeout!" lol

 Here is Ben, his friend, and Chris walking out in the middle of the water on a sandbar!

 Me and Alex!

 Me and Chris.

 I love this photo because it wasn't taken in the way that it actually turned out. I was taking a photo of the seagull, but if you enlarge the photo or just glance at the specs on the bottom, it's Ben and Chris out on the water walking on a sandbar!

 I had so much fun painting on the beach! What a wonderful way to pass the afternoon! I absolutely LOVE how fast my watercolor paint dried!

 The boys having a blast playing in the sand!

Tomorrow should be a fun day! Like I said, we plan on going into the town of Berlin to the Farmer's Market. We're going to eat lunch at Rayne's Reef (YUM), and then we are going to Asseateague Island! I cannot wait to collect sea shells! Have a wonderful night!

Vintage Photography

I love all things vintage! I mean what's not to love? I especially LOVE and collect vintage aprons! I feel soo "June Cleaver" when I wear one! ;)

Anyway, I was in an antique shop a couple years ago when I came across this box! Since I am such a lover of photography, I just knew I had to have it! Plus the $5.00 price tag made my decision easy!

What drew me to this camera was how unusual it looked with it's weird dials, and just how solid it was. I have started a collection of old cameras, so I really didn't plan on doing anything with it except to keep it. I did want to create a cool camera robot out of it...but now that it works that is out of the question! 

Anyway, for the last couple of years I had pushed the camera aside! When I came across the box a few months ago, my husband and I looked more closely at it. We couldn't figure out where the viewfinder was. Or the button to actually take the photo! lol

 Just the other day when I actually researched the camera I realized that the viewfinder stands on top of the camera. It's a pop-out viewfinder. See the photo below...that's where the viewfinder would be if it had one. Besides a missing viewfinder, it is in very good condition!

 So I began to research the camera. I found out that it is a Kodak 35 camera from the year 1938! I was soo excited! I never imagined it to be this old! It was Kodak's first 35mm camera! When I found that out I was super excited, because 35mm film is easy to find and inexpensive!

In 1938 the cost of this camera was $40 which converts to a price of what would now be $609 according to data from the year 2009.

But I had no manual! Luckily, I came across an old one that someone had uploaded! I ran upstairs and grabbed a roll of 35mm film that I had leftover from the days before I went digital, and I began to experiment with it! Unfortunately, I snapped/broke two rolls of film before I figured out how to load and unload it properly!

I love how sleek and wonderful the metal is! On the left you can see the "rewind button", and on the right is the "exposure dial" that shows you how many photos you have left on the roll! And next to the exposure dial is the "wind button"...yes you have to manually operate this camera! lol Did they even have batteries in 1938? Eventhough I know it's manual...I still look for it to operate with batteries for some reason! lol I just cannot imagine or comprehend how it works without batteries! lol

Also under close inspection of the camera...we didn't know where the "exposure button" was to take the photo! After reading the manual you have to push down the screw/lever on the side of the lense. I added the arrow to show you exactly where the button/lever is. According to the manual you press down the lever and "take a breath" and release it! I can't wait to play around with this button and hold it down for more than a breath just to see how much light gets added to the finished photo!

 I love the little plate on top of the lense that is written in a cursive font that says: "Made in the USA!" It's hard to find a good quality product anymore that is actually made in the USA!

You can't tell visually by looking at the camera in person, but I realized from the photo below that the lense is very dusty! I guess I am going to have to clean it now that I know that it works!

So today I tried roll number 3 and successfully managed to load and unload the roll of film without breaking it! I was soo excited with the possibility of it actually working that I didn't read the manual correctly the first couple of times! Now that I have learned how to properly load and unload the film...I cannot wait to experiment!

The photos are a little blurry, but I love how it adds to that vintage photo effect! That is another downside to the way this camera is made. Without a viewfinder to look through that is inside the camera, there is no way to see if your image will turn out blurry. Along the lense is a dial that has a distance you can adjust, by how many feet you are standing away from the object. I think it starts with four feet and goes up to about twenty feet and then to "infinity" or something like that. I'll need to play around with it more and keep a notebook until I learn how to correctly take an image. I am just soo happy that it is actually a functioning camera! I have never been soo excited over blurry photos before until today! :)

I processed them at a 1-hour lab and looked at them several times on the way home! I was that excited!

Like I said I was so excited with just wanting the camera to work that I just took random photos from my backyard...nothing really planned out. Since there is no flash on the camera, it'll probably work best on bright and sunny days. Today it was rainy and an overcast. I took some photos in the house, they turned out, but were too dark.

Like I said, I randomly took photos, not thinking that anything would actually turn out! lol For example why on earth would I take a photo of the faucet outside?! lol

Or the camper! lol

All of these photos were straight from the camera. I did not photoshop any of them except the black and white one below! I love how the black and white one turned out...it really gives it a vintage feel!

I also love and collect old vintage photographs that I have displayed around my home. I'll have to share those with you sometime soon as well! But with a camera from 1938, it makes me wonder...what photos has this camera taken. Who owned it? And did they love photography as much as I do?