| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 |
Yes, that's my latest excuse for the quiet blog. It's been a busy summer with client work, some commercial jobs and other projects. So when I haven't had those things going on, I'm squeezing in every moment of summertime fun with my girlies while I can. Now that I have a child who really has a summer and soon will have to resume a normal school schedule (by the way, who in seminole county came up with this august 16th return date?!! yuk!), summertime became really important this year. The work schedule goes on, but little things like the blog sometimes slide a bit. But then I realize I'm missing out on sharing all of my beautiful clients and so here I am. I love sharing the photos they let me take of them.
Before we get to that, I have a few announcements regarding the fall schedule. Yes, it is that time already! If you'd like to book a full session, let the scheduling begin! Keep in mind that if you'd like your photos in time for the holidays, your session must be completed prior to November 7th. If you're expecting a newborn anytime between now and the end of the year, contact us with your due date as soon as possible so we can pencil you in. If you're interested in our holiday mini-sessions, send us an email to [email protected] and we can let you know when the dates are available. Since the holiday minis are always so popular, we're adding some extra dates and options so we can fit more people in. This includes weekend mini dates, weekday mini dates (mornings and evenings will be available) as well as 'make your own mini'. More information on all of that soon!
We're also going to start scheduling more Lulu Belle minis. We've always had a spring set and a fall set, but since they've been so popular and we get requests for them year round, Lulu Belle Baby Boutique and I have decided we'd start offering a regular rotation. If you'd like to be notified when the dates are available, send us an email to [email protected]
Whew! That was a lot of information for one post. Now get ready for photo overload. This barely puts a dent in what's waiting in the wings, but it's a start. Let's start with some babies, oh, the sweet babies.
Sweet baby girl with lots of hair.
an equally sweet baby boy with an equal amount of hair.
three adorable siblings who had me laughing and smiling the whole time I was with them.
a blended family who couldn't be any sweeter.
a one year old who has grown so much since I met her as a newborn.
two boys that could out burp me any day of the week. You do what you have to do to keep them smiling and laughing. Although this time it was me who was laughing. I never knew a 3 year old who could burp like him.
and then we come full circle to the babies again. This sweet family welcomed baby number three into their world.
and one more sweet baby girl. how many times can I use the word 'sweet' in a blog post? I think 'never too many times' is the appropriate answer when the subjects are this cute!
No, I'm not pregnant. My husband, temporarily lost his mind but also became the world's best dad all in the same day. Friday morning he called me downstairs and stood there holding this little thing.
When this little thing is staring at you with her head cocked to the side, could you say no?! Especially knowing the girls have been begging for a dog forever. Sure we have a k9 (or two at the moment. Oh wait three, we're watching another officers while he's on vacation), but those aren't exactly the sit and snuggle and cuddle in your lap, put cute bows in their hair kind of dog the girls wanted. Secretly I think my hubby wanted a little one too. So he found her, a mutt on her way to the Humane Society. And secretly I'm glad he snagged her before someone else did. Meet Alivia. Yes, we had to keep the A trend. For those of you just tuning in, it's not something we ever did on purpose, but once it's going, you can't stop. I'm Amy, the hubster is Alan, big girl #1 is Ansley (the only name we could agree on, so an A to match us just sort of happened), baby girl #2 is Adaline (cause at that point you can't leave the next kid out!). The K9s? They both came named. The one that's retiring, he's Auggie. The new recruit, he's Aramis. It's a strange little A world we live in. So we couldn't leave her out. And to say the girls are smitten is an understatement. (I might be too, but shhh, don't tell). She really is a super sweet dog. She sleeps thru the night, doesn't whine and is nearly potty trained...woohoo!
I caught her and Adaline watching the big dogs outside today. Excuse the dirty glass doors and the messy hair. I did find it funny that they matched.
Then I figured that maybe we should go outside with both girls for a little torture photo session. Poor dog.
After twenty minutes of being chased in the summer heat, she came inside, crawled in her cage and did this
She's alive, I promise! But she totally slept like that for quite a while. Gotta get her energy back if she's gonna make it in this house.
