My camera takes video.

June 27, 2016

Do you wanna hear a really good joke? I've owned my Canon Rebel T3 for over 3 years now, and I JUST figured out that I can take video on it. Insert monkey-covering-eyes emoji here. It really is embarrassing because I've looked at the knob on top of my camera before, and seen the movie film sign but for some reason, I just didn't think it could take video! I wish I had discovered this two weeks earlier, then I could have gotten some stellar video up at Yosemite! Ugh! Oh well. At least I know about it now!

Have I mentioned that I got a new camera lens? Yeah! I love it so much! It's a 1.4 f-stop, 50 mm, and it is AMAZING! The pictures are so crisp, clear, and full of color! I love it so much, though it does take some getting used to! So glad I get to learn new things day to day!

Anyway, this isn't my first few videos on my camera because the first one is me being totally floored that I spent over three years missing out on video worthy experiences, and the second will probably be a bit longer. This third video is just a 1 minute vid of my sweet Baby Barrett sleeping. I decided to record because he fell asleep with his two feet sticking out between the bars of the crib and it was just too dang cute! Watch.


I love my little Bear Bear! And speaking of bears, don't forget about Desert Twig's discount code! If you haven't stopped by her instagram feed or her shop yet, repent, and go. Haha! I couldn't be happier about my wooden bear cutout!


There's so much more available than just the bear, too. Stop on by and leave a comment here telling me which of her items you like best!

Talk to you soon!
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Yosemite – Bass Lake and traveling home

June 24, 2016
Jun 8-9

The lake was absolutely AMAZING this year! I've never seen it that full before (granted, I've only been twice before, but still) Normally there are lots of beaches and places to play in the sand, but the water was so high this time that you could see the tops of new trees poking out of the surface of the water!

yeah... she almost hit that duck...

But that's not what made it really amazing. The best part about Bass lake is that if you go any time in the summer at the beginning of June, the water is warm! I could have stayed out there for way longer than we did had it not been for a sad, goopy-eyed toddler, a hungry baby, and an ill-prepared husband (the shore and lake bottom were really rocky and Andrew didn't have the right shoes).

i spent an ENTIRE day at my friend Melissa's house making this suit and LOVE it! thanks for all your help, Melissa!

his smile melts my heart!


Poor Alexa! I'm not sure what it is, but Alexa is allergic to something up there. She started breaking out in hives that would come and then disappear and then reappear. Pile that on top of a fever one night and a viral infection of some sort that gave her the puffy, goopy eyes and you've got a pretty sad little gal!

I'm still not sure what was going on with Alexa because a day or so after we got home, Chelsea started showing the same symptoms. They're completely better now, so the whole thing remains a mystery... Thank goodness whatever it was, Barrett didn't get it!


The drive home was... to be totally honest, pretty lousy. Barrett did NOT enjoy being in the car AT ALL and Alexa was still having random outbreaks of rashes, or hives, or whatever they were. Needless to say, we were all super relieved when the drive was over. We had originally planned to stay for one more day, but with Alexa's allergic reactions, we decided we'd better head home.


It was so hard to leave Yosemite. It is probably my favorite bit of nature. Ever. Just the enormity of the boulders and rock faces blows my mind. Also, if you're interested in how Yosemite was created, click here.

take me back!

If I haven't convinced you yet to plan your next vacation to Yosemite, you'll never be convinced! Haha! Thanks for sticking with me this week! Expect to get back to normal, postings next week and if I pine after Yosemite from time to time, at least now you understand why.

Keep it real, friends!
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Yosemite – Vernal Falls, Yosemite Falls, Camping shirts + Free Stencils

June 23, 2016
Jun 7

They're kind of like Family Reunion shirts, but all different and specifically for camping! I love all of our shirts! Some of the designs I made myself, others I borrowed. From thee interr-net.
*stay wild


Have you ever made your own graphic t-shirt before? They're actually really easy! I've made quite a few now. The droid shirts I made for Star Wars Day might be my favorite and are definitely my kid's favorites!
click here to see my "mermaids have more fun" tee!

So what do you need to make these shirts?


pre-washed t-shirt
printer
freezer paper
piece of cardstock
camping stencils
*click here for the stay wild stencil
X-Acto Knife
cardboard
fabric paint (or acrylic paint + fabric medium)
foam brush
iron

First, print out your stencil on the matte side of the freezer paper. Feel free to adjust the sizing as needed. If you tape the freezer paper to a piece of cardstock, it goes through your printer smoothly.

Use the X-Acto knife to cut out the stencil, keeping any of the "embellishment" pieces.

Lay out your tee on a flat surface and slide a piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt so that the paint won't leak through. Cut a second piece of freezer paper the size of your stencil and slide that, shiny-side-up on top of the cardboard. Center your stencil on the t-shirt with all of its embellishment pieces (matte-side-up) and iron. The stencil will adhere to the freezer paper beneath the layer of fabric so you can dab the fabric paint easily.

