Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

« Older Entries

Summer Fun

July 16, 2010

We’ve spent a lot of time in my hometown of New Braunfels this summer, and it has been nice getting to relax and see family and friends we haven’t seen for awhile.  Victoria is only about 2 hours away, but it’s hard to find the time to make the trip during the school year.

This summer, though, all four of the kids were able to go to Newks Tennis Ranch for camp.  The Big Kids went to Adventure Camp, where they camped out at Enchanted Rock, did both the high and low ropes courses, went tubing and rafting down the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, and generally had all sorts of adventure fun.  The great thing about Adventure Camp is that the kids are challenged to do things that they never imagined they could do — and then they’re encouraged to think about how these accomplishments can apply to their “regular” lives.

The Little Kids (Mac and Cheese) went to Day Camp.  My mom is usually the head counselor for at least a week or two a year, so they have been before.  But this year I had the chance to go out there and see them doing some of the cool stuff — the high ropes course.  Charley said “I’ve done this before, so I’ll just sit and watch with you in the shade.”  But Mac got harnessed up and climbed one of the elements, and then they both tried the practice (low) Committment Bridge.  We’re really lucky that our kids had the opportunity to experience all these adventures this year.  I think that all four discovered that they could do more than they thought they could.

Getting into the harness to climb the high elements.

Climbing the ladder with help from the other campers and counselors.

Coming down from the high Buddy Bridge.

My mom up in the crow’s nest, taking pictures of campers (before they go down the Screamer or zip line) for parents.

Charley chilling out down on the ground.  It was SO hot out there.

The low Buddy Bridge.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Shelby Newman

Posted in Family, Travel | No Comments »

New Year's News

January 31, 2010

Okay, so I’m about a month late with this, but Happy 2010!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

I know some of you have been wondering “Will she ever blog again?”  Things have been busy busy busy for us over the past few months.  Yes, I will blog your sessions, those of you who have been waiting.  I promise.  But I have been much more interested in getting things mailed out to people than I have been with updating the blog.  ;)

So here’s the latest news.  At the end of 2009/beginning of 2010 I…

1) Married an amazing man, who I thank God for every day.

2) Gained two more children, bringing our combined total to 4, and a tiny dog.

3) Started graduate school again, working on a master’s in American History.  Why?  So someday I can teach at the college level, if I want to.  And because I love school and I’ve missed learning about things other than photography.

4) Had the flu.  Twice.

5) Began renovating a home to sell, and packing to move out of the one I have lived in for the past year,  and started looking for a new one with Dave that’s big enough for our family.

Whew.

So, needless to say, we have a lot going on here.  After reading all that, I’m sure that no one will be surprised that I’m taking a break from portrait sessions for the next few months so that we can get settled, because I just can’t keep up with everything.  Those of you who are already scheduled know that you’re on my calendar, no matter what, but I’m not taking any more bookings for the next few months.  For those of you who haven’t ordered yet or who haven’t paid for their orders in full, I’ll be taking orders and finalizing payments until February 23rd.  After that, the studio computer is coming down for the move, and I won’t be digging into the archives and processing orders until we’re permanently settled again.

I’ll try and get some past sessions up between now and then, and I’ll do some personal blogs, too, so you can keep up with what’s going on in our lives.  Until next time, here are some pictures from our honeymoon in New Orleans.  ;)

And my sweet little husband on Facebook:

Posted in Current Affairs, Fine Art, Inspiration and Creativity, Mommy Monday, Travel | No Comments »

Goliad, TX

August 4, 2009

108

Here are a few shots from our trip to Goliad last month.  Did you know they have a fantastic Market Days event on the second Saturday of every month?  There are vendors selling food (“festival food” AND a farmer’s market), plants, jewelry, clothing, and all sorts of really cool stuff.   We had a great time browsing through the booths and talking to some of the vendors we’ve gotten to know over the past few months.  Then we headed over to the Goliad State Park & Historic Site and the Presidio La Bahia.  The park staff was so friendly and ready to answer all our questions, and they even let my kids examine some real cannon balls (which, if you know my kids, was the highlight of the trip for them) and some animal skeletons that they’d recently found on site.  SA and Austin folks: it’s well worth the day trip, especially if you schedule it on a market weekend.

