The Griswalds -- er I mean The Blaschkes - hit the Caribbean.

It's not often that I'm able to block out a week and not book it so I can get away with the family. But that's what I did that first week of August. I turned away wedding requests, said no to clients wanting my time and I turned off the cell phone.

It was strange and different to not be busy all the time. But it wasn't long before I got really good at sitting around and doing nothing. We took a cruise to Belize and it was blissful. Unfortunately, we're incapable of going anywhere as a family without leaving mayhem in our wake. I'm just happy we made it to the second to last day of Camp Carnival before they asked us to not bring The Boy back.

Over the course of the week we swam with dolphins, sang Karaoke, we hung out at picture perfect beaches, paid too much for cheap souvenir crap that was probably made in China, we toured Mayan ruins, drank sugary adult beverages from cups that looked like monkey heads and ate entirely too much food.

It was a blast.

I wanted to share with you just a few of the images we took while in Belize. It really was a wild and unspoiled country, still untouched by hordes of tourists and developers. The people were very friendly and eager to invite us to return. This was before they got to know our Boy, however. But I digress. Enjoy just a few scenes from Belize.

And my apologies to our very forgiving tour bus driver who, I'm sure, was wondering who clogged up the potty with an ice cream cone. Sorry about that.

Lisa On Location Photography

Happy "Closing of the Chicken Ranch" Day {New Braunfels Photography}

Forty years ago today one of the most famous (or should I say in-famous) brothels to ever grace us with its presence, the Chicken Ranch in LaGrange, TX, closed down.

Okay, so big deal, you're thinking. Well it really is a big deal. My darling dearest has spent the past few years researching the brothel for his book, "Texas Has A Whorehouse in It". The book is almost done, but in the meantime, we've put out a little teaser to whet your appetite.

During the course of Jayme's research we've managed to befriend a number of Chicken Ranch notables including the current owner of the property. As a result we've had the green light (as opposed to the red light *snicker*) to photograph and research this property extensively.

Most of the images were taken by yours truly but some of the really smoking ones like the star trails over the ranch and the infrared images were taken by Jayme.

To get a little sneakity peek of the book flip through this.

Ghosts of the Chicken Ranch by Jayme Blaschke & Lisa Blaschke | Make Your Own Book

>

And if you're ready to purchase this masterpiece of Texas history, by all means follow this lovely link. Hardcover. Softcover.

And to read more about the amazing book Jayme is still working on, follow him on his blog and website: Here it is!

Lisa On Location Photography