We escaped to Whistler BC over the weekend to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (which is TODAY!!), and it was AMAZING!! The trip started off rocky… We had originally planned to leave first thing Friday morning. The night before, as I was packing, I got out my passport. EXPIRED!! UM…. Long story short. Lots of frustrated tears on my part. I felt so stupid for letting it expire, and not checking sooner. I was SO bummed that we wouldn’t be able to get away, because a) Anniversary b) the Huz has been working 70+ hour work weeks, and I’ve been working a lot too. c) Maya was so excited to go back up! Through all my crying and being upset, Maya was a total positive rock!
“Mommy, come here and give me a hug. I will make you happy again!!”
Not once did she get upset that the trip was cancelled (or so we thought). I ended up calling the 24 hour passport hotline, and got myself an apt at the Seattle Passport Agency the next morning. I drove to our local drugstore and got my new passport photo taken at 9:30 at night (all red puffy eyes and all-sweet….). I drove down a few hours early of my apt and got there right when they opened. They took me early, and I was in and out in 30 minutes. I was told to come back at 2pm and pick up my new passport! Well…I ended up having to wait an hour and a half, BUT…a new passport in 7 hours??!!! I was BEYOND THANKFUL! We ended up getting into Whistler around 9, but had the best day and a half after that!! Maya didn’t want to leave 🙂
ALL THAT ASIDE…here are some pictures I took the week before we left…
If there is one combo that stands the test of time, it’s a white top with denim.
You can dress it up, you can dress it down, it looked good in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s (ok, you get my drift) It still looks good now, and it’s a constant fall back for me when I don’t want to think about what I’m wearing.
My creative energy was renewed after our last outing during the golden hour a few days earlier.
I’d been so busy with work, camps, lessons, and life that we hadn’t done many outings, and I was shocked at how much my mood improved just by getting out with Maya and taking personal pics again.
Needless to say, I was in a great mood after this night too!! 
And it just makes me SO happy to see her playing and running around having fun!!!
Ok, a little photography talk here. I absolutely love that you can manipulate an image just by where you stand in relation to the sun.
In the above image, I was in the sun and Maya was in the shade. Hence the hazy sun flare.
The below image, Maya is just over a few feet, but I stepped into the shade too.
On me…
And…tossed her right out of the frame-dang it! 
Her growling face, which is her new thing… 
And then, Maya all ready in her jammies, came out for a few!
Oh, and her nightgown is a 9-10 hahaha. I knew she’d love it, so I thrifted it for $3!!!
I can’t even…
I’m not 100% sure how I found 
LOVE the back on this dress!!
And the twirl factor is off the charts. A total win in Maya’s book 😉 
LOVE HER!!
One of my favorite shots from the day… Although, I have a few! 
OMG! Both of our faces here hahahaha.
Another favorite… 
The camp Maya went to was 1.7 miles from our house. She walked there every morning, and 3 out of the 5 days walked home too! SO proud of her!!
She wants to pet just about every dog we see. This owner was nice enough to let Maya throw the Frisbee for her dog a few times 🙂 
I had this idea of shooting through the hanging branches, except it was pretty windy, and half the shots are like this… 🙂
I took these the day before I left on my girls weekend over a week ago…
For a sizing reference. I’m 5′ 8″, and I got a small. It’s actually almost too long! Nothing a little knot doesn’t fix!
Because…twinning is winning! haha. 
Maya wanted to “Make me look beautiful” by putting weeds in my hair 😉 
You can’t really see them, but…so sweet! 
I can’t even handle her sweet smile!!! LOVE HER!
The low tide was SO cool, but it was SO slippery out there on the rocks. We ventured out a little bit, and then came back.
I thought about messing with this image in Photoshop to enhance the beauty, but decided to leave it exactly the way I took it in my camera… 
Same with this one. I’m not much of a landscape photographer, but I couldn’t help but take a picture on this day. 
And, I’ve always wanted to capture Maya mid jump. Oddly…when I finally did, I realize it wasn’t exaaaaaactly how I pictured it in my mind 🙂 
It’s hard to get Maya to come anywhere near me, because she just wants to run and play in the sand.
Yup…this view is only a few yards away from the above shots! Honestly, not even that! I could have pivoted from the above shot to get this!! 
She honestly face planted in the first 5 minutes!! 🙂 I’m SO glad I thrift all her clothes!!
EXCEPT for the fact that once she’s down there…she doesn’t want to get up ;{
So, I have to offer to play with her (which is really all I want in the first place!) 🙂 
And….back to playing in the sand.
Until I gave her permission to just jump and play! 
and the back of this top?? LOVE!
If there is one thing I consistently love (besides an interesting back on a top haha), it’s a red shoe! LOVE the pop of color that instantly makes any outfit 10 times cuter!! 
I decided to play around with the 
Ladybug! 
It’s been a long time since I’ve captured this, but it’s one of my favorite sights!!! Maya running in for a big bear hug (which usually knocks me over, haha) 🙂 
I still cannot believe I got so lucky to have such a sweet happy little nugget…
On me…
Oh, and note to self. You have to stay within the sweet spot when shooting with a Lensbaby 😉 What you can’t really see is that Maya is desperately reaching down to tickle me on the way down haha.
I feel like I should be knocking on wood, BUT… Maya has been more open to my clothing suggestions lately! For the last year, it has been twirly dresses and leggings on repeat! Which…is fine, but I LOVE her in jeans. And honestly, they are more durable for falls!
Again….interesting back? I’m IN!!!
Seriously, dying…
And…I think she inherited my laugh 😉
And dance moves hahaha.
It’s not always laughs and smiles. A lot of the time is tiger roars… 😉 
Seriously, the best way to get Maya into pictures, is for us to say we want pictures by ourselves. I’m not going to complain, because…I mean… 
She LOOOOOVES her daddy. And, I love that, too. 
One of my favorites!
The Huz caught this one 🙂 
I can’t even handle how cute she is, especially when she’s looking at the Huz!!!
All the who wears what aside. What I really wanted was this. I always want to capture “US!”
And….she’s done 😉
OMG, excuse my face haha. 
On me…
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