Family. Love ;)

Last weekend I met one of my 2011 couples for their engagement session at Estero Llano Grande in Weslaco, Texas. I arrived about an hour early to walk around and enjoy the beautiful Sunday afternoon. It was amazingly peaceful and I fell completely in love with the area. I am not much of a bird enthusiast but I do enjoy a good nature park. Estero Llano Grande has become one my new favorite places to visit and daydream at. 

Amazing weather only make this location so much more serene and ideal for brainstorming ideas. It is also immensely large compared to what I imagined it would be in my mind. By the time my session began last week, I had only explored about one fourth of the park. I knew immediately that I wanted to come back for a visit soon.

And I did. I knew I wanted to bring my little brothers to explore the area with me. Most importantly, I wanted to bring them with me so we could all see the alligators! Yes, alligators! Now when they told me last Sunday to make sure I visited Alligator Lake to seem some gators, I imagined little itty-bitty gators. Mini sized :)

I figured I could safely protect my brothers in case of any danger so I knew they'd be coming back with me. It would make for a great adventure. And it did, trust me... As we made our way through the park and hiked along the trails, we reached Alligator Lake. There was a bench, right next to the water and we took a seat. The four of us, clenched together. We waited, and waited. We saw turtles and birds but no alligators in sight. 

I was excited and determined to wait until I saw one come up for air. Then it did. Both of them. Both of the gigantically-humongously-huge alligators. They were way larger than what I had pictured!!! My excitement quickly turned to nervousness and our adventure was really an adventure now. We were amazed, excited, nervous, and just rushing with adrenaline or something when we saw the alligators in a natural environment. 

I quickly realized there was no way I'd be wrestling a gator that afternoon so we made sure to stay on the trail and keep our distance. Regardless, it was our favorite part of the park. After a few hours of hiking through the trails, we enjoyed a wide range of emotions: anger, annoyance, fear, nervousness, excitement, happiness... everything! As siblings, we truly did fight and make up about every five minutes. 

Definitely the best part of having siblings ;) 

I love my little brothers, who I may add are way bigger than me by now. As the eldest and only girl, I feel like I am their second mother. I am very protective of them and I hope to set a good example for them to follow. Brandon, AJ and Michael, I love you!!!

Photos of me by my brothers :)

Did I mention it was windy? 

 I took the little D60 with a 35mm lens... this is the best I could get while staying alive ;)

Be blessed!!!