The Parsons, the Bounce House & Otis

Man, today was supposed to be a relaxing day, but all I did was take pictures. Now, I had a blast taking those pictures, but, still, it wore me out. I have an awesome wedding tomorrow, a family shoot & 2 engagement shoots on Sunday, then another family shoot on Monday, so whoo, these next few days are going to be nuts!

Anyway, this is going to be a long one, to knock out everything we did today!

Meet the Parsons. They are rockin' wedding photographers as well. I had the pleasure of meeting Ashley last December at my Shootshop in California, and I decided a few weeks ago that it has been far too long and we needed to get our kids together for a little playdate. It's also nice to build good relationships with other photographers in the area. I love having a great network of friends who I can trust to help me out if I ever needed anything, or to just chat about photography with. So, here are some pics from the pancake breakfast this morning!

Ashley laughing at the kiddos:)

And her husband, Jeremy

After pancakes (sorry, I was cooking, so no pics), we started on our playground out back

But quickly headed for the famous dumping table (still the best $40 we have ever spent)

All the kids ganged up on me (except for sweet little Ava), but I have to add I encouraged them:)

I know, this pic isn't sharp, but I was jumping to protect my camera, I'm sorry:)

Still after me:)

I got Ava to try and get Mamma, but she's a little too slow and gave Jenny a heads up as to our little scheme:)

How cute is this pic?

Then we moved to bicycles and motorcycles

I know I take a lo of pics of Max on his bike, but look at how much fun he's having! How can I not take pictures?

Okay, Ashley, what is this face? Whatever it is, I love it!

Still having fun:)

You can pretend you're tough, but I know otherwise:)

Thanks for coming over and hanging with us this morning. We seriously can't let it go this long until the next playdate!

Part 2 of this massive blog finds us at my parents' house for the 4th of July festivities that go on over there. Like us, they live on a cul-de-sac, but, unlike us, on the 4th, their street is lined with people barbecuing, lighting fireworks, and lots and lots of drinking. Well, this year, the next door neighbor's rented one of those sweet bounce-thingy's complete with a slide inside. Let's just say that the kids had a ball, and I had just as much fun jumping with them (after all, the rules said the age limit was 12, I can still pass, right?)

Here's Ava playing peek-a-boo with me:)

I like this shot, because that's Jenny's silhouette on the left.

Ava couldn't really jump too well in here, but she had just as much fun trying to walk:)

Once Max figured out how to jump high, he had a blast!

This shot was taken a split second before Max landed on me. Good times!

Part 3 (and final part) of this blog is more pictures of cute little Otis, and one of Kobe. I've been meaning to take some more pics of Otis for a while, and figured the light was good this evening and I had my camera so we were a go. I grabbed some doggie treats and this little puppy did anything I asked, as long as he got a treat every now and then:)

Here's Kobe enjoying his bone peacefully until I invaded his space, sorry Kobe

And, here's Otis, waiting patiently for a treat:)

Still waiting...

Come on, stop teasing me...

I'm not going to cooperate much longer

Seriously, I'm licking my chops here

Look at this face, please give me a treat?

Okay, I can't take it anymore, I'm jumping to get it whether you like it or not

Okay, I'm happy, but give me another one

Otis rocks, and so does Kobe, but he's kind of scared of the fireworks and thunder, so he wasn't feeling it this evening. And, Otis really had like 10 treats, so you can't possibly feel bad for him:) I'm now off to bed so I can get some sleep before my crazy busy next few days, I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!