Kumquats and such

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. First of all, I love candy.  And secondly, who doesn't like dressing up? It's even better when you can dress your kids up!  Here's a look back at our last four Halloween costumes... Reagan actually had two different monkey costumes for her first Halloween. Although we didn't trick-or-treat, we did dress her up and take her to some of our neighbor's houses for fun. The next year, Reagan and I were in Woodbridge visiting Grandma & Papa for Halloween. She was a hamburger and I was a hotdog. We took her to a local shopping center for their trick-or-treating and she was adorable! The next year, we became residents, once again, of Northern Virginia. Grandma, Papa & Uncle Geoffrey came over for pizza and trick-or-treating. We loaded Reagan up in the wagon and carted her from house to house. At first, one of us would walk up with her. By the third house, she was telling us, "I go all by me-self." I...

Although I had already done a mini session for Savannah's first birthday, I really wanted to photograph the girls at the beach. One morning, Jason and I loaded up the beach cart with the girls and took a long walk to the pier. Savannah's increased mobility made it somewhat challenging, but it also made it really fun! Jason was in charge of wrangling the beast and doing his best to position her while I captured some shots. Then we switched to the easy one:) Reagan has become so used to me and my camera that she just complies most of the time! And we did our best to get some of the girls together. Jason had the idea of making them play peek-a-boo and that worked out great! Finally, I wanted a few of him with the girls. They adore him. These are my favorites. This is my favorite one of Savannah. She's constantly on the move these days. Slowly losing those cute little arm rolls and growing into her own person. What a joy. This is probably my fav...

My Korean heritage predisposes me to a love of karaoke. That being said, every time we go to the beach, I beg Jason to take me to this bar just up the road that hosts karaoke 3 nights a week. So one night, Grandma & Papa took control of bedtime and let Geoffrey, Jason and I go out for the evening. It was an absolutely gorgeous night and the bar was packed! While the boys waited at the bar, I snagged some seats and played with the settings on my camera. Love the results! Here are my favorites. ( Wish I had taken pictures of some of the drinks I had that night...one was in a T-Rex-shaped bottle and another was in a shark-shaped mug. Good times. ) We had a wonderful evening and were home by 10:30. I think Grandma was disappointed that we didn't stay out all night:)

While we were at the beach, Jason drove to Camp Lejeune to attend a ceremony where they deactivated the last battalion he served in, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. We decided that was a perfect day to skip the beach and head to Manteo to visit the Christmas Shop! Reagan loves wake up slowly. Even after she's dressed and has eaten breakfast, she likes to relax in front of the TV. It's even better when she gets to cuddle with her Uncle Geoffrey. When I walked upstairs and saw this, I had to grab a shot. She adores him. And drives him nuts:) We had a wonderful time at the Christmas Shop, and Grandma and I got lots of stuff! After, we decided to grab some lunch and walk along the pier. Finally got an updated picture of the girls with Grandma & Papa. What a wonderful way to spend the day!

After patiently waiting for the red NO SWIMMING flag to finally skip a day, we were very happy to have some time in the water! Geoffrey & Jason immediately grabbed their boards and fins and headed for the waves. Well, almost immediately, someone else got to the fins first:) While they rode the waves, the girls played on the beach - enjoying the perfect chairs from Uncle Scott & Aunt Sheri! And I snapped some pictures. Savannah became a little obsessed with the seaweed on this day, clinging to handfuls of the stuff.  And Reagan just wanted a turn in the water. Papa joined us after his bike ride! And Grandma was there too, despite the lack of photographic evidence:) I decided to try my hand at boogie boarding. After about what seemed like 20 minutes, I finally fought passed the waves to get to a good spot to catch one...and then I learned how difficult it is to do that! Totally different from surfing (which...