Let's escape to the....

I'm in the thick of editing and quite predictable. Yep, I've turned on the instrumental Christmas station on Pandora. Just like every August! ;) Actually, I think I usually don't break down until September, so maybe it came a little early for me this year. For some reason Christmas instrumental music is super calming to me and I love listening to it while I'm strapped to my computer editing for hours. :)

Speaking of calm and peace, we enjoyed a few hours at the beach a couple weeks ago with our dear friend Sheri and her cute boys! Ah, it was a beautiful, warm August evening in Cannon Beach! My favorite! Even though it was brief, we soaked up every minute there. We grabbed our Insomnia coffee & chai teas and walked down to the beach. The kids had so much fun playing in the water, getting thoroughly and adorably soaked, then we changed them all into cozy clothes as the sun went down and we all went out for g-free pizza at our favorite place there. Ben fell asleep at the table and that was a first for any of our kids!! I got that "fell asleep at the dinner table picture" I've always secretly hoped for! (The deep dark secrets of photographer moms.) Haha!

The beach is always a soul refresher! The sound of the water drowns out so much daily noise commotion and the large stretch of sand & sea is so lovely and visually under-stimulating. Ahhhh... thank you Lord for the beach! :) 

We got stopped for an hour in traffic on the way to the beach due to bridge work. Lots of time to talk and read.

Grabbing our cozy drinks before hitting the sand.

We pointed the 24mm lens at ourselves and thank you Josh for taking one for the team! ;) When your face is that close to the lens it warps it and makes your forehead, nose and chin look extra big!! Josh was the closest and got it worse than Sheri & me! :)

This is what happens when all of the kids are busy playing and you ask them to stop for a group photo. ;) At least Ben was excited! 

Josh took them out to the waves and back...

Someone decided his soaking wet heavy shorts and underwear were no longer comfortable and decided to just leave them at water's edge...

Soaked, happy kids!

I LOVE these sand angel shots and here's why: the last time we went to the beach Jude had MAJOR anxiety the entire time we were there. He would only sit on a blanket and was very distressed by any sand on him at all ,and he constantly held his pant legs up to make sure they didn't touch sand. So we told him he would be wearing flip flops and rolled up pants and we figured that if he was forced right off the bat to feel the sand with his bare feet and his pants couldn't touch then he might "submerge" himself. And it worked. I was so thankful! He was free to get as messy as possible because he knew there was a dry clean change of clothes for afterwards, and we didn't bring socks/shoes so they weren't an option. We are learning!

Adorable bunch!! So thankful for precious friends!

Thank you Sheri for snapping this pic of our family! I sure love it!

Tired boy. So cute.

Weekend in Seattle

I was looking forward to a little break to blog some of our pics from our weekend in Seattle celebrating Ian & Kaylene's wedding and seeing family that I love and adore! :)

We had a fun time away. The kids did great in the car on the drive up and they loved the hotel we stayed in.

The first evening we got there Uncle Tim & Aunt Lisa hosted a dinner party in the hotel for family and close friends in honor of Ian & Kaylene and it was really fun. 

I loved the shirts Ian & Kaylene wore. Clever & cute. Just like them! :)

This little guy stole my heart a little I think. He's just the cutest little thing.

That was one of the best parts of this trip, not only seeing my cousins, but spending time with all of their precious children!!! I wish we all lived on the same street and our kids could grow up together. What wonderful families they all have!

We girls (Chelsi, Sasha, Demri, Marlies, & Molly) stayed up late that evening talking in the hotel and I wish I had thought to snap a pic of us all together all these years later. I loved spending time with them! I feel like the last time we all talked was probably when we were dreaming about boys to date and marry and this time we sat around talking about motherhood. Sweet seasons of life.

The next morning our kids were itching to go swimming in the hotel pool. All I could think of was Jim Gaffigan's comedic bit on hotels! ;) 

Waiting for the elevator...

;

Going under the waterfall with daddy...

Then we all showered and changed and headed to Ian & Kaylene's wedding! I photographed their day and loved seeing how in love they are.

And I loved spending time with my cousins!!

I wish my brothers Matt & Caleb had been able to make it too! But don't worry, I took care of it guys. ;)

And I'll have to come back and add all of the fun pics from their reception at the zoo once I get them edited! (I'm way behind at the moment with all of the shooting I've been doing.) Their reception was so fun and unique. We saw wild animals up close. (Maybe too up close, right Elijah?) ;) They had a brick oven pizza cart, an Elvis impersonator, and all sorts of fun stuff! Loved it.

The day after the wedding Uncle Tim & Aunt Lisa treated us to an afternoon at The Museum of Flight (near Boeing).  (Thank you Uncle Tim & Aunt Lisa!) My dad & Janet were already on the drive home to host their annual neighborhood picnic, but they would've loved this place too.

Girl cousins!

Sasha's sweet family...

My handsome Joshy, carrying Ben who could've used a nap that day. Poor kid was really tired, and poor group who got to hear him melt down a couple of times. But he eventually fell asleep in our arms.

Josh and Eric did the flight simulator and they loved it! While they were in there we took the kids to the play area and we could hear Eric going, "Woohoo!!!!" from across the building! I loved his enthusiasm!!

Here come our kids.... !! ;) Love this bunch!!

These girls just melted my heart. Selah and Aspen became fast friends.

Elijah, you are a certified hunk of a little man! :) ...and Elijah standing here near the moon makes me think of  Brian Regan's comedic bit on the "me monster". If you haven't listened, google it! So funny!

No sooner than Josh reached out to adjust this propeller did a museum woman appear from the shadows and ask him to please not touch the displays.

After that we had to just laugh about all the people who were probably watching us from the shadows.

I loved this little french cottage that we went into to watch old footage from world war II. And I loved how many things my kids picked up on and talked about that they remembered learning in Classical Conversations this year! Selah was able to recite her memory work about world war II and ask some deeper questions. I love when education works that way!

The kids had fun with this little flight simulator...

Then onto see the retired Air Force One and the NASA area!

In line for Air Force One. I think Jude was trying to step on his shadow here. :)

Loved the authentic retro vibe. ;)

Uncle Tim doing his impression of Presidents coming down the stairs.

Little walker...

Then we went to dinner together and said our goodbyes!! It was so hard to leave them all. I just wanted to pack them all up and take them home with me!! I still think we all need to seriously consider buying houses next door to each other, just like when we were kids. ;)

And Selah just loves her cousin Aspen and has already written her a letter to be mailed. 

Two cute peas in a pod.

SO Thankful for time away with family! Love you all!

xo