Once in Nice it was 3 hours of exploring the sites, sounds, and smells of its historic old city. We met some locals and took their photos of course :)

We walked along the beach which had no sand, but instead dark grey rocks. They were about the size of a teacup saucer (Alyssa, Emmie, and Riggs – they look just like your black rocks that you painted from Michigan). There were people everywhere laying out on these rocks which did not look comfortable at all. Beautiful but not comfortable.

We came back to Villefranche and explored some more of their city here. Now we are at a cafe that has Internet access so we can check our messages from our kids and let you know where we are in our trip.

Au revoir for now

We gathered all of our tourist looking gear (cameras and maps) and started our search for the metro. Thanks to a very sweet local named Linda we were able to make our way there quickly. She also allowed us to use our Spanish skills (that haven’t been used in about 10 years and were quite pitiful) to communicate. In fact, throughout the day we were starting to enjoy throwing out the lingo as if we belonged there :)

We saw so many sites today and couldn’t possibly talk about them all since we are very tired and need to let the jet lag win right now. So, we will just highlight our favorites.

The Ramblas was buzzing with activity and we saw many interesting places and people, but the best area was a few streets behind Las Rambles. There were these side alleys that made us feel as though we were in the real community. The people were all very nice and the atmosphere of little balconies with laundered clothes hanging was very authentic Barcelona.

We also visited the large Sagrada Familia cathedral. It is AMAZING! It has been in construction for 127 years on and off. They don’t expect to have it done for another 25 years but it truly is breathtaking even in its unfinished state. Much more to talk about there but on to the next favorite!

We were getting quite hungry later in the evening and couldn’t find exactly what we wanted until we stumbled upon a pastisseria. The owner of the store spoke no English but we communicated well and after finding out a bit about her muy guapo boyfriend and her upcoming trip to the great USA we left with some yummy pastries, water, and an extra treat from the very lovely pastisseria owner.

My (Kathie) last favorite encounter was finding some little old men playing Bocce ball in an old city park. They were so great. By the time we found a spot to sit and watch they were done and some
young couples took over. They were just as entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the local evening activities sitting in the park as peaceful as could be.

Jeremiah’s last favorite was visiting the Montjuic fountain light show. It was really cool and he got some great photos to prove it.

That is all for now. Time to go to bed!

Good night Alyssa, Emily, Riggs, and Brooks. We love you and are sure that you are thoroughly enjoying your wonderful Aunt Kristie!

We took a tour of the inside and our heads about exploded with all the crazy cool ideas that started flowing. However, that will have to be for another day. This family session was all about being outdoors and having a good time together, even if it was a muggy Virginia evening.  Fortunately there was a nice breeze and some clouds that kept the temperatures reasonable.

We started with the little ones and then moved into a couple different looks for the family. After that, we moved into having a little fun with Todd and Stephanie as well as the older kids. Then Todd took the younger ones home and Stephanie and her oldest two daughters stuck around for a few fun shots out in the open fields. It was gorgeous! We had a really fun time spending the evening with you all and hope that you can enjoy these for the next few weeks while we’re on vacation. We’re already looking forward to sharing the rest of them with you when we return!

Good thing they were a bit flexible that day and we were able to do a morning session vs evening (possibly rainy) session. We  had such a great time with Felix and Leslie! They met us at Old City Cemetery along with a bit of an entourage and we enjoyed capturing some sweet moments between the two of them.

Felix your accent was awesome and we are grateful for the tips on Europe for our upcoming trip. Leslie, it was so good to spend time with you and get to enjoy yet another member of the Kidd family. We hope you both enjoy your sneak peek and thanks again for allowing us to photograph your love for one another!

Personally I (Jeremiah) am not a huge fan of the name – fiancé. I prefer when people just say they’re engaged. Or at least I’d like to see someone come up with another name. (Suggestions anyone?) We have boyfriend/girlfriend before we’re engaged, and husband/wife once we’re married. So why the gender neutral fiancé for that time in between?

The ambiguity sits well with me not.

This piqued my curiosity enough to do a quick Google search on the word.  As it turns out, the English language technically does have gender specific terms. A fiancée is a woman to be married and a fiancé is a man to be married. However, they are pronounced the same and it’s not like anyone knows better to spell them differently. So instead couples just end up stuck in this odd time period where they call each other the same thing.

Is it just me or is this a weird to anyone else?

Maybe it is just me. Regardless, it sure feels better to have gotten that of my chest. I think I’ll sleep better tonight.

Although they live a couple states away, they were able to come down a month or so ago and visit for Memorial Day weekend. While they were here, we managed to make time and took them out for a family portrait session at Falling Creek Park in Bedford, VA.  It was a beautiful morning and when we got there we realized it would probably be a good idea to not let Ethan see the playground for fear that he might become distracted.  So we stayed back a ways and roamed around some of the really cool buildings and barns.

First we took a couple family shots while Addie was fresh and happy.  Little E was a bit shy first, but after being silly behind the camera he eventually broke down and gave us some great laughs.  You’ll see below that Ethan and Addie were stylin and Ben and Brittany  knew just what to do when it was time to click the shutter.  We especially liked this old run down shed near a barn door where we got some great frames of just Ben and Brit.

Here are some of our favorites from the session.  Don’t forget to leave a little blog love and let Ben and Brittany know you liked them!

One highlight for us in photographing e-sessions is time spent getting to know the couple. This was no different. We already knew of Sherri and Caleb and have spoken with them many times over the last few years, but now we feel that we know a little about Sherri and Caleb. To say that they enjoy one another is probably an understatement. As we walked around with them we saw genuine love and affection, tenderness, and a lot of laughter!

Caleb and Sherri, we are truly excited about your wedding this fall and it was a joy to spend time with both of you. Thank you for such a fun evening!