Yesterday we spent the Day together, Cole & I. We woke up slow and enjoyed our breakfast together. We flew planes & kites at the park. He picked dandelions for me and made sure I opened his gifts to me.

We had a lot of fun and it was just the frozen adventure we were looking for this time of year. Anyone else have cabin fever ??

This year we spent Thanksgiving at my Dad’s in his new home, a beautifully historic 1860 folk farmhouse in a small town on Lake Michigan. I already have plans to turn it into a bed & breakfast, it’s okay, I already told him I’m taking over. He seems fine with it.

Cole got a major surprise when we stepped onto the trolley and he was greeted by Mrs. Claus and she invited him to sit and chat with her while we rode around town a few times. Later we stopped into Santa’s Workshop where Santa was put back by Cole saying his big want this year was a stop sign, lol! Probably hasn’t heard that from a 5 year old before. Cole wants a stop sign for his bedroom, so everyone knows it’s his zone only. A 5 year old needing privacy, what is my life going to be when he’s 13. Please send help! We had a good long conversation with Santa, snapped a Norman Rockwell esk photo and headed back home with good cheer in our hearts and being belted out of our lungs to holiday tunes all the way home.

While ENJOYING a little trip up to Door County a few weeks ago we visited a few country markets along the road and picked up a few pumpkins, aren’t they gorgeous? The day Cole & I decorated our porch for fall we decided to do an impromptu autumn session to honor his love for the season.

Another HALLOWEEN in the books. Cole has been in love with Nintendo and all the Mario characters for the last year and has been so excited to have the chance to dress up as his favorite pizza loving plumber since last Halloween. I don’t know any other kid that has his costume ideas for the whole family the entire year before, lol.

It seems like all we are doing during the fall is picking apples. Cole eats so many apples, this kid should never have to worry about liver or skin issues for a lifetime. Our hands down favorite location is the Oneida Nation Apple Orchard.

The last few years we’ve been creating the space in our lives for our own family sessions. We believe in celebrating each stage of our lives and turning them into tangible heirlooms to treasure forever. I am so happy to know in 30 years, Cole may be sitting around the table with his kids showing them how stinking adorable he was at 5….