Each October Guerneville Elementary School holds an awesome Halloween Carnival and fundraiser put on by the F.O.G.S organization. It is so much fun! Along with the fun of games and activities is a pretty impressive raffle. No joke the local businesses and families donate some fantastic items (do not miss it this year!). I added in a gift certificate for a mini family session and The lovely Throop family were the lucky winners!
I really enjoyed getting to meet Maile and her family. We actually had another location in mind when we set up her session. However a day or two before I messaged them saying I found this awesome place close by that had a great view and lovely light and asked if they would be interested. Thankfully they were and the evening sunset and gorgeous backdrop did not disappoint!
Here we have the sweet and sassy Miss Zoe being totally adorable!
Child Photography
Followed by the stunning Miss Micayla. She is such a natural in front of the camera and from what I could see an awesome big sister!
High school Senior/Teen
I don’t like to let the parents think they can get away from the spotlight too easily lol. I also captured some shots of mom and dad being love birds together. Such a beautiful and loving couple. The light was perfection here along the Russian River.
Now images of the whole family together. I love capturing families connecting and relaxed in addition to the posed photos.
After all the official photos it was fun to also capture some always popular (with the kids) rock tossing into the river as the last of the sunset slipped behind the trees.
Thank you so much Throop Family for trusting me with your family memories! If you want your own family photos along the Russian River or among the Redwood Forest please contact me today…I cant wait to capture the magic of your life!
What is Fall without a trip to the local pumpkin patch?
I fondly recall the Fall adventure with my 3 older childrens kindergarten classes to the pumpkin patch. My youngest “baby” is now in kindergarten (still hard for me to accept). I had been truly looking forward to helping chaperone this fun experience.
The journey starts with all the kids loading on to the bus. As mentioned this was not my first go round at a kindegarten field trip therfore I opted to drive myself;) I love those kids but the loud, stuffy, smelly bus full of germs…ya not so much. ha!
This was a new Pumpkin patch for me. It was a lovely scenic drive from the Russian River area across Sonoma County over to the rolling hills of Petaluma.
Peter’s Pumpkin Patch has it all! They are a real working dairy farm, how cool!? The kids where greeted by a sweet little lady farmer (I missed her name but she introduced herself as farmer ___). She explained the kids would need to
work like real farmers and they would be paid with ice cream! The kids LOVED that idea.
They got right to work first visiting the sweet calves the farm had. The calves weren’t camera shy at all and get a look at those eyelashes…..No mascara needed for those lovelies!
Next up it was on to milk the Dairy Cows! The kids, while somewhat hesitant thoroughly enjoyed getting to be up close and see how to milk the cows. Squeals and giggles filled the air as each child had a turn with the farmer learning the proper technique.
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Soon after they loaded up and headed out on the tractor pulled trailer to find pumpkins. I found it extra cool they actually had to pick the pumpkins (no pre cutting here). They all spent time carefully browsing the patch for the perfect pumpkin.
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Then it was time for the next job…digging up potatoes! I think us adults had as much if not more fun than the kids with this. The kids collected 3 potatoes each. I personally grabbed a few more to purchase for my family. (they made excellent mashed potatoes!) The farmer here was also fantastic. He explained all sorts of fun potato farming techniques and facts to us.
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
It was time to head back up to the main area of the pumpkin patch where the kids fueled up with lunch before tackling the corn maze and corn pit. If you have never played in a corn pit, just do it! They are awesome!
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
Documentary Photography
After all that playing the Farmers made good on their promise and paid the kids with their fresh homeade ice cream! A choice of vanilla or pumpkin flavor was offered. I could not pass up on the ice cream myself and purchased a cup of the pumpkin. As I write this I still am craving more, it was so yummy! It was almost like a pumpkin cheesecake filling. Absolutely delicious!!
Documentary Photography
All good things must come to an end so after a few more runs up and down the giant hay pyramids back on the bus they went. All in all a pretty awesome day. Beautiful weather and a very cool pumpkin patch.
I hope you all don’t mind when I share some of my personal stuff here on my blog. I find it fun to share with you all how I document my own everyday life magic. Also I’d love to hear about your favorite Sonoma County pumpkin patch or other Fall traditions you may have Please share in the comments section below.
If you are interested in scheduling a Fall Family Photo Session please contact me here. I have an awesome Mini Session Deal going at the moment. I will also be having Tree Farm Holiday Photo Sessions very soon as well. I look forward to hearing from you.
