One, Two, FIFTEEN!

So Little A is walking all over. It varies from just four steps and a tumble to turning around and watching him walk across the room. I've officially counted up to 15, but the novelty is wearing off (pour third child syndrome is already kicking in) just kidding, but I only count once in a while, and everyday it's more and more then sometimes it's none. After a few weeks of this, I figured I should document the event before he turned 9 months old. Of course, it wasn't his best night, he was much more interested in playing with the camera than walking for it, but you get the idea. Next milestone.... a simple lay-up. HA



Also, his crawling is very impressive as well. He'll spot something, decide to get over there, barrel his head down and take off. Zoom, he gets there soooo fast. I'll try to catch that too, it's really funny to watch.

From the Ocean, to the Mountains

Last week we had a family vacation. Eric and I think it was the first true family trip with the boys that we've ever done without some event included in the trip like holidays or birthdays, and without staying at a family members house. And it was the adventure, let me tell you.

We packed up Saturday morning with a small snag and a trip to the ER. My mom came over to help watch the boys as Eric and I wrapped up the last few items and loaded the car. I asked her to please water the garden before we left so she grabbed Austin and out she went. It seemed to be taking her a long while to water the plants, but I was getting so much done I didn't think twice about it. When I had made it back in I noticed she was sitting in the kitchen with a rag on her foot. I asked if she needed something and to make a long story short and less bloody, we had to take her to the ER because she rolled her foot and landed on a dried orange branch which had spikes all over it and a huge 1+ inch spike went right into the inside of her foot. Yuck! But they got it out and she was doing fine.

So then we headed down to the Monterey and stopped at the Children's Museum in San Jose. It was so much fun. The kid played with huge bubbles, shooting water and all kinds of other neat educational and fun things. We arrived there a little later than we wanted but then we stayed until it closed. I think the kids really enjoyed it as they had never experienced something as big as that with as many hands on things. It is somewhere we will be going to again.


The next day we headed down to the ocean. I think my kids could play on the beach all day if I would let them. It was a cool day, but other than that the weather was perfect. Eric and I headed down to Canary Row for lunch and had some award winning clam chowder in a bread bowl over-looking the bay. Perfection. Oh I am getting hungry just thinking about the the soup though. It was creamy but not too heavy with the perfect blend of seasoning and herbs. The bread was crunchy and buttery on the outside yet light and fluffy in the middle and was topped with garlic, parsley and butter on the top. Ummmmm, hang on, I'll be right back, I just going to drive down there for another bite real quick... be right back -

Well, I can always wish right? Our hotel in Monterey was awesome. It's a must stay if you are going to be down there. It is right on the ocean, and has its own beach in front. When Eric and I stayed there some 6+ years ago, I remember the tide came in so high that night it was hitting up against the hotel wall so loud it was hard to sleep. As I was putting Austin down for his nap I saw a seal swimming by in the sea just outside my window. The kids couldn't believe their luck that they could see the ocean all day from the room. We hit the aquarium on our final day to end the ocean visit. It was the kids first time and they LOVED IT! The sea horse exhibit was whimsical and the jelly fish exhibit was spectacular as always. Tanner liked the penguins and Ty held a hermit crab. All three boys touched star fish and we all loved the otters. By the end of the day, we were ready to go, but the memories made that weekend were priceless.


With only one nights rest we turned around and headed up the mountain this time to join my parents in Tahoe, or as the Lawrence family calls it, Lake Taco. We camped at a site called Fallen Leaf, and I promise I will never camp anywhere else if I can help it. I was truly a little slice of heaven. The site was so clean and basically bugless. There is access to Fallen Leaf lake, and right across the way is Lake Taco. The kids loved exploring in nature. We saw lots of chipmonks, some beautiful birds and even a bear. Yup, we saw a bear.

I have never had that experience that I can recall while camping. I know they always tell you, 'Lock up your food and watch out for bears' every time you check in, but the chances of having one visit you always seems rare. Apparently, this bear chose to change this thought for me. The first night we arrived is when this exciting event happened. We had just finished dinner and I had put Austin to bed when we heard in the distance the clanging of pans. My dad jumped to it and started the clean up. My mom and I lagged because we wanted to confirm the noise was an actual warning and not someone cleaning their dinner up. After some debate over the matter a group circled around our campsite with flashlights and headed up the opposite was on the next camp road. As we stood watching, again trying to figure out if this was real or if it was a hoax, we heard a woman yell, 'stay back, stop, stay back.' Was she trying to stop the silly kids causing everyone unnecessary worry or was she sounding out a warning, I wasn't sure. My confusion quickly turned to a very clear picture when all the flash lights turned beaming onto me and my family and the words of the other campers became very clear to us as the yelled 'It's right there! It's right there!' The bear was coming right for us. I grabbed Ty and Tanner and started for the car when I had a fleeting moment of panic realizing Ausitn was asleep in the tent a good 40 feet from me and the car was in the opposite direction. But as I voice my concern Eric ran for the tent and got the baby and joined us in the car safely. The bear stopped at our bear box, and hung out for a minute. After banging at the box and realizing it was sealed shut he moved on. Needless to say, it was a very sleepless night for us know something could happen again, although gratefully we never saw old smokey again.



