Family first. And it helps they are adorable.

These kiddos have seen me with a camera in my hands more times than they can count. You would think snapping their photos would be the easiest, but boy do they make me work for my images. We play outside, shake out our wiggles, and then pretend to get serious.

One click of the shutter and we reset and start all over again. So I know I have to make that one click count. Watching them in all their silliness makes my heart happy so I don't mind spending that extra time with them.

Finding those smiles is easy, it's getting the tiny bodies to make them that's the uphill journey. These three, ages eight and five, are the Three Musketeers. They run all over my parents' house when we come to visit, laughing and telling secrets and building forts.

When I was pregnant, I used to live close to this park, located in a very cute, very quiet, retirement community. I would take long walks here almost daily, daydreaming of the day when I could share this with my mini. The last time she and I were here, she was only months old. We had moved out of town when she was nine months old and hadn't had a reason to come back here until this summer.

My sister asked for updated headshots for my nephews and I was happy to take the kiddos for a drive and a short walk, in the heat of August, to find this outdoor space again. (Of course, I dragged her along too. And she sacrificed a shirt in the process, but it was worth it right?)

We drove by car through my old neighborhood, but it took a second try to find my way. So the first stop was at this bridge. I snapped a few pics, then found it was WAAAAYYY too far to walk them to where we needed to be.

They didn't mind the heat of the day at all. All they wanted to do was run across the bridges. And run some more...

In search of shade, we found trees by the waterfall. And here are a few of the final images. <3 It only took a ton of sweat, two melt downs, three hungry kids, and my sister's sacrificed shirt to get us here.