119

124

126

134

139

146dmv

152sd

162sd

Posted in Fine Art, Mommy Monday, Travel | No Comments »

Happy Birthday to Me

June 19, 2009

One of the things I’m enjoying most about Victoria is how close we are to the beach.  We can make it to Rockport in about an hour, and even if we just spend a short time at the shore it’s like a mini-vacation for us.  My sister and her two boys drove out to help me celebrate my 33rd birthday on Wednesday, so yesterday morning we spent a few hours playing in the sand and sun.  For those of you who haven’t been to Rockport in awhile, it’s now a part of the Blue Wave beach program, and it’s a wonderful place to take the kids.

grant_blog

Posted in Outtakes, Travel | No Comments »

Back to the Beach

June 16, 2009

Just a reminder that I will be out on location this weekend, shooting our last round of Corpus Christi beach sessions for the summer. I might add one date in Rockport if there is enough interest (and we can settle on a date). I’ll return all calls and emails next week! I hope you all have a great Father’s Day!

summer2009

Tags: , ,
Posted in Events, Portraits, Travel | No Comments »

Summertime!

June 8, 2009

Summertime is here!  I hope you’re all staying cool and having fun now that the big kids are out of school.  We spent today doing all sorts of “first day of summer” activities and now I’m exhausted. I think we’ll all have an early bedtime tonight.  I am determined to work less and spend more time with my kids this summer… and maybe take a real vacation (meaning one that has nothing to do with photography or photographers!).

I know that I’ve been a bad, bad blogger. I’m caught up on orders and phone calls and processing, though, so that’s something!  I’m planning on taking the blog in a slightly different direction this summer, if I can ever get back into the blogging mood!  :)   One big shout-out: BETH, I am getting your emails but I don’t think you’re getting mine, and the phone number I have on file for you has changed. I hate for people to think I’m ignoring them, so I hope you check the blog!

Don’t forget that we have beach sessions scheduled for near Corpus Christi the weekend of the 20th.  I do still have a space or two available.  For you non-beach clients who are considering a summer session, I’m not accepting as many sessions this summer as I have in years past so if you need to get on the calendar please call me ASAP.  We are currently accepting Victoria/Crossroads area appointments, and for you San Antonio/Austin folks my sessions in your area will be extremely limited after July.  Once school starts I just won’t be able to make that drive more than once a month, so if you want to do a portrait session, now’s the time.

And because a blog post without photos is boring… here is a snap of Bugs coloring in the kitchen last night.  I don’t often pick up the camera if I’m not working, and I’ve realized that I don’t have many photos of my kids just being my kids, so that is a personal project for the summer.  :)

bugs_coloring_june

Posted in Current Affairs, Mommy Monday, Outtakes, Portraits, Travel, Weblogs | No Comments »

Monday with Mac and Cheese

October 20, 2008

We got it together enough this week to make decisions about what to post on, so here are this week’s picks.  Thank you to everyone who emailed last week saying “please tell me you’re going to keep those Monday posts up!”  :)   We have been super busy.  Things will calm down again in December but for now, we’re just a busy family.

This week’s picks in both music and books are brought to you by the letter M.  Mr Mac, that is.  Charley decided that she would pick next week, and maybe that would make things easier.  Sometimes she is the peacemaker and while it sounds sweet, what it really means is that next week, she’ll say something like “boys get one turn, and girls get two.”

