THEN…I arrived.  What a completely awesome and fun setting.  I was in photographer heaven.  From old grain silos to old barns to tractors to hay bales, what more could a photographer ask for?

The evening got better and better.  The best part, though, was the couple themselves.  I loved them from the second we met.  They were so laid back and enjoyable, even the non-female half.    They made me laugh as we talked and walked (I waddled) through the pastures and barns.  It was the best night I’ve had shooting in a VERY long time.  I hope I get to go back sometime for a visit!

Here are just a few of my favorites!

I can’t wait to shoot their wedding next May.  For now, we had a great time exploring the alleys and fields around Shawnee.

Check out my favorites!!

I had no idea what to expect when I got a call from Ronne a few weeks ago.  You see, Ronne and I go WAY back…like WAY BACK as in I taught her son when he was in 4th grade.  Now he’s a big and strong and VERY grown-up Marine who I’m very proud to call my friend.  This session was originally supposed to include him and his family, but the military had other plans.

Unfortunately, my sweet grown up Marine had to put his scheduled leave on hold.  I plan to share photos of him soon, VERY soon I hope.  Until then, I couldn’t let the opportunity to catch some spectacular shots of his momma and her “biker dude” pass me by.

Ronne has a heart of gold.  She always has.

Life has thrown her plenty of curves, but somehow she’s bounced back with determined vigor.  She’s a lot like her son that way.  I’m proud of her, too.

And the happiness she’s found with this guy…

Have you ever seen a more genuine smile?  I’m not sure I have.  He could light a room with those pearly whites and big grin.  I liked him immediately.

Now, I know why Ronne has been smiling so much.  Together they made me smile.

Turns out they don’t live far from me.  They’ve found a spot in the country, too.  I may be dropping by when they least expect it just to catch a glimpse of those big dimples she’s sporting.  She deserves to be happy.

We all do.

As they drove off, I was left with the sound of a roaring Harley and a big smile on my face.  It feels good to feel HAPPINESS for someone else.

My heart smiled today.

Thanks, Ronne.  I owe you one.

The funny thing is when they booked with me I assumed it was a family session.  So, when these two showed up, I was super surprised.  Then, I was excited.  I think this may have been my easiest session to date.  Seriously, just look at them…

The neatest part:  they were getting the photos to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.  Everyone say, “awwww”.

I had so much fun tormenting them.  The truth is they were fairly conservative and didn’t know quite what to expect when they arrived.  Once they met me, I think they may have been a little shocked…and worried.  So, I thought I’d torture them a bit more and make them step outside their comfort zone.  After all, it was their 20th anniversary, right?

I think they nearly died when I told them they had to make faces at each other, with me watching.  HA!  Makes me smile just thinking back…

Yep, that’s as crazy as they got.  REALLY.  If you think that’s funny, here’s what the first shot looked like after I said, “On the count of three, make a really funny face.”

I’m not sure they even moved.  HEE HEE!

Okay, okay, I’ll quit picking on you guys for now.  You did provide me with some pretty cool shots, huh.  I had a really great time with you both – thanks for letting me torment you a bit.

You never know how an engagement shoot is going to go…

Will they be all “lovey-dovey” or shy while quietly holding hands or totally embarrassed about being in front of the camera.  Audra and Ryan were a combination of the second two.  I know they were thinking I was insane after some of the things I asked them to do.  BUT, they stuck it out and we were able to get some great shots.  Thanks, Audra and Ryan!

Here are my favorites!

Even with them (mostly Audra!) wanting to kill me during the session for all the ooshy gooshy stuff I made them do, I think they look awesome!  See how cute you guys are, Audra?

Smooches and all…I love this shot!

This is another shot I love.  Although, I couldn’t decide if I liked it better in b/w or color…

Here’s the color version.

We had to get some ring shots, and look Audra, another smoochy smoochy shot.

I had fun hanging with you two.  Ryan, I hope you didn’t feel too picked on…I always enjoy tormenting you poor, poor young men.

Here’s a big one in b/w for the road…

Unfortunately, when Carly moved off to attend college at OSU, I lost a late-night movie buddy AND a really great subject to photograph.  She likes to be in photos almost as much as I like taking them.  That’s hard to find these days.  Luckily, she’s been coming home a bit more often lately….

and she’s been bringing HIM with her.

