they like to break stuff...

when i was a wee lad, probably 10 or so, I would hop on my bike and walk about 2 blocks to the playground near my house every single monday - friday in the summers. 

i don't think they offer the same thing to kids these days, but back then they had 'big kids' looking after us little kids. we would play games, swing on swings, teeter on teeter totters, have great snacks...it was a great way to spend the summer.

i don't remember the teetering or the tottering, the games of tag or purple kool-aid. i was there for one reason and one reason only.

Donna.

She was the playground leader and the only reason I never missed at day at that playground on Alexander St in Sydney. I got "King of the Playground" that year...not for sharing or sports or winning. it was because i never missed a second at that playground. if it was pouring rain and freezing I'd peer down the winding sidewalk of Alexander St to see if Donna was coming to work.

no wonder i was never really that good at team sports. i was a skirt chaser at 10.

why am I telling you this? because i hadn't thought about that time until 25 years later, Donna's brother, Darryl, calls me up to get some pics of his three boys as a surprise birthday present for their Mom. 

I asked him what they were into and he said, "What are they into? They love to break stuff!"

these 3 dudes came into the studio and were the most well behaved, polite, charismatic little fellas I've ever seen. Darryl told me that after the shoot one of the boys said, "Dad, Liam's more teenager than adult isn't he?". Success!

here's a few from the shoot.