I've started this blog post at least half a dozen times over the past couple of months. Something always comes up or the website crashes or I simply try to make it too detailed, so I end up throwing in the towel and trying again the next week (only to fail again...). Anyways, I've decided to only post my favorites from the most recent two rolls I shot last week. Maybe eventually I'll go back and fill in with my winter images (spoiler alert: there weren't a ton).

First ones were made with my Olympus XA on Portra400 rated at 800 and pushed a stop. I love the Olympus because it's really easy and small. It's a point and shoot that's perfect for daily life.

I'm training for an open water swim in Lake Michigan at the end of summer, so this is my view twice a week until then.

I had walked upstairs on this morning, arms full of cleaning supplies and trash bins so that we could conquer the wreck of their bedroom, but had to run back downstairs to grab my camera for this shot before I "ruined" it by straightening the room up.

We're in the process of building a treehouse in the back corner of our yard. Excited to get it done!

Daddy's little helper. She was in charge of handing him the nails.

She's absolutely insane and drives me batty on a daily basis, but oh how I love her.

I hung this tire swing by myself during my husband's last deployment and the girls play on it pretty much everyday, asking me to push them and chase them, acting like a lion. This is what my view looks like before I get too dizzy and have to call it quits.

And when Mommy gets tired, sister fills in. You can see how well loved this tire swing is by the immense patch of dirt beneath it.

Selfies on film are always a trick. Here we are on a rare date night.

I'd been dying to go to a local jazz club for years.

It was a jazz harpist...who knew such a thing existed? It was awesome.

The next images are only of my oldest daughter. It's rare that I manage to get her to cooperate for the camera, so I'm very happy to have these. These were shot on my Mamiya 645 1000s with Fuji 400H. I rated the film at 200 and shot wide open at f1.9, so several of them were not tack sharp. It doesn't bother me on most of them, although I was kind of bummed to discover that I preferred them converted to black and white. I suppose I just prefer Portra for skin tones and Fuji for nature.

This is her go-to face for pictures. I have no idea why.

Here it is again, but softer and more nostalgic I think.

I see this expression all the time. She's not actually upset...it's her deep in thought look. This kid is already pondering very deep stuff. Just the other day, she said "Mommy, you know what I just realized? That my world is different from everyone else's, just like yours is different from mine. Because we're not the same person and we see different things." My little philosopher-in-training.

Her favorite treat is a push pop, just like mine was at her age. Like mother, like daughter!

So that's it for now! We're leaving in a few days to go overseas for a couple of weeks...England, France, and Scotland. I should receive lots of (hopefully) beautiful scans in May from that adventure and will share them then. Fingers crossed for good weather while we're gone!