Val and Nick - South Bonson Wedding

One month after running a triathlon together, these two tied the knot! We were super excited for their wedding as we knew some of the bridal party from a wedding last year, and one of the bridesmaids was my cousin! We started out the morning with the girls at Val’s parents’ place, while our second shooter Leanne from Leanne Sim Photographer headed over to hang out with the boys! When we arrived, they had all the dresses hanging on the balcony along with Val’s moms wedding dress. It was a relaxed morning while the girls got their hair and makeup done by Faye Smith and team! There were lots of laughs, and a few mimosas!

Once we got Val into her dress it was time for a few bridal photos. This girl looked STUNNING! Like, seriously!

We then headed down to Deas Island for Val and Nick’s first look along the dock. It was such a touching moment with Nick being absolutely floored by his fiancée. He kept stepping back to look at her and couldn’t keep himself from wrapping his arms around her and dancing with her on the dock. We gave them some time with each other before heading over to the heritage house to do some group photos and bridal photos. They had two beautiful amazing cars with them that we most definitely used for photos!

It was then time to get these two married. We headed over to the South Bonson Community Centre in Pitt Meadows for the ceremony and reception. The ceremony was held out on the water along the Fraser. Being outdoor enthusiasts, they had a tree planting ceremony before they exchanged rings. After lots of family photos it was time to do a few more bridal photos before heading back for the reception.

I loved all the details at their reception: from the memory wall; to the photos; and, um, the doughnut wall! The food was amazing and I loved the centerpieces. With the sun pouring in through the big windows behind the head table, there were many stories shared about Val and Nick. With many laughs, and a few tears, it was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Thank you, Val and Nick, for having us part of your big day!

Katie and Grant - A Very Special Family Session

Katie messaged me back in January wanting to book a session, as their dog Harley had been diagnosed with lymphoma. They wanted to capture as many moments with him as possible so we booked the session right away. But due to many circumstances like terrible weather, and Harley feeling the side effects of his treatment, we still hadn't had the chance to meet up.

When I found out that we were all going to be at the lake for the long weekend, it seemed like fate as this is most definitely Harley's happy place! This was one of those times I was happy that our other dates didn't work out, as you can't replicate the amazing view and feeling of the lake anywhere else <3

Harley is the biggest fighter, and you'd never know by looking at him the battle he’s fought and continues to fight. I'm so glad that we were able to make the long weekend work, and I know Harley will come out strong from his treatment and beat this!

,

Marie & Mickey - Campbell Valley Anniversary Session

,

Relationship goals, that’s what these two exude! I think it’s so important to take new photos every year to celebrate your family, your love, or both. When Marie contacted me to take some 30th Anniversary photos of her and her hubby Mickey I was totally game. We planned a date in late June with the setting sun. Marie also invited her two daughters to join in the session so that they could get some updated family photos. The sky and light were amazing that night. But boy, was it warm! They were so cute together and I loved hearing their advice on how to have a successful marriage. Tip #1: Let the small things go! Tip #2: laugh a lot. And trust me we did that throughout the session! I can’t wait for them to hit 35 years so we can do it all over again!

Photos 4 Hope 2017

This is a fundraiser near and dear to my heart. It started over 8 years ago as an idea to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital. You can read a little about the history of Photos 4 Hope here. I was super excited to have 6 families participate in this year’s fundraiser, raising $1200 for BC’s sick kids! Thank you to everyone that always supports the fundraiser. I can’t wait to do it all over again next year!

,

Lucy - Puppy Lifestyle Newborn Session

,

I’m going to start this off by saying this might have to be one of my all time favourite sessions ever! Amanda and I had been talking for some time about her wanting to get a puppy. She knew my husband and I have two black labs, and she wanted some advice on getting her first puppy. Once they picked out the breeder and knew when they were going to get her, I started to think about how cute it would be to have a lifestyle newborn session with the puppy! When Lucy was born, Amanda started to share her photos from the breeder’s site with me and I fell in love! I approached Amanda and Dustin with my idea and they were totally game. We set up the session about 1 week after they brought her home, when Lucy was 9 weeks old. Now, I haven’t photographed many puppies and I wasn’t sure how this would go. But OH MY GOODNESS, it was cuteness OVERLOAD!! Not only did she sleep through part of the session, but didn’t oppose to getting wrapped up or placed in a bowl. I think I could have stayed there all week photographing her.

I got an added surprise when Amanda messaged me a few weeks later to tell me that Bosley’s had chosen one of Lucy’s images to be in their annual calendar! So cool!

Derby Reach Extended Family Session

Danielle had messaged me a few months back wanting to book an extended family session, as her family was going to be visiting from the United States in June. So we set up the date, towards the end of June when we would be sure to have good weather. Well, as the day approached the weather didn’t look so good. But with a session like this, we must go on! Lucky for us, the rain stopped for a few hours (even though the skies were still very grey). Now 25 people could be considered a big group, but they rocked it like champs. Not knowing when the rain could start again, we wanted to try and move through the photos as quickly as possible. They were such a great group and so much fun! While we were doing photos they would cheer on every cyclist, runner, and walker that came along the path. They even cheered me out of the parking lot when we left. It could have been a tough session with the number of people and the dreary weather, but they made it an absolute blast! Thank you, Danielle and family, for trusting me with your updated family photos.

,

Moira and Derek - Derby Reach Maternity Session

,

I have been fortunate to be able to capture this family for the past few years. I remember back to when we arrived at the house where Moira was getting ready for her wedding, and she slyly told me that she had just found out that week she was pregnant with their first child. I was beyond excited for them! Fast-forward 2 ½ years and many photos later, and she was messaging me to let me know that baby #2 was on the way.

Moira and Derek are the best parents, and I couldn’t be happier that they would be welcoming baby #2 this summer! We met up at Derby Reach Park late one Saturday evening to capture this exciting moment in their lives. This little girl is already so loved by her big sister and the most amazing parents! I can’t wait to share their newborn session with everyone in just a few weeks!

Val and Nick - White Rock Engagement Session

I think we planned Val and Nick’s Engagement session 10 different times, but mother nature was not being nice and poured rain each any every time. So needless to say, I was super excited when we finally got a date to work and also got the weather gods on our side!

I’ve known Val and Nick for a little while now. They are great friends with my cousin, and Nick was the Best Man in Jennifer and Marcus’ wedding last September. They had picked out a cool spot along the water in White Rock for their photos, and it was so much fun exploring this new spot with them! Now most couples spend the last few months before their wedding doing planning, but not these two. They were running a triathlon just a few short weeks after their engagement photos, and only a month before their wedding.

Val’s ring is a stunner and I could have photographed it forever. It was great to spend some more time with Val and Nick and it got me even more excited for their big day in July!

Katie and Jesse - Barnet Marine Park Engagement Session

There are people in this world that you just click with, and Katie and Jesse are two of those people! When I first started to hear about their love story and the plans they had for their wedding at the Fraser River Lodge, I was instantly excited. So when they picked us to be their photographers I was over the moon!

When we first started to plan their engagement photos, they told me they wanted water and mountains and I instantly knew Barnet Marie Park would be the perfect spot! Luckily for us the sun came out that day and we had the most spectacular light.

I think we walked around for hours chatting about their big day and finding some amazing spots to do their photos. One of the things I strive to do is capturing my couples the way they naturally are with each other. I think you can really tell by their photos how in love they are and how much fun they have with each other! I’m so excited for their wedding day in March when I can get them in front of my camera again!

The Loewen Family - Barnet Marine Park Family Session

I really do enjoy extended family sessions. I think it comes from having a smaller family growing up, that I never had the opportunity to have a big family gathering. So I was super excited to get together with Kristi and Eric to do some updated family photos with both their families at Barnet Marie Park. Easton was very enthralled with all the boats that passed by, and while he took his photos very seriously, we were still able to get a few smiles out of him!

Beth and Craig - Hart House Wedding

You will remember Beth and Craig from their woodsy engagement session at Minnekhada Park! We were so excited to be shooting again with our second shooter, Leanne from Leanne Sim Photographer. We were at a location we had never done a wedding at yet, the Hart House in Deer Lake Park. When we first arrived, Beth was getting the final touches on her hair and makeup by the fabulous Makeup by Rae. We took all the detail photos while Leanne spent time with Craig and his groomsmen.

After the ceremony, they had a champagne toast with all their family and friends before it was time for their family photos and bridals. One of the best parts of having Leanne with us was she was able to stay back at the Hart House and capture a bunch of casual family photos of all the guests, while we were out doing the formal family photos. With an April wedding, I always worry about the weather. But on this day the weather was perfect.

We loved spending time with Beth and Craig, and with their family and friends celebrating. There were a lot of laughs, fabulous food, and so much love for the two of them! Congratulations Beth and Craig, and thank you for letting us be part of your big day!

Katrina and Bruce - Bridal Session

You might remember Katrina and Bruce from their fall engagement session and their March wedding. While the weather and light were not working in our favour on their wedding day, it was a great excuse to get together again to do some more bridal shots for them in all the fabulous locations they had picked out for photos for their wedding day.

I seriously could photograph these two all day. You can just tell by the way they look at one another how much they love each other. With her beautiful dress from Everything But The Groom, his amazing navy suite, along with a stunning backdrop and two amazing people, it was the perfect recipe for epicness! I’m so glad that we could get together to do some more photos and spend some more time hanging out together!

The Dillon Family - Fort Langley Family Session

This family has held a special place in my heart for years! Whitney’s mom, Debbie, was my mentor in my first year at my job at the bank. She is one of the most caring, loving, and hilarious people I’ve ever met. When Whitney asked if we could do a family session for her and her family, along with their new son and Rob’s family who were visiting from Ireland, I was totally game!

We headed off to Fort Langley and it was the perfect location for this extended family session. Kason is loved by so many and I can’t wait to watch him grow up. I’m so glad that we could get everyone together for this session. It will be something very special to have for Kason. <3

Katrina and Bruce - Mission Wedding

You might remember Katrina and Bruce from their amazing fall engagement session! Their big day was our first wedding of the year and we were super excited to be shooting it with our second shooter, Leanne from Leanne Sim Photographer.

We started out the day with the girls while they were getting their hair done by the fabulous Justyne! Katrina’s dress was stunning and looked absolutely gorgeous on her. The rain had been on and off all day, and as we got a little later into the afternoon the skies got very dark. Once we had Katrina all dressed and ready to go, it was time to take her to see her groom at Hayward Lake.

When we arrived at Hayward Lake the skies opened up, but that didn’t stop us from using the gazebo for their first look and some umbrellas for their bridal photos. Due to the weather we were not able to get to all the great locations that Katrina and Bruce had picked out so we made the plan to come back another day and do some more bridal photos for them.

So we headed off to Eighteen Pastures Golf Course for the ceremony and reception. They were surrounded by the most amazing friends and family as they said “I do”. There was so much love in that room for the two of them. They both are two of the most kind-hearted, loving people we’ve ever met and we couldn’t be happier for them!

,

Erica and Jordan - Tsawwassen Maternity Session

,

One of the best parts about being a photographer is watching a couple go from being engaged, to getting married, to being parents! So when Erica messaged me to let me know that she and Jordan were expecting this spring I was beyond excited to capture their maternity photos!

We had picked Centennial Beach for the location, and were lucky enough to have the sun come out. It has been a long winter, so the sun was a nice break. That said, it was COLD! Erica, like a champ, rocked her cute grey dress and even went barefoot in the sand. There were a lot of “pretend your in Hawaii” comments made during the session! My husband John was along with me to help with their session, and to hold their puppy Dexter in-between shots. Dexter was full of energy and puppiness, which only added to the laughs and giggles through the session!

These two are the most amazing parents to their little girl and I can’t wait to watch her grow up and take more family photos of them!

Kiersten and Josh - North Vancouver Winter Engagement Session

We first met Kiersten and Josh in January at the All Dressed in White Wedding Show at the Sheraton Guildford hotel. I remember talking with them as they stopped by our booth, and hearing about their winter wedding coming up the following January. Lucky for them, and for us, Josh’s name was drawn for our show give-a-way. They won our Ultimate Engagement Session with hair and makeup by the fabulous Makeup by Rae, and dinner at The Boathouse on us!

