A New Hobby?

From the day Brooklynn was born we've been snapping pics, trying to capture every little moment of our girls' lives.  We've always invested in a decent camera, but after pricing out pictures with photographers I figured investing in a nice DSLR was the way to go.  My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!  I think anyone can be a photographer with these days with these incredible digital cameras.  With fall upon us I wanted to put our camera to use and try to avoid paying a fortune for the typical family fall pictures.  

So I took the girls out a couple times to practice.  Of course it's not easy getting them presentable and somewhat matching.  Uggghhh!  We decided to do a picture swap with our neighbors, the Ochs, so we could get some family pictures without the big price tag.  Turns out it worked quite well.  My strategy - take LOTS of pictures, because there's bound to be one with all 3 kids looking at the camera.  Here's what we took:

 Sometimes the easiest way to get them all looking is by laying down.......

 This girl can't take a bad picture!

 Just love her gorgeous eyes!

Love the ones of her laughing!

 The sunsets at Eastlake (very close to our house) are always amazing!  Those colors are real!

 Photo credit to Steph on our new family pic!

Precious Time with my Bug

I'm a little torn about our parenting with Ady.  While she hasn't been able to do all the activities her little sisters did, she is everyone's "baby" and we sure give into her and anything she wants.  I was excited to have the opportunity to do those missed activities with her this year, since Brooklynn is gone all day and Chandler is at school 3 mornings a week.  Up first - gymnastics class!  We spent the last 6 Wednesday mornings practicing our bear crawls, swinging on the rings, and even perfecting the somersault.  The class was for 2 and 3 year olds, but not surprisingly, Ady was the tallest.  She did a great job following directions, staying in line, and was exceptionally coordinated.  Of course we know gymnastics is nowhere in her near future with her height, but it was great practice to listen to a teacher and follow directions and just spend some time with mommy!  

She absolutely loved the class, and we'll miss it.  It's been tough choosing activities, because at this age they are all with mommy, and this girl is so independent.  Next up......maybe dancing or soccer in the spring.  

Fall Time is a Comin'......

With a relatively cool summer (by Colorado standards) I wasn't sure if fall would be too cold to enjoy all the activities.  When the girls were little we made sure to visit as many pumpkin patches, fall festivals, whatever to enjoy the spirit.  Now it seems like these places are taking advantage of the fall spirit and charging a mere fortunate just to jump on a bouncy house or run through a corn maze.  Now we're always looking for fun and affordable.

Last weekend we met up the Deegans for a fall festival in Denver.  Of course admission was free but each activity was overpriced and tough to say no to demanding kiddos.  The kids had the best time after we finished by playing with empty root beer bottles and making instruments.  Just goes to show you they don't need much to stay entertained!

The kids on the hayride

 Panning for gold

 Loving on Sawyer

On Tuesday I was searching for more fall activities and happened to see that the berry farm near us (which we never made it to this summer) was still open.  It was not only open but super busy with field trips.  The girls absolutely loved picking the raspberries (which were delicious).  We may need to make a trip back next week when the strawberries are ready.

 Picnic lunch with the chickens

Now onto finding more fun fall stuff to keep us busy!