a splash of colour

Our yard has exploded into an autumn colour wonderland.  The little fella walked down the trail with me yesterday collecting the prettiest leaves we could find and his big brothers followed behind on their bikes.  On feet or wheels, fall is certainly here - you can smell it in the air and see it blazing in the trees.

Time to head back.  I'm not sure why the big boys opted for their snowmobile helmets instead of the bike helmets?!

Taking a short rest... those little legs get tired after all of that running!

summer mode

July has come and gone in a blink ... practically every single day was filled with some place to go or something fun to do.  I am a summer girl to the core and have been basking in the summer heat in between working, celebrating birthdays, roadtrips, camping, celebrating our anniversary, a wedding, and keeping my little guys busy.  As a result, there's been very little time to blog.

I'm excited to see where the second half of Summer 2012 takes us...

little sis has a new house | Ottawa Valley Child Photographer

And a big yard for peeking through the grass.  :)

Or running around... that works too.  Either way, their new home is lovely and the property is equally beautiful!!   (Not nearly as beautiful as my niece though!)

saturday night after sunset | Children Lifestyle Photos

It's been rainy all weekend which is a very welcomed thing for the dried out flower beds and gardens, even better for my avid fishermen.  We had won an awesome Fishing-themed gift basket at the kids' school fun event on Thursday and the boys have been begging to go down to the river ever since and test out some of the new gear.  It cleared up late in the day and made for a perfect evening with my boys at the water's edge.

These images also go to show that if you want great photos of your kiddies, get them involved with something they love to do. I'm all about letting life happen and capturing genuine moments; plus, I figured out long ago that my boys are much more cooperative when I have the camera out when I just let them do their own thing.  They were overly cooperative last night ... and I did happen to hear 'take my picture mom' a few times too.  Sometimes waiting around to catch fish isn't so bad!!  :)

Little Dude can't get there fast enough!

Loading up the lines.

Who's going to catch the big one??

Wilderness Chic (and one of the prize items).  Now I need to find at least two more of these stylish chapeaus because he was the only one who wasn't batting away the mosquitoes all night.  I wonder if they make them in pink?

My sweetie is in his happy place.  :)

R had caught a big sucker fish before his dad got this one, but we were able to reel this guy in pretty close to the shore and then let him back into the Madawaska.

Some of us get bored of fishing really quickly.

But everyone had a really fun night and a great sleep after all of that fresh air!!!  

green thumb

One of my fellas has joined the Garden Club at their school and came home last week with a tiny pot of pea seeds.  He was very excited to wake up this morning and see the shoots stretching over the top of the container.  Normally he isn't so compliant when I have my camera out, but tonight he proudly showed off his beautiful little green plants.

Now, if I can just teach him how to weed my flower beds, I'd be all set.

Lost in thought...

On a gorgeous summer-like evening there's nothing like taking a moment to stare off into the wilderness.

sit sideways

He sits sideways all of the time, always at a good arms length from the table.  Many crumbs (or pieces of mandarin orange peels in this case), and no one has to question where the little squirt sits at our dinner table.