About a week after the show I was able to meet up with them at a local coffee shop. They told me more about their big day and we planned out their engagement session. Funny enough I found out they live super close to me, and they also have a happy dog named Ruby. We had probably even passed each other while walking our dogs through the neighbourhood!

They really wanted to have a snowy engagement session, and with all the snow we had this past winter it didn’t seem like a hard request! So we planned a date at the end of February and headed up Seymour Mountain to play in the snow. It was the second time that I had to bring out my snowshoes for a photo session. The running joke throughout the session was that although I was the only one with snowshoes on, I was also the only who fell over!

After getting all the snow photos and also getting a few with Ruby, we headed down to Cates Park to take in the sunset. To me these looked like two totally different sessions done at completely different times, which is awesome! This is one of the many reasons I love the lower mainland: you can basically get two totally different sessions within a short drive of each other!

To say we are excited for their January wedding at Swan-e-Set is an understatement. But I’m also super excited for doggy play dates at the park with these two amazing people, and Ruby of course!

My First Road Trip!

2017-05-30_0007.jpg

I think I’ll remember the moment forever. The moment my husband told me he wanted to take me to Disneyland! But first a little backstory: I grew up watching Disney movies and loving everything Disney, but not so much my husband. He wasn’t really a fan of the “if you wait for Price Charming, your life will be happiness forever” ideology of Disney. When I was 10 (early 90’s) my mom took me to Disneyland for the first time. We set out on a bus tour down the west coast with 2 days in Anaheim to visit the theme park. I never realized at the time how big of a thing that was for her to do. It was her first trip alone with me and my first big vacation. At 10 I was very prone to motion sickness and didn’t ride very many rides, but I still remember the awe of walking down Main Street. Unfortunately, that trip didn’t end very well. My mom got food poisoning in San Francisco and she was not 100% when we arrived in Anaheim. Then, the next day got bit by a spider in San Diego which ended up hospitalizing her for 2 weeks when we returned home. Needless to say, my first trip to Disneyland was not the fully magical experience that all my friends had talked about.

Fast forward to 2011 and my next Disney encounter, a much more magical experience. Erin and I decided fairly last minute to go to London and Paris for a week, and Erin had this great idea to spend a day at Disneyland Paris. We got up super early and took the first train of the day from London to Paris and arrived at the theme park shortly after opening. Erin, being a rollercoaster enthusiast, somehow managed to convince me to go on Space Mountain with the promise that we wouldn’t get shot out of a tube and we wouldn’t go upside down. Well, I will tell you right now that Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris does both of these things! There was basically no chance that I would go on it again, so we set out around the park. I think in total we spent about 8 hours in Disneyland Paris and it definitely gave me that magical Disney experience.

Let’s fast forward again to February 2017, my husband and I were talking about where we wanted to go on vacation in May. We both wanted to go somewhere warm, as we were done with the snow and cold from the winter. Then the words came out of my husband’s mouth, “What if we do a road trip down the coast of the US and head down into California?” My response was something along the lines of “and what would we do?” thinking that he wanted to go to San Francisco or wine tasting. And the unthinkable happened he suggested that we go to Disneyland. Needless to say, I just about jumped out of my skin and booked our “Park Hopper” tickets the next day before he could change his mind! Over the next few months I asked friends and family for suggestions on where to stop along the way down and we set off on our adventure on May 14th!

John driving over the Tacoma Narrows

Our first day took us down the I-5 to Tacoma where we crossed over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. My husband has always wanted to cross that bridge since watching the movies of Galloping Gertie from the ‘40s.  We started to make our way through Washington and ended up joining up with the 101 just south of Aberdeen. As we travelled along the coast we soon made it to Oregon, crossing the Megier Bridge into Astoria. We continued on to our first stop of Seaside, Oregon and arrived at our hotel, the Best Western Ocean View Resort. It was a great hotel choice since it was right on the beach, and we ended up with a room that faced out over the ocean! We then headed out on a walk to explore the town and were really intrigued by all the little shops along the main road. It totally reminded me a bit of Niagara Falls with the “amusement park” feel. We spent some time out on the beach and walking along the promenade. On the beach there were volleyball nets set up and swing sets. We were hoping for a beautiful sunset, but at the last minute the sun ducked behind a thick wall of clouds and we were out of luck.

