First Day of Pre K

Braydon started Pre K today! It's hard to believe he is old enough for school, didn't I just have him yesterday? LOL! He goes to school in the afternoon session and couldn't wait to get there. When it was finally time to go he was out the door in a flash!

I was wondering if he would cry when I dropped him off, but nope not a tear! :( I actually got teary eyed dropping him off!

Chris came with me to pick Braydon up as a surprise. We got there a little early and they where outside playing. Each kid had art work in their cubby, we picked it up and him. He sat quietly and waited for the teacher to call his name to go home. He was so happy to see Mommy and Daddy and wouldn't stop talking about his school day. Can't wait to see how he does on Monday!

Preschool Orientation

Today Braydon had his orientation for preschool. He was a little upset because we only stayed for an hour! There are going to be 19 maybe 20 kids in his class with two teachers. I picked the Freedom Center Preschool because I liked how intimate the class was. We do swim lessons in the same building and the people are so nice it made me like the school too!

The orientation didn't have all of his classmates just half. There is already one boy who I can see as being an issue. This kid wouldn't listen to the teachers and his parents just ignored him and his bad behavior. He thought it was alright to run out the door, to throw pencils at people, and to dump all the legos out when the Teacher said not to. The kicker is that this all happened in a 30 time span!!

He will start this coming Friday. Crazy that he will be starting school on Friday the 13th! Is that a bad omen? Can't wait to see how that goes!

Water sliding fun!

Sunday is usually our rest day. We hang around the house and get laundry done and prepare for our week. But since Monday was a holiday we had other things to do. Some of our neighbors where hosting a little block party with the theme of bacon. Chris made his bacon wrapped jalapenos and everyone loved them! I didn't eat them because I would have been in way too much pain from them. They had an awesome inflatable water slide for the kids. Braydon couldn't wait all day just to get over there and go on the water slide.

I have to admit I was quite jealous of the amount of fun the kids seemed to be having on it. I didn't get a chance to stay and watch them play too long because I had a wedding to shoot.

My girlfriend does mostly wedding photography and she needed a second shooter for a wedding she was doing. I had never done photography for a wedding so I said I would join her. I have to admit that I was very nervous and prayed that I would do good.

The wedding was in Alexandria at the Carlyle Club and was absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed the experience of shooting the wedding, but I have to admit it may not be my cup of tea. I like having my weekends with my family. If I decide to do a photo shoot it only is a few hours not my whole day. That being said if I am offered the chance to shoot a wedding I will, but I'm not going to make it my life's work.

Evening at the ballpark

Last night we decided to go to the Washington Nationals baseball game. It had been since May that we had been to a game so we were due! The seats we got were the best we had ever had!! We sat in section 132 row M. To give you a better idea of this seat in relation to the field. We where 13 rows back from the first baseman. We also made sure that these seats where on the side that the President race would be on, because that is one of Braydon's most favorite things to see at the game.

 

There is a restaurant that has quite the cult following. It's called Shake Shack and is an East Coast hamburger joint. I've been hearing all about this place for quite some time. They actually have a location at the Nationals Park. I decided to finally try it! While I wasn't overall thrilled (it reminds me of Steak and Shake) I did enjoy it. 

We managed to see two home runs during the game and Braydon even got a foul ball. Well Chris actually caught it and gave it to Braydon. The foul came off of Ian Desmond who happens to be one of Braydon's favorite players. The other is Bryce Harper, that poor boy had a bad game when it came to at bats.

One cool thing they do at Nationals Park is offer after game concerts. Unfortunately the day before our game was Sammy Hagar, and the game following was Gavin DeGraw. However, we got to see some Fireworks and that just made my little man's day, well not as much as the foul ball did!

 

We are starting off our labor day weekend right. First the ball game on Friday, Soccer and the pool on Saturday, and the movie Planes on either Sunday or Monday. 

Summer

I really can't believe that our summer is almost over! In a couple of weeks Braydon will be starting school! Yikes! I can't believe I just typed that!!!! My little boy is going to be in preschool. It's only M/W/F for half days, but still it will be weird not to be with him. But, it is good that he will be in school and getting him used to a learning environment before Kindergarten next year.

An update on what we did in July. We went to Kentucky to visit the hubby's family for the 4th of July. Then when we came back we kept busy with me doing photos, Chris working, and Braydon doing soccer. August was pretty much the same, except we managed to get a trip back to Chicago in during the month. We went home because my brother and sister-in-law had a baby shower.

Our trip home was eventful because Braydon had to go to the ER twice! Yes you read that right twice! This keeps his average of one ER visit a year in tact. It also manages to keep him good till he is 6 years old! He was running around my Aunt's house and hit his head on the kitchen island. This managed to cut him enough for a staple in his head. I think he was most upset about the ER visit taking time away from his fishing. The second visit included my first for the trip. We both had these unexplained spots on our bodies. His where under the arms and mine where on my back. Turned out to be a skin allergy for me and a hair follicle infection for Braydon. After a round of meds we are on the track to getting better.

With August coming to a close we are staying close to home. Next weekend is my birthday and who knows what we will be doing! Hopefully the hubby knows because I shouldn't have to plan my own birthday, should I?

Super Moon

I love photography and one of the things I love to photograph is nature. So when I heard about the Super Moon we where supposed to have this past weekend I was thrilled. Then Saturday came and I completely forgot about it and went to sleep early! Boo!! Thankfully I had another chance on Sunday and made sure to get a shot. I wasn't too thrilled with the ones I got, if only I had a better lens. However, I knew I'd be able to do something with the photos. After playing with them in the editing program I fell in love. Which one is your favorite?

New Kids on The Block

Yes you read that right I typed New Kids on The Block. Last Friday night I went to go see them in concert with my girlfriend Michelle. The last time I saw them was when I was 10 years old, it was also my first concert then. It has been 25 years since they toured and since I saw them! The tour was called The Package Tour and also included Boyz II Men and 98 degrees. I knew all of the Boyz II Men songs because they came from the same time as New Kids. However, 98 degrees threw me a little. They came out in 1997 when I was graduating high school and not really listening to that type of music. All in all though it was an excellent concert and I was sad when it ended. I screamed like a little girl and was so thrilled to see them on stage. I'm hoping I don't have to wait another 25 years to see them again!

 This is when Joey brought his son Griffin out to sing with him and the guys!