This family is so rad, I don't even know where to begin. I first photographed them about 5 years ago, after Michelle and I met in a local photographers' group and hit it off. She has photographed my family too and we try to get together as much as often our mutually-busy schedules allow. But it had been a couple of years since we had a session together and I was jonesing to get them in front of my camera again, since we always have more fun together than we probably should. Michelle read my mind and we set a date and planned to meet at their home. We got a perfect late summer's eve, full of sun and warm enough to end the session at their fave local swimming hole as promised - perfection. When I arrrived, their girlies were just finishing an after-school snack and we caught up for a few minutes. I met the girls' plants and was shown pictures of them as babies before we regrouped in the gorgeously-decorated living room to kick it off.
The one request the family had was to include Bronx, their huge, loveable St. Bernard mix, who gladly obliged by standing like a wall in front of them, soaking up their hugs and spreading his unique brand of hairy, slobbery love. After he got bored of the adoration, we took a few more inside before moving out into their amazing little courtyard. Bronx stared at us through the door as the girls climbed on the fence and we goofed around. Then we made our way around their townhouse complex, laughing and playing until we decided it was time to get ready for the much-anticipated swim (read: the girls were DONE with the "official" photo session). We collected the excited Bronx and loaded aboard the family van for our adventure.
I am going to be honest here - I had such a damn good time riding in the van with the widows down and wind in my hair, happy to be the passenger, that I totally missed this part of the story in photographs. Forgive me and just take a moment to think about wind in your hair... So good, RIGHT?!
When we pulled up to the swimming area, we soon discovered that it was more mud flats than water fun but we gamely hopped out for an adventure. Little did we know what was in store. Before we could blink, the girls were knee deep in mud and the dog was up to his belly. The kids slogged through the slime and splashed in the shallows, while we adults stood a safe-ish distance away. But in the end, we were all knee deep in the sun-warmed mud, laughing hysterically as it squeezed between our toes and trying not to land on our butts when we got stuck! We managed to make our back to the water to rinse a bit before all piled back into the van, dirty, drenched and all happier for it all. It was a damn good night.
Thank you all for being great friends, awesome people and just a really good time. Love you.
M xo
