The Wait is Over. We're Going to the Beach!!

I don't know what I was thinking inviting 5 families to the beach. It took me forever to gather clothes for all the kids and a few of the adults . It was worst than packing for myself.  I decided to do a pre beach video, showing them getting ready to leave. Initially it was going to show all 5 families with 3 different vehicles, one being a mini van. Had to reduce it to the 2 families shown to keep the video length reasonable.

The Scene:  This setting popped into my mind almost instantly and I pulled it together in about 20 mins. Since a lot of the families live in the same subdivision, I was able to use the 3 identical Barbie houses (2 came from thrift stores) to create a neighborhood. There are 2 foamcore boards that are covered with grass paper. Grass paper comes on a huge roll that can be found at Hobby Lobby or any place that sells train diorama items. The driveway is just a single piece of black foamcore that they sell at the Dollar Store.  I think putting a few of them together with yellow stripes down the middle will make a great road one day.  I added a little greenery that I found around the house. I still needed a little something else. I have a few green trees hanging around my studio, but they were way too big. So I started walking through the rest of the house looking for something else green. That's when I found the perfect fall colored trees! They are actually dried flowers that I have had on display for way too long, but everytime I considered getting rid of them, I didn't because I still enjoyed looking at them. Don't Ask! Let's just be glad that they were still there, because they make really cute trees. I just stuck them into a ball of air dry clay and voila, the perfect tree.  Sorry they are not properly planted, but I had to keep it movin'.

By the way, Antoinette will be showing more skin than she normally does, on this beach trip. Only her close friends know that growing up, she had a really bad case of eczema that discolored her skin.  She is no longer self conscience about it, but I didn't want you guys wondering what was going on with her discoloration. (Actually, that doll had a different head connection, and her head would not fit right on any of my bodies that were the right color. I will try again one day.)

So here is the first installment....

Click the video to see it in full mode.

Three New Families to Introduce

Sorry to hit you with three families at once, but they will be coming up in future stories, so thought you would want to make their acquantaince.  Actually you have already met Lisa.  I thought it was time for the formal introduction to her family.  

The Williams Family

This is Charles and Lisa Williams. They've been together on and off for about 8 years, finally tying the knot 3 years ago, after Lisa found herself expecting their 1st child, Chad.  Charles initially found it hard to settle into his new family life. He was so used to being the popular, "pretty boy", who loved to party.  The whole idea of being responsible for a wife and a baby went over his head.  Luckily he has Lisa, who is one of the sweetest people you would ever want to meet.  She is somewhat on the shy side, which is probably why she put up with Charles craziness for as long as she did.  Needless to say, Charles got himself together and just recently, Lisa gave birth to their new little baby girl Chelsea. 

The Taylor Family

This is the Taylor family.  Anthony and Antoinette have 3 lovely kids.  Nikaya, 8, Zahara 5, and Julian Kenaz, 2.  (NOTE: Since Danielle Harper's son is Julian, too, we will refer to this little guy in future stories by his middle name, Kenaz.)  Anthony is a financial advisor at Icon Financial Services in Fairfax, VA. and Antoinette has her own catering business.  She has made quite a name for herself in the Washington, DC area.  She occasionally does cooking segments on the local TV station.  As you can imagine with 3 kids, and 2 demanding jobs, they both keep really busy.  Sometimes to the detriment of their relationship. 

Antoinette and Lisa are actually best friends.  They have really been there for each other over the years.  

The Morales Family

Meet the Morales family.  Tony and Teresa have 2 kids, Dillon, 7 and their miracle baby, Sophie, 9 mos.

I call her the miracle baby because Tony and Teresa had been trying to have another child for the past 5 years.  After 3 miscarriages, they had just about given up.  Then along came Sophie.  Teresa is a fairly high strung person.  She is the overachiever, who is always on the go.  She is probably the poster child for Prozac, but you would never catch her taking anything to slow down.  (So all those doctor recommendations for bedrest probably were ignored).  Teresa's passion is cooking.  She teaches at the local Art Institute and caters on the side.  She is always involved with some committee or charity, etc.  Tony, on the other hand, is very laid back.  He does most of the parent duties, but he absolutely loves it.  He is very understanding and that is why this relationship works so well.

Video - This is a link to a video I did long before I had the idea of introducing my families.  It features The Williams and some of the Taylors.  At the tiime I was experiementing with some new video techniques, so this is not in line with the style of my current videos.  But it will give you a glimpse of these 2 families.

Lisa and Antoinette