One of my friends from church, Shannon Lawhorne, recently started Freckled Lobster photography. She has amazing prices and does a wonderful job. Each season she's started having very inexpensive mini-sessions each season for people to get a few shots of their kids. The Tyndalls visit happened to fall on one of the weekends she was hosting one of these sessions so I thought it would be a lot of fun to get all four of the cousins together for some professional shots. The scenes she created were a stuffed animal picnic (to which Luke of course brought his favorite pup Hungry, Lydia and Hadley brought Snuggle Buds, and Caleb took some random lizard puppet), a bathtub bubble fun set-up, and a watermelon wonderland. Take a look for yourself; she did quality work. If you like these and live locally, check her out her website or find her on Facebook.
The morning after the D.C. adventure,we took the kids to the park for
a cousin photo session with my friend Shannon. (You'll get to see these
wonderful pics in my next post!) The kids did a great job and the dad's
helped get some authentic smiles. Shannon used watermelon slices to
keep the kids still and get some cute shots. Caleb loved it so much that
he cried for more after his piece was finished. After playing on the
playground equipment a bit, we had to head home to get my boy some more
watermelon for lunch. (Thankfully, Walmart had them out right at the
entry way a few days prior and I had picked one up.)
At the house, the kids chased each other around and around. Hadley even got in on the fun!
After lunch and rest time for everyone, Keith went to the
Air and Space Museum while we headed to the town pool. The kids had a
blast and we got to soak up some sun :). This was the first time I'd
really let Hadley get in the baby pool much and she liked it. My Aunt
Susie and her granddaughter Lexi were also there when we arrived so
Caleb and Hadley had another cousin to enjoy. Lexi and Lydia hit it off
as well.
Sunday we started the day by going to church. On the way home, Luke and Hadley melted our hearts by holding hands.
The second half of the day was spent at my uncle's farm.
We proved the Pilot is an eight passenger vehicle!
The last day of their visit we spent time hanging around the house and visiting a local park.
We
were all glad to have a chance to spend more time with each other, but I
think no one was happier than Caleb. Every night he had trouble saying
goodnight and being separated from his cousins. Everything Luke and
Lydia did and where ever they ran, he was always right behind them
filled with excitement just to be taking part in what they were doing.
After they left that Tuesday, he sadly pouted, "Me cousins go bye bye."
When Dave pulled in the driveway after work he was thrilled, yelling "me
cousins." It was hard to explain that his cousins had to go to their
house and it would be a while before they would all get to see each
other again. His love for those cousins makes me want to attempt the
huge drive to the midwest soon so these four can have more time
together. Or, maybe I could just talking Amy and Keith into moving into
the house that's for sale next door. What do you think, Tyndalls? :)
