Ooo… I’ve just made a coffee book for my previous client whom I did a family photography session recently. I love it, she loves it and I am including it in my digital package. I also give to clients other cute surprises as well. Ssh… can’t tell, it’s a surprise. Previous moms-clients have loved them so and I bet you will too. 
*Lissalo.com - specializing in maternity, newborn, baby, children and family photography*
Nope!
Today, I’m featuring LARGE sized pictures of the family photography session I had in Surrey. There are so many pictures from the session that I want to share but it’s not that possible. So, a few more pictures to feast your eyes on.
Love the stairs. Wish there’s a crane on the beach to lift me up midway though.
A beauty at just 7 years old.
Mom & Dad in their own world.
I’ve always wanted to shoot right at the sun to get this kind of clear but hazy portraits. Love, LOVE these shots.
Kids being kids. Love that they could break out the silliness.
*All pictures are copyrighted to Lissalo.com specializing in maternity, newborn, baby, children and family photography*
Remember about the beach I talked about in my last post? Well, what do you know? I had a children and family photography session done there just this past weekend. It’s mostly a children photography session but I added a few pics of mom & dad and some family pictures as well.
So, here’s some sneak peek for mom while I slog on with the post processing. Btw, Mom is the owner of The Facial Room, a spa here in South Surrey. Click on the link to check out the organic skincare products.
In the first 10-15 mins of any session which I called the warm up period, I don’t usually think of getting good pictures — yet. I want the kiddos (or the parents) to get used to the camera; I give pointers on how to stand or how to face the light. And then, it’s playtime!! And what surprise shots I got during the warm up.
Look at Big Sister, S. Gorgeous!
Kid sister, I, is not to be outdone. Beautiful.
Here’s a warm up family picture. Mom knows her stuff
Let’s get back to the girls again.
I had to get mom & dad out there too.
And of course, a family picture.
Ok, enough sensory overload for today. A few more favourites from the session in a couple of days. Have a great day!
We spent part of Thanksgiving Monday exploring the east beach off Crescent Beach. I got to know about this while searching locations on Google Map. You can approach this area from Crescent Beach itself or like what we did, drive till the end of 24th Ave @ Christopherson Rd. There’s very limited parking here as you will be parking on the street. There’s a long flight of stairs down to the beach which my kids love running down.
The beach itself is very cobblery. It was a beautiful afternoon. The light was good, the tide was coming up. A great way to spend some time as family.
Took some pics of the kids (of course) with my iPhone.
The stairs down.
The beach.
My kids went out to the rocks where the tide was slowly coming in. They love it.
“The plane boss! The plane!”
All kids love balancing.
This tree is such a great prop.
Finally, hubby & I.
It’s a great place to have a family walk while the kids will enjoy playing there. This will certainly be a place for me to do future sessions.
Have a great day!
What happened to September?
Firstly, I want to thank those who wrote me asking about sessions. At the time being,I can’t take on any session in Vancouver anymore. One mom-to-be gave me the perfect scenario. Maternity session with hubby & family dog at Kits beach and I had to turn it down. You don’t know how heartbreaking that is for me to say no. I’m trying to establish a presence here in South Surrey In the meantime, I’m volunteering at my kids’ new school and scouting out for new locations.
September was such a glance at the calendar. My 12th wedding (wait, I didn’t have a wedding. Should I just say marriage?) anniversary, my husband’s birthday, then my son’s and just a few days ago, my daughter’s. Phew.
On my kids’ birthdays I’ve always done a short children photography session. This year, we just shot in the upstairs den.
For the first time, I tried a lavander cupcake recipe. It didn’t fuse enough in the cake though. I also made hello kitty jelly.
My daughter just turned 7. I took a couple of pics at night while she was practising her spelling.
I organized a last minute birthday playdate for her friends. As a take home goodie bag, I made Hello Kitty (ok, I like HK, hehe) cake pops and got the kids to draw eyes and whiskers with an icing pen.
The kids had fun. I had fun. 
After living here for over a decade, I’ve never gone to Seattle. Can you believe that? No wait, I haven’t even been to Bellingham until two years ago and after moving to South Surrey, I have went there two more times. I’m such a bad border shopper.
So when my friend Phoebe visited me end of July and we were playing with the idea of doing a long drive with our kids. I mentioned I haven’t been to Seattle and she said, let’s do it. And we did.
The kids were excited at the start and as kids they grew restless and bored after a while into the ride. We were pretty happy we finally saw the Space Needle.
We didn’t plan on going up but the kids wanted to. (We should have bought the citypass but we didn’t expect to do much in a day trip)
This is me doing a self-portrait. You can see Phoebe (in the background) threatening to throw her son’s toy out of the tower, LOL!!
