Sean meets Tami. Neither of them has any idea what the next twenty-five years have in store — but there's a lot of living to do first: theme parks, costume parties, Christmas trees, and trips to Cancun and Cabo, just the two of them.
The Proposal, 2003
Two years in, Sean asks. Tami says yes.
Sean and Tami get married on the bluffs above Laguna Beach. The McDowell family officially begins.
Emma is born, and the house gets a lot louder — in the best way.
Before Chloe and Riley came along, it was Emma and her parents — birthdays, beach days, Christmas mornings, and a lot of daddy-daughter adventures.
The family starts spending time on the river in 2009. By 2012 they've got the original trailer set up at the campground, and a Yamaha Exciter jet boat to go with it — the start of a tradition that's still going strong.
The first Cinco de Mayo party — photo booth, stick-on mustaches, and a sombrero that says it all. It becomes a yearly thing.
Daughter number two joins the crew. From the newborn family portrait with Emma and the dog, through Halloween in a kitten costume, to a crawling, grinning Santa's helper by Christmas.
A portrait session in matching blues — Emma around 10, Chloe just over a year old, and a family still one daughter away from complete.
Riley completes the lineup. Sean and Tami are now outnumbered, four to one. These photos are from a 2019 family session not long after — Emma was 12, Chloe was 2, and Riley was a newborn.
A family portrait session later that year — Emma at 13, Chloe at 3, and Riley closing in on her first birthday, all four McDowell girls and Sean out on a gravel road at golden hour.
A favorite session — golden hills, a wooden footbridge, and all five McDowells looking completely at home with each other. Emma nearly grown, Chloe and Riley running wild in matching dresses.
44 Weeks on the Road
The whole family hits the road for 44 weeks, touring the country together. Proof that twenty years in, the adventure is only picking up speed.