Dresses and parties

Last weekend was Party Weekend for our little (ha!) family. The festivities began on Friday evening when we attended a first birthday party for the girls' cousin, Charlie, who was visiting from Virginia. I am so happy that the girls have many cousins close in age on both my side of the family and Rich's.

What I absolutely love about those last three pictures is how Allie is holding Patrick's hand.

I almost always use my Speedlight when photographing indoors at night but for these next two, I wanted to use only whatever light was available to keep the mood of the photos.

85mm lens

aperture - f/3.5

ISO - 3200

shutter speed - 1/50

Rich's family is big. Very big. He has 12 siblings and 20+ nieces and nephews. Most of these nieces and nephews are in their twenties or thirties and have families of their own. Each year (usually the weekend before Christmas or the weekend after Christmas), we all gather for the annual family Christmas party, which usually takes place in a rented hall.

Here are the girls with a cousin.

I shortened Anna's dress by three inches in order for her to feel more comfortable. (If dresses are too long, she feels like she is going to trip on it.) I like how bouncy it looks but the loss of length meant a loss of (some) twirliness. I also slightly shortened the shoulder straps, which was a smart move on my part.

Kid group photo fail but posting so that you can see the back of her dress.

Dance party!

And then Santa showed up. Scary, scary Santa.

I volunteered to visit Santa with the girls when it came time for them to collect their gifts. Of course, no one wanted to sit on Santa's lap so I said that I would. Anna burst out crying. Hysterically.

The girls enjoyed two late (for them) nights and we all enjoyed time with family. The festivities continue this weekend!