Little Pink Coat

I thought about taking the kids in to Salem this morning to take some pictures of them with the cherry blossoms at the capital mall but the weather forecast just wasn't that pretty. I just didn't want to drag the three of us all the way into town only to have it rain and waste gas and parking meter money. So instead we settled on a short photo shoot at the city park. Why? Because it's only a 2 minute drive, doesn't cost anything to park, and the weather was nice at the moment but could go nasty at any time. Not a hard decision.

We spent a little over 30 minutes taking photos on the bridge and along the pathway next to the creek. Grace loved the bridge but the sun was a little too bright which caused the lighting to be too harsh for my liking. The sun went behind the clouds a few times which helped me out a little. We also had to dodge a guy walking his dogs and another Mom out for a stroller ride. I expect there will be a lot more people to work around as the weather clears! Ethan really didn't like the bridge. He was terrified to move and was cried unless he was holding on to me. That got old and since the sun wasn't cooperating we moved on.

I spotted the park bench and we headed over to it and I did my best to get Grace to look at the water but she was far too interested in the construction equipment moving around behind her which didn't help me out. Directing a preschooler during a photo shoot is an exercise in extreme patience. She did bear with me and happily ran (when I asked her specifically to walk slowly) along the pathway for a few cute shots. She really doesn't walk, does more of a running prance but I'll take what I can get.

I tried to include Ethan in the shoot but he's just not feeling well today and was most happy hanging on to me or following Grace. He has a snotty nose (teething? a cold? who knows!) and a scrape on his nose to boot. I think he's cute anyways.

I promise that the daffodil the kids are holding in some of these pictures was not picked by us. I found it dirty and laying in the grass and handed it to the kids as a prop. Small kids always seem to do better with something in their hands! I couldn't talk Ethan into smelling it no matter how much sniffing I did to show him what I wanted him to do. He looked at me like I had two heads and flailed the poor flower about instead.

On the way to the car the kids discovered daisies in the grass and spent some time picking me all sorts of lovely flowers. They were so kind and loving in giving me a whole pile of daisies and dandelions and of course I told them they were the most beautiful flowers ever. And really, what mom thinks otherwise? I love getting flowers from my kids!

Nothing says I love you more then a bouquet of smashed up dandelions and mangled daisies given with a heart full of love and muddy fingers!

The pink coat and hat Grace is wearing were mine when I was a little girl. They're still a smidgen big for Grace but she's definitely wearing it for Easter this year. I didn't trust her to wear her silk Easter dress to the park so she wore her favorite dress instead. I think it matches the coat perfectly and happens to be 100% cotton and entirely washable which was my main criteria. Her tights and shoes got more then a little muddy, but we sure had fun!