I remember growing up, having a pool, and swimming for hours on end.  Or going to the beach all day and jumping in the pool when we got home.  Swimming until our fingers and toes wrinkled, spending summer days creating and performing synchronized swimming routines with my sister after we were inspired by the Olympics, and forcing my parents to sit through a painful performances of said routines.  Summers spent poolside seems like a dream childhood to me. 

So I was doubly excited to photograph a family with amazing kids AND a pool.  I even got to swim with them to get some of their images!  Every season that passes looks different than it did the year before.  Life is always changing, but it seems like it passes at an accelerated pace when you watch your babies grow up and be real kids.  I have had the pleasure of knowing this family since their youngest child was tucked in her mama’s tummy.  Shortly after I shot these photos for them, that “baby” got her first haircut.  When I saw her mom’s post on Facebook, I immediately thought of the photo of her mother braiding her hair.  I’m sure this little blondie has lots of braids in her future, but there is always the before and the after.  It always feels a little different after, and we hold onto the sweetness of the memories of the before.

Some of my favorite photos from this session was dad’s love of the kitchen and cooking, and also, who doesn’t appreciate home made pizza??  I love how excited the kids were to work with dad in the kitchen, especially their oldest daughter, being that she’s more capable and more focused (as the other two ran from the kitchen to play hide and seek).  And on a day like this one, you can see why parents are tired . . . from an afternoon in the pool to baths and dinner and clean up and games and it wasn’t even bed time yet.  Every summer seems to fly by in a blink, which is why it’s so important to document where you are, right now.