In the morning, despite the heat, we took a walk to a park I like. We picked up a couple cute munchkins on our way …
We could just rename my niece, “Nature Girl”.
Oh yeah, That picture above *is* upside down.
Pretty walk. Pretty park & nature. Pretty people. Pretty nice way to start the day.
Quickie summary: we drove over to Idaho/Montana border. We spent Day 3 riding the Hiawatha Trail, documented here. And Day 4 we got a little wet at a water park.
Littlest Dude could have stayed and circled this Lazy River all. day. long. Not content to merely sit and float, he loved to touch down and steer.
Continuing from last week, my very favorite, hands-down, no-question-about-it, location for any given family photography session is … Home. Specifically, your home. Your home is completely unique to you. Proverbially, it’s where your heart is. It is deeply personal and filled with your favorite people and dearest belongings. It holds within its walls your history. Your kiddos feel completely at home (no pun intended). It is the very most wonderful place to have a family photography session.
Allow me to chase away some of your objections. Contrary to what you may believe, I promise:
1. you do NOT need to obsessively clean and make your home look like an unlived-in museum.
2. you do not need to perfectly manicure your yard.
3. you do not need to pick up all the toys.
4. it’s ok if your kids want to wear their favorite everyday clothes. or their pajamas. or their fairy peacock princess dress. I promise: in 20 years, you’ll find their choices to be unbelievably precious.
I didn’t give my dear sister-in-law fair warning. We just called and said we’d be over in a couple minutes to see their menagerie of yard animals. I certainly didn’t give her time to tidy or tell her that I was bringing my camera, that I was planning to capture the memory of a brief afternoon before dinner. A waning summer afternoon filled with ducks, chickens, rescued baby quail, swings, toys, house décor, and perhaps some can shooting in the backyard.
These images are my gift to my sister-in-law. A beautiful moment in time … frozen. Because, as we all know, the days may sometimes feel forever long, but the years fly by in the blink of an eye.