So on with the picks.  This week’s pick in books is Pirateology.  If you have a preschool to middle school boy (or a girl — Charlotte says “we like it too!”) you might want to take a look at this next time you’re at the bookstore.  It’s full of random pirate facts, and jam packed with illustrations and info.  It’s the kind of book you can sit down with for two minutes while you’re waiting your turn in line at the post office, or for thirty minutes when you’re bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  It doesn’t take much commitment but it IS easy to get lost in.

His pick in music was no surprise at all.  “Sweet Home Alabama” has been one of his favorite songs since he was a little boy.  We eat at a local restaurant called Pat’s Place about once a week, and he started requesting this from the jukebox as soon as he was old enough to talk (which was actually pretty early).  He says to tell you that the runner up was “Take On Me” by Ah-Ha, which is “one of the coolest videos of all time.”  (I have to agree with that, too). The video is a link to a 70s recording, so the quality isn’t so hot, and the live version is not much better… but this is Lynard Skynard we’re talking about.  I’m playing it while I’m typing and both of my kids are singing along in the kitchen.

We’ll be back next week with some girl picks by Charlotte, and I hope to get closer to caught up on blogging sessions this week.  I know I’ve promised that before, but my priority is session processing and orders right now.  ;)   Hope you all have a great week!  Check your email this week for some important studio news!

Posted in Mommy Monday, Music, This Weeks Picks, Travel | 1 Comment »

Out of Town

October 12, 2008

I am travelling to Abilene to speak to a group of photographers, so the studio will be closed till Wednesday next week.  I’ll return all phone calls and emails as soon as I’m back.  Don’t forget about next week’s Pumpkin Patch event!

Posted in Current Affairs, Travel | No Comments »

Guadalupe River State Park

August 9, 2008

For those of you who live in the San Antonio/New Braunfels area… did you know this little gem was out there on Highway 46? The studio is closed for the weekend and the kids and I went out to the Guadalupe River State Park for our summer mini-vacation instead of going to the coast. We’re going to save that for late September, so we can do beach portraits as well.

The park is gorgeous and just perfect for little ones. The water is shallow and the current is slow, although there are deeper areas (check out the rope swing!) as well. They also have hiking trails and weekly programs for adventurers. We’ve already put a few “must see” dates on our calendar for the fall, when it’s cooler and it will get dark earlier, because they have star story hours and guided hikes. There are shady picnic areas, and I have to say that even though the high today was supposed to be over 100 degrees, it was cool and dry in the shade. We went fishing with poles for the first time — we’ve gone crawdad fishing before, using string and bacon, but the whole “casting a line” thing was new for them. The kids had a lot of fun with the fishing, but after about half an hour Mac wanted to jump off rocks and float again. Charlotte, however, was determined to catch a fish. Since we were using dough for bait and no hooks, in a very shallow area where the biggest fish we saw was a tiny minnow, she was doomed from the start. She kept pulling her bait out of the water to check for teeth marks… and eventually decided that “only the smart fish must be swimming today.” I did something that I haven’t done for years: I practiced skipping rocks. It was a great family day and I’m so glad we found this spot! We’re trying to make a driving adventure to one state park every month, because it’s something that we love to do as a family, and today’s park was a perfect choice.

Here are a few snapshots of our day. I will be back in the studio on Tuesday morning to return all calls and emails!

Posted in Mommy Monday, Travel | 3 Comments »

Lazy days of summer

July 24, 2008

As many of you know, we went out to the beach last month for our annual beach sessions. We had such a great time, and I always love the portraits we take on the beach. The light out at our special beach is so beautiful at sunset, each day has a unique look and conditions, and the families we work with are always so much fun.

Here are just a few from the trip.

Sweet Sophie “Frankensteining” (I just love it when babies are just learning to walk!)

And one more… I will post some family portraits a little later on this month. I’m considering ONE MORE BEACH DATE this year, because I’ve gotten so many requests. Email me at info at shelbylane dot net if you are interested. We would only do one more date, a little later on in the fall.

Posted in Events, Featured Session, Portraits, Travel | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries