What a hot and muggy, yet incredibly fun evening I had with the Pethtel family. Tabatha contacted me months ago saying that they were going to be in Wisconsin for a week or two and that they would like to do a photo shoot with me. Her request was that I get ONE good family shot with everyone smiling and then plenty of the kids. She said that her husband John does not smile, but that she had confidence that I could get him to. I was a little worried about that because I am not that funny, and usually am better at coaxing smiles out of children. Well, I didn’t have any trouble getting the adults to smile, but man this little cutie gave me a run for my money!

She wanted nothing to do with me at all. Did not think I was interesting or fun in the least. Hahaha.  She was just too privy to my desire for her to smile, or even look at me for that matter, and therefore was determined to do neither. Little did she know, however, that I’m a pro. If you smile for even just a second, I’ll catch it.

Also, I don’t always need or want smiles, or for  my subject to look at me.

Isn’t she a beauty? I wanted to steal all of her curls.

Now this little guy was all about having a good time and hangin’ out. He was ready to tell me his life story 2 seconds after we met! He had a lot of fascinating things to talk about and I was happy to listen. He was also happy to show me what a great reader he was.

Yes, you saw that correctly. Yes, he is reading a book called Modern Military Aircraft Anatomy. Yes, he is only six. Yes, he could actually read every word.

He was also up for exploring in the little creek.

And he was definitely up for showing me some of his hip hop moves, which I LOVED (I especially loved listening to mom and dad giggling in the distance.)

Both of the kids liked picking flowers to throw at me. I thought this shot was particularly cute.

Count them, 1, 2, 3, 4 smiles!