It was nearly 10 years ago when I first started working with this family…he was just a baby, then. I am so impressed with the intelligent, caring, funny, creative young man that he has grown into. His mommy and daddy should be very, very proud! I am honored to know ALL of them ;-). One of my favs HERE.

I’ve been photographing him since he was still in his mommy’s tummy and a little while ago, I got to work with him on his SIXTH birthday! Wow, wow, wow! We celebrated along South Congress by letting him speed around on his scooter in his awesome blue suede shoes. Believe it or not, it was REALLY hot that day, so we took a little break inside Home Slice Pizza to cool off while he enjoyed a delicious slice of pizza. Then we visited Hey, Cupcake! followed by a giant lemon, lol. He did amazing the entire evening, even though it was so ridiculously hot. And I have to say, his mommy looked SO beautiful and happy to be hanging out with her birthday boy. Love this ALL boy pic HERE.

The post I’m about to show you is probably one of the most incredible homes/properties I’ve ever had the pleasure of working in in Austin. SO much history with this home and it thrills me to think that there is a modern day family with their two energetic and happy little girls living here and enjoying every little charm this place has to offer. My jaw hit the floor over and over again with each little nook we got to explore and I just kept saying over and over again how lucky these children are to get to grow up in such a magical place.

One of the things that really struck me was how kids are kids, no matter what their environment…zooming down this elegant hallway on a stuffed zebra ride-on. How fun is that??????

And then we went outside…jaw on floor again.

Don’t miss my fav pic by this antique cart HERE.

It’s as if that gorgeous light was there as solely to enhance the magic and beauty of these sweeties and the property.

Once again modern + childlike meets historic + natural.

Even the pupsters put on some fun faces for us!

But the ultimate was this majestic old oak tree. Wow. Just wow!

Love that we got to go fishing ;-).

And also love her cute little face up there 😉

As much as I shared their love for this amazing place, I think what I loved most about this session was how down-to-earth and laid back mom and dad were. They were completely engaged with their kids and were game for getting on the ground to play with them throughout my time there. Sure, these girls are going to have wonderful memories in this home, but those memories will be mostly due to the fact that their parents helped make those memories *with* them!

You truly cannot go wrong when you #1 let your family photo session take place at your own home and #2 you let your boys just be themselves and do the things they like to do. It creates an opportunity to capture their childhood in such a real and authentic way…an invaluable gift to give your children that they may not fully appreciate until years and years down the road. These boys are beautiful, yes, but their smiles are genuine because they were genuinely having a wonderful time and the love is visible because their parents were so incredibly relaxed. And then you add the underwater photography and yup, perfection all around. Check out the black and white version of one of my favorite color images blogged HERE.

When I first learned that my daughter would have to start going to gymnastics in Cedar Park 4 days a week this spring (which is about a 30-45 min. drive one way), I was none too pleased. But thanks to a tip from Katie (who also did Rebecca’s beautiful hair and makeup for this photo shoot ;-)), I chose to make the trips to Cedar Park EXTRA worth my while by taking classes at the new Pure Barre studio that had opened there. And that’s where I officially met Rebecca, the owner of this Pure Barre studio. It was so much fun to get to see her outside of the barre…all dressed up and without her headset ;-). Her family is pretty amazing, too, and I was totally smitten with her son. Sure, he has a lot of energy (what little kiddo this age doesn’t?), but he’s got a great sense of wonder and enthusiasm for *everything* around him and you can’t help but to be drawn into that with him.

Loving the family snuggles up there!

So precious, the two of them. Dad is soooooo tall. Baby boy is soooooo small. Love the contrast between the two of them, knowing that one day, he’ll be just as tall (if not taller than) his daddy.

When I’m running in Cedar Park, I often pass this amazing rock wall. It looks prehistoric to me, with the ferns and greenery growing out of it. I was so happy to finally get to use it as a backdrop.

This. Dress. Um. Wow. Does it not show off that Pure Barre definition perfectly?

Such a handsome young man! We did have to have Mickey Mouse along for the photo session, too. By the way, his dad does a SPOT on Mickey voice!

This last photo is one of my favs from the session. While I’m usually pretty decisive when it comes to color vs. black and white, I happen to love both versions equally.

