2013.

Well, 2013 is officially wrapped up, and I think it’s safe to say it wasn’t my best blogging year. :)  Last week I was going through the personal photos I took in 2013 and I thought I would put together a post of random bits and pieces from our year.  Here’s a little bit of what we did in 2013:

We took a trip out to Northern California in the Spring.  Saw the redwoods (sequoias?), spent an afternoon in Chinatown San Francisco, went sea-glass hunting at the beach, consumed lots of delicious food, visited a few art museums, rode on some rides in Santa Cruz, enjoyed a lovely Sunday drive along the Coast Highway, and took James & Colin on a super fun hike near Big Sur.  My absolute FAVORITE, though, was visiting the tide pools at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.  Not just because we saw all kinds of interesting creatures (starfish, sea anenome, crabs, snails,  sea otters and mollusks), but because of the fun time we had wandering around.  The tide was rising as we were there and every once in awhile we found ourselves stranded in an area where the water had risen around us, and it was an adventure getting around the pools.  I’m not doing the experience justice with words, but it was fun.  Probably one of my top memories from 2013. :)

I spent the first part of the year super morning sick.  I got lots of sweet little notes and drawings from my thoughtful little 5-year old.

James and Colin played soccer for their second year, and WOW did they improve from the previous year.  So much fun to watch them run around and score some goals.

In May we had the 20-week ultrasound where we got to find out baby #3 is a GIRL!  Rather than having the ultrasound tech tell us right at the appointment, I brought a note & envelope for her to write it down and then seal it up.  I gave the envelope to my mom with instructions to fill my box with a pink balloon if the card said girl, and a blue balloon if the card said boy.  Then we waited until evening when we could open the box together.  Seeing the pink balloon, and then celebrating with pink cupcakes was definitely another top memory of 2013.

Jim and I celebrated 10 years of marriage when I was super-duper-third-trimester-pregnant, but we took photos of ourselves anyway:

My friends threw me an amazing baby shower in September:  Before Lucy was born, I wanted to take my boys each on their own “date,” since I knew they wouldn’t be getting QUITE as much of my attention as soon as a newborn was around.  I surprised James (my astronomy-obsessed 8-year-old) with a visit to the Chamberlin Observatory in Denver, where we got to look through the giant telescope and listen to a lecture by an astronomer.  James was the only one there under age 20, and at the beginning of the lecture the professor asked if anyone had any questions.  James’ hand shot up and then asked, “what would happen if you got stuck in a black hole?”  Aaah…loved it.  A few weeks later I took Colin out for ice cream and then we played at the park:

Favorite memory of 2013, of COURSE, was when Lucy was born.  She is such a sweetie, and we love her so much:

As I do every year, I took lots of photos of textures on my iPhone:
James (the astronomy-obsessed boy, remember?), requested to be an astronaut for Halloween.  I think I MIGHT deserve an award for pulling together this DIY costume only days after giving birth to Lucy. :)  We found a cheap pair of pants + coat at the thrift store, bought two rolls of white duct tape , printed off some astronaut-patch looking graphics, and turned him into a really cute astronaut.  The helmet was made by putting paper mache over a ballon, cutting a hole in the bottom and in the middle, and covering it with more white duct tape.  I love that James suggested I take a photo of him holding his helmet instead of wearing it, “like real astronauts do for their photos.”

Colin was a clown. :)

Wiggly little Lucy legs :)

Now I just need to catch up on all of the fabulous portrait sessions I shot in 2013.  I’ll work on getting a few of those posted over the next few months. :)

Happy New Year everyone!