Summer is here!!

We are happy it's here. It means a trip to Boston and two weeks on Cape Cod! It means a great trip to San Diego to visit Grandpa Great! It means summer clothes, my favorite kind, sleeping with the windows open all night long, cool cotton sheets, walks to Yumi Yogurt after dinner, fresh pesto, fresh strawberries....

Fresh tomatoes....

fresh watermelon... (someone I know loves watermelon)

Summer means sitting out on the steps after dinner for a treat, like cool cool popsicles :)

Summer is wonderful! Happy Summer Everyone!

Happy Father's Day

Christopher cuteness :)

So, things are moving forward and I am so excited!! I now have Photoshop, thanks to my awesome friend Kaite who hooked me up! AND, I have more and more people interested in getting shots done, so I can keep practicing with people I love :) I am planning to start a blog just for photography purposes, but for now I will share here on our family blog.

I had the pleasure of sharing an hour with my friend Beth and her cute family on Saturday morning. Christopher is baby #3 for Beth and he is a relaxed little man :) He had just woken up from a good long nap, wanted some of Mama's milk, and then let me wrap him up in a blanket knit for him by his Grandma.  He was just happy to be snuggled up and let me click away, as I admired his calmness and sweetness. (I'm not surprised he's so mellow because Beth and Stu are SOOOO mellow and easy going). Maybe if I practice being more like them I'll have a mellow baby next time ;)!













This is Christopher's big sister, Genevieve (I love her name and she is such a love herself).

He also has a big brother named Max.

 He's a lucky little guy.

Thank you, Beth for opening up your family and home to me. It was an honor to capture your family's beauty.

Perfect little Parker

On Wednesday afternoon I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Summer and her new little love, Parker. Parker is 6 weeks old, nursing like a champ, (in fact he'd rather be nursing than doing anything else), and cute as a button. I visited him when he was really newly born and I couldn't believe how perfect he was then, now he seems even more so! I had the pleasure of holding him and soaking up his warmth and little grunts and soft breaths. He is so precious and I got to take some pictures of him!! Isn't he just beautiful? We just went with Parker's flow and captured some sweet moments, nursing and playing with Daddy. Thank you Summer for inviting me into your home to do this with your family.











A new little family...

My Poppi would be proud, at least a little :)

Any time of day, I can hand Ava her Super Man toothbrush and she will brush her teeth. She says "tank you mama" when I hand it to her and will drop what she's doing and suck all the training toothpaste off the brush (that's what she thinks is brushing her teeth).

Now, when I tell her it's my turn, that's another story, and Poppi, you would not be so proud. I get a clenched mouth and a bunch of fuss! Geez! It's a battle of wills and I'm glad to say that Mama wins this one everyday because it's not a choice. Sorry Ava. You'll "tank" me someday though :)

my little model

I ask Ava to do nothing in order to get a photograph of her, which makes it tough. She's all over the place, but that doesn't stop me from practicing on her. She is actually good practice because I am most moved by the most natural of shots. This afternoon I put her in a place that she couldn't get out of...her crib! And did a practice shoot with her :)





It wasn't long before she wanted to get out. "I want to get out!" She can say THAT clear as a bell!





She thought it was fun though...here's some proof:

Pool time!

So, we seemed to have missed spring here in northern california. Just a few days ago we were commenting that it seemed like winter, rain and cold (but a beautiful rainbow that lasted for an hour right outside our place!) We had Bob Marley playing on Pandora and it felt like we lived in Hawaii for a minute. Amazing treat to have a rainbow shine through your window for an hour! 

and now it's in the low 80's! Our bodies don't really know how to respond, so we all (except Brad) have a cold. :(  Regardless, it's HOT now. And living on the 2nd floor doesn't help, so we brought out our wading pool for a late afternoon activity. It's so fun that Ava has someone to play with in the pool now! Last summer she only had me and I only actually got in the pool with her once. Kekoa is so much more fun!

He likes to splash, and although Ava used it as an opportunity to use her favorite word (NO!) You can see in the picture that she thinks it's funny too.

Hsiaolei and I realized after watching their little lips quiver that maybe the hose water was too cold and we needed to warm it up with hot water, so we took them out to warm up in the sun while they waited.

And love was in the air. First Ava gave some kisses...

And Kekoa returned the love :)

Aren't they sweet?

summer lovin' :)