Eugene and Florence, Oregon

I swear this is the EDITED version. All taken with the point and shoot.

I guess it's pretty apparent by the number of photographs, that this was one of the best trips ever. It was so fun to be with family. I've been going through withdrawals a bit, ever since we left. It's harder being away from everyone, when you know what you're missing. But I'm so grateful for the time. Thank you Mom and Bill for making it possible. I hope we can do it again soon. xoxo

Now are you ready for the way too long slideshow, 1950s projector-style? If not, you should stop here. :)

Lanterns on my mom's porch. She is the best at making "Hawaii corners".

I wish these moments happened enough to take them for granted.

Okay, so for 14 years, I've known that Bill has been a black belt in karate, but honestly didn't give it much thought. For me, watching all that stuff (as in kung fu movies or anthing similar) is almost painful. But he has been teaching Tom over the years, so while we were there this time, Tom got his green belt. And I have to say that despite my somewhat disinterest in martial arts, it was really fun. The guys had worked really hard, so it was also kind of moving. Not to mention surprising when they started chopping up bricks with their hands. Besides the entertaining aspect, it was impressive to see what can happen when someone focuses all their energy on something. When they were concentrating, he'd say, "don't see the brick, see the floor underneath it". I thought that was quite the awesome metaphor.

So this photo above is Jason (who couldn't help but get in on the action), Bill, Tom, and Bill's friend Gene. He is in his 70s, and was able to do everything. It was so cool.

So of course, my mom made a party out of it, complete with my favorite MOCHI!

Thumb wars in the back seat on the way to the lake.

A reminder of how spoiled people on the coasts are.

Tom's best side.   :)

Annie and Emily watching movies on the iPhone. That's pretty much all it was good for,

Nana finds magic wherever she goes, so it wasn't surprising that she found a place that sprinkled fairy dust on your cheeks.

Myrtlewood. It only grows in Oregon and Israel. Kind of random and interesting.

Yes that is a bandaid on his nose. Somehow the day before, I managed to only put sunscreen on my daughters, letting my son fry to a crisp. Ahh, the things they will have to talk about in therapy one day.  :)

The beach was COLD and WINDY. Here is Sari trying to snuggle in Emily's sweater, and Emily not crying because I finally gave her my sunglasses.

Jason and me (in my no-makeup glory). And if this post just isnt' long enough, there are lots more on my sister's site (thanks a lot kell!) Although I guess I can't whine since I'm the one that didn't wear any all week! 

These worms were going to be used for bait, but the fishing wasn't very successful. So the kids just made "pets". Eew.

More karate training on that awesome lawn.

Oh so serious.

And not so much.

Phew! That was a lotta pictures.

Tuesday already.

Went to Katy's yesterday afternoon to help with a project. She said "stay for a drink". Which turned into "call Jason, tell him to bring the kids over". Then turned to "fun night on the porch" and morphed into "holy crap it's eleven o'clock on a Monday, what am I thinking?!". (thank you Katy and Damon for the totally fun impromptu night. You guys are the best hosts even when your eyes are barely open).  xo  :)

Tuesday began to kick my ass at 3am, when Emily crawled into bed with us. I couldn't fall back to sleep. Tossed, turned, thought about things that ultimately don't matter. INCESSANTLY. Why is everything so important in the middle of the night? Got up, worked, went back to bed, tossed, turned until the sun came up. And now I'm running on straight caffeine. And livin' on love. Sorry, that song just popped into my head.

Anyway, today at noon I get to have lunch with some San Antonio photogirls. I actually need to start getting ready, but I will be back later today to post something besides boring updates and grouchy rants about airlines. And also glue myself to the computer to catch up on things if it kills me.

buried

Boy, it's great to get away from technology for a week, but  you pay  the price. I'm still going through 400 emails that stacked up from last week. So if you're waiting to hear from me, I promise, I'm making my way through them. Tonight is our anniversary...(#14). Boy do I feel old. And Grammy is visiting from KY. So I'm not sure how much work I'll get done this weekend. But it's all business 24/7 starting Monday morning. Woot.

