last week we went on a nature walk....

the girls were out of school on Election Day so I took a day off work to go on a little adventure with them. we headed out to one of our favorite local spots....Jeffrey Mansion in Bexley....for a little nature walk.

i haven't taken many photos of things other than scrapbooking projects over the past three months because i've been burning the candle at both ends with the Team Fitness program i was in (more details on that soon). so, i had a double motive. i wanted some fall pictures of the girls.

fall is my most favorite season of all. :)

we loaded Spidergirl up on her daily allergy meds, packed water bottles, grabbed a few ziplocks and took of for an adventure with the camera.

i was afraid we had waited too long on getting good fall color in the photos, but as usual, the landscape at the mansion didn't disappoint. i took 250+ photos in less than an hour.

they were both enamoured with the beauty, gasping at every little detail. we obviously don't go on these types of walks often enough now that i'm working outside the home. taking them on day trips to just be outdoors and explore our town is what i miss most about not being a stay at home mom. :(

listening to them giggle, and run with wild abandon. and hollering "mooooooooooooom, look!"

Spidergirl was all about gathering leaves....one of every color, shape & size. until, she found the acorns. then she stuffed her pockets like a chipmunk stuffing their cheeks. full.

at one point she stopped, totally dumbfounded, holding an acorn high up in the air and said "i can't believe it. it's a butt-guy." cutest thing ever!

i laughed and laughed and laughed. butt guy = buckeye. but it was just an acorn. gosh, i love this kid.

then, it was back to the leaves.

"it's huuuuuuuuuuuuge."

at this point she was starting to feel the effects of being allergic to mold & trees & grass & oak &, on and on and on. itchy, watery eyes. so we wrapped up our little adventure and made our way to the mulched play area shortly after this photo.

allergies turn her into a grumpalump.

i loooooooooooooooove this picture of the two of them. it is the exact definition of their relationship. there wouldn't be any other photo to describe them more accurately.

occassionally they will put their differences aside, drop their guard and show each other some love. oh, how this mama wishes it would be way more often than it is though. they have one of the coolest sisterly bonds i've ever seen. but, man, do they ever do their share of bickering. *sigh* all would be right in the world if i could just figure out how to squelch the bickering.

ashlyn is such a little mother hen though and adores her sister sooooooooo much. even her teachers comment about how much she adores & talks about her when we go to conferences.

this photo below reminds me of the song "Safe" by Phil Wickham. loooooooove it. so very much.

at this point it's quite obviously that emma was pretty much done with the camera. she's not a huge fan of having a camera in her face. she pretty much only likes to make silly faces for the camera. i was so lucky to get some natural (aka normal) looking shots. i know when i get this 'cheese' face that she's had enough.

but i was able to get one more out of her....

before she pulled out the attitude. this one totally cracks me up. it's a typical "emma" face that we see on a daily basis, usually when we ask her to put the snacks back and wait for dinner, or ask her to put her shoes by the door, or brush her teeth, or........anything she doesn't want to do really.

but, ashlyn, on the other hand, she's my shutterbug. she might just turn out to be in public relations, broadcasting, teaching, modeling, or any occupation that has her front and center.

she's such a natural in front of the camera.

she was more than willing to smile for me. i let her call the shots and just watched her creative little brain go to work. i didn't pose her or ask her to change her expression at all, i just followed her around and took the photos while spidergirl stuffed her pockets with butt guys. LOL.

she's got an eye for what works, i tell ya. :)

but this one...............oh my. she looks so grown up.

there is another full body shot that i haven't posted because i'm not gonna lie, it freaks me out a little bit. it made me feel like i was looking at her senior pictures. this one does too, but not as much. flash forwards are NOT okay. when did she get so big!?

anywho. before we left the piles of crunch leaves to go practice our soccer skills in the large open field, ashlyn wanted to take some pictures. who am i to turn that down? she's learning how to use my camera, the zoom and composition primarily.

hey, look. a picture of myself that isn't half bad.

and this one is totally for the grandparents. they are always saying how much emma looks like me.......and i'm always saying how much she looks like my mom did. and this picture shows 'em both. family resemblences are so amazing don'tcha think?

now, i just have to decide which one of these to have printed on a 20x16 canvas through Photo-Canvas. suggestions?

i keep thinking i want to print one from this post, but is it silly to have one printed from 2 years ago?

help a girl out, would ya?