The next morning, we got up and headed to Dundee Doughnuts. I had been craving a doughnut for almost 4 months, but I didn’t want to cave for just any doughnut! We had passed the shop the night before and I saw the doughnuts in the window. I then read online about how amazing Dundee Doughnuts are and though this was the place to breakdown and have one! And was it ever worth it! I had the Chocolate Coconut twist and my hubby had the Simpsons inspired doughnut and the maple bacon doughnut. Next, we headed over to the Seaside Aquarium to feed the seals. They were so funny and made the craziest noises. They had me laughing the whole time! The Aquarium had an octopus and a huge lobster as well.

We then headed out on the road for the day making our way south. We quickly stopped in Canon Beach so that I could see the rock formations in the ocean. As we slowly made our way down the coast we stopped at a number of Vista Points along the 101 taking in the views. Luckily, we had fair weather on our side and the views were amazing!

Our next stop was the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Most people already know I love cheese. Like, come on. Who doesn’t?! They had samples to taste and we bought enough cheese to feed an army. My husband tried some ice cream and said that it totally lived up to the hype. It was amazing! After learning how they make the cheese, sampling some cheese, then sampling some more, and then making a sandwich with the cheese we bought, it was time to continue south! One of the best ideas I had in prepping for our trip was to bring a small cooler with us to keep in the car so that we could pick up some drinks, veggies, fruit, and cheese to eat along the way. This helped us save a bunch on food costs as we could make our own lunch and most of the hotels we stayed in had free breakfast!

My husband made the choice to pull off at the Yaquina Head State Park and Lighthouse just outside of Newport. There was this beautiful old lighthouse that you could walk down to, and we spent the better part of 2 hours exploring the area. It probably was one of the highlights of the trip: it was so beautiful, and I really enjoyed hiking around the area. We then had to head back out on the road so that we could make it to our next stop in Bandon, Oregon before nightfall. I’m sure Bandon is beautiful, but unfortunately once we got there most restaurants were closed and because it was basically dark out there was no where to really walk. We did manage to quickly go down to the beach that was across from our hotel while there was a little light left so that I could see some sand dunes. We really wanted to go on dune buggies, but alas we ran out of time. That will have to wait for the next trip.

The next morning we woke up to torrential rain. We live in a city know for rain, but I have never in my life seen so much come down for so long! We basically packed up the car and headed out on the road hoping that the weather would improve as we got further south. However, it didn’t. It continued to pour rain all the way into California. Now, funny story: when you cross into California you have to go through an agriculture checkpoint to ensure that you are not bringing any fruits or veggies into the State that are prohibited. So that morning when we got up, we gorged ourselves on fruit so that we would not have any problems at the check point. I think we ate 2 apples, 3 oranges, 3 pears, and 2 packages of raspberries. Then on the drive between Bandon and the California boarder we also ate 3 bell peppers. Well when we got to the checkpoint, they passed us through saying they were not doing checks that day. So, we basically ate all of that produce for no real reason.

My husband has done a road trip down the coast before with his brother, and he made the comment that as soon as you cross the state line it’s like the landscape changes immediately. I didn’t really believe him, but wholly heck it’s true! We decided to stop at Ocean World in Crescent City for a break from driving. The aquarium is built on an old barge and they tour you around and give you background on the different aquatic animals they have. They then take you over to the shark tank and you get to pet a real shark!!! At the end of the tour we got to take in the seal and sea lion show. One of the seal lions even has her own Facebook page! You need to check Cora out and all the amazing tricks she does.

When we finished at the aquarium the rain started to let up ever so slightly, but it was still coming down quite hard. We pushed through to Eureka to check into our hotel and drop off our bags. We then set out to head down the Avenue of Giants in the Redwood parks. These trees were HUGE and I don’t think the photos do justice to just how tall they really are. We stopped along a few of the trails to walk amongst the trees and then headed over to the Founders Tree. Standing 346 feet tall and with a circumference of 40 feet it was truly a sight to see! We spent about 4 hours driving through the parks and exploring the area. Despite the fact that it was still raining, it was so much fun! We then had dinner at Shamus T Bones, a great BBQ restaurant right by our hotel (Best Western Plus Bayshore Inn)!

