I finally decided it was time to step out from behind the camera and be in some family pictures with my family. I love taking pictures and it’s often only we are done for a day that we realize I am in maybe one or two pictures. I think for a long time I was putting off pictures wanting to be in better shape or find the perfect outfits for our family, or the boys were getting along exceptionally well,  but push came to shove with our timing and I realized that we needed to celebrate this time and season, just as it is. I couldn’t make it into something new for pictures. I asked my friend Lucie at Primrosa Photography to capture us naturally even if that meant the boys were fighting or hanging on us. We wanted to keep it real!  And I am pretty sure we did. There were many moments of sibling rivalry, hungry troops, whining, me feeling self conscious and silly taking pictures, Seth being a good sport and humoring my old barn fetish.

We loaded up our wagon with some old vintage suitcases that we normally use for decoration, our favorite quilt, the boys favorite book,  a giant wooden frame I found at the neighborhood sale and some other things that we thought really were “us”. We walked down the street where we live to a farm at the end of our road. They have a pretty field of poppies and a few barns. Now you don’t really think we just walked on in do you? Seth went the day before and asked premission  to use the land. the owner seemed flattered.

So we got going yesterday. We spent nearly 2 hours taking pictures with Lucie, except for the time spent talking to the 2 farmers that came to check on the situation. It seems someone called and reported that a family had moved onto the land with suitcases and a wagon. When they said “moved in” they literally thought we were trying to move in and occupy their empty barns. Seth reassured them that the suitcases were empty, introduced them to our photographer and tried to put them at ease. The man eventually took pictures of our props and then a picture of us so he would have some record.  there must be some law here where you can occupy empty land when it’s been empty for a while.  If I could buy it and make it into a bed and breakfast I would do it in a heart beat but I think it might be a bit out of our budget. Swiss chalet Kolb will have to wait, our Virginia cottage is waiting!

Back to the farm, I thought we would be aiming for a great barn door but it turns out there were 3 buildings tucked back there with lots of great spots and lots of neat old barn doors. We are hoping for some good shots.  If nothing else we will have some fun Swiss memories to take back with us.

BUT, we have to wait to share pictures because Lucie is still working on editing! So for now you will have to see Jackson and my renditions of our family that we drew about a month back on a rainy afternoon. (I took the liberty to make myself look extra tiny in a sundress and Jackson made every effort to make us look as natural as possible.)  I am going to bet that Lucie’s shots are much more accurate!

ps- Jackson does know how to write his name correctly so no worries there. He ran out of room here and decided backwards was better for such a small space! Kindergarten will do him good!