Greg, Barbara, Jackson, Ava & Charlotte at Home

This gorgeous family are leaving Bermuda after living here for 13 years so they wanted to capture some family memories in their home before they leave for good. They have loved their time on the island, the beaches and the incredible lifestyle our sweet island life offers. Both Greg and Barbara are from Tennessee so moving back this summer is exciting, but the couple haven't lived there in 20 years and the kids have never lived anywhere but Bermuda so it will be a big change.

This sweet little play house is a favourite spot for the sisters to pass time. They love to do arts and crafts and make house and pretend bake in this magical little spot.

Hello darling boots!!

The view out the darling heart shaped window in the play house.

The family pup, Salty, was named after the Salty Dog Cafe in Hilton Head, South Carolina - a fave spot for the family to go when on holiday.

Jackson is 11 an loves sports and especially baseball and running. He also loves adventure stories and play time and has a huge imagination. He spends hours in the garden jumping about and play fighting and creating stories in his mind. He is developing a strong interest in creating films and movies and has made several this year.

Jackson's room was full of personality and little quirky details that showed his personality.

He told me all about the signatures on this ball and who each of the famous players were - wish I could remember and share - I am an artist and not so into sports so of course none of the names meant anything to me but he was so animated and articulate in sharing all the details - love him!

Jackson is really into Indiana Jones and showed me his secret hiding spot to spy on intruders. He slipped behind a dresser and peeked through the eyes in his picture and nobody would ever know - such fun and so much creativity and imagination.

The three kids were stars and came with me to test the light in different spots around the garden. I love the way they are dressed - so casual and chic at the same time.

Don't they all look like Ralph Lauren models - straight out of an ad campaign - so beautiful!

These two were so cute together, I couldn't help but get a few of them together too.

In these days of facebook, I tend to take individual photos of everyone more than I used to as people always need profile pics. I couldn't decide between the colour and black and white versions of these two images.

And this is the stunning view from their home. Understandable why they wanted to capture some shots at the house before they go - what a tough spot to give up - imaging waking up to this every morning - just heaven.

The kids did a quick change into more summery clothing for the pool photos. Such gorgeous light at sunset at their home.

Charlotte is 6 and loves dance and ballet. When I first photographed her at her old house, she was just a toddler and now she seems so grown up.

The original plan for the shoot was to be in the field of freesias but sadly, on the days we booked, the weather was windy and rainy. We finally were able to do the shoot two weeks later but by then, the blooms were on their way out and we missed their peak. But we still wanted to capture the hillside that had been covered only weeks before and although compared to what they were, the freesias aren't quite so spectacular, the hillside is still a dreamy spot in the late afternoon light with that fantastic view beyond.

The sisters love to make up dances and plays and put on performances for their family and friends. I adored the way their dresses twirled and their faces lit up when the danced around the pool.

Ava is 9 and she adores horses and riding, and takes lessons twice a week. She loves all animals and was keen to get a cuddle photo with her beloved Salty.

There was so much I wanted to capture and just not enough time and light - I had hoped to capture the girls in their room the way I had photographed Jackson, but we still needed to do family and freesia shots but before I left, although the sun had gone, I was still able to shoot the girls in their dreamy room doing what they loved - sharing secrets and laughter and childhood magic.

Thank you all for such a fantastic shoot - I do so adore shooting at homes where so many memories are made and everything is so personal and unique. You are such a lovely family and we are sorry you are leaving but know you have much awaiting you in your new home! xxxx

Expecting...

What a beautiful world filled with beautiful people sharing their love and making more beautiful, tiny people xxx

May Day

Every year, we have a May Day party, complete with May Pole and guests in visions of white. It is such a beautiful celebration but it didn't start out as it is now. When Oslo was a baby, we decided that instead of a formal Christening in a church, we would host a Naming Ceremony for him. We asked our dear friends to be Moon Mother, Earth Mother and Sun Father and asked that they be special people to Oslo in his life as he grew up. We planted a Cedar tree in the garden and said a few words about our sweet baby boy. When Indigo came along, we held a similar ceremony for her too and all of us involved in the service wore white. I remember looking back on the photos of all of us and thinking how dreamy we all looked. So from then on, we decided to have the party at the same time of year, but it became a May Day celebration welcoming of spring. I love the history of this festival and all it represents and the May Pole is such a fun and beautiful centre piece which the kids adore to dance around and decorate. Last year, I posted a little about my childhood memories of a May Day party and how special it was to me.

I adore to make the garden a dream scape of indoor things outside and love the luxurious feeling of sinking into a glam sofa while under the open skies. We were so lucky with the weather, as we have been every year since we began. The forecast was not great, but since it has not rained here in so long, I felt in my gut that the rains would not make it here when predicted. Luckily, they held off until the next morning and we enjoyed a glorious afternoon in the sun.

I sent the kids out that morning to find flowers in the neighbourhood - they did a great job and all the tables looked so beautiful.

These stunning amaryllis blooms were hiding behind the house in a dark and rarely used pathway - perfectly times to bloom and peak for the occasion. Oslo and I made more healthy gluten, dairy and processed sugar free muffins and I always struggle to make an icing but this lemon one was divine! And our lovely neighbours brought the delish rice krispie treats - they were very popular as you can imagine.

Not sure if I have posted yet a photo of the newest prop in the garden. It is a Victorian tub and I have already shot one heavenly shoot in it with flowers floating and can't wait to do loads of bubble bath shoots and flowers a plenty this summer - such fun. But for the party, so it didn't look quite so out of place, I made it a feature and filled it with blankets and pillows and draped the mosquito net over it - ended up being a huge hit. I didn't get photos, but in the back garden, I now have a wee wooden punt for photo shoots. I filled it with pillows and apparently the kids spent most of the afternoon in it dreaming up all sorts of games - so happy and wish I had captured some photos but was having such a nice time that took photos only twice.

The chocolate icing was much easier to make - just cocoa powder, agave and coconut oil which is my new fave item on the planet - I cook with it, eat it raw, make magic shell, use it as body lotion, hair conditioner and to polish my wooden floors - it is the miracle food. Love love love.

Finally we were ready to do the May Pole - Ben had downloaded loads of Celtic and Morris dancing music which added a real flavour to the day. Every year, it is such a struggle explaining what and how to do the dance and how to weave in and out of the each other to braid the ribbons around the pole. The little ones don't know left from right and under from over, and the older ones are too excited to start to properly listen. Ben tried at first to explain and then I took over in my typical micro managing fashion!

We had to enlist the help of a few parents to get it started and what usually happens is the adults do a bit first, then the older kids and lastly the wee ones. So when you look at the finished pole, there is perfect weaving at the top, a bit messy mid way down and the bottom is usually a disaster - this year it was a bit all over the place the whole way down but hopefully, the kids care less about the finished result and more about the fun of dancing in and out of each other holding a ribbon.

Skyla is my best friend's daughter and she decided that getting herself woven into the pole was the way forward!! Such a little monkey!

Cooper is Skyla's brother and he realised watching the scene from the toy car was definitely a better option.

Thank you all who came - it is always such a lovely event and everyone all in white looks so dreamy and old world so very romantic and a joy each year. Happy May Day and welcome spring - we now have no reason for the rains not to come so bring it on and let's make up the 10 inches we are short so far this year!  xxx