Vacation was awesome, and I'm so glad so many emailed and made comments about how they loved our journey. I'm fully convinced we'll have to do it again. And again. And maybe again. But summer marches on, and we're back to life as we know it.
The blog got a little quiet because as soon as we came back, I jumped in with both feet. I'm not happy unless I'm busy it seems. So I'm happy to be busy. Lots of new babies, beach bunnies and more. This session was with two of my favorite kiddos. Every time I photograph them is a treat. Such sweet little souls they are. We met up at the beach just before the sun went down. Loved their Lulu Belle attire, mom has great style.
I've lost all track of days and time. They say a vacation can do that to you. That and a pretty little face wound. Guess I should back up and explain. This may end up being a long story. I usually prefer photos over text, but there's not much in the photo department for this story. Grab some coffee.
When I last updated, we were leaving Utah and headed to Yellowstone in the Montana/Wyoming area. It's a bit of a drive so we figured it'd be best to find a half way point to stop for a day or two. We found a cute little town in Idaho called Lava Hot Springs. It's a town of only 500ish locals, but on the weekends, apparently it is *the* place to be! We almost didn't get a campsite. Lava Hot Springs has some fabulous natural springs. Those feed into a river that everyone tubes down. And also a huge pool complex complete with crazy crazy water slides and diving platforms. All of which are super warm because they're feed from the hot springs. Even the river is warm. Sort of a strange thing for this florida gal who is used to our natural springs which are freeeezzing! The town was small, we could walk everywhere, and the pool was super exciting for the girls. Great, let's stay two nights! We spent the next two days mostly at the pool. Ansley did every jumbo free falling slide there. She even dove off a platform or two. I mostly huddled down in the warm water with my little tadpole Adaline who was upset that she wasn't quite tall enough to do all the fun things her sister got to. But still, they were in heaven. I was too as long as I stayed in the water. The air in Idaho is still a bit chilly! The only photos I snapped were a few on my iphone. Which of course now I can't find the usb for to download and share. But trust me, it was a pretty cool place. Our second and last day there was Father's Day. And just as Alan and I had decided it was time to wrap up and head back to the rv....slam. Something hit me and hit me hard. Some kids had been playing nearby with a water frisbee/ufo type of thing. It was huge and while unassuming looking, when wet and flying thru the air, that thing hurt. Especially in the face. I couldn't see and couldn't figure out if I was really hurt or just being a big wuss. We found our way out of the water amidst a sea of people and made our way to the first aid center. The fifteen year old lifeguard took a look at my wounds while another young lifeguard made faces in the corner. I had a feeling that wasn't a good sign. "Yep, I think you need stitches" he said. "The clinic is closed on the weekends though. If you want a decent sized ER there's one about an hour away. Or there's a smaller ER a few towns over". Great. He does a quick patch job on my face, we gather up our stuff, trek back to the rv, unhook everything and set off to find this er. When we pulled up to it, I didn't quite know what to think. Possibly the smallest er I've ever seen. My kids' doctor's office is bigger! The girls had fallen asleep during the drive so I told Alan to stay with them. I walked into the er and found myself in a very small hallway. Nothing around except a red phone on the wall that said 'pick up to speak to the nurse'. THE nurse. Not A nurse. A sweet lady answers, I tell her I need stitches, she comes and gets me. She takes me into the next room which consists of two beds and her desk. After a quick look, she says, "let me call the dr." What? There's not even a dr. here?! Good thing it's a small town because it took the dr. less than 10 minutes to get there. She was only a little disgruntled to be coming in on a Sunday. I apologized for interrupting her Sunday, she mentioned something about just trying to warm up her dinner and it'll have to wait. She opted for glue instead of stitches and within a few minutes, I was done. Possibly the fastest er visit I've ever had in my life! So the next few days were a bit uneventful in the photo department as I was a little lightheaded with a shiner and my gash. I would post photos of the aftermath but its not pretty. Instead I sent those to my mom and sisters to freak them out a bit, ha ha! Love you guys ;)
From there we made our way to Yellowstone. Everyone in Idaho told us we should stop at this place called Bear World. It's an easy way to visit the bears of Yellowstone while avoiding the whole, 'bear in the wild claw your eyes out' type of thing. Anything involving animals is great fun for the girls so they loved it. Cheesy tourist attraction and all.
and of course there was ice cream involved. It's like moth to a flame with these kids.