Rebecca…thank you so much for getting up soooooooo early to take these pictures and you did a fantastic job pulling everything together. I feel so lucky that barre has introduced me to so many people I might never have met otherwise, and that absolutely applies to you!!! I respect and admire what you’ve put into your studio and what you are giving your clients with each and every class!

He is caring, curious, clever, and creative. He is adventurous, a voracious reader, a talented writer, an excellent artist, has a wonderful laugh, is SUPER fast, loves his mama and his pup and his father, and it’s a pleasure to get to hang out in his world each year for a little bit. I love that he totally wanted to create *with* me and he was so into our experiment with the prism. Look out for him one day, world, because he is going to do amazing things.

Beth is a beautiful person with a radiant smile. Her son’s laughter is completely contagious. And her hubby is so incredibly patient while letting us play at our photo sessions. And everyone was beyond patient as we tried to get this photo session actually to happen! Every now and then, I’ll travel to the Houston area and usually, it’s not a big production. But it seems like for this trip, each time I would pack up and get ready to leave, there would be torrential rain and historic flooding. So, about a month after we had actually planned to do this photo shoot, we were able to get together. I’m glad we waited it out because we could not have asked for more amazing weather or more beautiful blue skies!

Flowers = gorgeous. Mosquitoes = annoying. But everyone is still smiling!

Ohhhhhh…that one up there through the jasmine? Look at his look…his smize…the protective love he has for his mommy in those eyes and in those hands that still have a trace of baby chub.

And I was LOVING the colors and patterns here!

Mr. Man decided he wanted to play hide-and-seek with us. I’m certain you won’t be able to find him…

Meghan Trainor look-alike, no?

Favity fav from this session is a tie between that jasmine photo and this one HERE.

Seriously, he can have anything he wants. Those sparkly eyes! His coy smile! What a charmer!

Things you should know about this session:

1. These boys got to be 100% themselves. Pretty much everything you see up there are things that *they* invented…including the heart shadow.

2. They kept me on my toes. But that’s good because it allowed me to get creative.

3. They are amazing brothers and get along so incredibly well. Yeah…I may have a bit of envy in wishing my boys loved each other as much as these two do ;-).

Favity fav from their photo shoot HERE.

These brothers stole my heart when I first met them at my holiday mini sessions last year and I was VERY happy to get to see them again when the wildflowers were in full bloom. They had me cracking up pretty much the entire time. Their smiles are infectious and it’s just not difficult to draw out their personalities on camera at all. I love their energy and their enthusiasm and most of all, their LOVE for one another. It makes my heart happy. THIS image also makes my heart happy.

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… We are a family of 3 + 3 pups. Our dogs are part of our family! Dad works in Healthcare Sales. Mom worked in Finance until recently and is now at home. Little is in 1st grade and enjoys all sorts of extracurricular activities, including Girl Scouts, gymnastics, horseback riding, soccer and kickball.

2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? It’s been about 2 years since our last session. We missed a year because we were moving and renovating a house. So it was time…I hate that we missed a year because we treasure these professional photos so much!

3) Where was your session held and why? In the wildflowers. Because, WILDFLOWERS! We had never had professional photos done in the bluebonnets before and they were fantastic this year, so it worked out perfectly.

4) What did you like about your session location? Flowers!

5) What was your favorite part of your session? It was an adventure! We had to hike through some pretty big grass to get to the one patch of yellow flowers. Something none of us will soon forget! I love that Michele is willing to take the risk to get the perfect shot! [Um, I was shaking I was so skeered. The grass was much taller than what I originally thought. I was very impressed that they were game for the adventure!]

6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? Well I always worry about whether my daughter will cooperate. But I’m unsure why at this point as Michele always makes it work no matter the mood. My daughter LOVES her, as do we!

7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? Yes, aforementioned hiking through tall dense grasses. Ha!

8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Try and relax leading up to it(advice to myself included). Michele will take care of everything and your photos will be spectacular! [Thank you, dear!]

9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? The first time because I was impressed by what I saw on the website. And we keep going back because her work is amazing!

10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? That we had fun taking them and they are glad we have them to look at and remember our life along the way.

Pinkle’s FAV from this session HERE!