{weekends are the best}

We all went down to Oceanside this weekend because the V's are
down from San Fran and so of course we need to spend as much time
with them as possible!
We had so much fun! I love and miss all of them SO much.
I had a photoshoot on Saturday so I asked Sofia to come to be my second
shooter so she came along. It was a session for one of my future
weddings..such a fun couple! You will be able to check out their
wedding photos in September when they get married :)



Nico made pizza for everyone Saturday night and then the next day we had a
big BBQ. The kids all went swimming and we just hung out by the pool. Poor
Corbin and Luke spent the entire weekend either being sunburnt, itching
from hives & bugbites or knocked out from Benadryl. I felt so bad for
them.
It was a great weekend though! We got to see lots people we havent seen
in ages!

Corbin and Lukey

.4am...seriously.

WHY AM I AWAKE RIGHT NOW!?
Seriously though, why am I awake right now?
Anyone got any ideas? Im willing to take sleeping
advice. Right now, I am sitting in the comfy chair in
my bedroom and in one ear I hear Michael Jackson singing,
the other ear...Nico snoring. Not cool. I could put both
headphones in but I have this thing about not being able
to hear every little sound in my house at nighttime. I cant
stand that, I HAVE to hear all of the different little sounds
that happen in a home during the middle of the night.
Infact...as soon as I sat in this chair, I hear two loud pops
outside...fireworks? gunshots? flares from someone sending out
an SOS? I don't know but the kids all did come in my room saying,
"Did you hear that"??!! So I thought, finally it wasnt just me
overracting about something! Not long after that came the police
lights scamming the neighborhood. Right then I felt dodgy, like
im living in Compton and Im having to deal with possible gunshots
and police car lights shining on my bedroom wall thru the curtains.
How so very So Cal.
According to MJ right now...I am not alone. Ahhhh, thats comforting lol.
We went to the park and I took a few piccies for my dear blog.
Seeing as I tend to neglect..with great neglect!













Luca the Ant Bully {if u look close you can see some of his prey}





Nico and Lucas chasing Lucas and Nico









Listening to, you guessed it...Michael Jackson {thankyou Brenna for that}

He wanted to hear Black & White

and this time, it was Thriller

.Sunday Funday.

Sunday morning Nico, Lucas and myself all woke up early to
go down to LA, we had an appt of sorts for Lucas {shhhh it's
a secret} I knew they would like him.
After our appt, we drove around Hollywood for awhile, pretty
fun a gotta say. We drove up Mulholland Dr and soaked up the view.
It was awesome. Have I told you how much I love California?
I am dearly greatful to my Dad for moving us out here when I was in
about 4th grade. Had that never happened I would never have known
just exactly how great California is. Especially in the mornings!
We drove down Hollywood Blvd and saw some interesting things, a rabbit
walking across the street, Jesus drinking Starbucks, Bumblebee from
Transformers, Spongebob, Davey Jones and Jack Sparrow, KISS, and I
think I saw Marilyn Monroe standing out there too.
We drove past the big crowd mourning at Michael Jacksons star on
the Walk of Fame and drove past Nickelodeon Studios where they
were taping an episode of I-Carly which Dominic would have liked!
Now today, Im off to the gym, finishing up some editing, trying to
swollow as my throat feels like someone dumped sand down it, and let's
see...that about covers it!
{I forgot to mention that we went and ate at Famous Daves, this one was
quite good}











Happy week everyone
xo

{Michael Joseph Jackson}

So, yah, it's a sad thing.
I havent written in my blog forever and now
that I am its going to be about death.
Alot of death has been around these past couple
of weeks. Not just in the media but with people I
know, knew, etc.
Sad.
I was sitting here the other day thinking, "Oh, my dad
and Michael Jackson have the same first and middle names"
not that that means anything, but it was just a thought.
I wonder what else they had in common...something about the
name Michael the name Michael has been used in my family
let me think...how many times..7 times in my family {that I know
of} See Ill name them My dad Michael, my brother Michael, my nephew
Michael, my nephew Joshua Michael, my nephew David Michael, Nicos
middle name is Miguel {same name different way of saying it} Dominics
middle name is Miguel.
K talk about a rabbit trail!
Anyways, I leave you with one of my favorite videos ever.
I remember watching it over and over back when I lived in Alacrapa
the fact that I ever lived in Alabama is disturbing..bleh.

One of my el favorito videos of him..his dancing is a-freakin-mazing

.Oi Oi.

First off, I'm freezing!
How can it be SO cold this far into June!?
I don't get it. I guess it's what you get when
you live in the mountains. Bleh. I want to be
living off of this mountain by the end of the summer.
Seriously, I am sitting here at 7 am wrapped in a big
blanket because I can hardly feel my feet! Brrrrrr!
So I hope everyone had a good Fathers Day!
Sadly, I didn't even get to talk to mine. Reasons unknown
{kind of} It's sad really, but ok, this is the way he
choses to be so I hate this word but "whatever"
We had a great day yesterday.
First, earlier in the week I thought I would be really clever
and take some pictures of the kids for Nico for Fathers Day.
Well...its nearly impossible getting them all home at once, that
alone was a feat!
Then...Corbins allerigies were off the hook and he did nothing
but wipe his eyes and sneeze, my poor son. I wish he wasn't
so allergic to the outdoors. Especially now, there is so much
pollen in the air it looks ridiculous outside! I went and
washed the car on Friday afternoon, and by the time they called
me over to the car to tell me it was finished, it was already covered
in pollen. Ugh.
So for Fathers Day we went to Laguna Beach...fun!
Dom wasnt with us because he's down in Oceanside spending time
with friends..{from the sounds of it, having loads of fun}!
So back to the beach talk...
We had mucho fun! It was a nice relaxing day and Im glad that Nico
was able to have a day of sun and fun! He is addicted to Lucas and
I think could just follow him around all day..Lucas always says, "Come
on Dad, follow me," Nico does.
Here are pictures from the last two events!