I can't tell if he was waving goodbye or trying to avoid the camera.
And finally we arrived at Yellowstone, the last major stop of our journey. It's an amazing place that I wish we'd had more time to explore. Between the animals, the waterfalls, the geyser basins and all the volcanic activity, it really is a site to see. It's remarkable that they had the foresight in 1872 to protect this land and make it the first national park. I hope to go back someday.
Of course there was ice cream involved.
one of the last sights we saw as we headed out of the park... just beautiful.
We're headed home now, work calls for both of us. I'm sad. Everything went much too quickly. I wasn't sure if I could live out of an rv, if the girls would drive each other crazy, if I would go crazy, if Alan would want to drop us all off somewhere and drive away because we were all driving him crazy. But nope, none of that. Sure the girls had their moments. I may have had a few moments as well. But overall, it all went so much better than I expected. And it was so so worth it. I think the girls became closer, finding new ways to be sisters. When being forced to be together 24-7 for nearly three weeks, it must naturally happen. I discovered that Ansley is so much older than I thought. Smarter, sweeter, kinder and all around an awesome kid. I mean I knew that before, but I really got to see it daily. Adaline, my sweet little one, has gone and turned into a little kid on me. No longer my baby but instead wants to run after her sister and do all the big kid stuff. She still fits perfectly in my lap and wants me to hold her often. And I always will. No matter what I'm doing I will stop and hold her. And my dear sweet husband, well, he has the patience of a saint. Dealing with three females isn't easy. But he waits for us, patiently. Stops when we ask him to, and drives for hours on end without even slightly being bothered. He carries a thirty something pound 3 year old on his shoulders for miles and goes down death defying slides with the 6 year old. He's an amazing dad. My girls are lucky.
And while I tried to photograph so much of our journey, documenting all the seconds that I could in an effort to stop time and put the world in a picture frame, I also had to remind myself to put the camera down. Sometimes I think back and wish I'd gotten my camera for this moment or that, but I have to remember that me being there in that moment is probably more important than the camera. We played, we swam, we hiked, we found wild animals, we petted them too. We chased fireflies, had campfires, counted stars, saw some of the most beautiful parts of america...and we had ice cream. I hope this is the first of many such trips.
We spent most of yesterday traveling out of Arizona and headed into Utah. We found a few fun spots along the route. If we break the driving up a bit, it keeps the wild ones from getting too wild. Stop number one, a deer farm. The girls love spotting deer from the rv windows, so when Alan found a place that they could pet, feed and love on all the deer they wanted, we knew they'd be in heaven. Or at least that's what we thought. Seems that these deer recognize a plastic food cup from a mile away and aren't afraid to swarm you. And for those folks who aren't readily holding out a handful of food (i.e. me!!), they'll try to eat your dress. Adaline wasn't so fond of the deer, mostly because they were bigger than her. She'd sneak in behind them every once in a while to pet, but she much preferred the baby goats since they were smaller. Ansley, well, she's not afraid of much. She loved it.
Stop number two, BEDROCK BABY!! This one was probably more for me and Alan as the girls have never even seen an episode of the Flintstones. Sad but true. Call it bad parenting. A totally cheesy roadside attraction that I thought was fabulous. It was actually a little bit better than I was expecting. They had all sorts of buildings. Fred's house, Barney's house, the beauty parlor, the grocery, the jail, the post office, the medical building, etc. They even had a movie theater playing episodes of the Flintstones. And the giant dinosaur like the one Fred worked on in the quarry complete with a slide down the tail.
Late yesterday we arrived in Utah. After spending the last week in desert areas that all seemed to have either high wind warnings or fire bans, the girls were so excited to finally be able to have a campfire.
Today was a little exploring some of Utah's national parks. We started off with a quick visit to Kolob Canyons. It was beautiful.