The next day we packed up again and headed south to our next stop: Petaluma, CA. We decided to stay outside of San Francisco, as we didn’t want to pay the steep prices for a downtown hotel and be caught in the hustle and bustle of the city. Our hotel (Sheraton Sonoma) was right along the harbour and was about 45 minutes north of San Fran. After dropping our stuff off we headed into the “City by the Bay”. We parked at Fisherman’s Warf and explored the city. First was lunch and the best chowder I’ve ever had. Then we walked up to the crooked section of Lombard Street. Next, we crossed the city and walked over to Coit Tower where we took in the amazing views. We definitely got our steps in that day, and San Francisco’s steep streets made for an excellent workout! Then we drove over to Presidio Park so that we could take in the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked about half way out across the bridge, and saw 3 humpback whales playing in the water below. After the sun set we headed back to our hotel.

The next day was the shortest drive that we would do. After getting to San Francisco we moved over to Highway 1 so that we could drive down the California coast. We found a great place to stop, Devil’s Slide Trail, which is a small walking trail that goes along an old stretch of the highway. It had absolutely fantastic views of the coast and ocean. We then continued through to Monterey, passing the many Strawberry fields that lined the highway. We stopped at a grocery store and picked up the biggest strawberries I’ve ever seen! There is definitely something amazing about eating fruit that is fresh off the vine!  Monterey was one of my top spots that I wanted to visit, as I really wanted to go to the Monterey Aquarium!  I had heard amazing things about this aquarium and it was so worth it! They have a penguin area which was my favourite, and my husband loved all the octopuses they have! After the aquarium, we headed over to Jacks Peak Park which had a small hiking trail with an amazing view of Monterey. We then called it an early night, as we knew we had a big driving day a head of us.

The next morning we set out for Anaheim. Originally, we wanted to continue to follow highway 1 down the coast. But the highway was closed south of Monterey due to a landslide that took out a bridge. So, we made our way back to the 101 and cut over to the I-5. I joked with my husband that I wanted the full LA driving experience. However, I never should have put that out in the universe as it ended up taking 2.5 hours for us to get from one side of Los Angeles to the other. We were never so happy to see our hotel and know that we wouldn’t have to drive for a few days! We were finally in Anaheim, and only a few hours away from entering Disneyland!!

With our Park Hopper tickets in hand, it was time to head to the magical world of Disneyland! It was my hubby’s first trip to the park. As we crossed through the overpass into Main Street, USA, I was instantly transformed back to being a kid, trying to take it all in and just being in awe! We first hit up the Starbucks in the park, as I was in desperate need for a coffee. Fun fact: they have their own special cups and pastries just for Disneyland! We headed to Tomorrow Land to take in our first ride, Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters. I wish I knew how the Fast-Pass system worked that first day, as we could have avoided some lines. We slowly made our way through some rides in Fantasyland, and generally just soaked in everything around us. The biggest line we stood in was for the Matterhorn, at over 90 minutes in the blazing Southern California heat. It got up to 36 degrees that day! We then heard about the Disneyland App that you can put on your phone, which gave a map of the park and the wait times for rides. I had added a US travel plan on my phone, so we had access to the app in the park and it was SUPER helpful! You could even book restaurant reservations and miss the big lineups. As the day kept warming up, my abilities to cope with the heat dwindled. So we decided to head back to our hotel for a few hours so that I could cool down. Our hotel was about 2.5 kms from the park, which made it easy to go back and forth. We returned to the park at about 6 pm to find out that the park had reached its maximum capacity and they were only allowing people to re-enter the park if they had already been in, but no new admissions. No wonder the app was showing 3 hour waits for some of the rides! We decided to hold off on the light parade and fireworks that night and take advantage of the shorter lineups while everyone else was taking them in. Finally, that night we figured out how the Fast-Pass system works and started our game plan for the next day!

