Curious Bird

:film love:

It has been a loooong time since I sent off a roll of film for processing. I forgot how exciting it is to get the the envelope back and pour over the prints. Since it often takes me quite a while to shoot a roll of 36 exposures I am always surprised by the shots I had forgotten about. Film is such fun. I highly recommend giving it a go sometime. 

Here are a few of my favorites of our Miami trip back in January. More shots to share soon.

Be well,

L.  

p.s. We had the whole place to ourselves because we wake up with the birds! This particular morning we had our breakfast and made it to the beach (a short drive from from our hotel) before the lifeguards started their 8am shift. Life with little ones...

:me oh my:

Thought I'd share a couple of fun photos recently sent my way that were taken at the wonderful wedding we attended in Miami a few weeks ago. The top photo perfectly captures how in the zone Felix was as he walked down the aisle that beautiful afternoon. It was a sight to see. And quite honestly, it was surprising to see him so into it after the song and dance routine D and I had to do to get him up and dressed and out the door to the wedding immediately following his nap that day. Phew! His outfit was put together by Dustin and I made his funky floral bowtie. Lucky for us he really enjoyed getting to wear his "fancy clothes".  

Just like his older brother, Romy also had quite a nice time. When he wasn't sucking his thumb (!!), he was being snuggled by all the baby-crazy ladies at the reception. He enjoyed every minute of it.  :-) 

It was such a great time. So happy we made the trip. 

More soon,

L.  

:warmth and sunshine:

Hi there.

We recently returned from Miami where we attended the wedding of one of our longtime best friends. It was wonderful to get out of the freezing weather and into some warmth and sunshine. Florida, you really are the sunshine state! The trip was short and sweet because traveling with a toddler and a four-month-old is not casual and I'm of the opinion that getting completely off schedule has the potential of causing major chaos. No thank you. Every family approaches routine differently. I tend to fiercely protect ours. But I digress. 

We had so much fun at the beach --we were literally the first people there on Saturday morning, which is what happens when you get up as early as we do. Felix loved the sand and salty water. We also spent time hanging out poolside with good friends we don't see near enough. The wedding was beautiful and decadent, and getting to be there was such a gift. Oh, and seeing Felix walk down the aisle made me one proud mama (even though he refused to keep his shirt tucked in. oh well). He really liked holding hands with his new friend and aisle-walking partner. 

Feeling very grateful for such a sweet adventure with my little family. 

More soon, 

L. 

:good fun:

Felix hasn't stopped talking about his new friend Oscar since we returned home from our trip a couple of weeks ago. This morning he asked to look at the photos I took during our visit and he often requests to watch the one video Dustin shot as the boys jumped around in their rain boots and orbited each other in the cutest way. Felix isn't the only one that had a great time and is missing our Asheville buddies. Looking forward to seeing this sweet family again sometime this fall. 

Thank you kooky internet/blog world for allowing me to get to know Heather. What a treat. 

:some favorites from our trip:

 

Home sweet home. Such a great trip. 

Back with more words when I catch my breath. 

xo, 
Leya  

:back to nature:

We're leaving town in a few hours to make our way west for a little mountain vacation (babymoon!), our last as a family of three. Oh my!

We're very much looking forward to hanging with friends. Get this: we're meeting and staying with a wonderful blog friend I've emailed with a thousand times, but have never actually met in person. It's a blog friend blind date!  

We also can't wait to get out in some of the natural beauty that surrounds Asheville and spend one of our nighs away in a comfy hotel suite where we plan to splash around with Felix in the hotel pool. It's also Dustin's 37th birthday weekend! A doozy, right?  

Okay, see you on the other side. Have a great weekend. 

L. 

p.s. Here are a few more shots from our family day at the Eno River last weekend. Such a lovely day. 

:ten:

It is hard to fathom that this month marks the ten year anniversary of the best (and longest) adventure I have ever taken. Ten years ago Dustin and I were just returning from traveling throughout Southeast Asia and India for almost seven months. It was such a beautiful experience, one that pushed me far out of my comfort zone and gave me to opportunity to see the world and my place in it in a much different way. I gained so much from traveling and will always be grateful for having the privilege of taking such an unforgettable journey.  After all these years, Dustin and I still find ourselves talking about the places we visited, the people we met, and the immense joy we felt as we slowly meandered so far from home through those beautiful countries on the other side of the globe.

If you ever have the chance, GO, GO GO!
One day we hope to take our kiddos back to explore some of the places we remember so fondly, as well as  other places which were on our list but we didn't end up visiting (Kerala and other areas in the southern part of India for starters).

Many moons ago I wrote a little bit about our travels here, here, and here.

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” -Miriam Beard

       

Happy Travels,

Leya

p.s. the food shot up there may be confusing, so I thought I'd say that it's from a Thai cooking course I took at the home of wonderful woman in the northern part of Thailand. She taught me so many things, like, how to make my own curry paste. She also shared her recipe for the best som tam on the planet!

:good eggs:

Last week Felix and I took a trip to visit some of our favorite people in Philadelphia. It was perfect. We got to see nearly everyone we planned to see, we met a new baby boy, I had a fantastic dinner out with my girlfriends (I ordered ramps and fresh pasta and it was amazing -- can't stop thinking about it), and lots of time was spent knocking around our old neigborhood doing what we used to do when we called Philadelphia home. The weather was perfect, and even though I found my pregnant body exhausted at times, I'd do it all over again next week if I could. Miss those people and their sweet kiddos so much.