Then we headed into Zion. I was so excited for Zion as I'd seen amazing photos of this place. Small detail most don't point out about those photos.... they're usually achieved after you've hiked/swam/climbed/a gajillion miles to get them. I'd done a little reading beforehand and saw where there'd be some hiking. Figured out which ones we could do with the kids and thought we'd be ok. Ahhh ye of ignorance. Not so much. The park is insanely busy during the summer months and we had to park in town and catch a shuttle in. Then hop another shuttle that takes you into the canyon. They don't let private vehicles in during peak season so the shuttle actually isn't a bad option. Problem is that where each shuttle drops you off, a hike begins. If you want to see anything good that is. We made one hike to the lower emerald pools and decided that may be the only hike of the day. The littlest has had a cough and the thin air and upward narrow trek was a little more than she cared for. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the park from the main canyon floor. It was still an incredibly beautiful place to visit, even if I didn't quite get to see the spots I'd wished for. The height of the canyon, the colors, the vastness of it all was amazing.
Yesterday we had a birthday on board. Our birthdays are usually a little bit on the low key side, but we also like to make them special and fun. And even though we were going to be on the road, I wanted her sixth birthday to be no different. We spent the evening before digging out the hidden presents from under the rv. Decorating the best we could with balloons and streamers. We had to get a little creative there as there's a 'no tape anywhere anytime' rule with the rented rv. I knew as long as it looked festive, she'd care less about how pretty it was. We also have a birthday rule... when it's your birthday, we eat cupcakes for breakfast. I wasn't quite able to go the homemade route like we usually do, but mini store bought cupcakes were good enough for her.
From there we headed off to play tourists. And boy were we tourists that day!! We're hitched a ride on the Grand Canyon Railroad which starts off with a wild west show. My sweet assistant Nicole had tucked a party hat for Ansley in with the presents and she was thrilled to wear it all.day.long. The cowboys were happy to make her feel special. One even wanted to trade hats with her. She did for a minute, then immediately wanted it back. So from here on out, you'll see the birthday hat in every photo. It wasn't coming off. She loved that everyone on the train and everyone at the Grand Canyon wished her birthday. And was sung to multiple times.
The train ride into the canyon was complete with all sorts of entertainment. We even had a train robbery via the wild horsemen you see below. Tourists I tell ya!
finally we arrived at one of the grandest sites you may ever see.
It was a birthday, so the girls insisted on ice cream.
Tonight we walked into town and realized that we'd been staying just off another old section of route 66. Yesterday was a birthday so the girls insisted on more ice cream. Pretty sure this little cafe has been here since route 66's glory days. Such a cute little town.
Today's agenda, the painted desert and the petrified forest. The girls were a bit over me and my camera today, so I played landscape photographer. Ansley pulled out her little camera for some too. She says when she grows up, she wants to be a 'kuhtographer' like me. Love that. The desert and petrified trees were amazing.
Indian drawings on the rocks. They had several members of local tribes there talking with park guides. Seems after all these years, they're still trying to decipher the drawings. The girls particularly liked the three little deer on the right rock.
Mid-way through the park, there's a marker where route 66 used to run right through it. There's an old car there, and in the background where you see the power poles, those were the originals along the route. And yes, a friendly alien had to join us.
We found a great stopping point with trails through the petrified forest. Amazingly beautiful trees now harder than rocks. Many sit exactly where they fell hundreds of years ago.
One of my favorite parts of the day? As we left the park and hopped onto a portion of what is remaining of route 66, what did we happen to see?! The world famous Wigwam Motel!! I always joked with Alan that when we took this trip I wanted to see all the quirky sites along with the big stuff. And this was always one of the places I'd reference. So to happen upon it had me hopping up and down begging him to stop. If the girls had been in a better mood I totally would have made them come out for photos. But I had a feeling it would have been a begging/pleading/yelling scenario to get any decent photos out of them. So I ventured out of the rv by my lonesome. How fun is this place?!
Tomorrow's agenda...grand canyon and a birthday. sniff sniff, my baby is turning 6.
Be prepared for lots 'o photos. I probably should try and update once a day, but being on vacation I fell asleep a wee bit early last night. We've had quite the adventures in just two short days. At the end of my last post we had found a home at the Carlsbad KOA. Pretty much the middle of the desert and not too much around. Super cute campground though and the kids thought it was great. Pool, playground, an old fire engine that they give the kids rides on in the evenings, super nice people everywhere and lots of kids for the girls to play with. Their favorite part? In the morning we woke up to fuzzy little bunnies everywhere!
