Halloween across the street

This is the scene across the street from our house right now.  Our neighbors sure take this holiday seriously.  ;)

Pumpkins everywhere

We went to the pumpkin patch today...yes, AGAIN.  :) While my younger son ran amok, I took some pictures of all the pumpkins...just playing around.  I love this time of year, and I love the color orange. :)

Halloween party buddies

Tonight, the kids' school hosted a great Halloween party at a local restaurant, Boondock's.  Kids in costume got to play mini-golf for free.  There was a costume contest, lots of treats, goody bags, and friends.  We had a really nice dinner with great friends.  The kids had a blast!  Here they are looking at me over the balcony.  My son is the ninja, and his friends are a storm trooper, and a pirate. They all said "We don't have to smile in our costume, right?".  I agreed and they all gave me this stare.  ha ha!

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Today was my younger son's preschool class's Pumpkin Patch field trip. Those kids are adorable!  They had story time, sang songs, and seemed to have a lot of fun!  They even got a free mini-pumpkin at the end of the trip.  :)

A visit with my nephews

I have spent the last day and a half with my adorable, sweet nephews.  They are amazing.  I just love them to pieces.  They make me so happy.  I read so many stories to my older nephew - he just climbed into my lap and snuggled in.  SO awesome!  And, I had a blast swinging my nephew in his swing outside.  He just giggled and smiled the whole time.  Family is really everything, isn't it? 

Girls' weekend

My closest friend, Liz, and I went on a long awaited girls' weekend to Amelia Island for a wedding photography workshop this weekend.  This was the first time I've been away from either of my children for more than one night since they were born!  I was scared, but having Liz there with me made it so fun and totally worth it!  We've been friends for 15 years, since we met while I was in graduate school in 1997.  I just love her to pieces.  She's been through a lot lately...  more than most people would be able to handle.  I would do anything to take away her pain and life's difficulties and hurts from her.  However, what she doesn't see at the moment is that she has survived, is super-strong and extremely talented.  She is an amazing mom. She should be extremely proud of herself - I know I am proud of her.   I hope that she enjoyed this weekend as much as I did!  We sure learned a lot and had a blast shooting together.  Best part:  waking up at the crack of dawn to watch/photograph the sunrise together.  One day, we dream of going into business together.  It is amazing how much we have in common and how we could talk for hours without getting bored or running out of things to say.  We both have our masters in marine science, both work as biology teachers, both are obsessed with photography, both have two children....we even have the same birthday! We've come a long way, and I guess, we've changed a lot over the years, but we'll always be friends through thick and thin. 

I wanted to get a picture of us together, so I set up the tripod and did a timed shot of us in these beautiful woods.  

Sunrise

My best friend and I woke up super early to watch the sunrise (with our cameras, of course) in Amelia Island this morning. It was amazing.  We had so much fun - we didn't even talk for over an hour, but we were so involved in our photography that it didn't matter. I absolutely loved that kind of kinship.

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