The next morning we arrived early and headed straight for Pirates of the Caribbean. We got to basically walk on the ride, which was awesome! Then we crossed quickly across the park to Hyperspace Mountain, as we knew from the day before that it was one of the busiest rides and we wanted to make sure we got a chance to ride it. Now to Erin’s credit, Space Mountain (or Hyperspace Mountain) in Disneyland California does not shoot you out of a tube, nor go upside down. So, it turns out her story checks out! We logged over 30,000 steps that day crisscrossing back and forth across the park. We also were able to take in the Light Parade and the fireworks and my husband got to eat a Disneyland turkey leg for dinner! Before the fireworks, I was truly impressed with the Cast Members abilities to corral and move all of the people out of the castle area in such a short amount of time.

For our 3rd day we headed over to California Adventure Park. We knew the Radiator Springs Racers ride was the most popular ride in the park and immediately headed there to get a Fast Pass. We then walked through the park down to the Midway Pier, jumping in line for the Toy Story ride. My husband and I really enjoyed this ride, and my hubby totally kicked my butt! We then decided to take our turn at some of the midway games and I won a large stuffed Dumbo and Goofy! The running joke when I travel is that I always need an extra suitcase when I come home to bring everything back, but this time it didn’t matter because we drove! We then headed up on the Ferris Wheel and opted for the stationary buggy as I was worried about getting motion sick. We made our way through a number of rides, and visited Cars Land. The Radiator Springs Racers ride was both mine and my hubby’s favourite ride. Not just because the ride is awesome but we had this super cool kid beside us on the ride that was warning us of the “scary parts” and the super awesome parts! That kid definitely made the ride for us! After walking through the park and going on a few more rides it was time for lunch at Ariel’s Grotto. I highly recommend this place for lunch. It’s a character experience, so definitely more expensive than a basic lunch but probably the best food I ate on the whole trip and we got to meet 5 Disney Princesses! In the evening, my husband somehow convinced me to go on the California Screamin’ Rollercoaster. It was probably one of the more terrifying rides for me!

For our last day in the park we started in Disneyland at the Park Inn for Breakfast. Again, this was a character breakfast but the food was amazing! We got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Captain Hook, one of the Penguins from Mary Poppins, Max from Goof Troop, Minnie Mouse, Rafiki, the mouse from Cinderella, and the Fairy Godmother. We also decided to get the Photo Pass this day. We knew where all the photo spots were, and with the app we knew when the different characters would be out so we could take full advantage of the pass. For $39 we ended up with over 70 photos of the day which I thought was a good value. It was also nice to have non-cell phone photos/selfies of us. We jumped back and forth between the parks taking in the few rides that we still really wanted to do. Soarin’ Around the World was amazing, and Star Tours was a lot of fun. We were also able to do the Radiator Springs Racers ride again!

One of my favourite moments came when my husband got to meet Chewbacca and Darth Vader. He totally played if off like nah I don’t need to see them, but fanned out when he got to meet them. It was awesome seeing him so excited and happy! We spent 16 hours between the 2 parks that day and truly felt that we had an amazing Disney experience! We were able to take in almost all the rides, including the Jellyfish drop in California Adventure which my hubby screamed on just to be a goof ball! The last thing we did in Disneyland is to go and find Walt’s test brick wall. My husband read about it online and it was fun to try and locate! It’s basically a brick wall where the right side is a bunch of different sized bricks that Walt Disney made to figure out what size of bricks he wanted to use when building Main Street, USA. The left side is what he decided on. It was fun to find a part of Disney history that most people just walk by thinking it’s an oddly shaped brick wall.

Our last day in Anaheim, we originally had planned on going to Universal Studios. But with the traffic that we dealt with coming into LA, we were not into battling it again unless we were leaving Los Angeles. So, we decided to head down to San Diego to the zoo instead. My husband and I both love zoos and the San Diego Zoo is awesome. I would definitely put it in my top 3 zoos that I’ve visited (Toronto and Sydney Zoo being the other two)! There are so many different areas to visit and they are currently doing some upgrades to make it even better. I especially loved the Panda Trek and the Orangutans.

