I was looking through Grizz’s latest shots he dumped from his camera and came across these. They make me laugh so I thought I’d share them here.
A peek behind the scenes of what the Butterfly Twins mini-shoot looked like! 
I’m not sure what I was doing here…
It tickles me to see me photographing and setting up my subjects. I’m glad Grizz got his camera! When I look through his image dump, I love seeing me with my family in them <3
Last year I took the 2 older kids down to the dock for a lightsaber duel at sunset. Even though I know so much more about lighting and composition today, I still love that set of photos of my son and his god-sister on the lake.
This year, I decided to do it again. But with different weapons! 
I can’t begin to tell you how much it warms my heart to see how much they’ve grown and yet it’s hard to believe a whole year has passed between the shot above and this one below. And also amazing how I’ve learned NOT to tilt my horizon anymore! Yeah that took a whole year for sure!
In most ways they are still the same babies we brought camping 6 years ago. Their bond is really special to watch grow over the years.
It’s obvious that they are getting older and more acutely aware of the opposite sex and each other. Pretty funny to observe. Especially whenever I requested they stand/sit close together!
These two. So hilarious trying to photograph them. And so different than photographing their younger siblings!
I managed to catch some special moments despite their best efforts to move as quick as lightning on that narrow dock.
I’m thinking I’ll try and do this little shoot every year and watch them grow through these images.
And then play it at their respective weddings! That’s what us Asian parents do right?
Love them so much.
The two littlest campers in our group are 2 this year.
They were born about 2 weeks apart. How cool is that?
Well they’re at that adorably cute age where (almost) everything they do is just precious. So of course their moms would want to put together a mini photo shoot like this one. Thank you Walmart for $8 outfits and accessories! (See why we love Walmart??)
Kim cleaned them them up a little, did her daughter’s hair and put them in their outfits one evening. And then just let them wander around our campsite. Ta-da!
Some of my favorite shots of the year right here.
I just adore this age. And by the way, don’t they look alike just a teeny bit?
And there may or may not have been a little candy bribery going on to get these shots…
Regardless, Kim and I had such fun with this little shoot of our baby girls! <3
In general, attempting to get portraits of my family with me in them is pretty painful. While camping it’s even harder. The kids are more interested in everything else except sitting still for a few photos with mom.
We managed to get this one. Yes it’s the best one 
But hey at least we’re all in the shot. And it’s in focus. (I had messed up the settings when I handed the camera off so a lot of them were out of focus. *sigh*). But my motto with family portraits is that I take what I can get!
And then one always escapes and we’re down to just 3.
And then there were two.
Oh well. We went camping. And I was there too. Win.
Yes I realize I’ve been MIA from here for awhile. I got caught up with life the last week. But I finally got caught up with our camping photos too. Well most of them at least. So this post is pretty image-heavy and light on text
Every year, on Labor Day weekend we meet up with our good friends who live in OC for our annual camping trip. At Lake Lopez. I look forward to it every summer. We’ve been doing this for 10 years now (more I think) and have only skipped the years where we’ve been pregnant!
If you’re interested, here is the post from last year’s Lopez trip. I was not even shooting in RAW yet at the time! How much things have changed in a year. But you know what? Some things, even over 10 years, never change. Our friendship with them! And now we see it grow even more with our kids.
As with most years, we usually rent a boat and spend a lazy afternoon on the gorgeous lake. Just motoring around. And fishing.
The first year we did it our oldests were just toddlers and stuck pretty close to us the whole time. Now they jump around the boat like it’s an obstacle course. And even find a way to play hide and seek on it.
I imagine we’ll need a bigger boat next year when the two toddlers are all over the place too!
One other highlight of our weekend is always a trip to Walmart! Ha! I LOVE Walmart. And you know what? So do our friends! So we always find an excuse to hit it up and stock up on supplies.
We spend a lot of time just lazing around at the campsite too. This year, we got our nails done, built muddy volcanoes, played in the dirt…
And soaked each other with the Nerf water blasters “someone” brought for the kids!
Of course the evenings are filled with yummy foil packet desserts, hot chocolate and s’mores!
The weekend goes by too quick as usual.
This time though was a much sadder parting than usual. I think we’re all feeling the effects of life’s changes and curveballs that it throws us. We began this tradition when it was just us four. We’ve doubled our numbers and are getting older and busier. However, I am hopeful and optimistic than we can keep up this special tradition we started over a decade ago.
I do have more pictures to share, but I thought I’d break them up into several posts. Look for some family portraits (and failed attempts) later today!
We are back from our last camping trip of the year. It was such an awesome weekend with really close friends of ours. I’m working on all the shots. As usual there are a ton. They should start creeping on to the blog as I edit over the next few days.
We took a pimping boat out on the lake one afternoon. Here’s a shot of both our pilots.
Stay tuned for more soon!
These are the last of our camping shots I’ll share. Promise
They were all taken by Rachel. I wish she had a blog/photo feed I could link to because you would love her work! Alas, all her photos are for family and friends only. Except when I get permission to use them here!
Like these gorgeous ones she shot of me and Jack-Jack just before dinner one evening.
I am so in love with them. And so happy that she took them! These are going in frames and/or walls in our home somewhere!
Wish I had makeup or was wearing something pretty. But hey, despite all that, she still made these shots absolutely priceless to me! Thank you so much Rache!!
I thought I’d share a few more shots of our campsite fun today! That’s not over-sharing right?
