dinoland at zilker botanical garden

yay for fridays with daddy! we all went to the zilker botanical garden with some friends on friday to see the dinoland exhibit. it was so much fun!


here we all are minus daddy. somebody had to take the picture. =)


we were sure k's bright green shoes left the green dino tracks on the sidewalk on the way to the exhibit.

jonah could not WAIT to see the "nenos!"

oh and btw, he can say "di" and "no", but for some reason he can't/won't say them together. go figure.

they had these really cool dinos all around the park that different classes and groups painted and decorated. this was my favorite one.

this was the first giant dino we saw. jonah loved it! hey, outta the way, dude.

we were so psyched that daddy could come with us!

"neno..."

"...tail!"


i love this picture. look how fascinated jonah is and daddy just enjoying the moment.

here's what they're looking at. two dinos squaring off to fight. one's a carnivore; one's an omnivore.

k had to explain to t that the dinos weren't really going to fight before our eyes. the tour guide at the last dino said there were two dinos up ahead getting ready to fight. i think he might have thought we were really going to see a show.



the boys checkin' out the birdie nenos.

jonah brought his own nenos from home.


yikes.


look at this neno, mama!



jonah sees the little dino in the egg: "baby neno."

then he points at the large dino: "mama neno."

telling the really sweet volunteer about his dino adventure today.

we should go see this one next, guys.

a little dinosaur statue humor for your face...




no fear. check out my neno, neno!


a dino with a message on our way out.

mad we had to leave.

really mad actually.


ok, don't be confused. after the nenos we went to see the nemos. jonah calls all fish nemo. even if they're not orange.

i know you're thinking "5 bucks that dino takes a nose dive into the water". but no. that kid has a death grip on those suckers. (check out the reflection)

awe, don't be coy.



diggin' for dino bones in the sand pit by the pond.

i was at zilker botanical garden. i had to at least get one picture of a flower.

the rest of the photos on smugmug

they're jumpin' in!

carla and swarup are two of my dear and wonderful friends from our old church... home church... what do i call it? from christ community back in illinois. swarup is actually a longhorn, so that's given us quite a bit to talk about. and it was great when carla & swarup came down to austin to visit his family. we were able to hook up for dinner while they were in town, which is always fun getting to visit with old friends!

then when we were getting ready to head back to illinois at the end of september for jonah's 2nd birthday and to visit with friends and family, i set up a whole bunch of sessions for friends and former clients who were interested in doing holiday sessions. i was super excited when swarup and carla contacted me about doing their engagement photos! so without further ado, here we goooo...

these were all taken at island park in geneva. after doing six sessions, our own family session, my brother's senior pictures and a puppy session that week i feel like i know this park like the back of my hand... hey, where did that wrinkle come from?

this was down by the train bridge. aren't they adorable?



after i got this shot all lined up carla wanted to do something crazy. i wouldn't let them discuss with each other what they were going to do. dave noticed they're almost spelling "TX". hmmm... foreshadowing? i know we wouldn't mind if you guys decided to move south a bit. =)

i love this one...






the set up for this shot was quite entertaining. we almost lost swarup into the river once or twice, but he made it. i think we were kind of hoping to get them both up there on that branch, but i think i veto'd it. that's all i needed was to have to fish them out of the stinky ol' fox river and then give them both piggy back rides off the island to the emergency room.

check out the bling!

i can't remember where i got the idea for this one. i know i've seen it somewhere. but at the time i couldn't remember exactly how they did it, so we sort of played around with this until we got a nice little heart...

and just a little different angle...

man, i've got to make a stop motion film out of this next set of pics. i set my camera on continuous capture and just fired away. but seriously, this was hilarious watching these two work this out. you should have seen the planning, the counting, the jumping at the same time and of course the grass stains. but i think they turned out awesome! great job, you two! so much energy! so much excitement!

and this is where the title for this post came from, btw.


so happy. so in love. doesn't it just make you smile?


congratulations, swarup & carla! and thanks so much for allowing me to capture your relationship as it's just beginning to blossom! you guys are awesome!