we're back!

Hi friends! We just got back from my parents' cabin in Branson and I barely took a single picture! We had a family reunion with nearly 35 people, and the only day I took pictures was on our first day at the lake. We also went to Silver Dollar City, White Water, we had a family dinner one night and a cookout the next, we played baseball and flew kites, we had a birthday party for Drew, a top shot shooting competition, ATV riding... the list goes on. So even though taking pictures was a big fat fail, the trip was a big fat success because instead of worrying about capturing the moment I was living IN IT... and we all had a blast!!

Even though my big camera took a break for the week, I wish I would have thought in advance to do a iPhone collage of photos. With a collage in mind, I would have captured a better variety of shots: wildflowers along side of the road, the steep rocks and cliffs, buildings and hotels damaged from a tornado that went through the town in February, my cranberry colored toenails in new lavender flip flops dangling in the pool, you get the idea. I did a collage with the iPhone shots from our Florida trip, and they turned out to be some of my favorite snapshots ever. Definitely a lesson learned. I will put more thought into it next time! :-)

Here are just a few random iPhone shots...



Before I share some shots from our day at the lake, may I pause to give myself a shout-out here? If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember that I've recently gone crazy over friendship bracelets. I never learned to make them when I was 12, and now... (an unspecified number of years later)... I have! Livia's bracelets have been on for weeks and woe to the person that tries to remove one. See below.

TT was a little slow to get her sea legs and made this face the entire time. ;-)


She felt much better in the arms of her favoritest cousin (although it should be noted that riding 55mph with daddy on a wave runner didn't seem to phase her in the slightest).






If you're wondering what's up with all the shots of the people in the boat vs. shots of the skiers... that's a lens issue. I took my 24-70mm instead of my 70-200mm. I definitely didn't want to switch lenses in the boat, and I thought if I took my zoom lens, I wouldn't be able to back up enough to get shots of anyone sitting in the boat. Not sure I made the right decision! Anyway, see how small the skiers are in the background? That's why I didn't post any of those. Little tiny people skiing + the crazy glare on the lake didn't look pretty. Thank goodness we have it on video (especially Collin doing 360's on the knee board)! :-)


I think our tornado almost fell asleep here - lol! :-)


This is one of my very favorite shots of the day. We love our cousins!



Also, If you're wondering why I post so many pictures of Livia and not very many of my boys... believe me, it's breaking my heart! The biggest reason is simple geography: TT is with me all the time. The boys have only been out of school a couple weeks and they're involved in every sport and activity on the planet. Not only that, it's easy to throw a dress on a 3 year old girl and make her look cute. It's a bit more challenging for me to get good (natural) shots of my boys. They're always more than cooperative, but at 7 and 10 they don't have that natural inhibition in front of the camera that a younger child has. Tween boys don't frolic, prance or twirl. ;-) But no excuses!! I must do better!

It's good to be home and back into a routine again. Hope you're having a great week & thanks for stopping by! xo