Yesterday you saw one of my (many) cousin’s families… and today you get to see another!
I realized after this session how lucky I was to get to spend this time with my cousins and their children. As most of you know, I have a huge extended family. My mom is 1 of 9 kids, and all together (last time I counted anyway) there are 35 grandchildren. Because of the sheer size of our family and span of ages between all of us cousins – I don’t get to spend as much time with those not in my ‘age group’ much. So having this session with my cousin Mike and his wife Michelle’s family gave me time to get to know their kids and see their family interact for really the first time in my life. (Of course we see each other at holidays – but that isn’t for an hour-long session of one-on-one time, and the kids usually run to another room to hang out/play.)
The thing that struck me most while I was spending time with their family is how close they all are (and what good kids they have)! It was refreshing to see kids this age who actually respect and listen to their parents (while also poking fun at them and having a blast together, mind you). It seems like now-a-days so many kids I see are used to running the show in their households that they don’t seem to have a lot of respect for people around them, especially their parents. Honestly, as cheesy as it may seem, watching Mike and Michelle with their children gave me hope for my own *future* family. So often when I picture having kids with James – I imagine them in their baby stages, and rarely think further than the age of my niece/nephews. But seeing their family together had me picturing James and I laughing with our kids… telling jokes, and teasing each other. And it made me really excited for our future. (So thank you for that Mike & Michelle!)
This session was also an interesting one for me because I don’t normally get to work with older kids. I’m not sure what it is – but I tend to book sessions with kids ranging from newborn to about 3 years old. So, having grown kids to work with was a refreshing change for me! It was so weird (but amazing!!) to be able to ask them to do something and have them do it! ha ha
Anyway – I’m talking away – and all you guys want to do is see some pictures! So go ahead, look at Mike and Michelle’s beautiful, fun-loving family… I had a blast at this session! 🙂
I may have to start renting our their backyard for sessions back in Wisconsin… It’s so picturesque, isn’t it?! 🙂
