parker // impromptu photo shoot

this kid is just the cutest.  he's home for the summer & we've settled in to a pretty nice little lazy routine of no routine.  both kids have a couple camps & swimming lessons this summer but for the most part we're taking it easy breezy.  the other day i found him just laying on my bed staring at the ceiling so i snuggled up for a sec which turned into tickles & then i was standing on the bed looking down on him & realized, this is a photo op.  ha!  such is life as a photographer.  i told him not to move & i ran to grab my camera.

i love these so much.

elliot came in towards the end & wasn't into pictures... he just wanted to wrestle.  i mean, that's just kinda how it is around here.  ya take what you can get.

summer stuff // parker learns to swim

this should be more appropriately titled "parker learns to get in water & not freak out" because that's a bit more accurate.  but guys, big progress was made this summer.  parker used to be pretty intimidated by water/pools/getting his hair wet but after two weeks of lessons this summer, he's splashin around & blowing bubbles with the best of 'em.

summer is still whizzing on by.  weddings to shoot every weekend, attempts to stay out of the heat on the weekdays.  it's been pretty awesome.  we're getting pretty excited for school to start though... it's hard to remember what day of the week it is for some of us.  they're all starting to blend together.

i was obsessed with the colors at the pool.  the water, bright sun, all of it was fun to me. here are some of my favorites!

the scientist & the lens

this post serves two purposes.

1)  parker is obsessed with science stuff.  volcanos, history of dinosaurs, geology, crystals, fossils, animals, etc etc.  he says he wants to be a zoologist, marine biologist & paleontologist when he grows up.  ok bud.  anywho, his latest obsession is this volcano science kit he got for his birthday which includes a few rocks formed from volcano eruptions.  one is a geode you can crack open to reveal crystals inside.  we finally got around to cracking open his geode tonight.  the most exciting part to parker, being the sweet little guy that he is, was that there are now two pieces of his geode... one for him & one for elliot.  love that kid.

2)  i got a new lens.  i picked up the sigma 50mm art this last week & took it outside to play this evening.  trying to shoot lifestyle stuff at 50mm is throwing me for a loop, guys.  i'm SO used to my 35mm.  and when i shoot weddings i shoot my 35mm & my 85mm and use them both very differently so figuring out this 50 is totally challenging me.  i guess it's good to mix it up?  also i feel like the color & exposure is just... off.  i haven't shot a picture with it yet that just WOW'ed me.  but i'll keep playing with it & am determined to figure it out.

so. enjoy a few pictures of parker cracking open his geode & me trying to figure out this freaking lens.

parker ray // you're five.

so it's june & i can't think of a better time to go back about a month or so to talk about my number one turning five.  parker turned five at the end of april & we had such an amazing time celebrating.  instead of a big party we asked parker what he wanted to do & he said he wanted to go to the ocean.  it wasn't a huge surprise since the ocean is his favorite place in the world & his obsession with sea creatures runs deep (thank you octonauts).

but seriously, it was a blast.  we got a house out at lincoln city, oregon & had sam's parents, his sister & her husband come along too.  the boys chased waves, looked for shells & played in the sand.  the highlight of the trip (and the thing parker still talks about a month later as his favorite part) was climbing up on rocks & searching for sea creatures in tide pools.  we saw sea anemones, sponges, clams, mussels, snails, sea urchins, crabs & the highlight was finding a starfish.

five is such a fun age.  both boys are in such good places right now & taking them on adventures is pretty much the best thing ever.  i seriously can't believe parker will be starting kindergarten in the fall & i'll be down to one kid for most of the day monday through friday.  what even is time??  it's a mean, mean thing, whatever it is.

at five parker is still obsessed with animals.  he has read his animal encyclopedia before bed every night since christmas & has virtually every animal's name in the book memorized as well as a ton of facts.  his favorite show is octonauts & he is so fascinated with ocean animals.  he still loves going to the zoo, playing with his stuffed animals & building things with legos.  he's always assigning everyone in the family different characters to be from different stories & is pretty much playing some sort of scenario out at all times.  he loves going on hikes & will hike around 2 miles or so before his legs get too tired & the complaints start.  he is obsessed with turning over big rocks to look for bugs, worms or snails under them & isn't afraid to pick up whatever he finds for a closer look.  he can count to 100 & sight read all sorts of words... especially animal names.  he's excited for kindergarten but was super sad to say goodbye to all his friends from preschool.  i know he'll love kindy & will do so well though, his brain is just ready for it.  this summer he's going to do swimming lessons, a zoo camp & play soccer in the fall.  he's just the coolest little kid & is super easy going like he always has been.  he's just my little buddy.

here are a few (ha!) pics from our weekend at lincoln city celebrating p-ray.  making birthdays into weekend adventures is becoming tradition & we're already looking forward doing it again next year.

happy birthday parker ray.  we love you so much & had a blast celebrating your big day with you.