Renee Lewis Photography

Indiana Dunes and Chicago

We just spent a long weekend at Indiana Dunes National Park with our friends, the Buckmans.  We wanted to get in some time at the beach and visit Chicago. (Warning: picture overload)

We started off visiting Mt. Baldy, which is this HUGE sand dune. Once you get to the top, the views of Lake Michigan are breathtaking.

Bart and the kids on the way up....

 

The next morning, we decided to take the South Shore Line Train into Chicago. We had never rode a real train and thought it would be a cool experience for everyone.  Sam, of course, enjoyed it the most.

The Shedd Aquarium was our first stop, once we arrived in the city. Later, we all agreed, it was bad idea to go on a weekend. It was so crowded that you couldn't see anything. We didn't stay long.

And a view of the city from outside the Shedd.

These guys happened to be waiting for a water taxi the same time we were.

Our next stop was Navy Pier.  The kids rode the rides and we grabbed some ice cream.

After Navy Pier,  we did a boat tour of the city. Here's the Sears Tower from the river.

My family....

 

And one of Donnie and Brock...Beth and Bekah decided to sit this one out.

 

Later, the non-city slickers that we are, took the wrong bus to the train station, hence, missing the train. Everyone was tired, and hot, and cranky. We laugh about it now.

We had a few hours until the next train, so we checked out the infamous "bean" at Millenium Park. I can now say that I almost knocked myself out by hitting the bean with my head. The kids thought it was hysterical.

I am not sure what this is called. It was also at the park. Lots of kiddos playing in the fountain.

We finally caught the train and made it back to our hotel very late. We survived our first trip to Chicago with 5 kids and decided to go back for more on another day. I'll post more later. :)

My new desktop

 Is a photo that I took of my new favorite place. LOTS of photos coming soon. My card reader is in over-drive right now.  Stay tuned.

Cherubs

Little Elliot is only eight weeks old, but quite the sport for his first photo session.  He looks like a cherub.

Speaking of cherubs, his big sister cherub-like herself, with the blonde curls and blue eyes.  

 

My favorite image from the session. Need I say more?

 

And this outtake makes my day....I have some competition in my future.

Enjoy your sneak peek, Amy. ;)

Dog Pile

Interesting name for a post, eh? I think I will be saying it more often because when I do, I get photos like this. Totally candid and real. Check out the smiles on these kiddos.

   

But, this one made me laugh the minute I saw it. Check out their son, Tyler's face.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Claire's red hair. Gorgeous.

And these freckles on Caity's little face:

And this boy. I have practically watched him grow up. Tyler has been friends with my son Jacob since first grade!

Thanks Jessica and Joey. I had a great time with your family. Enjoy your sneak peek. ;)

Full Circle

This is going to be a longer post than I generally do, so bear with me.  I have a story to tell about an amazing lady. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when her son, Aydyn, was three months old.   

When I met, Stephanie, two years ago, things were not so good. She had been through two years of chemotherapy and radiation. She was simply fighting to live. I heard her about her through my mom (also a cancer survivor) because Stephanie had started coming to support group meetings at OAK . 

At that time, Stephanie's only hope was to head to Houston's M.D. Anderson and do a stem-cell transplant. This would mean leaving her two-year old son, Aydyn, for three months. It's a serious procedure. They practically have to kill you with chemotherapy so that your body won't reject the stem-cells.

I felt horrible for her. I couldn't stop thinking about her and the whole situation. My husband would say I was obsessed.  She was so young, a newly-wed, and had this beautifull little boy. I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to leave your baby for that long. So, I called and offered to do what I love to do...a photo session. She took me up on it. We finally were able to do it, the day before she left for Houston. Talk about getting down to the wire. I can't even begin to tell you how hard that session was. But I felt so glad that we had done it. I made a slideshow of the session and mailed a copy to Stephanie and Curtis in Houston and one to Aydn, who was staying with a friend in Louisville. 

Fast-forward to today. Her two-year anniversary is coming up. That's a milestone in the cancer world. She remains cancer-free. She still gets frequent scans and everything is clean. She and her husband, Curtis, have now became foster parents to three siblings. (I wish I could post picture of them, too, but I decided that I shouldn't for privacy issues.)  So do you see why I use the word "amazing" to describe her?

Let's not leave out her awesome, soul-mate of a husband, Curtis. I saved an email he sent me, when they received their slideshow, while at MD Anderson. It was very heart-felt. And it's in my folder of notes that I look at when I am feeling a little down about photography. (Yes, I do go though periods of total photography funk.)

Here's a few from two years ago:

 

 

I remember Stephanie making a comments about her baldness.  All I could focus on were her beautful baby blues.

 

Fast forward to now. Check out her thick curly hair, which I told her to embrace. Her hair was blonde and straight prior to chemo. And she is still sporting those blue eyes.

Love her expression here. :)

I know, I am seriously over-doing this pose, but I love it anyway.

 

I think four-year old Aydyn might grow up to be a photographer. He had great ideas for poses and shots.

 

 

I told Stephanie that day we did the first photos that we would do them again one day, when she was better and had her hair back. And we did. "Full circle" at it's best.

Golden Boy

I have been eyeing some beautiful wheat fields for a few weeks. Finally, I was able to get out there and try a few with Jake. And for once, he was a willing model. These were taken right at sunset. I love the sweet light shining on my sweet boy.

 

 

Stranded at the drive-in

Well, not really stranded, but that lyric pops in my head when I think about a drive-in. We took the kids to their very first drive-in movie Friday night. I can't believe we hadn't done it before now because they loved it. I have a feeling we'll be going back this summer.

When I was a kid, we went to the drive in a lot. I remember my mom putting us in our jammies and loading us in the car with snacks on hand. My brother and I would konk out before the 2nd feature even started.

Anyway, I am going to say much about WALL-E, because I know I will be the minority.  The message is good, but it wasn't one of my favorite Pixar movies. Sam liked it, so that's a good thing.

If you have seen it, let me know what you think about the movie.

Game over

Softball season is officially over, with the exception of our team cook-out this weekend. Here's a slideshow I made for the girls. Enjoy.

Go baby go

We spent the afternoon at the track this weekend for a luncheon with my friends at OAK. The kids REALLY enjoyed it. I, myself, could care less about betting. But the bread pudding and the photo ops are another thing.

 

  

 

  

Note to self...must learn to take photos of race horses.  

 

A Hilltopper Wedding

Last Saturday, I traveled down to Bowling Green to shoot a friend of the family's wedding. Christy and Andy were married in the middle of Western Kentucky's campus. It was a gorgeous location. And everything went off without a glitch. (No pressure for me though, since Christy's dad, Bob, has been a professional photographer for many years. LOL) 

Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

Let's get the show on the road!

Christy sharing a moment with her dad. 

Just being silly....

Congratulations Christy and Andy!