You may remember the Orlino family from their newest addition, Eloise’s, birth back in August. It was my first time meeting Rebecca and Elmo and I only managed to capture a glimpse of their 4 year old twins, Sam and Oliver, via Skype. So I was excited to capture everyone together during a recent family session at Sly Park Lake up here in Pollock Pines.
Sam and Oliver are typical 4 year old boys who can’t stand in one place for longer than a few seconds. They walked up “mountains” of rock beside the lake and down the mountains of rock, threw stones, played with snow, and wielded sticks. I joked that they were like Huck and Tom from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exploring the great wild yonder. Although I did happen to remember that there was a session in recent history when a brother accidentally hit his sibling in the head with a rock and which resulted in an urgent care visit… and so, despite Elmo being a doctor, we curtailed some of the stone throwing.
Meanwhile us adults, along with baby Eloise in one or another’s parent’s arms, did our best to keep up with them, hoping and praying that, along the way we could bribe the twins to sit still for long enough that a photo with all 5 of them came together. It happened eventually, as it always does, and I have Rebecca to thank for that in part, since she was an incredibly calm and patient mom throughout. (I should probably also thank George Lucas because I believe something Star Wars was part of the successful bribe.)
Baby Eloise, meanwhile, was a doll. She was quiet and incredibly amiable the entire time, right up until the end as the temperature dropped and when mom had to wrap her up in a sling. It was wonderful to see how much she had grown in just the few months since her birth.
