last weekend was one for the memory books. my friend MARTA and i had been trying to get our families together for a cozy brunch or lunch since a few months, but our calendars never seemed to line up. we finally booked a date several weeks in advance – a saturday in october it would be. as the weather stayed nice for so long, we decided it would be the perfect time to do a joint photo session, too. there are never enough opportunities to get some beautiful family portraits, right?

so last saturday we were en route to our lunch and shoot location in the gorgeous countryside close to geneva, when i started smelling trouble from the back seat about twenty minutes into the drive. we figured we’d wait to change eloise’s diaper until we arrived at the restaurant, thinking nothing much more of it. but when another twenty minutes later i opened the car door and lifted eloise out of her car seat, a million thoughts started running through my head – the loudest one being ‘why for the love of god do i never pack a change of clothes for this baby?’ i’ll spare you my other thoughts. her diaper’s contents had exploded all over her beautiful onesie, pants and socks, and i had brought absolutely nothing else for her to wear. we panicked and almost turned the car straight around to head back home and cancel all plans, until we realized that shit indeed does happen in life and it’s way better to just roll with the punches.

so instead of having our lovely photo shoot i packed eloise into her super warm sleeping bag and tucked her under a blanket in the stroller, and we all enjoyed a little walk before enjoying a lovely lunch together. eloise slept through the entire thing. i guess marta and i had also romanticized the idea of being able to carry an actual conversation with so many kids at the table, but hey – it still counts as spending quality time together. afterwards we all drove back to our place in begnins to change eloise into a new outfit and have some coffee and cake, and then we went out for another little walk in our neighborhood. not even five minutes from our home, and of course we ended up taking the most gorgeous photos there. that’s #reallife for you.

the kids had fun picking some of the last left over grapes from the vines, while marta and i got completely snap happy and freaked out about the perfect light and the gorgeous fall colors. our husbands must have rolled their eyes a few times but they were polite enough to let us carry on, even posing for some family photos. keep the momtographers happy, and everyone gets to be happy, right? also – can we talk about these beautiful fall outfits? i am practically living in that red dress i found at MARGARETA, and all the kids are dressed (nearly head to toe) in things we found at STADTLANDKIND, both marta’s and my favorite swiss children’s web shop.

photos by stephanie duval and marta villacampa • my dress is from MARGARETA, all the kids are dressed in STADTLANDKIND outfits • théo’s SWEATER, inès’ DRESS and T-SHIRT, eloise’s CARDIGAN, ROMPER and PANTS, juliet’s DRESS, SNEAKERS, SCARF and POM POM SWEATER