The rest of camping wasn't as eventful, but still very enjoyable, and much more laid back than the bear incident. I think the boys rode their bike 75% of every day. They also fished and swam in the lake, played games and ate a bunch of food. By the end of the week a group of friends my dad has know since high school and college joined us. It was neat to see old friends back together and my boys enjoyed having new subjects to entertain! We had such a wonderful time it was hard to leave at the end of the week.


So now we are home and all the laundry has been washed and put away. It took me a good 48 hours to recoup from the excursion but I am already longing for the next Lawrence adventure.

Check out galleries from our trip here
http://gallery.me.com/eric.n.lawrence#100110&bgcolor=black&view=grid
http://gallery.me.com/eric.n.lawrence#100118&bgcolor=black&view=grid

Monkey Smart

Heard outside the kitchen window one afternoon:

Ty: "Hey Dad look. Look how good I am at swinging on this bar!"

Eric: "Wow Ty, great job climbing up to that bar. That's really good."

Ty: "Yeah, I'm a smart kid in the land of monkeys."

Hear the Bells

Last weekend I remembered why I only shoot a handful of weddings each year. It's not that I don't love the shots I get when I am there at the event, but for a mother of three, the wedding world for photographers is one that would require much more time dedicated to working and the stress that is incurred on the day of shooting sometimes hits a level that I prefer to stay away from. Gratefully we never hit that level of stress this weekend, but we did indeed hit something that I'd rather not have to endure again. If you live here in Nor Cal, you too experienced this is you had an opportunity to step outside into a non air conditioned space. Yes, I am referring to the 110+ degree weather we were so blessed with last week. But why would that be a problem you ask? Don't most wedding take place inside, and often the reception too? Well, yes, sometimes this is the case, but not for this particular wedding. Oh no, this whole day of celebration was outside with the main event at 2 and the reception at 6. The poor bride and groom literally melted during a small ring ceremony they held just before the reception. I know this level of heat could not have been pre-determined by any means when this happy couple first set the date, but oh my oh my, it makes me so glad I got married in February.

But, once we all got over the heat, since it wasn't going anywhere, we got down to business. On with the show right? And I must say (as I pat myself on the back) the pictures turned out great!! I am putting together a slideshow online right now that I'll post the link to soon, but here are a few of my favorite shots.





Besides the weather and my ever underlying fear that I will either have major technical difficulties and botch the photos or once they have all been taken some how they all get erased, I had a great time. The bride and groom are so fun to take pictures of. In fact the bride and her family were one of my first clients when I started my business years ago. It's been fun to watch her grow up and now get married.

The other problem with shooting weddings is after the shoot is over, I am totally in wedding mode. I watch 'Whose Wedding is it Anyway' on the TV and look up some of the latest trends in decorations and of course I have to see what dresses I can find online that I love. Today I found this one that I think would fit my sister very nicely someday (sorry Dee, but I have three boys, who else am I going to plan for?)


But lastly, a friend posted this video on facebook today and I thought it was too funny. I love it when people don't take things too seriously and let their personalities shine! Enjoy.

Way Too much FUN!!

Oh my goodness, summer is almost half way over and I haven't even started blogging about all the fun stuff we have been up to. Yep, I'm the lame mom who can never get to her computer for an update.... I'm too busy having fun with the crew!!

So this weekend the kids and I packed up the car with my mom and cruised down the LA to visit my Grandma. It was my sister's b.day earlier that week, my Dad's b.day that day and Ty's b.day on Monday. Whew.

