Every summer since Isla was a newborn, we’ve spent multiple weeks in Durango, where my parents have a vacation house. It is such a special place for us, and the girls love spending time there. We spent lots of time outdoors – which makes sense since it was basically 80 degrees and sunny everyday. We did lots of river trips, visits to the parks, horseback and bike rides, and farmer’s market shopping. Because of COVID, some of our favorite daily activities were restricted, so it was a more low-key summer than some, which might have happened anyway with three active kids (boy, did I miss Georgie being fast asleep, swaddled to my chest like she was last summer!).

My older sister, Karine, and her boyfriend, Hunter, were staying at the house for our whole visit, and my parents were there for a few of the weeks as well. It was such good family time – something I’m really grateful for! We also got to spend time with two of my best friends (whose family photos I shared yesterday here). We also escaped to Telluride for a day to stay with our friends, the Gentrys, who graciously hosted us in their gorgeous mountain house. We had such a fun time with them! Lastly, we celebrated our seventh year anniversary, as well as my mom and sister’s birthdays, during our trip. It was nice being all together for these occasions.

Here are a few (okay, a ton!) of pictures from our last five weeks. If you’re planning a trip to Durango, this Durango, Colorado Family-Friendly Travel Guide would hopefully be a helpful read!

While we were in Durango for the last five weeks, I had the privilege of photographing two of my best friends and their beautiful families while they were in town. I honestly adore my job – I get such a thrill from capturing people’s precious life milestones, and there is nothing greater than getting to do this for the ones you love the most! The Behenna and Armes kiddos were all so sweet and playful during their photos, which makes snapping their pretty faces very fun!

The crisp Durango weather that we had during Kirby and Sydney’s sessions is a stark difference from perpetually humid Houston, and it has me all excited for fall. I cannot wait to get back into the swing of ‘family photo season,’ and am so looking forward to seeing some of my favorite repeat clients and getting to meet new families!

This year, I am capping the number of portrait sessions in order to try to save my sanity which is normally gone by early December after a few months of late night editing! I recently emailed last year’s clients, who have snapped up most of the slots, but I still have eleven openings left for 2020!

I have details about my family session pricing here. If you are interested in booking portraits with me (woohoo, thank you!) – you can pick a date and book a session here! I can’t wait to meet you and your family! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at ailee@snapshotsbyaileepetrovic.com.

Happy first of July! I cannot believe we’re in the seventh month of the strangest year ever already. When quarantine began in mid-March, most people believed it would last a few weeks, then the rumors began swirling that we might not even go back to finish the school year (at the end of May!). This seemed completely impossible at the time, but as the weeks of lock-down continued, it soon became clear that we’d be homeschooling for the rest of Isla’s kindergarten year.

Now, all of those thoughts and conversations seem like an eternity ago. Staying at home seems like the new norm! And it’s wild how much has changed in 3.5 months in our family. Most significantly for our family, Georgie learned how to walk and her vocabulary has exploded, and Emilia learned how to swim and ride a bike by herself! Sweet Isla has learned that she really loves going to school, misses her friends like crazy and on a more serious note, her reading has gotten so smooth with nightly reader books.

I have only posted 31 personal photos on Instagram since we started the quarantine, but as you can imagine if you know me at all, I’ve been taking thousands of photos. Alas, below are my favorite 200+ photos (casual, I know!) that I’ve taken during this strange time. If you make it down to the bottom of the gallery, you deserve a reward! While there are so many tragic impacts of COVID-19, I am grateful for the extra time we’ve had as a family (but seriously, let’s not homeschool again in the fall! Ha!).