Use your foam brush to gently dab the fabric paint to the t-shirt, over the stencil. For dark-colored t-shirts, apply 2-3 coats. For lighter colored t-shirts, one coat should be enough.

Allow to dry and follow the directions on the fabric paint for the rest! It usually asks you to let it dry, then use the steam setting on your iron to set the fabric paint into the shirt.

And voila! Your shirt is done and you are ready to post a million pictures on instagram of you and your cute family camping!

insert "laughing so hard i'm crying" face emoji here!

Alexa falling asleep while in the backpack is one of my favorite parts of this day, but seeing all the blue jays and being about 10 yards away from a deer were really cool, too! Sorry. No picture of that.

love my hunk of a husband!


The Vernal Falls hike is my second favorite! It's a little more difficult than Sentinel Dome, but not too bad. You can hike all the way up to the head of the falls and then beyond to the Upper Falls, but I've only ever been half way.

Yosemite Falls is more like a walk. We did with our double stroller. Didn't get a good pic of us in front of the falls because there were a ton of people and Barrett wasn't a fan of the water spray! Haha!

By-the-way, traveling with friends is the way to go! Not only did we have a great time with them, but you've also got someone to trade photography services with! Thanks for getting pics of our family for us, Ryan!


We love Yosemite!!!

Susan is a birth photographer/videographer serving Mesa, Arizona and surrounding cities including Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, and Tempe. Considering a photographer for your birth? Contact Susan for EDD availability.
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Yosemite – Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point

June 22, 2016
Jun 6

We woke up probably around 7:00 and took our time getting ready and getting the kiddos in the car. The Carnohan's squeezed into the back seat of our mini van quite nicely!

The drive to Sentinel Dome is a little long, but the hike is short and worth every minute of being in the car, even if your baby cries for half the drive.

my little mushroom baby!

I was actually feeling pretty sick to my stomach that morning (not sure why) and was planning on carrying Barrett, but then when I felt the pressure of him against my stomach, I was like uh uh. I'd better take Alexa. We strapped her into the hiking backpack, said a quick prayer, and I pretended that I wasn't feeling sick.


I loved carrying Alexa up to the top! It was like someone had attached a little radio chatterbox to my back and it was playing the Star Wars Darth Vader song on repeat. "Dum dum dum dum da-dum dum da-dum!" Haha! I seriously loved it and I think it helped me take my mind off of the pain in my stomach until it disappeared completely! Prayer works, friends.


Chelsea was so awesome throughout the entire trip! She walked and hiked just as much as the adults and didn't. complain. once. Not even kidding. She is a superhero, ball of energy.

breastfeeding on the top of the world with a view like this? nothing like it.


I now refer to Ryan Carnohan as Mr. Sunshine because NOTHING gets him down. He's always got a song to sing and a positive perspective on whatever situation! Take little E's costume change, for example:



So we had three situations up on Sentinel Dome.

Situation number 1: E has a blowout. Hence the costume change. They used Ryan's sweater to change E which resulted in a few good poop stains! Haha!


Situation number 2: Chelsea decides she wants to race Ryan down the rock face of the dome and takes off before he has a chance to tell her not to. Thank goodness she used some judgement before she took off like a shot and ran the direction where the ground leveled out before the sheer dropoff, but that didn't eliminate all chances of injury. I was down feeding Barrett when it all happened and she was running down to me, so I saw her trip and face-plant. I thought for sure there would be blood and a broken nose, but, miraculously, Chelsea had face-planted in the one spot on the dome that was a patch of sand about the size of my face. Guardian angels exist.



Situation number 3: Barrett has a blowout! Hahaha! It was so funny! Luckily it wasn't too bad, he didn't even soil his clothes, but he did get Daddy's! We used Ryan's sweater, which is now affectionately referred to as the poop sweater, to lay him on top of and got all that taken care of, too. These kids... We're never going to let them grow up without sharing that story a million times, haha!

After our hike, we drove in the car for a bit longer to Glacier point where we basically took a few pictures, then went back to the car for lunch. A lunch that was supposed to be sandwiches, but the boys forgot to pack knives for spreading the PB + J, haha! We just had Pringles, apples, and other snacks instead.


poop stain!!!  

Mr. Sunshine and not-so-sun-shiny Alexa! Can't remember why she was crying.

Our first day in Yosemite was definitely one for the books! It might sound funny, but I love the little things that go wrong on trips! They're the things that make the vacation entertaining and memorable. Of course we'll remember the amazing views and pride we had in ourselves when we reached the top, but every time we look at these pictures or take another trip to Yosemite, we'll say, "Remember that time E and Barrett had blowouts? And you forgot to pack knives to make our sandwiches?" I know I have a lot of those kinds of memories from vacations when I was a kid. Crazy that now Andrew and I are the ones creating these memories for our children.

To be continued...

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