Perfect

This weekend we tried to pack as much fall in as we could into three short days. It was a beautiful weekend - summertime in October. Friday night we went to the apple orchard, where I of course tried to get a picture of all four kids together. The first one went something like this.




As a photographer I know that you don't want to mix circles and plaid, stripes, and a dress. But my kids pretty much remember what I tell them, and I like to tell them to be independent. To pick their own clothes out. So they asserted their independence and I got a mixture of clothes. Which is fine. Well, mostly fine. I really wanted that perfect picture, and I was hoping the orchard would be the day. But instead of lamenting the fact, we moved onto other things.
Such as a rope swing, a pumpkin house, a petting zoo, and hay bale jumping.










I did get an entirely unscripted picture, that after today's brawl on the living room couch between Hunter and Gwen, is going to be blown up to a 20x24 so that they never forget the truth.



Yep, they like each other.

After their display of sibling love, Callie and I played hide and seek behind a tree. I was trying to distract her from hanging out with another family who was feeding the turkeys. She kept getting really close to them, and looking at them, wondering when they were going to give her food to feed the turkeys. Ummm, Callie? Over HERE.





Lex asked me to take his picture - well, demanded actually. It was cute.




There was a huge haypile, and Hunter thought he was king of the hay.




At one point during our evening, I stopped and turned back to see this. It was very peaceful, and was the picture of fall.





By this time, it was getting late and I needed to get what I came for - apples. So I followed Callie down the trail and had to smile when she grabbed her skirt.



After I waited in line for a bit trying to juggle two large bags of apples and a lot of apple cider, I told the kids I wanted one more picture. This time, we went into the orchard.



When it was done Hunter asked me if I got my perfect picture. I just laughed. Because no matter how flawed the photograph might be, the memory of our fall tradition will always be perfect.
And that's what truly matters.