But we had so much fun together. Eric and my Dad met us down there and Saturday night we went to the Magic Castle. I guess it's become a b.day tradition in my family to go there. My dad went on his 40th, Eric and I went on my 21st and now Dee went on her 21st. Then the next day Eric and I took the kids to the ocean with my Mom, and a day at the beach is always great. The weather was cool, the sand was hot and the waves were big. Austin did eat A LOT of sand, but don't worry, I had physical proof the next day that it all came out just fine. It took three times before we had the all clear, but it came :)

But the best part of the trip was Ty's b.day! MY LITTLE ONE IS FIVE!!!!! I really wanted to do something special for him for his birthday. He has a hard time waiting for it because we have a big family clump of birthdays in May and then he is the last one is July and he hasn't yet figured out why everyone else gets one first. I really wanted to do Disneyland for his this year though not just for him, but for the family too. Eric has never been, and I haven't been since I was 13, so I know the whole family would have had a magical time. But Eric couldn't get work off, plus I knew it was going to be super hot in July and I didn't want to take the kids without Eric so I put that thought out of my mind. Then, at the beginning of this summer I had a friend mention to me that her mom always took the kids to Disneyland the summer before they started Kindergarten. I thought that was an awesome tradition and mentioned it to my mom. Everything just kind of fell into place with us already being down there for Dee's birthday, plus Ty could get in free cause it was his birthday, so......
Ty went to Disneyland and had an awesome time. It was just Ty and my mom, (yes I did cry a little cause I missed his first time, but I'm sure he'll enjoy if we go back with hi) and they stayed until the park closed at MIDNIGHT!! My mom was checking to make sure he was doing okay all day, and he was so enthused by the whole thing she let him stay. What a neat thing, thanks Mom.
Tanner and I did get to spend the day at the LA Zoo with my sister and Austin though which is Tanner's favorite place to be. He loved the animals, in fact he wanted to stay in front of each animal each time so long I literally had to pull him away to the next one each time. By the end he would say to the animals 'okay alligator, I'll be right back", and off he'd go to the next one. I am glad he got to have a fun day too.
So then we came home and I felt like I was hit by a Mac truck with reality. So much happens when you are gone for 5 days. Yikes. Oh, and Austin update: He took two steps, not together though on Friday morning but nothing else has happened yet and yesterday he finally finally started to have a little tooth pop up on the bottom. He's getting sooooo bug and is still as happy as ever.

Fish Food

Friday was a spontaneous day. I love those kinds of days. I knew if was going to be another hot one, so I wanted to get out and do something in the morning before it got too hot. Well morning turned into late morning and slowly turned into afternoon. But as we started walking out the door to take the kids bike down to a bike trail my friend called and asked if we wanted to meet her down at the fish hatchery. SURE!

We had never been there and we will so totally be going back. It was warm because there was no shade, but the kids had a blast. Rows and rows of fish, that you could feed and watch jump all over themselves, sometimes out of the water. Too fun. After the feeding we walked down by the river right outside the hatchery and saw all sorts of wildlife and a few people floating down the river on inter tubes. i don't know what the kids liked more, the birds and fish, or waving to the people and getting them to wave back. Either way, we had a great time.

Summer Foto Fun

My silly point and shoot camera is being dumb and wont upload almost a whole months worth of photos. I have all these fun things to post, and no pictures to back it up. I do not like that little camera. I know I have a few really nice cameras but I just don't like hauling those around with me in case they do break or hit a kid in the face or whatever.

So quick kid update too.
Ty has another loose tooth, in fact two loose teeth! If you remember about a year ago Ty lost one of his top front tooth due to two major bonks, with his brother's head. We were told the other top tooth was going to fall out soon too, but it's still holding on strong. But now, still toothless on top, his bottom front two are wiggling. Oh, I hate that feeling of wiggling a loose tooth.... ewwww. But it is, so any day know it's going to fall out.
Tanner is so funny. His speech has never been a concern of ours, but it's always been something we have had a hard time understanding. He talks soooo fast and puts so many words into each sentence sometimes it's hard to keep up. Well this summer the clarity has greatly improved and this kid is so funny. More than funny actually, he is witty. Sometimes the things he comes up with are so cleaver even if he's in trouble for something I can't help but laugh. I know that's the worse thing to do when you are trying to make a serious point, but I can't help it.
And Austin, my little angel is still wonderful. His head is 100% put back together, he is eating like a horse and he is on the very tip of walking. He stands on his own no problem for minutes on end. He will rock back and forth on his feet just testing the waters I guess and gaining more balance. Any day now we are waiting for that first step. It doesn't look like he'll be like Tanner and walk at 7 mo. but maybe he'll be right there with Ty at 8 mo. We'll see.

But the other night, after a very hot 105+ degree day the kids wanted to cool off and I grabbed one of the nice cameras to capture the fun.

WARNING... LOTS OF FUN FOTOS....LOTS
Oh, and excuse the underwear...there was no time to find a swimsuit that night, the fun was about to start!!