Yesterday we headed into town to hit the Carlsbad Caverns. I have to say that I really was not prepared for the scope of what we were about to see. I'd heard a little bit about it. Big hole in the ground, stalactites, etc. I thought, 'a cave is a cave'. Reality is, the photos do it no justice at all. Truly and utterly amazing. We entered into the area where thousands of bats fly out each night at sunset. You wind your way down down down. They said it was a mile down into the cave, which didn't sound too far. Until you're doing it. Steep, winding, down, down, down. The girls at the beginning. That giant black hole behind them? That's where we went.
Once we got inside and down into the depths and through the winding caves, photos were nearly impossible. It's 750 feet under ground and zero light. They had some of the areas lit up, but still very dark. And cold, and quiet. But oh so amazing. Again, these photos will do it no justice. The inside was huge. Reminded me of being in a huge dome.
Ansel Adams photographed the caverns as part of the mural project.
After a long trek through the caverns, we relaxed....
This morning we woke up ready for more. First stop, the White Sands National Monument. This wasn't on our original planned route but once I heard about it, I had to go. What used to be a large lake, is now a huge mineral deposit. Pure white sand as far as the eye could see. As we drove there, we went from the desert terrain, to the mountains and pine trees, and out the other side to the desert again. Every once in a while, we'd round a corner and get a peek at the sands in the distance.
From there we headed on to a quick stop in Roswell. When you're this close, you might as well stop and visit the aliens. It's a quirky little place with alien eyes on the street lamps (photo just below on the left) and green alien footprints down the sidewalk. Adaline was quite taken with the aliens as you can see.
Two days ago we took off for a trip that we've been talking about taking for as long as I can remember. Cross country, headed west, in an RV. Camping under the stars (well, comfortably in an air conditioned rv, I'm not that crazy), exploring some of the best national parks, campfires, s'mores, hiking, swimming, climbing, you name it. We figured the girls were finally at a good age that they could handle the trip without driving both of us completely insane, so the planning began and here we are. We'll be on the road for close to three weeks. We have a loose plan of the places we'd like to hit, but we're already finding we may adjust it depending on what we find, don't find, or want to do more of. I thought it'd be fun to share the ride.
Day one and two haven't been quite that exciting yet. Lots of driving to get out of the good 'ol state of Florida, thru some other lower southerns and nearly a day just getting thru Texas. We've been thru these states before so the hubby was on a mission to drive drive drive so we could get to the stuff we really want to see. He doesn't mind driving so that's been all him. And in the comfort of an rv, I don't have much room to complain about the twelve hour stretches. The first day or so was an adjustment in getting used to the swaying, rocking and rolling. The girls were fine, me, ummm, yeah, sleep was my friend so I could get over the swaying and bouncing. I haven't done much in the photo department as there wasn't all that much to see for a while. A few photos of the girls enjoying some down time. A few state signs (well, the ones I was awake to catch). And a few photos of their first taste of freedom at the San Antonio KOA playground (which by the way was one of the coolest old school playgrounds I've seen! Not many having horse swings, teeter totters, and merry go rounds anymore). After a day and a half of straight driving, I've never seen two kids so excited to run. Tonight we arrived into Carlsbad New Mexico where we'll stay for a few days. Looking forward to seeing the caverns, the falls, and maybe the white sands. So I'll be posting and sharing our adventures. Pardon what the photos may look like as I'm on a laptop and it's nearly impossible for me to really 'see' what they look like. More to come....
Our stop in San Antonio was brief, but my sweet sweet friend Cheryl Muhr made the drive over from Austin so we could visit for a little bit. The girls were thrilled to have two friends to play and swim with for a little bit. Then cried when we had to tell them goodbye. At this age it only takes a few hours to make a best friend. I tried to ease the pain with a group photo. Notice my two are chomping on giant gumballs so excuse their expression. Cheryl, thanks for being an awesome friend and driving in ridiculous heat with your broken a/c to see us :)