Spunk

She never ceases to surprise me. Ever.

When we returned from our trip to Topsail Island, NC in early June, I had a revelation that we were in a sweet, sweet spot with Little Lady. She was obeying wonderfully. She'd turned just plain sweet. We liked her. We'd waited three years for this. We could finally genuinely LIKE our daughter.

I don't know when that changed, but we're back to the battlefield with her these days. I think we are both battle weary as well. And I find myself spending more time frustrated with her constant challenges than I am enamored with her, which frustrates me even further. This wasn't how I wanted it to be.

Last night Shawn took them outside to play to give me some (hopefully) uninterrupted time to work on some household tasks that have mounted up. But I quickly got the "you need to come out here" call. Little Buddy wanted me to play football with them (which, I still find surprising, that I quite enjoy doing!). I did for a bit and then Little Lady was asking to water the plants, so I took a break to help her out with the water hose.

I was taking pictures earlier of Shawn and Little Buddy, so I had the camera. She looked so cute watering the flowers, so I had to start with her too.

She was doing a good job and being so helpful. And then BAM! Out of nowhere. SPUNK, I tell you, SPUNK.

I asked her "did you just put that in your MOUTH?" She just giggled and started doing it more. You can totally see her little devious satisfied expressions.

When all was said and done, she'd thoroughly soaked herself but "washed the patio" for me.


She looks so incredibly sweet to me in these images. This is a place where I'm glad for my camera, for a different reason. I can spend so much time just plain aggravated at all the trouble the two of them can cause. Messes to clean up. Fights to break up. Arguments to discuss, endlessly. Battle of wills.

But when I take a step back. And I look at her. Her essence captured by my camera. I'm captivated. As I well should be.

I shot these with my
D90
Nikon 85mm f1.8

Hilton Head day 5 | Wednesday early morning

Didn't quite make it out for sunrise any time during our trip... I wanted to, but sleep won out.  The Little Lady wasn't interested, but we took Little Buddy out to look for creatures and shells.   LB is majorly fascinated with animals lately and we had no shortage this trip of finding awesome things to observe.  This is probably my favorite time of day to shoot, with the beautiful reflections in the water and sand, and the light just keeps coming rather than disappearing at sunset.

This was also the morning that I became a victim of multitasking.  After we came, I went to the computer to download the images off the card, so I'd have a fresh card for when we returned to the beach after breakfast.  I created a new folder for that day in Bridge and then went on about trying to get my swim suit on, the kids stuff laid out, etc etc etc... I ejected the card, stuck it back in the camera.  Menu.  Format.  Are you sure?  Oh yes.  Yes I am.  GO.

Uhhhhh... wait... did I actually download those images onto my COMPUTER?

I go to the folder I'd created.  Empty.

I was SOOOOO mad at myself that I'd done this!  NEver in all these years had I done this.  I always double check before I format that the images go to my computer.  So I google card recovery software and become the proud owner of a license.  It managed to recover all but six of these files.

Once I'm home... I'm going through the folders.... And on my Tuesday folder, all these Wednesday images were in there... and they were named correctly, rather than FILE001 like the recovery software did.

That's when I realized.  I hadn't goofed.  I'd just defaulted to the last folder used rather than the new one I'd created beforehand during the download.  $40 down the DRAIN.  Grumble.

I shot these with my
D90
Sigma 30mm f1.4

Hilton Head day 4 | Tuesday Evening light

This was our one evening out while we visited the beach.  Since we chose to go to the beach twice this summer, we kept activities and dining out to a minimum.  But this was the evening of our meal at the Roast Fish and Cornbread restaurant.  As we were pulling back into our complex, I realized the sun was just setting and the light was gorgeous.  The kids were already dressed nicely.  We grabbed some popsicles from the freezer and took OFF.

Shooting in this light is such a different experience.   Adding in my children who are never, ever still adds further challenges.  And when I say not still, I mean all out running in every direction... not just wiggly.  Though they are always wiggly, too.

