Family Photos {Cogdell Photography}

These came in the mail yesterday and I was sooooo unbelievably excited to see them!  So many great images, I chose just a few of my favorites to share.  

While on vacation this year, we had Melisa take photos of us on the beach at the Oceanside Pier, a place that is very near and dear to my family's heart (it was one of my Grandpa's favorite spots).  What we thought might not have been such a great idea after all... i.e. a toddler distracted by the sand because he loves it, a baby distracted by the sand because he's not a fan... turned out pretty great in our book.  

I chose a few photos from this session to create a cluster display on our dining room wall: 

{For more information on Melisa and her photography, click HERE.  To see our family's post on her blog, click HERE.}

California - Oh how we love you!

Our summer vacation this year took us to Southern California and we could not have been happier.  We stayed one week at my family's timeshare - a resort I have been vacationing at since I was four.  In fact, the whole time I was there I kept thinking how my almost-four-year-old was swimming in the very swimming pool where I learned how to swim.  Pretty cool.

We didn't do Disneyland or any of the major theme park; instead, we hung around the resort and enjoyed beach life.  No set wake-up times and plenty of morning walks along the beach boardwalk, hot tub/swimming pool time, and afternoons spent at the beach.  

Somehow I managed to sweet-talk the hubs into taking some family photos while we were there and I cannot wait until we get them in a week or two (the two photos in the left column are from a sneak-peek our photographer posted).  

Oh, and when we came home last weekend, Kingston asked me a few times when we were going on vacation again... so I'm thinking he enjoyed himself too.  Cole, on the other hand, was very unsure of sand (no sand ever came remotely close to his mouth) but did enjoy our room and the resort playground. 

California - we cannot wait until we see you again next summer!

5 years... and a bit since last posting.

First post in August and it is more than half-way through the month?  Sorry.  Time has slipped away from me this summer.  Although, I have to say I am not all that sorry... we've been having a little bit of fun this summer and I have been soaking it up like crazy.

We just got back from our summer vacation in Southern California, which was a blast this year.  My family has been vacationing at the same resort now for approximately 26 years and I still cannot get enough of it -- and I really enjoy sharing the experience with my little family now.  While we were there, Kingston got lots of swim practice in and is getting pretty good at the doggy-paddle.  The hubs and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with a date night away to the San Diego Padres game.  Cole was quite the social butterfly.  And we got to spend some quality time with my parents and family members who live there.  I have tons of photos to go through and am hoping to share them with you soon.

I also have a few ideas for some last-minute summer projects around our home and other updates -- so if that is not inspiration to blog, I don't know what is (ha!).  Until then... enjoy the rest of your weekend.