After the zoo, we headed downtown to the water as my husband wanted to see if he could find the Tall Ships that were docked. One of the ships was the H.M.S. Surprise from the movie “Master and Commander.” When we found them we realized they were part of the Maritime Museum and that it was open until 8pm. Instead of just seeing the ships, we were able to go on them! It’s amazing to think that people spent months at a time, if not years, on those boats exploring the world.

The next morning it was time to start making our way north. We decided that we would try and get as far north as we could, since the only thing left that we wanted to do was go to the Sequoia National Park. This was a 7-hour detour off our course up the I-5, but was absolutely stunning. The sequoias are not as tall as the Redwoods, but are bigger around. We even saw the largest living thing on the planet, the General Sherman Tree. Its circumference is 103 feet and it’s still growing bigger every year! The cool part about the park is that they offer a shuttle service that will take you to the different tourist spots. The shuttles help to reduce air pollution and make it easier for people to get around. I would love to go back and stay in one of the lodges in the park to explore more.

The rest of our trip was pretty uneventful. We left Anaheim at 7:30am on Thursday and got as far north a Yreka, CA. We ended up sleeping in our car that night in the parking lot of the town’s Walmart. My husband even bought me a Minion blanket to keep me warm through the night. Friday morning we kept heading north, stopping quickly at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland before making the final push home. We arrived home 36 hours after we left Anaheim, excited to see our dogs and have some amazing memories to look back on! We’ve even planned our next road trip for our anniversary in October.

 

**Some of the photos in Disneyland were taken by the Photo Pass Photographers

 

,

West Coast Woodland Styled Session

,

We are soooooo very excited to share our first styled session on the blog today! It’s been hard to keep these images under wraps but we are so happy that Real Weddings choose to feature them on one of their online posts. Before we flood you with all the photos from the session here is a little more about how our session came to be!

In the fall of 2016 we started planning a stylized session that would incorporate some of our favourite vendors and highlight the beauty of the West Cost. We started with the word “woodland” to start drawing inspiration from and we knew that we wanted the session to have a spring feeling to it.  We immediately knew who we wanted to model for us: Jami at Adventure Awaits and her amazing husband. They were the perfect couple to bring our vision to life! And who better to glamify her but Rae from Makeup by Rae. Rae has such an amazing ability to highlight natural beauty, which is exactly what we wanted. Having photographed several weddings at the Fraser River Lodge, we knew it was the perfect backdrop for our session. 

Working with Kristina at Buds and Blooms Floral Shoppe, we wanted to make the florals one of the main features of the shoot. We focused on the natural greenery with pops of white and cream. We then met up with Nicole at Past Pieces to go through her massive inventory of antique furniture. We selected some key pieces that, coupled with the flowers, would be the foundation to our session. Next it was on to picking out the dress. We headed over to Everything but the Groom and worked with Heidi to find the perfect dress. We wanted something new and modern, but which still had a very soft elegant look. The “Marilyn” dress by Morilee was perfect! The last pieces to pull together were the cake and the stationery. Crystal at Reddy Made Cakes provided us with a beautiful 3-tiered white cake that we could then decorate with the same florals that we would be using with everything else. And Eva from Love of Creating made my own wedding invitations, so I knew she was the perfect person to do up the stationery for us.

Finally, we had all our pieces together and it was time to head out to the Fraser River Lodge. With the forecast calling for rain that week, we were not sure we’d even be able to get outside for any photos. But we knew if we had the most beautiful set-up that we’d be ok. Luckily for us, the rain held off ‘til the end of the day and we were able to get a mix of both indoor and outdoor photos.

The photos turned out exactly the way we wanted them to, and we could not be happier with them!

A big shout out to all the fabulous vendors that we worked with to put this all together!

Photography: Amazing Day Photography

Venue: Fraser River Lodge

Florals: Buds & Bloom Floral Shoppe  

Hair and Makeup: Makeup by Rae

Cake: Reddy Make Cakes

Furniture Rental & Place Settings: Past Pieces

Stationary: Love of Creating Design Co.

Session Styling: Amazing Day Photography, Buds and Bloom Floral Shoppe, and Leanne Madeline

Dress: Everything But The Groom

Dress Designer: “Marilyn” by Morilee

Model: Jami (and her husband) from Adventure Awaits