More photos from 2009. We could subtitle this "From Ocean to Ocean", as you'll see...
Last Update: 18 Sep 2009
We did make it back out to California to see Rosemary's family, but it was a very low key visit without all that many photo opportunities. However, there was our visit to Santa Cruz, of course! And that included a run right out to the water by the kids, of course!

And they both got soaked by the first wave, of course! So here's Kieran with some new clothes, ride tickets in hand and contemplating his next move. Actually, I really like that Santa Cruz t-shirt. It was a Monday (6 July 2009) and that was a "1907 Night," when all the rides are just one ticket, or 75 cents!

And about to start one of several iterations on one of her favorite rides, here's Thalia aboard the Crazy Surf. The best seats are on the end, according to both kids. Thalia also rode the Giant Dipper, the wooden coaster that opened in 1924. By herself! She's a lot braver than I am!
As in 2008, the kids were pretty self-sufficient in terms of rides, as long as their parents were in the general vicinity. So I was able to shoot more of the Beach Boardwalk. Such as this shot of the Giant Dipper and the Sea Swings, new to Santa Cruz for the 2009 season. Gotta love that beautiful blue sky.
And then, the Full Moon came out over the water...
And I asked Thalia to pose with that Full Moon in the background. She elected to use her "Miss Chievous" expression...

This is actually a significant photo in any case, as it reset the counter on the Digital Rebel at '0001'.

That's ten thousand images with the camera since I bought it!

(And, occassionally, a good one.)

Back home, Annie poses atop Kieran, in the kitchen of our humble Ellison Park abode. Both of them are getting big...
Among the summertime activities I partake in is a gathering near the railroad tracks in Fairport of the "Tuesday Night Gang," a loosely affiliated group of railfans and model railroaders in the area. Fairport is also a stop on the Erie Canal, and while walking back to the car I photographed this gorgeous sunset over the canal. August 11, 2009.
Labor Day Weekend found us back in "Joisey" to wrap up the summer. Here in my parents' backyard are Kieran and Thalia with their cousin Jennifer. Smiles everywhere!
At some two hundred feet above sea level, the Twin Lights of Navesink occupy the highest elevation that is directly along the East Coast. The lighthouse has become a museum commemorating its role as the primary lighthouse for New York Harbor. It's near the base of Sandy Hook and stands watch over what the northern end of the Jersey Shore. Oh, and the two lighthouses would be fraternal, not identical, twins, as the towers are a bit different from each other. This is the view of the South Tower from the North Tower, which is open to the public.
Kieran and Thalia ham it up atop, and "stuck inside," one of the cannons that was once used to guard the location.
Palm trees, sand, a beautiful blue sky, and the ocean... must be we're back in California again? No, it's Long Branch, New Jersey and a setup outside an oceanside resort there. Long Branch was once a preferred summer location of United States Presidents, then declined significantly in favor of other seaside resorts. And now, it's very much back as a place to be.

I think I made up for not getting really good beach shots of the kids in Santa Cruz this year with these two at Long Branch. There is something about a sun that is low in the sky, as it was on this September 5 evening, that makes for lighting like this.

And so we have ocean to ocean, with the family starting the summer along the Pacific and ending it along the Atlantic.

Well, Rosemary and I are a bi-coastal couple of sorts, so it would follow that we have bi-coastal children!

For which we have "two thumbs up"! See you next time!