Really, all Lucas was interested in was dancing.

















Fathers Day at Laguna Beach
{I have to mention that I took my old camera to the beach with us,
and I forgot to switch the lens on it so the only lens I had was
my kit lens that doesnt auto-focus anymore so everything had to
be manualy focused which kind of throws spur of the moment pictures
out the window} So bummed!

A picture of a house Nico liked.




no idea how Lucas walked on these barefoot!



Nico, Brenna & Lana wayyy over there in the water.







Nico on chicken rock. He was JUST about to jump when the lifeguard came
and told him that the tide was too off for him to jump...bummer, next time!



Nico holding a tiny crab in his tire-guy hands.







Oh do I LOVE living in California. How amazing is this view?













Happy Monday!
I have a session tonight that is a very special one. I can't wait to
be a part of this awesome event!

.Wowsers.

It's been SO long since I blogged!!
I have been SO incredibly busy the past couple of
weeks, and on top of all that, being sick...bleh!
I have finally started feeling better though.
Today marked the last day of school for all of my sprogs!
Dominic is offically a 7th grader, Brenna is officially a
Sophmore and Corbin has entered the world of being a Senior!
That's intense people! It seems like Corbin just started high
school and now...almost done. Even though he kind of looks at
school like a long sentence in a labor camp, I am still quite
proud of him. Im proud of all my "youngins" {ugh that word}
So, whats new.
Last weekend I feel as though I lived in the car. Got up on Saturday,
went to San Diego to meet with a family at Seaport Village for a big
family session with them...loved them! I think I love all my clients
though, gosh darn it, they are always such sweet people!
Seeing familys interact with one another during their sessions though,
all the aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents...is so cool to see but
at the same time it reminds me that my family is so jacked up. Pardon
the slang but that's the term that comes to mind. Its sad actually.
Nothing is as its meant to be. Aunts being nice to their nieces and
nephews??? Unheard of! Grudges are a bastard, especially when
they are held onto so tightly.
Anyways, back to Seaport Village...yah, the family I had the shoot
with were super sweet! After my session I came ALLLLLLL the way home
and got Nico, Dominic and Lucas, and we all headed down towards
Malibu for the night because I had a shoot there the next day.
We ended up staying in Woodland Hills {Whoa Whoa a little shout out
for Alana}! We had fun! We didnt get that FOREVER because my stupid
GPS took us thru downtown LA late at night right when there was something
big letting out at the Staples Center. Finally we settled into our hotel
room, showered, watched mindless tv and fell asleep. The next morning,
like complete dorks, Lana and I went and found Dash LOL. The store that
the girls on Keeping up with the Kardashians run..or at least appear
on tv to run {I bet they are only there like 5 days out of the month
for filming} So ya, we saw that, and drove away thinking, "hmmm, wow,
big deal"
We went to Target to get some stuff for the beach and the whole time
I think Alana was convinced she was going to somehow see Kristen
Stewart since that is her hometown. Trust me she about peed her pants
when she found out that the very same day WE were in Woodland Hills getting
gas somewhere...SO was K-Stew {Oh my gosh it was a Christmas miracle}!!!!
Afterwards, we went to Malibu, did the shoot {another big family} had fun
in the sun, Lucas and Dominic ran the beach and we headed for home..I was so
drained by then!
ALLLLLLL that traveling around and activity and not a picture was taken.
But, I do have picture...so here goes.

Here is a part of my view when Im driving around the lake.



Lucas playing in the den



kisses



Lana



Brenna and Dom



pictures from today with Brenna






Brenna took over the camera













love & goodnight

{Baron & Asia}

Go here http://2ndstoryblog.blogspot.com/ to check them out! It was a gorgeous
yummy day!!

{ xoxo } 2ndStory | So Cal | Lifestyle Photographer

{New Moon}

How could I forget this!?
One of my favorite parts of the book even!
I loved Bellas birthday party...
Cant wait for November!!



What did you think of their kiss or lack thereof at the MTV movie
awards? Were you bummed?
Did you like how Kristen dropped her golden popcorn!? OOPS!

Thoughts on the trailer??

*cough*

I haven't blogged on here for days, I was sick ALL weekend and
still am. I got Brennas killer cold and I feel like I have cracked
a few ribs from coughing..ugh!
Im over it.
I just want to post some pictures from Doms school program and from
my day down in Anahiem with Fia! Yah!

This is the view from Dominics school..nice huh?









Dom sitting at his desk in his classroom





a poem Dom wrote for school..






Dom and his Math teacher



Dom and his choir teacher



some cool people in the crowd :)



I was sitting behind Corbin and thought hmmm...
Thankfully those holes are getting smaller.




late Daddy..[he had to work]



Dom very happy to see us.



And so these are a few pictures from my visit with Fia and Nile..
Oh I miss them SO much!

Sofia and Luca at Peets coffee in Newport Beach



a cool little spider web that had collected dew on it



the aftermath at Sprinkles



Lana lookin fly [see me and Sofia in her glasses?]



mmmmmmmm



Lucas waiting in line at Sprinkles





Me and Fia



Swiper no swipping



Nile sitting at his laptop



Lucas loves "bangels"



Sofia lookin lush





Im still coughing...Im so tired.