Wagner Road Trip 2015 - Vacation Recap

Okay, okay... so, I've been gone an entire year... but, a friend asked me if I was going to blog about our recent road trip and I told her I would. So, without further ado... here's a quick recap of our Wagner Road Trip 2015!

First stop, the Pacific Northwest. Mount Rainier was beautiful and we saw it on a (mostly) cloudless day...something I'm told doesn't happen too often! The wildflowers were also just starting to bloom. The Grove of the Patriarchs trail was phenomenal... So many massive trees!

Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park off the Pacific coast was beautiful. The rugged rocks off the coast are called sea stacks. The water was cold and as you can see, we definitely needed warm clothes. The starfish, sea cucumbers and sea anemones could easily be seen because it was low tide. The bottoms of the rocky sea stacks were covered with them!

Hiked through the HOH Rain Forest of Olympic National Park. Lush and green! It's amazing how the landscape can change so dramatically!

Possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. North Cascades National Park was a definite favorite. The water in this picture was truly turquoise (No Photoshop needed here!) Roaring waterfalls were at every turn from the melting snow. It was very beautiful! (My heart goes out to the victims of the recent ice cave collapse that occurred in North Cascades National Park. Such a tragedy.)

Words can hardly describe the beauty of Glacier National Park in Montana. We hiked and explored as much as we could in our two short days there. The bear in the picture was foraging alongside the road and we were lucky to be close enough to get a great picture of him. The picture of the reflected mountain is a totally legit picture taken by me.

White water rafting in the Salmon River. Randy's friend owns a rafting and guide business in Stanley, Idaho and he invited us to spend the afternoon rafting! So much fun! 

Arches National Park in Moab, Utah is one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been. What must have occurred here thousands, upon thousands of years ago to form these incredible arches and rock formations is truly mind boggling. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this national park, it is well worth the visit! 

Canyonlands National Park in Utah was such a stark contrast to Arches NP. Canyonlands is literally across the highway (or the Moab Fault) from Arches. After checking out all of the canyon overlooks, Randy convinced us that his GPS tracked a "shortcut" back to Moab that was only 18 miles. Um, that shortcut was an off-road 4x4 trail that was NOT a shortcut at all. We spent over two hours off-roading on Little Canyon Road. Fun? Maybe for Randy...

Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado has been on my bucket list of national parks for quite some time. These cliff dwellings were established approximately 800 years ago. And trust me when I say, they were under a cliff overhang, over a deep canyon! The Ranger guided tours were very informational and interesting. Hard to imagine people actually lived there!

And finally, 

Thank you to this guy for researching, planning and plotting our road trip adventures for the last four years! 25 National Parks and counting...

It's SPRING Break!

So, the girls are at soccer camp this week. All week.  All day.  And they are having a blast so far.  This is their third year to attend this Spring Break camp and it has been all Elisan could talk about for the last week of school.

I think they needed a break. Having multiple ice days and late starts at school was no consolation to their need for a break.  However, I'm a little bummed that Easter is so late this year...  That means our next break is still a long way aways.

Over the weekend, I brought the girls out to buy a dress.  Randy's brother is getting married in early May and I wanted to get them a dress as soon as the new Spring dresses hit the stores.  So, Kyla is basically a stick with legs up to her neck so finding a dress that fit her in all manners of speaking - length and bodice was no easy feat.  In fact, when we found a dress that fit her in the bodice, I pretty much decided that we were done with her.  And truth be told, it's a cute little dress and she will be beautiful in it.  That is, if she can keep her shins and knees from getting banged up between now and the wedding.

Elisan was a bit more picky about her dress.  The first problem is that she is 12 and in 7th grade and doesn't want to shop in the girls' section any more.  She wants to shop in the juniors section.  Unfortunately, she's just a wee bit small to fit into most of the jrs. clothes.  Thankfully, after trying on... oh, I don't know 20 dresses, she found the dress she wanted.  (A word to the wise... take pictures of them in every dress they try on so they can remember what they loved and didn't love about each one!  That's my TIP of the day!)

The picture doesn't do this dresses justice but I did want to show you what we ended up with!

Elisan wants to wear a long turquoise pendant with this bright coral dress and her cowboy boots.  Hmmmm, I'm okay with the pendant, but the boots?  At least not for the wedding.

In case you're wondering... and I know you are... YES, I'm still counting calories and I'm still working out like a crazy woman.  And, YAY ME, I'm really beginning to notice changes in my arms, shoulders, butt and legs.  FINALLY.  This 40-something business is cramping my workout time-line. I was hoping for these results in February... NOT March.  But, it's all good.  I'm just glad my body is still capable to lift weights and run.  40-something isn't all that bad.

In honor of Spring Break, I've begun advertising for my SPRING MINI-SESSIONS!  I'm so excited about offering these mini-sessions!

If you want to book a spot, mention that you saw it on my Haphazard Happenstances blog and I'll take $10.00 off the session... making it only $65.00!  For more specific details, click on over to my photography website.

I'm off to my craft room to sew my little heart out.  I'm working on some super cute bunting to use in my spring photography sessions.  I'll be sure to post pictures of it when it's complete!

Happy Spring Break, y'all!

Where art thou?

