I feel like the month of May was the perfect way to transition into the HEAT of summer. I’m pretty excited about it, because we have a family bucket list for the summer that I want to complete. Give me all the inflatable pool time, popsicles, BBQs and sunshine! The month of May had a lot of that pre-summer heat and quality time attached to it.

We started the month with a mini family vacation to Orlando. It was our first family vacation with the three of us and we realize it will be our last, since baby girl Carney will be joining us soon. We rented a condo, made pancakes every morning, went to Sea World for a day, went to the pool, made dinners and watched movies together. IT WAS THE BEST TIME. We don’t usually have an entire weekend to ourselves with weddings and school, so this was GLORIOUS.

I was really excited to do child swap for the adult rides at Sea World, until I realized that I could only ride the attractions that my toddler could, due to being pregnant. No roller coasters or water rides for me. But Ethan needed a nap so we took advantage of the “Quiet Rooms” for kids at the park and both napped while Daddy rode the roller coasters.

Overall, I will say that I do love me some Disney parks more than Sea World, but Sea World had no lines, was not crowded and had a lot of shaded areas where we could just chill. Plus, Ethan loved the shows here. I think in the heat, all of those factors were helpful for this pregnant woman.

After the trip, we had a little family scare and visited the children’s ER. Ethan inhaled a lot of pool water and his behavior the night after was resembling the symptoms of dry drowning. Luckily, it was just a virus, but I’m thankful to be safe than sorry. While I felt bad that Ethan wasn’t feeling well, I did enjoy the extra cuddles.

Another big thing that happened this month was that my brother, Alex, got accepted into Santa Fe’s PTA program and moved back in with us! We are SO happy for him. We know that we KNOW the Lord had this for him and we are really excited to see him thrive, doing the thing he loves. Plus, we LOVE having him back with us. Evening at the Carney home have consisted of couch catch-ups for the three of us.

Market days! I took a Wednesday afternoon and photographed one of my favorite things in Gainesville… the downtown farmer’s market. I usually get flowers, a pretzel or guac and chips. Yummz!

Spring minis happened in May! This was a special round of minis for me, because it is the last time I am photographing the Gainesville ones. Our Associate Photographer, Kim, will be taking over for Gainesville minis starting in the fall. It is perfect timing because I will be on maternity leave during the Gainesville fall minis. All of the kids were such a delight. There was even a family that brought a cooler with ice cream cones and sprinkles for their shoot! Couldn’t have asked for a better way to pass the baton over.

If you want to be on the list to hear about fall mini sessions before the public, be sure to email us at info@mollinerphotography.com. Let us know you want to be on the fall minis list!

The following week, I traveled to South Florida with Ethan for minis and a wedding. I had the pleasure of photographing my childhood best friend and her family. While we haven’t seen each other since the last mini session, it really is sweet to me that I get to continue to be a part of her memories by documenting her family every year.

The following day I went down to Miami Beach for a very classic wedding. I was definitely feeling the heat though. That south Florida heat is like no other.

I took advantage of my day off in south Florida the next day and got lunch at my favorite Cuban restaurant in West Palm, Don Ramon (highly recommend for authentic Cuban), followed by an afternoon at the beach with my parents and Ethan. It was really sweet to my heart to watch my dad and Ethan make sandcastles and play on the shoreline. Ethan is a huge fan (my boy!) and kept asking about the dolphins (since not too long before he saw them at Sea World).

Our couples and families microchurch had a girls/guys night this month. The girls went out to dinner and spent hours laughing at personal stories growing up and crazy adventures that our children have led us to. I really love this group of women.

We also had an over-due family night with our other friends, Matt and Tracy, as we had dinner, caught up and played two rounds of Catan. I wouldn’t consider myself competitive, until you tell me that the winner gets their name on the box. We have been playing together for about two years and I HAVE YET TO WRITE MY NAME ON THE BOX. I got SOOOO close this time.

We had one date night where we actually went outside of the house. Since my brother got back, he has been spending his evenings studying at home, which has given us a chance to get out of the house. The other night we went out for Chik-Fil-A (simple, but simple feels good with your person) and watched Aladdin.

We ended the month with Ethan’s 3rd birthday! He requested a “Blue Birthday,” so I will say it saved me a lot of money on a theme. We had an inflatable pool, corn hole, popsicles and a pink/blue (his favorite colors) cupcake. The pool was helpful in keeping the kids together. Plus, it was great to have a space to cool them down in the 100 degree weather. This was my first time throwing an actual birthday party and it was perfect (minus the fact that I planned it during everyone’s nap time, including Ethan’s. See his otherwise-excited cupcake face). This is the first year of him making friends, so it was so cute to see him running around and splashing with them. In total, there were 10 kids there, all kids he regularly plays with.

After the party, some of our favorite people stayed behind to play games. Good quality adult time 🙂

For his actual birthday, I brought him Chipotle at school and sat down with him and his classmates. It was a sight to see a pregnant woman sitting in a tiny toddler chair, for sure. We watched a movie together that night and read all of the extra books. Poor Wayne had an exam that night, so he wasn’t around that day, but he got to have his own Chipotle date with him at school at the end of the week.

So thankful for the quality family time this past month. Thank the Lord for these moments and the opportunity to remember the goodness He provides. Looking forward to my FAVORITE season with my people next month! On to June!