While I have been trying to make some progress on my 30 before 30 list, I wouldn’t say that any of those items are really on my “bucket list.”

When I think about what I want to do the most, it comes down to one thing: travel.

My parents gave me an amazing childhood filled with travel, and I want to be able to provide the same for my kids. Whether it’s road tripping all over the USA or flying to a far-off country, I just want to give my kids the experience of seeing new places and learning new things the way I did as a child.

In addition to lots of amazing vacations, I also want to be at a point where we can afford to take off for a month during summer vacation and have incredible experiences living somewhere else… like San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Portland, etc.

Being able to give my kids experiences that not many other children will have is really important for me. It made me feel special to go with my parents on lots of vacations as a kid. I got to see the glaciers of Alaska, the pyramids of Giza, and the Rialto Bridge in Venice before I turned 18. I would love to give those same opportunities to my own children one day.

Here’s a photo of me and my mom on an actual glacier in Alaska when I was a kid:

Today’s blog challenge prompt is about my earliest memory.

I was a very lucky kid growing up as my parents traveled with my quite often! Whether it was a trip to the Keys or a cruise, I got to see the world in ways that my other little friends did not. When I think of my earliest memories, they usually center around family vacations with my parents.

One of my very earliest vacation memories was a trip we took to Disney World when I was a few years old. I remember going on a few rides with my parents, and my mom took me to have breakfast with the characters. I don’t actually remember the breakfast itself, but I do love this picture of me, my mom, and Minnie Mouse!

When I was around 3 or 4, my parents took me on my first cruise on the Carnivale — the flagship of Carnival Cruise Lines. I know the scan is awful, but it’s the only one I have on hand! I know I had a good time on the cruise, and I remember bits and pieces of it. It was the first of many cruises I would take with my parents.

As a wedding photographer specializing in South Florida Destination Weddings, I rarely get a chance to go down to the Keys unless I’m shooting a wedding there! I absolutely love it though, so this vacation was really fun for me since I didn’t have to work!

We started our vacation in Key West, one of my favorite places! One thing you’ll notice about Key West is that there are lots of birds – especially lots of chickens hanging around near Mallory Square as well as dockside.

Lots of birds for sure…. and lots of cool trees and plants as well.

Key West is chock full of interesting attractions. We stopped by The Little White House, walked by the Shipwreck Museum (which I would love to go inside of some time), and my sister in law posed with the statue of the photographer taking a picture. ;)

We were also glad to make it to the Sunset Celebration in Key West. It is a nightly arts festival held at the cruise ship docks by Mallory Square. There’s food, vendors, and performers. We also made sure to watch the old-timey trolleys go by (Zachary liked that part), and stopped for a delicious slice of Key Lime Pie at the Key Lime Pie Factory.

We stayed our first night in Marathon, at Tranquility Bay Resort, which I didn’t really photograph since it got dark pretty fast. I did take some iPhone shots before we left. It was a really relaxing resort and I hope we can return again some time in the future!

The rest of our trip was spent at The Cheeca Lodge! My favorite wedding venue in the Keys and also an amazing place to stay!

One of the nights we were there, we ate at Morada Bay Cafe, which is an incredible seafood restaurant that is also part of the property of Pierre’s – another of my favorite wedding venues in the Keys. The sunsets are always so spectacular seen from Morada Bay.

This photo of me and Adrian is courtesy my awesome sister-in-law, who is a great photographer! I also photographed my parents-in-law, Debi & Dan, as they watched the band play.

Finally a photo of my little guy! :) Zachary absolutely LOVED the sand and spent some time making “sand angels” before we sat down for dinner. He loves sand and the beach.

I actually didn’t take as many photos during this trip as I had anticipated. I was really having a nice time enjoying the atmosphere of the Keys, the beautiful water, and relaxing as much as I could!

Canon 5D | 50mm f/1.4  @ 1/4000| ISO 160

I mostly shot with my iPhone and got some great images that I wanted to share. I captured and processed all of these images using Instagram on my iPhone 4s.

We got tickets to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (we’re Jewish, but we still enjoy seasonal activities just as much as everyone else!!) and it was absolutely worth it. What a beautiful fireworks display, fun parade, and best of all was the ability to ride on the rides without any long lines! Zachary’s first ever Disney Ride was It’s A Small World, followed by Peter Pan, and then Buzz Lightyear. He had an amazing trip to Disney and is already asking if we can go back again soon.

Here’s one of my favorite images that I snapped with my new iPhone 4s — Cinderella’s Castle lit up by the beautiful fireworks at the Christmas Party!

Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington DC

Washington Monument

Sunset on the Vermont/NY border

Zachary picking raspberries in Vermont

Beautiful mountains of VT and NH

Vermont park and lake

Zachary happy and playing in the park

Washington Crossing (driving from NJ into PA)

Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia

Patterson’s Mill Country Store in Raleigh, NC

And this is an image of the farm adjacent to the country store. It was like being transported into another time!

Canon 5D | ISO 200 | 50mm f/1.4 @ 1/2000 sec ~ edited with Lightroom & Paint the Moon actions