Poor guy.  How many boyfriends do you know that like to be in pictures?  Right.  So, I was pretty proud of him when he agreed to let me shoot some pics of them this past weekend.  Although, I have to say it wasn’t for me.  I think it might be that he likes the girl in white just a tiny bit….

or maybe more than a tiny bit…

Just a few weeks back he hung out with my boys at the zoo.  Yes, I said the zoo….with a couple of very small children….

Did I mention he is a college guy?  So, you understand.  Thought so.

Of course, it helps that he’s a doll.  I’m pretty sure they’d have really adorable children….

But, I digress.

There are tons more where these came from…

but, that’s all you get for tonight.  See you peeps later!

Happy LATE Monday!

Oh, don’t forget…

My mini-session days are filling up quickly!  Get in on the action…email now!

Oh, whatever.  You guys know I’m always a good girl.

Anyway, back to Great Wolf.  The following photos are not the best quality because I was too chicken to drag the nice camera around through an indoor spray/water park.  Do you really blame me?  I did break it out for a few shots though and felt like sharing them here with you.

For some reason I didn’t get a shot of the main entrance from the front when you’re pulling up (maybe because I was driving), but I did get this shot from our balcony overlooking the parking lot.  HA!  Ty did love the view of the wolves, though!

The entrance really is pretty grande…you can see some of the water slides off in the distance.  They actually followed a path in and out of the park, which was cool.  Although, I can’t say my swimsuit clad body got anywhere near them.  Remember, Ty is only 4 and wasn’t about to chance losing his life so early on such a HUGE waterslide.  He is always cautious that way.  HEE HEE!

Here is a view of our KidCabin Suite as we were walking through the door.

It was really just your basic hotel room with a balcony, except for the cool cabin provided for the rugrats.  Here’s a view inside.

The bunk beds were the most exciting part of the whole trip for the kids, I think.  Seriously.  They wanted to leave the swimming park early to go back to our room to play in the “log cabin”.  How sad is that?  I guess I need to get them out more often.

Wes slept in the bed on the left, because I was too lazy to bring the Pack-n-Play.  AND, I only had to download a new “white noise” app to my iPhone to get him to actually fall asleep!  Luckily, I brought my wall charger and could leave the goofy thing playing all night.  Don’t worry ALL kids finally passed out by 11:30pm.

Oh, by the way, for those of you considering going…I read in the hotel book later that they’ll provide a Pack-n-Play for FREE if you call down and request it.  I’m just saying…

Wes got up the next morning (after we purchased a few rock souvineers in the gift shop the night before) to do this while the other kids were still sleeping…It really is the ONLY time he gets to play without someone taking his toys away from him.

After attaching the trailer to his truck, he loaded it down with a load of those rocks and even filled up the bed of his truck.  Too cute!

Once everyone dragged their booties out of bed, we headed down to breakfast and then on to the water park.  It was pretty exciting!  Please ignore all the bad bikini bodies in the following pics.  I really had no intention of grossing you out – just simply wanted to give you a quick study on Great Wolf Lodge.

See those two slides in the background?  Yellow on the left and blue on the right?  Our boys spent the entire day climbing up and sliding down…over and over and over again until they were so tired I was worried they might drown in the 1 foot deep water.

Ty absolutely loved the small slides (wouldn’t step foot on the big ones) and his face showed his enjoyment in EVERY shot!

He even did a pretty good job of holding his breath at the end.

Sutton was a bit more nervous at first, but by the end of the day he was the ONLY one willing to go a round on the bigger slides in the back.

Okay, maybe not quite as big as those…but still, they were good sized.  If you look off the backside of the splash tower below, you’ll see some decent sized tubes.  Sutton braved the green one!  Go, Sutton!

By the way, we have no photo proof of that because I wasn’t brave enough to enter the splash zone, which was pretty much EVERYWHERE on that tower!  You literally never knew when a random bucket was heading your way!

Same way in the lazy river!  I truly thought it would be a relaxing float.  BUT, when you least expected it, someone from the splash tower was dumping water on your head or squirting you with massive water guns!  It was just plain evil I tell you!

I went around once and that was enough for me.  The above photo was from the dry area up above.  Thank you very much.

So, anyway, back to the slides.  Ty was very content to stay in the kiddo section on the “small” slides.  The yellow one was just as fun as the blue!

Sutton, too!

Did you think I’d left Wes at home?  Of course, not.  He was hanging with his grandma in the shallower water squirting all the innocent bystanders with water sprayers.

It made him smile…even if the other folks weren’t too happy.  HA!

Here’s a small view of the outdoor area…from our dinner balcony.  We actually spent just as much time outside as in, but there wasn’t near as much for the little ones to do.

