After dinner I asked Josh if we could all take a walk.  And being the gracious & giving husband he is, he said, “Sure.”  We got the strollers (our neighborhood is virtually all uphill, until the return trek) for the ones with little legs, leashed the dog, and were off.  I decided to bring my camera to see what we could find…

Emma’s strawberry plant survived the winter snows & came back bigger!  (Emma doesn’t like strawberries, but Brooke does!)

Brooke noticed a few of Josh’s tattoos.  Here she is asking what that guy’s name is.  Let’s hear a shout out all you LKP fans!

And my favorite:  Emma swinging her hair as she walks her empty stroller.

In case you are out of the loop (which I was before I started this), C25K stands for “Couch to 5K.”  It’s a running program I recently started 4  weeks ago to help me with my weight loss & staying healthy goals.  I hate to run, in fact, it’s one of the main reasons I didn’t make the cut for the high school soccer team.  And this running has been brutal.  My legs feel like they have Hulk Hands on them as I’m running, my run is slower than some people’s walk, and my muscles ache for days afterwards.  I finally hit a huge accomplishment for me: running 5 minutes straight.  I have never ever done anything close to this before, but I felt so great after I did.  It was just me and Miley Cyrus during those 5 minutes.  I think I recall telling myself, “You can’t stop, you can’t stop, you can’t stop” over and over again like the little engine that could.  But, it worked!  I have to do it again tomorrow.  Here’s hoping…

This photo shows the C25K app I downloaded for my iPhone.  It’s so great because it runs using your own music library – you choose the songs – and there are little reminders during the program, such as:  run now, walk now, you’re half way done, last run coming up, cool down.  I LOVE it!  You can go get it here.

My girls & I went for a little walk around the neighborhood to see what flowers we could spy.  They really wanted a photo of this tree because it makes “pink snow” – you know, all the little pink petals that fall, and I’m sure have some of you sneezing a LOT these days.  They thought it was so pretty.  Then we talked about if we were a bird, which branch would we want to live on.  It was fun!  I’ll be putting some more springtime shots on my Facebook fan page – with NO LOGO – so you can grab them if you like.  Remember, those are low-res, so if you want high-res ones, just shoot me an e-mail.  I’m happy to share!

Yesterday Greg, Sandy, and their little ones invited me to follow them to Cape St. Claire Beach for some shooting and sand.  When I told Sandy I was participating in the Photography Fundraiser for Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer, she wanted to help out.  And since she’d been meaning to get family photos done, she thought this was a good excuse.

We couldn’t have asked for a more mild, beautiful day.  The temperatures were just right, the light was just right, and everything was perfect.  Well, except maybe for the large, partially buried rockfish on the beach, but he didn’t bother us too much.

We started out by taking some group shots on the beach – all of them in their barefeet, and me in my socks and tennis shoes!  (If you know me, you know I’m not a beach person)  Then we decided to let the kiddos play while Greg & Sandy had some alone time (+ me).

Overall I think we had a great time.  People who wanted to get wet did, and people who wanted to stay dry did (ME).  Thanks again Greg, Sandy, and family for having me out with you and for your donation to Breast Cancer.  I really enjoyed myself!

Here are the rest….

Mother’s Day is almost here, and what better way to show your mother your love than through photos that she’ll cherish for years to come! I know, it sounds kinda cheesy, huh?

What I’m really trying to say is that I would love if you’d book my photo services this May & join me and my cousin Jennifer in raising money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Here is Jennifer (in photos I stole from her Facebook page…sorry Jen!)

Jennifer will be participating in the LA Walk for Breast Cancer in September, and to help her with her efforts in raising money for this wonderful cause, I’m donating 50% of my session fees for the month of May directly to her walk.  So, when you book a $100 session, $50 of your session fee goes to Jennifer for Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer.  What do you get?  A 2-hour session with me in a location of your choice, a complimentary 8×10 or two 5×7′s, an online gallery of all your images, and the knowledge that you’ve helped with Avon’s Walk for Breast Cancer.  Avon donates the money they raise to pay for medical expenses of cancer patients & to fund tests to find a cure for this illness that will unfortunately affect many of our lives.

So, give a Mother’s Day gift, book a newborn session, get some senior or graduation portraits done, or just get some girlfriends together for a fun outing and capture some great memories with me.  All sessions booked during the month of May will benefit this wonderful cause.  Thanks for the chance to help out, Jennifer!