My cousin Jennifer told me about a Groupon for a photography session where an out-of-state studio, Portrait Scene, dispatches a bunch of photographers in different locations all over the country and does photoshoots by appointment in outdoor locations. The reviews weren’t that solid for the company, but I figure, it was just $20. Even if it were mass-quantity, mall shop quality, it’s fine for $20. The package includes an 8×10 print, two 5×7 prints, four 4×5 prints, eight wallet prints (presumably all 1 pose), plus a CD of digital proofs of other images that we can order from in the future. I made my appointment and Jennifer’s appointment back-to-back and that was Saturday morning. (I’d timed it so that we’d have photos ready in plenty of time to make photo holiday cards, plus it was shortly before both girls’ 2nd birthday [1 day before Alexandra’s; 2 months before Allie’s] so they were also great year-marker photos.) We had selected Mason Regional Park for our location (there were 2 locations near us to choose from). There were 2 photographers on-site, doing photoshoot after photoshoot by half-hour increments from morning through evening. Our photographer, Sasha, was GREAT with kids, and after doing our family shoot, and after finishing Jennifer’s family’s shoot, she called us in together and did a dual-family session for no extra cost. I can’t wait to see the photos, since she had us in some really cute poses (and I noticed our poses were different from Jennifer’s poses). They will be ready to view online in 10 days.

While we waited for Jennifer’s shoot to finish, we goofed off and took some of our own on my cameraphone. Here are some favorites:

Allie with Dada. She’s waving to me and saying, “Hi, Mama.”

Allie with Mama. If it looks like I’m in mid-jump, it’s because I am. It makes her laugh.

A series that I made into a collage. Spinning, spinning, until one of us got dizzy or broke an ankle. Guess who was risking breaking her ankle.

Since I was playing with collages on my phone, I discovered “filters.” This is an antique filter. Very cool effect.

Here’s one I took over the photographer’s head. It’s just hilarious because the dadas were trying so hard and the girls look…seriously unimpressed. Typical. Haha!