The Smiths

I had so much fun with the Smith family. It was such an honour to be invited into their home and to roll around on the fresh lawn following the fun. We drank tea in beautiful mugs and nibbled freshly made caramel slice. Chrissie even offered me the very best piece - a little blackened and beautifully caramelised from the side of the tin. It's always the little things. I snapped away while everyone played; lego, dinosaurs, trampolining, soccer and piggy back races - It was beautiful to see mum and dad getting stuck right in with the boys. I'm sure you'll agree what are an incredibly gorgeous bunch these four are - a definite treat for me.

*If you are interested in family portraits like this I'm now taking bookings. I can come to you or meet you at your local hangout. You guys do your thing, and I'll be there to capture it. $150 and a one week turn around with high-res JPEG's on a dvd. Email sharolyn(dot)joy@gmail.com*

Christchurch family

My dad was born in Lyttelton Harbour where my grandfather worked by the water. We are here in Christchurch to visit with my grandparents, aunt and cousins, to introduce Ignatius, and to have a last little holiday before Josh goes back to uni next week and life gains some semblance of order again for us all. I love spending time with my family, hearing their stories and getting to know these people I share a blood connection with. Travelling with the little fellow makes this trip markedly different from our past two here, but he is sociable and his cheeky grin wins him over to many strangers and relatives. The trucks and diggers that are busy helping to stitch Christchurch back together post earthquake are a constant amusement and the craft beers (this one in particular) have been well appreciated by the two adults in this travelling party. We had a short visit to the wild west coast, back to a favourite haunt when stumbled upon 7 years ago - Rapahoe Bay Holiday Park (the cosy indoor and rainy beach photographs). We've also wandered around beautiful Christchurch which is so full of brokenness AND great hope together. I've been inspired to grow more vegies and challenge social constructs and biased political and wealth systems (and have so enjoyed our conversations, Ann). My grandfather's workshop and their bountiful garden deserve a post of their own, but suffice to say they are both amazing places to be. I love these people and this place.

Cousins with icecream

Portraits in May

Week 18: Playing with his bus with Grandad Week 19: Cute bear bottom boy 'Washing up' in cousin Noa's kitchen (which my clever sister Kirsty re-purposed). Week 20: Helping mum in the garden. Week 21: Climbing fun at the playground. The (adorable/controversial/versatile/filthy) brown tights feature again. Week 22: Boyboy has 5 teeth now!

I quite like doing the whole month together like this. *This post is part of the 52 project: a portrait of Ignatius, once a week, every week, in 2013.* 

Southern hospitality

On our way from Vancouver to Brisbane (kinda on the way...) we stopped in the state of Georgia, U.S.A. for a week with Josh's beautiful sister and her family. It was lovely to spend some quality time with them and to meet each others youngest. You can see little E and Ignatius (just 5 months apart) asleep in the same position of one of our car rides. It was a lot of fun watching the cousins interacting. We drank lots of tea, ate some good ol' southern fried chicken and enjoyed a special Christmas dinner together with friends. One of my highlights was staying up late watching How I Met Your Mother (20+ episodes...) with Victoria while we nursed our babies to sleep. The simple things are often the best aren't they?

(If you're in Acworth, Georgia, be sure to check out Rico's Mex Mex Grill. Really authentic little Mexican place, kid friendly, delicious, really reasonably priced and amazing service. Such a fun experience!)