Siblings At Sunset

I have always wanted to have our family photos taken while at the beach by a professional.

When I called and found out how exorbitant and like highway robbery cost-prohibitive it can be, I thought hey, I have a camera and a couple kids...let's give it a whirl!

Well, a whirl I gave it and they turned out pretty well, I think, considering the camera is a point and shoot and I am a mediocre photog at best.

What you can't tell is that Liam did a header into the surf about 6 seconds after this shot. Another reason not to wear a new white onesie to the beach....

To participate in Photostory Friday, go here.

Masked

This is a photo of my daughter, Claire, and my niece, Emma, on a recent trip to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. With only 9 months separating the two, they have been raised more like sisters than cousins. They rarely fight and are each other's staunchest supporters and biggest fans.

I was raised without a sister and am not particularly close to Emma's dad (my younger/only brother) but I love to see these two grow up together and hope that the closeness they share now follows them through life. Both have younger siblings but Emma's sister is 8 years her junior and Liam is 7 years younger than Claire so they have had only each other as playmates for the majority of their young lives.

It took 10 minutes in line to have the face painting done.

It cost me $20.

The resulting smiles and memory?

Priceless.

To play along with Photostory Friday, go here.

What a Mess!

Hand lotion plus boy
Not a good combination
How do you not laugh?

These are photos of Liam after he managed to open a hand lotion up and fling it all over himself and my armoire. He was alone for about 4 minutes while I read blogs checked the online news and made a terrible mess all over the furniture, floor and his freshly bathed body. That child is always wreaking havoc! Of course, I ran for the camera as my daughter stood aside and cackled so what lesson did we teach him?

This boy may be the death of me yet....

On another note, Happy Independence Day!

Hair's The Word

Before: see those little curls in the back?

After: No more curls; he's a big boy now...

First haircut: it's done
Little curls cut away
Now he's a big boy

I took these photos last Saturday when Liam got his first haircut. I was nervous and weepy but I managed to get through. He, on the other hand, did swimmingly. No tears, only a few little unhappy faces.

Another first come and gone.