As like with our previous camping trip, we spent one night on our own before our friends arrived. It was nice to get settled in with some quality time just us four.
You guys remember my awesome mama photographer friend, Rachel right? She’s the one who took these priceless shots of my family on my baby girl’s birthday and always accommodates my random suggestions for play date locations… Well this time we decided to extend our play date into one long weekend camping trip! Definitely one of our better ideas for sure!
My Rex woke up with an upset stomach that involved lots of sleep and rest for about 5 hours.
So I went on a hike with the O family while Grizz stayed behind with the kids.
We did the same Bear Gulch Reservoir hike as the previous day. Amazing how much faster it went with her super-well-behaved kids! It was fun to not worry about my kids this time around and just focus on being the photographer!
And of course one of my many favorite benefits of hanging out with Rachel? That I get to be in the photos too! Check this one out. Yeah grimy and no makeup but man, I totally look like I know what I’m doing right?
And lots of great moments captured of my family with me in them!
(photo credit – Rachel)
(photo credit – Rachel)
This lady. I just adore her and how well we get along. Not just the photography side. She’s super organized and meticulous. Wow. I so get her! 
(photo credit – Rachel’s Husband)
The Pinnacles campgrounds has a pool on site. So we spent some of our time cooling off from the 95 degree weather there.
And reading books while waiting for dinner to be served.
As always the weekend went by too quickly. We are already making plans for next year’s trip and committing to making it an annual trip! <3
I’ve finally edited our pictures from our camping trip. Phew! It’s always a challenge to get through all the pictures I take from a trip in a timely manner. Especially when life is kind of crazy right now.
Anyway, it’s done and I will try not to over share 
Pinnacles National Monument is located outside Soledad, California about a 3 hour drive from San Francisco. It’s spectacular volcanic rock formations and breathtaking hikes through caves and wooded trails make it such a rewarding camping experience overall!
Now I use the terms “hiking” and “caves” loosely. We have a 2 year old and a self-proclaimed Inside-Boy (as in he loves to stay “inside” our home whenever possible) in our group.
Their idea of hikes and caves is 2 blocks up the street to the bakery. The beginning of the hike was a little painful but we powered through and they slowly adapted. Slowly.
This particular hike we did was a short one up to the Bear Gulch Reservoir. It was less than a mile long. However it was through rough terrain and uneven ground. And uphill. Through pitch dark caves.
But hey if we could do it ANYONE can.
As you can see the rewards were pretty great. The trails were wooded and offered us beautiful views of the rock formations and the reservoir at the top was just majestic. We lunched by the water while scoping out the squirrels, condors and water snakes.
All this was happening during Jack-Jack’s usual nap hours. Yes there were moments it was more than a little painful. But it was all worth it to get the kids out in such a beautiful setting.
I just love that little personality of hers overflowing into everything we do. She cracks me up all the time.
After our leisurely lunch with the reservoir wildlife, we decided to head back down. The trip back was much quicker with a lot less complaining. I’m thinking it was because they were completely exhausted from our uphill hike they couldn’t muster anymore energy to even complain
We stopped a few more times for water breaks. Jack-Jack ended up falling asleep riding her dad’s shoulders. Yes it IS possible to sleep vertically when you’re 2!
I will share a few more shots tomorrow of our campsite shenanigans after our friends arrived!
On our first night camping I stayed up with my baby girl after the boys went to bed.
She’s at that precocious age where everything she does is just hilarious and unassuming. We talked about colors, bugs and stars. Yes she responded and carried on the conversation with me in her own special 2 year old way. Gave her hot chocolate, some Reeses cereal and her headlamp and she was a happy camper (literally).
We stayed up late enough to watch the moon rise and sing twinkle stars to the billions of stars we normally never get to see since we are a city family. Love her to bits this one.
After a few too many yawns though I decided to bundle her up and sneak into the warm tent with our boys.
I’m still working on the rest of our camping photos. Hopefully they’ll be done tomorrow! 
Happy Birthday my sweet sweet baby girl. I love you more than you'll ever know. ❤ (Photo by my bestie - Rachel)
Mommy-daughter birthday dates at the ballpark are the best. #sfgiants
![](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5463/8760770097_82aaf4f769_m.jpg ""I see you Vogey!" Those were her exact words. God I love her. #sfgiants")
"I see you Vogey!" Those were her exact words. God I love her. #sfgiants
Capping off her birthday festivities with a mama-daughter date to the game! #sfgiants
A few minutes of quiet daddy QT before we start a whirlwind of birthday activities for her.
My baby girl. 3 years old in a few hours. *sniff* way too many things to cry about tonight!!
After 7.5 years, my baby, my first-born, my son, finally lost his FIRST tooth! Why am I crying??
Finally got to open her gifts the day after her party!
Our pretty bridge on our way home way past bedtime last night.
Our dinner view in Sausalito last night.
What I'm working on - finding beauty in the ordinary... #cmglimpse
Leopard party for the 3yo officially in the books. Time to take off the ears, yeah?
So this was going on in our house today. Yeah.
Americano's.
Golden hour on the east side of San Francisco
Got out for a rare happy hour outdoors in the city this evening
This kid . God I love her.
Morning light.
![](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/8740344302_c1ee791ff4_m.jpg "Had my baby girl play right "in the middle" of the pretty light. #cmglimpse")
Had my baby girl play right "in the middle" of the pretty light. #cmglimpse
Started a creative workshop this week. Already finding inspiration everywhere...