Oh, and I'm pushing back the San Francisco trip again. Nothing was working, and it was one conflict after another. SO, if you're still interested in having your session done in San Fran or bay area around the end of September, let me know. Remember all sessions will be all-inclusive, and way discounted because I think shooting in one of my favorite cities will be so fun! Also, thank you to everyone who emailed about sessions, and for being so flexible with scheduling. You all rock. Yipee Cay-aye for Californ eye-aye.

And I really have so much  to say and post, but I have to get back to that inbox. 

US Airways is the devil.

We had the best vacation ever, and I'll put the good stuff up soon. For now, I'm on a mission to tell as many people as possible that US Airways SUCKS. If there is a hell, I am positive that it is run by their gate agents. We all know, traveling's never hysterically fun. We miss the occasional plane, or lose a  bag. But overall, things run pretty smoothly. Unless you are on the Musical-Chairs-On-Crack airline that thinks it's funny to oversell their flights and watch their passengers fight for their seat.

I know times are tough for the airlines. My brother in law, who was on the trip with us, used to fly for United. He said statistically, 10% of people don't show up, so it's common to sell too many tickets. That is like me showing up to  70% of my photo sessions. Or double-booking them and making people toss a coin for who gets the shoot. I thought it was illegal to sell an imaginary product. BUT WHATEVER...most airlines apparently make it work. Except (again) for US Air, who oversells HALF THE PLANE. On our way home there were literally THREE people (I'm not even joking), with seat 14F, standing in the aisle. The attendant said (non-chalantly) "Go to the back and we'll try to work something out." Which really means, "Get back there and we'll play paper/rock/scissors for who gets to go home."

So I thought it was bad on the way to Oregon when Jason had to fly stand-by with a paid ticket. But I had no idea how much worse it would get. This was our day yesterday. We got up at 3am for a 5:30 flight from Eugene to Phoenix. We had 30 minutes to  make our connecting flight, on the other side of the airport. Lugging 2 kids, all our bags, and a toddler who had to poop, we make it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare. Only the door is closed, and they've given our seats away. AS OUR PLANE SAT FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES, the lady basically said, "Too bad, so sad. We announced the last call." And we said, "Are you kidding? That is our plane. SITTING THERE. We still have FIFTEEN MINUTES until it's scheduled to leave." And she said, "When is my lunch hour? Should I have Pizza Hut again? And how many more minutes until my smoke break?"

So I get over wanting to punch her in the face and figure we'll just take the next flight out. We tried, Austin, Dallas, even Houston thinking we could rent a car and drive home. But EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT they had going into THE STATE OF TEXAS HAD BEEN OVERSOLD BY 15-30 PASSENGERS. The next flight they could confirm wasn't until 7:30 PM. So we spent TEN HOURS in the airport yesterday. With three children. At first we tried to make them behave. They played every game, watched every movie, colored every book. Then about four hours into it, we lost the will to fight (live), and just let them run hog wild. "Mommy can we play on these?" "Sure, but if you're going to be loud, make sure you play around the ticket agents."

Jason. He thought boot camp was hard. Forget the desert and push-ups. They should institute "Prolonged Airport Training With Toddlers" including hazardous pay, of course. Only then it would be so hard, no one would EVER make it into the military.  :) 

Ahh, it's good to get that off my chest.

NOW, if you're sick of my bitching, and you want to read something totally different, I'm also at Shutter Sisterstoday. Come over and say hi!

The Feinsteins

The fabulous Dr. Feinstein and her boys. I met her about a year ago when she was pregnant with her third. Since then, she's been all over the blog, and become a great friend. She's also an amazing doctor who is smart and real. I got to watch her and the other amazing Dr. Finney , deliver Katy's baby a few months ago. They are both awesome. And I would totally go to them, if I wasn't freaky about maintaining a level of anonymity with my OBGYN.  :) 

Thanks Karen! :)