It’s been a dang fine month. And I’m sort of wishing this project was called 25 on 25 or something, cuz I have lots of images I want to share. But I will try to limit it to 11-ish. If you don’t know what this 11 on 11 project is, you can read about it right here.

Let’s get this party started. If you saw last month’s post, then you know my daughter turned 10. I had fun with her pictures for that. She celebrated her birthday with her friends at a gymnastics place. She had a blast. And because I didn’t want any leftover cake, those kids got the BIGGEST pieces of cake ever. LOL. I don’t think any of them even finished their plate.

We went for a hike. It was a really pretty day.

My daughter was having a grand ol’ time.

My son… well, he was sighing heavily because I made him stand there for 2 seconds. Poor child of a photographer.

The planets aligned this year because all of my siblings’ kids had the same Spring Break. This hasn’t happened in three years.

It.  Was.  Awesome.

I love my family.

Of course, we had to go to Target. And in a rare moment, the dude WANTED me to take his picture. Shocking.  Seriously.

We went to Japantown in San Francisco. I am in love with this wall.

And for a very strange reason, my daughter’s head grew very very big. Her usually normal sized hat now looked incredibly small. Weird.

My niece is actually a panda with duck lips.

And my nephew is uber cool.

My niece is seriously just the cutest little girl. I adore her little underbite and her voice and her giggle. She’s fantastic.

This is my  youngest nephew. He’s in love with my kids, especially my daughter. He is energetic and adorable. I swear, my siblings make really cute kids.

Um, 11 is not enough pictures when my entire family was here. Don’t count. I can’t stop.

My dad has a photography gallery going on right now. He’s an incredibly talented photographer.

My mom continues to fight hard. She starts “maintenance chemo” this week. Hoping those brain tumors get the message and just stay the heck away. I love the relationship my daughter and mom have. It makes me melt. That one on the left was a simultaneous blink from the two biggest blinkers in my family. I love it. I love them.

OK. Let’s pretend that I have now shared 10 images. I will now share my 11th image!  A self portrait of sorts. A family self portrait at that!

The story that goes along with this picture is a doozy. If I ever see you in person, you should ask me about it. Let’s just say it’s a miracle that this picture happened with relatively everyone smiling. Most of the spouses couldn’t make it since they have non-school jobs and don’t get a Spring Break. My sister in law was respresentin’ the in-laws. She’s aces.

And one last one of my parents and their four children. The one in the striped shirt is their favorite. Obviously.

I had to do some serious culling to get that down to 11, or um, close to 11. Next up is the insanely talented Sallykate Photography. She’s such an amazing photographer, and I am honored to be part of this blog circle with her. Go check her out. She just got a fisheye lens, I’m just gonna take a guess that MAYBE she’s showing some of that stuff off over there.

Bye now!

…

I went here when I was a kid. My mom taught me to bowl here. I do the same cute little skip that she did.  Difference is, I suck.  She was actually a good player.

We brought our kiddos here so they could bask in the greatness of Country Club Bowl.

Lots of memories came flooding back as soon as we drove into the parking lot.

It totally was exactly as I remembered it.  Same orange and white lockers.  Same water fountain.  Same vending machines.  Same arcade. I do think the bowling balls have better colors now.  I seem to remember they were mostly black when I was a kid.

Let’s get started!

The kids started with the tried and true roll-the-ball-between-your-legs technique.

My nephew tried out the ramp.  Pretty slick.  Just put the ball on it, aim the ramp, and push!

I really enjoyed watching the moments after the ball was released but before the pins got hit.  My little dude did some funky things with his hands.

My nephew is just a little bit cute.  He gave up on that ramp pretty dang fast.  If his cousins didn’t need it, he most certainly didn’t.  I loved how he squatted down to watch the action.

My daughter held her ball just like that the entire time.  Not sure if she was just really eager to have her turn or if she was keeping that ball all to herself. 

Love this.

And OMG, how is he so devastatingly cute?

My serious bowlers.

Guess who won.

After two games, we stepped outside into the bright sunlight.

Time to load into the car.  But wait!  HOW is she just standing there looking like that?  Le sigh…..  My beauty….

Next up is the wonderfully talented Kel Ward of Kel Ward Photography!  Click on her link to see her Life Story, and then find the link at the end of her post.  Go through the circle and find yourself right back here. 

Thanks so much for looking!  You can follow me on Facebook, if you’d like!…

Looks like I’m going to try to keep this Life Stories project going another year!  We’ll see how it goes.  Briefly, my amazing photographer friends and I decided to do a monthly project documenting our own lives.  Our everyday boring lives.  Could we make it look magic?  Because, ya know, it is.  Our everyday boring lives ARE magic because they are filled with love for our families.  And so we embarked on this photographic journey that we named “Life Stories.”  It’s been a year since we started and many of us wanted to continue because it’s been nothing short of amazing.  So proud to be part of this group.

It’s been a year since I posted images from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  It was my first Life Story.  You can see those images RIGHT HERE if you’d like to take a walk down memory lane.  And now it’s that time of year again.  My kids are really into pumpkins and really, what’s not to love?  Brightly orange colored pumpkins littered all around the ground.  So many to choose from and only ONE that is right for you.  My daughter, especially, takes her pumpkin finding responsibilities very seriously.  We found our way back to Joan’s Farm and Pumpkin Patch. 

It was a bright and sunny day.

They quickly got to the tasks of choosing their pumpkins.The little guy dropped his pumpkin and the stem scratched his knee.  He wasn’t happy about that.  I went to get him a bandaid from my camera bag and simply couldn’t stop myself from taking some shots of him sitting amid all those pumpkins.

Can you blame me?  Look at him!

He was a bit annoyed with his crazy mom who takes pictures of sad boys.  He refused to smile for me.

But I worked my mama magic.  Look at him pretending he isn’t listening to my hilarity.

My little guy.  I love him.  I love his toothless smile.  I love his personality.  I love loving him.

And look at this sweetie.

She has this thing about baby pumpkins.  Ever since she was a cute little toddler, she’s just loved baby pumpkins.  When she was little, she would carry a little pumpkin around with her all.day.long and put it right at her bedside when she slept.  It cracks me up.  She treats it likes it’s a baby.

My kids are goofy.

I have no idea from whence this goofiness comes.

Total mystery.

I adore my kids.

Now all we needed to do is ride those pumpkins to the car and head home.  Another great visit to the patch.

I’m already looking forward to next year.

Next up is the amazing Northern Illinois photographer behind Heather Wilson Photography.  She never disappoints! Head on over for some beautiful images and then click your way through all the links to find your way back here!…