I am in absolute utter love with her hair.  It's curly.  Perfectly curly.  Not too much.  Not too little.  And its a perfect fine texture.  I hope it stays that way.

I shot these with my
D90
Nikon 50mm 1.4D

Hilton Head day 4 | Tuesday

Tuesday of our weeklong trip to Hilton Head was incredibly crazy windy, due to the storms out in the Atlantic.  But it was also an incredibly gorgeous day!  The clouds were just unreal.  This was the day I shot this image.

Here you can see what remained of Fort Pace.   And I love how neither of her feet at touching the ground in the second image.

Did you notice how there are no other people on the beach?   I started shooting these around 12:45pm in the afternoon!!!  WHERE are the people?  Goodness, I love Hilton Head in the late summer!  We walked to the Coligny shops that morning for the kids to choose a souvenir... and then we just had to invest in a boogie board.  The kids very much enjoyed Shawn pulling them around on it.  (Thankful for a strong, athletic daddy here... no way I could have done this once, let alone over and over as he did).

And then they decided they should pull each other.  It didn't work so well.  And the Little Lady nearly took flight with the wind catching the boogie board.

That evening we enjoyed our one dining out experience at the Roast Fish and Corn Bread restaurant, which was delicious and the kids did really well.  We made it back just at sunset and the light was so pretty.... I made everyone run out to the beach for an impromptu evening shoot and I can't wait to share those!  They'll be next!


I shot these with my D90 and the Nikon 14-24 f2.8.

Hilton Head day 3 | Monday

There were several tropical storms going on out in the Atlantic when we first arrived in Hilton Head.  So on Sunday, with questionable clouds and lots of wind, I decided to keep the camera inside and just be a mommy and enjoy myself on the beach.  So, somehow, there are no pictures from day two, Sunday.

Monday was day 3.  The storms had blown on by the South Carolina area by now and left GORGEOUS skies.  The kids LOVE for Daddy to dig them a great big hole in the sand.  But Shawn always has to do things better and better.  He dug a big hole on Sunday.  We returned to the hole on Monday, and Shawn began the excavation of Fort Pace.

Oh my word.  We were the envy of all the beach.  I hope that the scale of the super wide angle lens gives the size of this thing some justice!  It was huge and awesome.

My kids are so spoiled in this regard.  They have absolutely no idea that all daddies don't play with them all day long while they visit the beach.  We don't lie down and sleep.  Or read.  Or chill when we visit the beach.  Daddy is playing with them almost every single moment.   And I do a whole lot as well, though I'm not nearly as fun as Daddy.  But even more so, they have NO IDEA that all daddies don't dig 12 foot wide forts in the sand for the kids to play fort in all week.  I hope that some day they do appreciate what he does for them.

She decided she needed to punch the waves...

He was LOVING beach at the beach... but it is funny how nearly every single image I have of him has such a stern look on his face...

He decided the fort border needed the seagrass for protection.

Fort Pace in all its glory!

She LOVES loves LOVES to be chased.  giggles galore.

She can push my buttons like no other, but man, do I love her!

She is VERY particular.

I am convinced this child can do the crab walk faster than he can run.

I am just struck by how she is smiling HUGE in nearly every photo.  We don't ask our kids to smile for pictures... these smiles are all 100% authentic of the moment!

So the tide comes up... We warned him that the tide may come up far enough to get in the fort.  And for a while, all was well while it was just a moat... 

But then the tide came far enough to go OVER the outer defense walls... and let's just say, it did not go over so well.  He was SO upset.  Devastated.  And ironically... this is the only day that the tide even came near the fort for the rest of the week.  The storms must have pushed the tide a little further up the beach.  If only we'd waited one day to build Fort Pace.

I shot these with my D90, the Nikon 85mm f1.8 and the Nikon 14-24 f2.8.