I’ve known Paddy O’Shea forever. Well, maybe not forever exactly but since about the time when i was actually taller than him, which kinda feels like forever. I could run faster than him then too, although he still vehemently disputes this fact. I was the little girl Tom + Dolie O’Shea never had and was kinda part of the furniture in the O’Shea household amongst the five O’Shea boys for the best part of a decade. Apparently I was wearing my very very favourite Spiderman tee-shirt the first day I turned up in their garden, so Bear tells me! He still lives in the idyllic Glen of Aherlow in County Tipperary where i spent manys the happy tomboy summer, building forts and climbing trees; and where the sun was always shining. Well in my mind it was anyway. And through these beautiful rose-tinted spectacles.

If you’ve come across the classic “Effin’ Eddie” GAA match commentary you may have heard of “The Bear” before. Classic stuff. A definite pre-cursor to Th’Unbelievables. He’s been a busy man since then and there’s three “Baby Bears” on the scene now to keep him so. Not to mention taking good care of Missus Bear. I just happened to be passing the other day on one of my flying visits (is it just me or are we all ridiculously over-busy these days?). Marie just happened to mention how she’d like to get me to take some photos of the kids. She threw it out there like…some time; in the future; when you’ve time; when we are ready…and all that. How about now? Says I. Now? Why not, i’ve got the camera in the car. Let’s go, c’mon! So, suddenly, before they knew it, they were all being photographed. Not some time. Now. No time like the present.

“Bear” shuns the limelight these days (not that he ever actually sought it!) and didn’t even want to be photographed with the kids. “I’ll drive ye wherever ye want to go. I’ll carry the bags. But ye don’t want me in the photos”. Says he. No Bear, we don’t want you in the photos. Not at all. No way. Sure why would we.

Most parents want to stay out of the photos in our family shoots. We respect their wishes and wouldn’t dream of coercing them into anything. Sometimes though, if they get into the odd photo by accident *ahem* then they can be pleasantly surprised with how photogenic they are, especially if they are just being themselves, enjoying some family time. How bad.

We took a walk down Riversdale, a place we used to go adventuring as kids. The house is totally overgrown now with nearly three decades-worth of vegetation. It was completely different to how i had imagined it. And not at all suitable for little kids, as it happened, but sure we made the best of it.

We certainly wouldn’t be allowing our precious little darlings to be playing in there, as all the dangers that we were blissfully unaware of then are blaringly obvious now; a river, mad cows and an enormous tumbling-down house, to name but a few. Young Niall was most aggrieved that he was forbidden to enter the house. Oh how the tables have turned! *nostalgic sigh*

Aoife was the biggest revelation of our mini photo-shoot. Marie didn’t have one nice photo of her and had just assumed that she was unphotogenic or something. Not so. All the photos of Aoife that had ever been taken were simply of her ‘photo-face’, not the real, cute, beautiful little girl that she is. So once we got her to just be herself, this is what we found. GORGEOUSness.

The very lovely Aoife O’Shea.

What a great little impromptu photo adventure. *Bear hugs* Maj x

And in 15 or 20 years time when ‘baby’ Colm is towering over his big sister Aoife, this photo’s going to be priceless, as she catches him up in order to dump him rather abruptly out of the way. *thunk*! Love it, and especially Marie in the background anticipating what’s going to happen, as us mammies do,…’Noooooo”!