Okay, so my thoughts on Great Wolf Lodge as a whole…

First, it’s expensive this time of year.  I hear the rates drop dramatically in the winter months.  The food is VERY expensive, too, not just the room rates.  It did taste pretty good for a water park hotel.  I have no complaints there.   I was able to find a discount code through some online forums just by googling “great wolf lodge coupons”.  It saved us about $75 off our nightly rate.

Second, wait until your kids are older to go.  I really feel like it was a bit of a waste to take Ty and Wes at their ages.  There was so much they weren’t willing to do…which left us spending the majority of our time in the kiddie splash area.

Third, the rooms are simply your basic hotel room.  Don’t expect magic there.  The kid cabins are totally cool and did provide the adults with a bit of privacy after hours.  It was nice because we could put the kids to bed and still watch a little tv without having to whisper.

As a whole, we had a great time but spent too much money.  We stayed one night and spent a total of about $600 for all of us – 3 adults and 3 kids.  This is without any extras.  Keep in mind, Wes was free for everything.  We didn’t sign up for the magic quest due to lack of extra time for running around the hotel.  Our boys wanted to be in the water park or in the bunk beds during their stay.  We did spend a few bucks on arcade tokens and stayed for 30 minutes or so.  I would like to go back in the winter and stay a little longer so I wouldn’t feel as rushed.  Plus, the money spent would be less with cheaper rates then.

Okay, on to other things!  Have a great 4th of July weekend!  I’ll see you guys back here on Monday!

It’s also really nice when you KNOW, without any doubt, a couple will pass the test of time.  They were so good to each other – their demeanor was so loving and intimate.  I felt like an outsider getting to be a part of something unique AND photograph it.  It was a dream session!

Ruth, you look absolutely gorgeous in every photo – know that and BELIEVE it as you scroll through the pics.  Wally, you were a total gentlemen – keep it up!

Here are my favorites!

They couldn’t stop smiling at each other…even when I told them to be serious.

I love this last shot…so moody and dark.

You can read MORE about the special here.  I’ll accept nominations through comments here, emails, and even Facebook.  So, get busy!

UPDATE #2 – I’ve had a couple of days open up this month due to cancellations.  If you are interested in booking a session and need it THIS MONTH, shoot me an email asap!  I do still have a few openings in June, but they are going quick!

Okay, enough with all the housekeeping around here.

So, before all this crazy rain hit, I was trying to do better at taking photos of MY kids here at home.  They were outside playing on the swings, digging in the dirt, and doing fun boy things when I decided to grab my camera and head out the door.  The problem was…I forgot to check my settings before shooting the pics.  It took me a while to realize the settings were off.

Believe it or not, the first couple of photos turned out decent…I mean who can resist THIS face?

or THIS one?

Even with the shorts and cowboy boots, they are adorable.  By the way, I had no control over that.  Josh has coerced them brainwashed them into thinking they should ONLY wear cowboy boots to play outside.  Well…Before it wasn’t a problem considering it was WINTER and jeans with boots are kinda neat.  BUT, now it’s warming up and shorts are coming out and they continue to BATTLE with me over the boots.  Lord help me.  Can you imagine what they’ll look like in 10 years!

Alright alright…I tend to get a little sidetracked!

I was snapping photos and having fun, not paying much attention to the camera settings when WES started dancing.  I had turned the music on in our golfcart and he LOVES music.  Normally, he wiggles a little and then finds something else to do.  BUT, this time, it was a full-fledged DANCE FEST!  I was SUPER excited to have caught it on camera and I couldn’t wait to get a look at the pics.  That’s when I realized….THE CAMERA FOCUS POINTS WERE ALL JACKED UP!  Yikes!!

But, here’s the thing…He was moving so much there’s no telling what would’ve been in focus anyway.  The truth is…I LOVE these shots even with the out-of-focus issues.  They are SO him.  He tends to be a little fuzzy most times anyway.  HEE HEE!

I even got a fuzzy photo of Ty…

If you look closely, you’ll notice the back of his head is more in focus than the rest of him.  Pretty funny, huh.

The main point of my bad photos post, though, is to not be afraid to celebrate the BAD photos!  Sometimes the bad ones ARE the good ones!  It just adds a little character (as my boys would say)…

Happy HUMPDAY!

The fine print:

• can not be used as a family session
• must be pre-paid when booking
• must be booked before February 14th
• choose between color or b/w images – if you want both, add an additional $30

I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.  Just shoot me an email.