Meet Julia Black of Black Tag Photography, a fellow photographer that just moved to Louisville!  Julia and I both needed some family photos and "photographer in action" photos, so over the weekend we had a photo swap at Locust Grove in St. Matthews. 

I think I have fallen in love with Locust Grove.... 

Anyway, Julia took some pics of me and my crew and I took a few of her and husband, Lance.  Thanks boys for being willing to let us take your picture!  I know, it's painfully difficult having your photo taken.  Especially when you live with a photographer that always has that dreaded black box at hand.
: )

Also, a big thank you to Julia, who took our first ever family photos!  We had a great time and can't wait to see the photos!  Here are a few that I took from this weekend.  Enjoy!

Aren't they adorable?

In action!

Seriously, she is so photogenic and pretty!

Julia, in charge. 

Funky and Fun and Here From Cali!

Meet Erica and her two little ones.  You will see what I mean with "funky and fun" later.  Last weekend while in Missouri, I met with this little family (minus the dad, he is in the Navy and away at sea right now) for a fun and high energy photo shoot!  What else can you expect when you have a three year old and 10 month old?  It was great.  Erica and I worked together at Wib's Drive-In (check out this you-tube video from a news story about Wib's!) in Jackson during high school.

So....If you don't know about Wib's and you live in Southeast Missouri you have been living under a rock.  I'm just sayin.

Anyway!  It was great to catch up with Erica.  She now lives in California with her husband and two kids.  Ahhh, to live next to the beach.  Sounds great, right?  Anyway, we were lucky to be able to meet up considering she lives across the country from me.  Here are some photos from our time together.

Things got a little messy.... But, it was okay, this kid is too cute!

I love that tongue sticking out!

Such an adorable little girl.

Don't you agree?  Funky AND fun, right?

Fallin' in love with fall

Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE fall?  Yes, I am that person that goes out of my way to step on irresistibly crunchy leaves (or drive the stroller over them).  I love bundling up in warm clothes, I love how crisp the air feels, I love all the colors.....  If only it could stay about 65 degrees.....and still snow in the winter time.

Well, I know I am not the only lover of fall out there.  Here are some fall photos to get you in the mood for jumping in fall leaves, drinking hot cider and wearing your sock cap.



Hey, that actually makes me think of a question.  Do you call your winter hat a  sock cap, beanie or toboggan?

Meadows Roadtrip 2010

So, I told ya I would show you some photos from our family vaca, right?  Here are just a few from the, ahem, over 400 photos we took.  Yikes!  Not to mention I have at least 800 photos to edit for families right now.  So, I picked through the 400 to show you just a taste of our little trip.


Why is it that the best moments are never caught on camera?  Sigh.

Just a thought.

Anyway, before I show you the photos, first I will explain where we went.  Well, the main point of the trip was Niagara Falls.  Ahhhh, so beautiful and big and breathtaking, right?  Well, we have the little man and we knew that he would not do well traveling 9 1/2 hours in one day to New York state.  And, why rush?  We wanted to see as much as we could in the 5 days we had.  So, first we stopped in Columbus, Ohio to see the topiary park, designed after Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (which is a fav painting of mine and Kyle's).  I also FINALLY got to see some work by Dale Chihuly in Columbus.  HOORAY!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chihuly.  One of my all time favorite artists EVER!  Anyway, they have a bunch of installations at their conservatory.  We also went to the Columbus Museum of Art out of pure curiosity to see the entire book of Genesis illustrated by comic book artist R. Crump.  It was pretty interesting! 

Okay, so moving on to day two.  We completed our drive to New York and saw Niagara Falls.  Oh, did I mention that we are now in love with the northeast?  It's so beautiful there!  We also stopped at Lake Erie for a little bit just to soak in some more nature.  Went to a winery to get some wine (what else would we get?), had buffalo wings in Buffalo, New York at Duff's, and we ate at a little Italian restaurant (one of many in NY).

Oh yeah, I had no idea how many vineyards there are in New York. astounding!


So, on our way back home we stayed in Pittsburgh, PA.  I must say that while Pittsburgh has a lot to offer, it was a difficult city to drive in.  Ugh.  GPS kept taking us to an imaginary highway and directing us toward city streets that didn't exist.  Very frustrating.  However, Pittsburgh is a great city and has a lot of family fun to offer.  We mainly hung out in the Strip District where you can buy anything and everything you can think of.  Handmade art, spices, fish markets, fudge (yum!), plenty of restaurants, homemade tortillas, bread, and more.  We also took the Duquesne Incline to see the view of Pittsburgh from the top of Mt. Washington.

I know what you are thinking, "Get to the photos already!"

Here ya go.

Liam and Kyle at the topiary park

Such a big boy!

CHIHULY!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I don't think Liam was too excited about this outfit.  I didn't want him to get cold at Niagara Falls.  Result - he couldn't move on his own.

The American and Horseshoe Falls

The American Falls

Liam, staying warm.....

Liam's Cheerios came in handy, like, for feeding this squirrel.

At Lake Erie

And we also fed these birds some Cheerios....

Pittsburgh incline

Pittsburgh at night

Blondies

So, I just got back from a great trip to Niagara Falls (and other stops along the way) with the family.  I have pictures coming soon!  It was such a great time.  But, before I left for the trip I met with the Moran family for a quick photo shoot in Cherokee Park.  May I just add that the Morans are a great family?  Jeff, Krista and their three girls are actually the first people that we got to know when we moved to Louisville.  They are a warm and inviting family, plus, their three daughters are hilarious.  I will never forget when their middle daughter told me she wanted to work at McDonald's as a career.  Ha!  Gotta love their innocence.  Anyway, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure....