Family Photo Day

The minute I got our Christmas photos back from Kelly last December, I knew I wanted to have her take some photos of my brother eventually. He and I don't exactly have a traditional relationship and I'm fairly certain we have NEVER (in his 16 years of existence) had our photos taken together professionally. The tricky part was scheduling a time with him. Teenagers are just so damn busy and hard to track down! Ha! But we were finally able to all get together.

Cody and his girlfriend, Kaelin, came over at 8AM two Saturdays ago. I woke up a grumpy husband and the four of us were off to Wekiwa Springs for the shoot. I tried FB messaging Kelly when we arrived but it wouldn't go through. Cell service was pretty shitty there! Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to find one another.

I explained to her months prior that I wanted some regular, nice photos and also some fun ones.

We started with the nice ones. Normal clothes. Normal poses.

While walking to our first photo spot, Kaelin did some kind of funny kick/dance move. Dustin and Cody just kind of looked at her like she had lost her mind. It turned out she had some weird bug stuck to her shoe and her first reaction was to try and kick the air. Cody eventually flicked it off with a stick. I had missed it because I was further up with Kelly but Dustin and Cody witnessed it all. Dustin's recap of the whole thing had us all dying laughing the rest of the morning.

The springs were just as beautiful as they always are. The early morning sun, the blankets of greenery and the sparkling water. The only real problem were the bugs. And not just annoying bugs, but bugs that bite. Also, it was just a tad humid. I'm just glad we went early or we would have all had sweat pouring down our faces in every photo.

Again, I told Kelly to direct us however she thought best. Everyone was a good sport. I know these things can be kind of awkward even when it's with family but the fake laughing always turns into real laughing which turns into a great photo.

I love that there is so much variety. The three of us. Just the boys. Just Dustin and I. Just Cody and I. And Kelly even snuck in a couple of Cody and Kaelin! So cute!

Originally I told Kelly I wanted to do something with water (water balloons/water guns/jumping in). Just something fun and different from the traditional family photos. Kelly also offered doing some shots with the powder paint which I was totally on board with. We figured we could do those before we jumped into the springs. I told Dustin about it prior to the shoot and he was game. But then on the day of, he wasn't really feeling it. He didn't want to "ruin" his paints and didn't feel like getting "dirty". Basically, he was being a grump. And Cody forgot to bring a change of clothes so he was automatically out. I was feeling disappointed and pretty defeated but I changed into some jean shorts and a swimsuit anyway. Dustin reluctantly agreed to it knowing how much my heart was set on it. Also, I told him this is once in a lifetime kind of thing. Let's just go for it! He agreed. I brought some old white undershirts of Dustin's so the color would pop more (& we could just throw out after we were done). And then we threw color at each other and had a great time. Imagine that! I'll be the first to admit that stepping outside of your comfort zone and even your convenience zone can be hard, but I feel like most of the time it's worth it. It's always good to be open to new experiences. I know Dustin only did it for me (which I think speaks for itself) but I know he had a good time in the end. What a little shit. Ha!

Oh and every bit of color came out of his shorts. Just saying.

At this point, Dustin and I were covered in color and sweat, and itching our bug bites every few seconds. We couldn't wait to just jump into that freezing water for a bit of relief (even though there was a 'no jumping' sign just feet away). We gave our phones and my glasses to Cody to hold onto. Then we went over our countdown plan. One. Two. Three. JUMP. Neither of us hesitated and after we all shouted "THREE!", Dustin and I went for it. The jump was fun in itself. The freezing water woke up every inch of my body. It was such a rush. It's so cliche but it was one of those moments where I just felt alive. In the moment. Just plain happy. When I came up for air it was a little harder to breathe than I expected. The cold water took my breath away a little bit but that was kind of half of the fun. I can't remember the last time I jumped into a body of water without having already been swimming in it. I really can't remember the last time I jumped into a body of water with clothes on. The water was every bit as refreshing as we had hoped. It immediately soothed every bug bite. It felt good. I wish we could have just swam around for awhile! We'll be back. We've still got a couple months of summer left.

We got out, dried off and thanked Kelly for everything. 

I know there are probably a thousand other things that Dustin and Cody rather be doing on a Saturday morning, but in the end they were both there with me, for me. I can't express how grateful I am for that. I mean, I know it sounds silly but photos and memories and all of it just mean a lot to me. And that morning Kelly captured a lot of amazing photos all while making new memories. Sure, the photo shoot didn't go as perfectly as I had pictured it (no pun intended) but everyone was a good sport so it was definitely a success. And any time I get to spend with the two most important people in my life is a good time.

Photos by: Kelly Berringer Photography