Go Fly a Kite

Monday was an unusually windy day as a cold front moved through the valley. I left work a little early and on the way home the notion hit me that we should take the kite out. Turns out Jill had been thinking the same thing and Emma already was primed for the idea.

Emma enjoyed watching the kite, but wasn't too interested in being in control of it. I pretty much kept the thing aloft for 30 minutes while she ran around marveling at it. It was still a great day to spend outside with the family.

Josh decided this was his "cheese" face for the day

After the kite was down we spent a little time at the playground. I literally had to pry Josh off this slide when it was time to leave.

Luke AFB

Last Friday Emma and I had the opportunity to go to Luke AFB and take a tour. I wasn't able to take pictures in a lot of the places we went, but let me tell you it was a great time. We started out by going to the tower. We got to watch some F-16s take off from inside the tower and then we made our way out onto the catwalk to see even more. Emma loved watching the planes take off and the roar of the jet engines.

After that, we went to the flight line and got to see the F-16s up close. As we were wrapping up, some of the planes were returning from flights and taxied right by us. Emma did not appreciate them showing up because it meant she had to put ear protection on and the muffs were way too big for her. As you can see in the picture below, she was less than thrilled.

Here's the pilot of one of the passing planes saying hi.

After the flight line we had some lunch and then checked out the loading area where they put the weapons on the planes. Emma was wiped out by then and I think she was grateful to get back to the car and pass out.

Ready for Bed

We've been trying to cut down on Emma's TV time lately, so after Josh is in bed Jill has been sitting on the couch with her in the front room and reading books with her. I made this image last week after they were done reading a book and Emma was doing her best to stall going to bed.

Birthday #2

Last Friday was Josh's second birthday. There wasn't a whole lot of excitement on his actual birthday, but I did have the day off so we spent the day playing and having fun.

We had a small gathering on Sunday to celebrate with family. Josh made out with tons of motorcycle and Toy Story (also his party decor) themed gifts.

Here are a few images from the day. It's hard to believe that Josh is already two. He's getting so big and talking like a fiend. Such a big boy.

Fishing

You may recall back at Emma's 4th birthday I had a few images of her with her new fishing pole. After her birthday it got placed in the closed and kind of forgotten about for a while. Last month while Emma spent a day at school with her mom, Josh and I went down the street to the riparian preserve. There is a small lake there that we walked while Josh obsessed over fish and the fact that he couldn't see them. Luckily we ran into a nice couple who had caught a few fish and were happy to show them off to Josh. In talking to them, I learned that the lake had just been stocked.

Valentines day was around the corner, so I told Emma that I had a surprise for her and we took a trip down to Sportsman's Warehouse to get all the tackle we needed to go out fishing. The next Monday was President's Day and I figured that would be a good day to do our inaugural fishing trip.

Since he had the day off, Emma's Poppa Mark swung by to join in the fun. We didn't catch anything (probably since Emma constantly wanted to reel the line in as soon as it was cast), but it was still a great time.

Sergio & Lisa

Back in January we took a trip to Georgia to celebrate the wedding of Sergio and Lisa. It was a great weekend and a fun break from the kids for a few days. The wedding was beautiful and I was very glad that I got to be a part of it. Unfortunately since I was in the wedding I didn't have a lot of chances to take pictures. Nor did I feel like I needed to since Paul Gero was shooting it and I knew his work would be spectacular.

Here's one frame that I snapped during their first dance. This is my favorite of the images I took.

Catching up

Wow, it's been two months since I've posted anything on here! I guess I better get caught up. Over the next few days I'll try and get everyone caught up on the goings on around here.