Daddy (and Mommy) Day

As I told you here, DaddyDay is a super-fun time around here. The kids and I love having Josh home with us all day, and there's never a shortage of great things to do. Over the past year since I started my photography business, though, DaddyDays have gradually taken on a new meaning.

They're not MommyLess Days, but they're typically LessMommy Days. I've usually got sessions on Saturday mornings or late afternoons, so I'm not always around for DaddyDay in its entirety. This past weekend, though, my only session was on Friday evening, so the whole family was together for Saturday!

After a super-yum cinnamon roll breakfast (a treat set aside only for DaddyDays), we headed out to a local farmer's market to buy some fresh fruits and veggies.


While the kids were pumped about the plums and squash we bought, they were off-their-rockers excited over the handcrafted furniture that a gentleman was there selling (yes, I did intentionally make that clever, albeit seriously dorky, pun).



Having felt so rotten, Isabel hadn't slept much at all the night before. We knew she had to be tired, but we got some undeniable proof when we saw this:



Pretty pitiful, huh?

So after a quick chat with one of the farmers, it was back to the house so Izzy could try to get some much-needed rest (although after her little snoozer on the swing, she was apparently feeling a bit better).



I spend loads of time at the Botanical Gardens with other people's families, and although I love doing that, I thought it would be fun to hang out there with my own family for a change. I wanted to get a few photos of the kids while we were there, but I obviously didn't put much work (or any, for that matter) into getting them camera-ready. I just had to laugh at us all running around in our sweaty, lunch-stained playclothes amid a Sea of Smock.



But hey, I'm nothing if I'm not true to my word, and the tag line for my photography business is simple. unscripted. pure.

Flip-flops it is!

From the Rose Garden, we headed down the long path to the Japanese Gardens.


The kids loved counting the turtles and coy in the big pond...


...and Jack enjoyed some quiet time with his little wooden car.



The day was not without drama, though. Josh had a dangerously close encounter with the giant man-eating rock, but the big two were able to rescue him from the rock's arm-munching grasp.


Whew!! Crisis averted...

I have to admit that I get a little jealous of these families I work with. I mean, they have all this precious documentation of their times together. These moms have timeless photographic memories of them with their sweet children. So I asked Josh to grab a few photos of me playing with the kids.

How do you think he did? (Make sure to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can get the full effect.)


How about this one?


What? You can't tell that's me holding the kids? Well, neither will they one day when I'm dead and gone. Abigail will say, "Is that Aunt Bethany holding you, Jack?" Jack will respond, "No, I'm pretty sure that's Kerry Cobb." Izzy will ask, "Well, where was I for that shot?" They'll tell her that I was probably holding her on my hip while I took the picture.

My point exactly.

So after a quick lesson in focusing the Nikon, we moved on for another go at Mommy shots. (In Josh's defense, the settings I shoot in aren't anything like the ones you get with a point-and-shoot camera. There's definitely a learning curve.)


You can imagine my elation at knowing there was about to be some photographic proof of the time I spent with my children when they were little. And I'm sure you can also imagine how touched I was when they shared in my excitement.


Needless to say, we gave up on the "everybody look at the camera and smile" approach (I, more than anyone, should have known better than that!), and then Josh was able to catch some fun times.



Isabel's always willing to hand out kisses, so when she saw Abby getting a Mommy-smooch, she decided she needed one as well. Keep in mind the plague that she was infected with at the time. But how could I say no?!?


One of my favorite moments came when Izzy discovered her belly-button (for the 50th or 60th time...she always forgets it's there).


The high point of the Botanical Gardens trip for the kids was getting to play in the water statue before we left.



There's no stories on these shots...I just like them and wanted to share!



Before I go, though, Abby wanted everyone to see the beautiful butterfly she caught that day. What fun!