Ooops, has it been a month already since I last posted on my blog?  That dang instagram is getting all of my love these days.

I wish I could tell you that life around here has been more than soccer practices and games, with a little bit of school volunteering thrown in for added stress… but I can't.  Because that's what the last month has amounted to.

I do admit, I have had a fun thing or two tossed in for good measure, but truthfully… not a whole lot going on.

However, in short, here's quick recap of the last month…

Fall soccer is over.  Kyla's team finished 4th place out of 11 teams and Elisan's team finished 4th place out of 12 teams.

Elisan's team had a amazing season with only 9 goals scored against them in 11 games.  (To give you a perspective… the first place team had 14 goals scored against them - they just won more games.)  And since Elisan is a goalie… well, that means she did a great job (along with our rocking defense.)

Kyla's team did well this year.  They came up against some fierce competition, but held their own. In fact, here's Kyla holding her own in last weekend's game.

I've had a few photo shoots this month and I've been very pleased with the results.  

There are times when I "think" I want to do this professionally (i.e. get paid), but I need to do a few more things (in the photography area) before I start.  One, upgrade my current camera.  Take a class on lighting.  More hands on training.

I recently had the opportunity to assist a friend who is an amazing photographer for a recent outdoor family photoshoot and a newborn photo shoot in her home studio.  It was such an awesome experience and was really eye opening into what needs to take place to get that perfect shot.

I believe that my photos have come a long way in the last two years, but I still have a ways to go.  Until then, I'm saving every dollar and selling anything/everything on eBay to save up enough money to upgrade my camera!

In other news, over the weekend, Randy brought us girls to the qualifying round for Formula One.  The Circuit of the Americans was JAM PACKED with people… and it wasn't even race day!

 I have my camera on a high shutter speed to capture this shot.  

These cars were going SUPER fast!

Sebastian Vettell… he has won 8 consecutive F1 races this year alone,

including the on in Austin over the weekend.

Finally, my birthday is coming in up in three weeks.  I'll be forty-one.  Yikes.  That is totally surreal to me, especially considering the fact I still feel 30.

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'...

It's already June 10th.  Heck practically June 11th from where I sit.  Did y'all know that?

Goodness, it's been a busy couple of days... Randy's in Taiwan, heading back tomorrow and we've been busy with our summer vacation planning.

But, in the middle of all of that, we've had lots of fun.  Been swimming, biking, running and hitting the local parks.

Randy bought us girls mountain bikes about a month ago and already twice this week, I've loaded the bikes in the back of the van and we've hit the biking trails around town and the nearby town.  LOTS of fun.  I never thought I'd enjoy bike riding so much, but I truly have.

Last weekend, my friend Cyndi and her kids Joey, Suzie and Elizabeth came for a visit!  We were so excited to see them.  Even though, they only live in Houston, we still don't get together but about once a year.  Sad, I know.

Anyway, I've known Cyndi since her oldest was 6 months old, so not only do we go way back, but the kids go way back as well.  What's nice is that their friendship (much like Cyndi's and mine) is seamless and we all pick up where we leave off every time we get together with them.  That's the mark of a true friendship!

Some exciting news on our front... Elisan made the TOP soccer team in her age division.  In two years, she has worked her way up from the third team to the first team.  That is virtually unheard of around here... but I tell you what, she has put forth the work required to make the leap she made and we are incredibly proud of her.  Her new coach is a fellow by the name of Wolfgang Sünholz a former professional soccer player.  (He even played with Pelé, probably the most famous Brazilian footballer of all times, back in the 70's.)

Speaking of Elisan, for posterity sakes, I wanted to publicly commend her for a fabulous school year.  This year, Elisan received the HIGHEST AVERAGE award for 5 of her classes - Math, Science, English/Language Arts, Literature and History.  At one point, they just asked her and another boy to just stay on the stage as they passed out her awards!  Talk about a proud mama moment!

Kyla was in the school's talent show the last day of school.  She was part of a trio of girls who danced and sang on stage!  She was so cute and I'm very proud of her for getting up there and performing.  (She says she suffers from "stage fright".... um, okay?)

And finally, I leave you with this... we had a free weekend morning and I brought the girls out to have their (better late than never) Spring pictures.

My girls are growing up... sniff, sniff.  (And, yes, they are wearing a smidgen of make up.)

December 11 - 25 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge

I recently had two photography sessions with two very good friend and their sweet children.   I am definitely enjoying stepping out of my comfort zone and taking photographs of other people.  But, I still have a lot to learn, in the way of positioning and capturing candid moments, but I know that with practice I'll get there.

This family is from the girls' school.  Ms. Molly and Kyla are in the same grade.  Molly is a hoot and I love this girl so much.  Her twin siblings, Sam and Stella are so adorable and full of life and energy.  I just want to squeeze their cheeks each time I see them!

Molly

Stella and Sam 

I've known this family for years and years and years!  I think Elisan was in first grade when I was first introduced to DeAnna and her two beautiful girls.  DeAnna is such a great friend and I'm glad to have her in my life.  Her daughter Taylor is strikingly beautiful and a very talented dancer.  Kendall is also a very talented dancer (taking after big sister!) and is just as cute as can be.

 

Kendall

 
 Taylor

  

Sweet Sisters

Um... not so sweet sisters?