Every year these boys' mom has photos done for their birthdays. Every year she includes balloons for how old they are. The eldest has 8 balloons in that bunch while the youngest gets a big number. Her plan is to do this every year until they refuse haha. I said keep going until one day she'll be entering their homes and hiding 40 balloons in their bathrooms.
If you've been following my stories lately, you know I'm committed to being a Leave No Trace photographer. Well, have no fear. Mom made sure to have weights attached to both balloons and her boys were told before hand about the importance of not letting the balloons go, as well as how to hold onto them properly. No balloons were lost during this session.
The game plan for this session was to do a few photos in the park with balloons, then leave balloons in the car while we went to the Kiddie Park for the remainder of our time together. Well, when we first looked at what times the Kiddie Park was open on the weekends we were both very sure that it would be open on Sunday evening. But when we arrived that day, we were wrong. Kiddie Park was closed. Woops.
We did not let those balloons go to waste though. The four of us wandered through the park, taking lots of photos with those balloons and just having a fun time. It also gave my friend and I a chance to catch up and find another day to do their Kiddie Park pics.
It may look like Brackenridge Park was quite and serene while we were there, but it was actually pretty busy. We all had masks on us (Mom and I wore ours at all times) for when we passed groups of people as we made our way through the park.
Aren't their smiles and brotherly love the best? Also, did you notice their sad faces in front of the closed Kiddie Park gates?
The following weekend we met again at the Kiddie Park. This time we checked and double checked that it would be open!
Visiting an amusement park during pandemic: We arrived when the Park (back in early October) first opened so that it would be less crowded and clean. Again, their Mom and I wore our masks the entire time. Her boys had their masks in case it got crowded before we left the park. The Kiddie Park has hand sanitizer stations near every ride and employees sprayed the rides where children sat in between uses. We also brought our own hand sanitizer, which was good since some stations were empty. Once more people started arriving, about 35 mins after it opened, I decided it was my time to leave.
This was my first time at the San Antonio Kiddie Park. Even before it was located at the Zoo, I had never been since I didn't grow up here. It's fascinating how old these rides are. My favorite is the image where you can see the giant hole in the roof of the ride. While editing these, I started laughing when I realized the horses no longer had their tails, just holes where they should be. I also told my friend that when the photos are in black and white, if it wasn't fore hair and wardrobe, these photos could be from any time period. Especially considering employees in the background are wearing face masks.
Their relationship is so sweet. What a great older brother to ride on some of these rides when he's on the cusp of being too old (or too big) for them. He was also very good at helping his younger brother into and off of rides. But, he was also good at encouraging the younger one when he gets into mischief. Like when he started playing in the water during the boat ride. And younger brother loves him, even when he bosses older bro around haha. You can see photos of him yelling out to his brother, cupping his hands around his mouth to help carry his voice. So cute.
Once Covid numbers go back down, I'm looking forward to more photo sessions at the Kiddie Park! Who else?
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