back to big bear

last weekend we got up to big bear again. we drove up late friday evening after work, arriving a little after 10:00pm. dad and leslie had just returned from their trip to spain and portugal. they brought aleah a super cute spanish flamenco dress and really cute, adorable dancing shoes.

too bad for us all, we forgot the portable crib so baby slept with us. friday night we got very little sleep; at 4:00 am she woke up and thought it was party time, poking us in the eyes and pinching our noses, falling all over the bed and laughing. i admit, i couldn't help but laughing with her, tired as i was. keep in mind this baby normally sleeps until 10 or so each morning.

saturday morning, after some breakfast, dale went to meet barry and jane at their cabin to help barry with some repairs. dad, leslie, aleah and i went for a walk and relaxed in the yard.

exploring nature:

quiet reflections:

new challenges:

big bear exclusives:

views from above (fishies in a pond below):

memories:

aleah and i joined daddy, barry and jane for a delicious lunch.

later we were planning to go on grandpa's boat, but the three of us were completely worn out and napped for three hours straight. so we enjoyed an evening at home, a delicious steak dinner and the beauty surrounding us.

sparky hoping to get a handout. he did get lots, but aleah was under restriction to stay back a bit. sparky gets very rambunctious :)

this place is seriously cool grandpa. seriously cool.

i'm not afraid of bears, no way! in fact i love them XOXO.

we did get that boat ride...aleah's first (besides it's a small world). it was very bright, and the life vest a little stiff and awkward, but she enjoyed it, even when we went fast and there were lots of bumps.

when grandpa turned the boat into the wind, aleah could barely keep her eyes open. she reached for me and fell asleep in less than one minute. for the rest of the ride she stayed in my arms, so cute.

next we had a trip to the frozen yogurt store, then it was on to the park, where the stairs and slide were the hit of the day.

oh yeah, we had fun on the swing too:

yep, that's her daddy making her smile from behind the tree so i could get this shot!

admiring her favorite squeakie shoes.

that's all for now. love, anne

the baby suit shoot

daddy calls her bathing suit her "baby suit". aleah loves to put her baby suit on, she definitely knows it means fun times :) 4th of july weekend, daddy, aleah and i had a late afternoon swim in the pool, but before the real fun began, i had a few minutes to snap these for the memory books: i loved the ways these turned out. i loved the contrast of the lush green grass with her light complexion and hair.

fun-loving sarah!!

sunday, july 3rd. we headed out to take have a picnic at the arboretum at fullerton college. we quickly had to change plans when we found out the park was already closed for the day. without much time as the sun was going down, we decided on downtown disney. we took lots of pictures (lots!) and had a good time with sarah. here are a few of my favorites:

dale was scouting out interesting spots for us.

aleah shared her bubbles!

one spot gave me a chance to practice with sunflare.

loved this one of us all.

as it got darker, we pressed on and, although i'm not as comfortable with these due to the lighting...we had fun anyway.

loved the lighting on this one, very cool. my favorite of the night shots for sure.

thanks sarah, for lending your gorgeous smile and for your company. we love you!!

father's day party

it's been two weeks since we had a fun party at sara and dennis' house for father's day this year (a day early)...i took these images and then experimented a bit with color and cropping. i learned a lot, and my quest to find a comfort zone with the photos continues. our short time together yielded some great memories!

great-grandma bimmie looked beautiful:

little nova as precious as possible, getting a manicure from daddy:

dad with his precious grandchildren:

i pulled out some suckers to optimize the photo opportunity!

there was even some sharing with mommy:

bubbles were a big hit...this added a new word to aleah's vocabulary in a hurry!

we played with the lawnmower,

and the indoor helicopter (no family get-together is complete without it :)

sarah and aleah shared a book:

sara and nova shared a quiet moment:

everyone was very accommodating to let me practice some shots:

even dennis (thanks dennis!!)

after atticus and nova were down for naptime, aleah got some one-on-one with her auntie and uncle:

my beautiful sister!

to my dad, daddy (dale), dennis, grandpa boughton, phil, marc and all our daddies (and daddies-to-be) in our family, a very happy father's day!