So sad. We were caged up there.
Seattle in the summer smog.
After walking around for 15 mins and spending over a hundred bucks, we got out of there because the kids were whinning that they were hungry. Phoebe went to get her car while we walked to the nearby McD.
After lunch, we drove to the wharf and walked around.
We finally found the famous Public Market after a while. No one was throwing fishes around though. 
The first Starbucks coffee shop. It was so crowded inside and outside because this is the FIRST Starbucks that started it all. Did I say that already?
We went to the Aquarium too and then early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (I know, I know. I love Cheesecake Factory). The Cajun Jambalaya Pasta is out of this world!!!!
Before heading home, we drove to view point Kerry Park. It was a whirlwind trying to find our way there. We asked two locals. One said it’s up on a hill so basically just drive upward (huh?). Another said he has no clue. But we found it via google map on my iphone (again, I didn’t go for the special data roaming package and finding Kerry Park costs me over $100 this month phone bill!)
This is me and Phoebe.
Downtown Seattle from Kerry Park. Beautiful.
It was a great long drive. Thanks Phoebe.
Wow! I can’t believe the kids will be going back to school in a week. I’ll be having a 2nd Grader and a 5th Grader this coming term. Time flies.
Surprisingly, I took up my husband’s invite to join him in San Francisco early this month when he had to there for work stuff. My kids finally said, “Ok mommy. Who is going to take care of us?” Instead of, “I want to go too!” and my mom-in-law finally said, “Sure.”
Those four days were the FIRST time in TEN YEARS (Yes, 10!) hubby & I went on vacay without the kids. It was a wonderful change from a family vacation. I loved it and welcome it. I bet the next time we won’t have to wait 10 years again for a twosome holiday.
And where did I first go?
Google’s campus!!! It was huge and I had fun driving around.
I’m not going to bore everyone with all the places I went to. A few highlights include: driving on the Golden Gate Bridge. I was as excited as a 5 year old.
@Vista Point:
Muir Woods. Ok, not very exciting – at least to me. Similar to the rainforest in North Van except you have to pay to go in. Tip: eat lunch before you go. A free range egg sandwich costs like $6!
Crissy Field. You have to go. I heart this place. Great place to take a stroll and look at the bay view. You can see downtown:
The Bridge:
The Rock:
We walked down Lombard (the crooked street) but I wasn’t impressed. But the view towards Coit Tower was really good.
Places I didn’t go:
Pier 39, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcratraz or Sausalito. Didn’t take the cable car either.
Crazily, I did enjoy Sunnyvale and Santa Clara/San Jose. And of course, what’s a visit to a US city without eating at The Cheesecake Factory? I went to the one at San Jose and at Macy’s Building across Union Square. We stayed at the Handlery. It wasn’t bad at the Premier rooms.
Union Square from Cheesecake Factory’s patio.
Some street scenes:
After checking out from Handlery, we went to Twin Peaks but the fog was rolling in. It was cold too.
That’s my little excursion. Love it after not travelling for some time. The next week, my friend & I drove our kids to Seattle for a day trip. Wowza! I’ve missed travelling and am glad I got to do some this summer. What about you?
I’ve been cutting down on sessions work before I moved. I’m still settling down in our new place but there are so many things you need to do but you just want to put them aside. But I’m glad I got this opportunity to photograph these cuties.
Big sister is not shy at all in front of the camera.
She’s giving me all the attention. Well, for at least 5 seconds.
I heart this one even though I shot this blindly holding the camera away. Her expression is so priceless.
I love triptych because they convey a sense of movement, motion.
Now, did I say Big Sister has a Cutie Little Brother?
Mom says he’s slightly moody as he needs a nap. So, sometimes he doesn’t want to smile.
At times, he does!
The kids have this cute frog bubble maker. Big Sister was having fun spreading all the bubbles on Little Brother and Little Brother said no more. He tried to walk away but Big Sister was having too much fun.
Ah… childhood.
She got a new haircut. I love it.
When summer comes along, I always remembered the fun days I did weddings. Shooting all day in the heat is not that fun but when I looked through the pictures I took, I just smiled.
One very memorable wedding I did was the simplest of weddings. Just two picnic tables with the ceremony down at the beach with families and friends. The warmth and love exuded by everyone was overwhelming. I wish most couples would opt for this simple wedding and if you are, let me know. I might just untangle from my promise that I won’t do weddings again
Impromptu engagement session. Guy just hopped off the plane from Sweden.
The Wedding Day.
The couple now lives in Sweden with their baby girl.
