The Photojournalist's Soapbox!: 07/01/2009

After 2 months of weddings every weekend, we finally come to a weekend where we have no weddings to shoot. So the only logical thing to do is....Go Camping!

We left on Wednesday night for East Harbor State Park in Lakeside-Marblehead, OH. It was great to get away for a few days and just get to be a family. As we pulled into camp, it was sprinkling and I was worried that it was going to rain the entire weekend. But setting up the tent in the rain wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

It rained all night Wednesday night and had continued to be rainy on Thursday morning, so we decided to go to Train-o-rama, the largest indoor setup of model trains in Ohio. The boys loved it. They ran around the displays trying to take it all in. Christian would get down to the level of the trains to watch them closely.

When we left train-o-rama, we decided to drive down to Marblehead to see the lighthouse. The Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes. We bought tickets for the tour that would allow us to go up to the top, but we had about 15 minutes to kill.

The boys wanted to wander closer to Lake Erie, so we went past the lighthouse to a group of flat rocks. The waves were crashing up onto the rocks and Ian loved letting it roll over his feet.

Christian...not so much! LOL

After a speech about the lighthouse by a volunteer, we climbed the 70+ steps in a spiral up to the catwalk on the lighthouse. Shan was quite nervous since he is afraid of heights and Christian only wanted to run around the top!

Thursday night ended up being a decent night for a campfire, so we hung out around it for awhile. The boys toasted corn dogs and made s'mores. Before too long though, a very large storm cell began to pass over our campsite. There was a lot of thunder and lightning. Ian was nervous...but we reassured him that we were fine. For the rest of the evening, we hung out in the tent. The boys played with a leap pad, tag books and Christian's Thomas the Train Laptop. Shan and I played some 2 man Euchre. (He won!)

Friday's weather looked like it was going to be fantastic, so we packed a lunch and loaded up on the boat. We sailed out of East Harbor and out into Lake Erie. Ian got to "drive" for a bit.

After sailing east along the coastline so that we could see Lakeside from the water, we decided to sail out toward Kelley's Island. The sail was actually quite easy and we made it over there in about an hour. From there, we decided to sail over to Put-in-Bay. Along that stretch of water, both boys went to sleep for a bit. (We had to use a bungee cord to keep Christian from rolling off the seat! Don't worry...I sat there with him the whole time too.)

We decided to run ashore on South Bass Island so that the boys could get out and stretch for a bit. They threw rocks into the lake and Shan was teaching Ian how to skip rocks.

After a brief forray with a tree while trying to get of the island, we were off again and we sailed back to East Harbor. The lake was a bit choppier on the way back, but still a pretty easy sail. I even "drove" for awhile.

That evening, we went over to Lakeside to visit some of my old friends at Lakeside Institute. It was great to be back at Lakeside. It was wonderful to see everyone. We had dinner at Sloopy's and then got some ice cream from the Patio and walked down on the dock.

It rained again through the night and was still a bit rainy on Saturday morning. Luckily, the boys were so worn out from our day on the lake on Friday, that they slept in very late on Saturday. By the time we were ready to go do stuff, the weather was beautiful.

We decided to go to the beach on Saturday. Ian really wanted to fish, so all the men got their fishing poles out and fished just East of the swimming beach. (Don't worry...Christian only has a weight on his pole...no hook! LOL)

Within minutes, Ian had caught a Big Mouth Bass. He was so proud and so excited.

Shan caught one after that and then Ian caught another one!

The boys really enjoyed the beach. It was extremely shallow in the swimming area. Even Christian could walk out about 30 feet before it was up to his waist. Shan helped Ian build a wall in the sand and he and Christian had made a "tower". I took a self portrait since I am rarely in any images on our vacations! LOL

The weather was still nice into the evening, so we picked up some more firewood and had another campfire. Some of the logs needed to be cut, so Ian worked like a true pioneer and sawed some of the wood with the camp saw.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast and then prepared to pack up camp and head home. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off my camera on Saturday night and the battery died. So the only picture we have of the whole family at the campsite is from my camera phone...and it isn't great. But it will have to do.

The vacation was fantastic. I am so glad that were able to get away and recharge for a bit. It was great being away from the computers! And Shan was pretty proud of how I held up with camping in the rain. (This was only the 2nd year in my life that I have camped in a tent!)

This is definitely one family tradition that I will continue for many years!

Brittany and Peter are an amazing couple with amazing friends and family. Working with them was a pleasure and extremely easy.

I got to hang with Brittany and the girls at the salon in the morning. And then we were off to Peter's Aunt's house so the girls could get dressed. After a quick stop at Peter's parents house for a few photos, we headed to Saint Haralambos in Canton for the ceremony.

Being part of a Greek Orthodox ceremony is a very unique experience. We were welcomed up on the platform area that Brittany and Peter were married on to take photos. I have rarely had an angle like that for a ceremony.

After the ceremony, we stopped at the hospital to get a few photographs with Brittany's brother. He had been in a very serious car accident just days before the wedding and had to remain in the hospital and missed the wedding. Thankfully, he is going to be alright.

After the stop at the hospital, we were off to Stan Hywet Hall to take more photos. I left after a little bit to get to the reception site and get photos of the room fully decorated.

The reception was held at Quaker Station and the hall was amazing. Wedding coordinator, Tricia Dever, from Always Eventful, and the staff had done an amazing job. The guest list was over 700 people. I had never seen that many people at a wedding before and it was amazing to see.

The greek dances, led by the greek band, went on for hours and were mixed in with some modern music from the Beach Boyz DJs. Throughout the greek dances, money was thrown and the dance floor was covered. It was well after 1am when the night wrapped up.