I had another fun evening playing in the park!  My session with the H family was at the lovely Lititz Springs Park.  It was such a beautiful evening and the kids were so good!  We had fun driving trucks on bridges, feeding the ducks, hiding in the reeds, and then the best part was walking across the street for ice cream!  Yum!!

Family sessions are always so much fun and filled with so much energy!  I love to see the relationships between the parents and the kids as they interact and play.   This is a family I have known for a long time, but have never really had the opportunity to spend much time with as they live quite a distance away.    So, thanks W family for the opportunity to get to know your kids better – you have a beautiful family!

I was outside weeding yesterday, when Savannah (our 4 year old), comes running over to me.  “Mommy, Mommy – Kiwi (our cat) is getting a baby bunny!”  She points to a bush in our yard, and as I push the branches aside, I see a little baby bunny huddled inside.    Out of my two oldest kids, Savannah is the animal lover.  She has always played with stuffed animals – no baby dolls for her!  She constantly begs and pleads to have a pet she can hold in her arms.

So, I go find a pair of mittens, and tell her she can hold the bunny.  He was pretty jumpy at first, but she was so happy.  She held that baby bunny for hours!  We talked about letting him go, but she got upset, so I decided he might as well stay until the next day.  We put him in a bucket with a little water, a carrot, and a towel.

The next morning, she went to the bucket so excited to hold the bunny again.  “Shhh,” she says as she picks him up.  “He’s sleeping.”   I looked closer and was surprised to see that he was not moving.  The little baby bunny had died.   That was the last thing I wanted my daughter to have to experience.  I knew she didn’t really know what death was.

We told her the bunny wasn’t coming back; he was asleep and not going to wake up.   She seemed to take it okay.  We found a little box and an old piece of material and put him inside.  Daddy dug a hole and she put the little box inside.  I was surprised that she didn’t seem to be reacting too much.

But, as soon as we started putting dirt on top of the little box, she bursts into tears.  She starts sobbing and doesn’t stop for probably 30 min.  This was one of those times we were ready to promise her anything.  Our poor little heartbroken girl….   She did seemed to forget about him for the afternoon, but at bedtime she looks at me and says, “Mommy, can I have the bunny after he is done being dead?”

I had a great time playing in the grass and climbing on rocks with this family.  It had been a while since I’d seen them and I just can’t believe how big the kids are getting!   One of my favorite things about doing family sessions is watching how the family members interact with each other.  I just love being able to have captured forever the smiles, laughter and connections that so rarely get caught on camera.   This family is certainly a joy to be around – there is such a sense of love, fun, and caring between them.   They are the reason I love what I do!

I had the pleasure of photographing two families a few days ago – each with all boys.   I always take time before a session to brainstorm ideas for pictures, and think through the ages of the kids and what I can do to make their session fun and a reflection of who their family is.    And, I hope we accomplished that.  Our session involved a lot of wrestling, headlocks, tickling, jumping, throwing, piggy back rides…you know – typical boy stuff!

This first family I have known a looong time – at least back to when I was in junior high!  And all these years they have remained such a fun family.  This picture below is one of my favorites of them.  Teenage boys are typically not too excited about family photo sessions…they aren’t into hugging  or showing affection, especially in front of a camera.  But, tell them to do a group hug, give a headlock, or tackle someone and they’ll usually give you a good picture!

This next family had boys that were younger, but were just as eager to tackle, jump and avoid posing for the camera.  :)

Well, this was the largest family session I’ve done to date…11 people! I had a great time with them though – such a beautiful, fun-loving family!
I was a little anxious for this shoot, especially since it was supposed to rain all day – and there is only so much you can do with 11 people indoors. But, thankfully, the rain stopped soon after I got there and we were able to go outside for pictures!
I had some fun ideas, and they had some too (the tree picture below was their idea with my twist – and I love it!). I really love being able to capture people interacting with each other, laughing and just expressing true joy. Those are the moments that are so fleeting, yet so special. Several of the pictures below depict that…and are therefore my favorites (but don’t worry, I also got the “smiling at the camera” shots). :)

Dad was behind me in this one, doing something…I have no idea what…I probably don’t want to know! :)

This is Amanda and her boyfriend – she surprised her mom with this family photoshoot. Such a great gift!