I brought a backpack full of my vintage cameras, they come with me almost everywhere now.

Coco spent time out on the deck playing the harmonica to a very interested sea gull who kept edging closer and cocking his head from side to side listing to her made up songs.

At the conservatory this year I walked up to one of the scientists and started talking to her about the butterflies this year and in the course of our conversation I told her about the book that brought me to Cape May and she said all nonchalant  " I illustrated that book for Sue Helpburn"  HOW ABOUT THAT?  So I asked her if I could take her portrait since it felt like I was meeting a famous person.

Coco all happy about her apple. Steve was all happy with his pig tails "I like my little girl to look like a little girl"

Fifteen dollars to rent and now we are twenty pounds lighter..it was NOT easy.  The kids loved it when we had to make a turn all these hands would stretch out letting the cars know what way we were turning.

He was hating my camera at this moment, eager to get back in the pool, you can kinda' see the nervous impatience in his eye brows.  When we got home and uploaded the pics he was the one running over and begging to see THIS picture. I'm just sayin'...

Family portrait

We go in September because that is when the butterflies come but also because there are hardly any people!

Wide open spaces just for us.

Here is coco drawing in the sand with a piece of a shell.

After sunset

Etienne

Gift in the sand from my first born.

I was in the water for over an hour, listening to the waves, the roar of them coming in and the soft hiss of the foam. The water sounds like the rumble of thunder before it claps.

Once the wave passes, the foam calms, the sand settles, and there is a moment of real clarity where the water becomes perfectly clear.  As the water retreats it brings with it swirls of sand like fog and the moment of clarity is gone.

I love the side waves, soft and seeming to carry light that passes under the stronger waves.

I love this picture with the shipwreck behind them. The same beach as the "generations" shot from the last post.  Eti got stung very badly by a jelly fish here. 

"What was your very favorite thing about the whole trip Eti?"

"Getting stung by a jelly fish"

"But Eti it hurt you so bad and we had to go get help because you were in so much pain!"

"I know but I never got stung by one before and I wanted to know what it was like and now I know, and it was an adventure"

Turtle

When coco saw this shot sitting on my lap as I uploaded it for the blog she reached at the screen trying to grab this shell.

I love that.

The picture pulling you in.