First Day of Preschool

Tuesday was Emma's first day of preschool. She's attending an in-home class run by a neighbor down the street who used to teach elementary school. Jill and I really wanted to give her a chance to interact with some kids her same age since most of our friend's kids are either older or younger than her.

Emma was so excited to go to school. She and Jill went shopping for a backpack on Monday evening and she wore it all Tuesday morning before we walked down the street. Below are a few images from her first day of school on Monday:

California 2010

We spent last week with Jill's grandparents in California. We did a lot of traveling and I took quite a few photos. Here are some highlights of the trip:

Josh and Emma loved playing with Grandpa's scooter and getting rides.

Emma playing a game with Lila

Emma picking jalapenos from grandpa's garden

Looking at all the goodies in the garden

Josh and Poppa at the OC Fair

Josh expressing his displeasure with the ocean

Smores

Yesterday Jill had an obligation in the afternoon so the kids and I went up to Bass Pro Shops. They are running a summer camp program and have fun activities every afternoon. Yesterday was free Smores, which worked as a great bribe to get Emma to accompany Josh and I to Bass (although she usually goes willingly anyways.) The picture above is the aftermath of the smores eating. I still don't know how she managed to keep it off her clothes. On second thought, me hovering over her with a napkin probably took care of that. And if you're wondering, it takes exactly three wet wipes to clean up a face and hands like this.

Deep Thoughts From the Shooting Range...

-Seriously, how hard is it to follow instructions that are repeated verbatim every 20 minutes?

-I can't understand why I can pick up about any rifle and hit a target with it at 100 yards, but I can't group for junk with a handgun at 10 yards.

-When you touch a gun, it somehow infects your brain with a strong desire to buy one of the same type, no matter how impractical or expensive it is. If you fire said gun, this infection spreads 1000 times more rapidly.

That's all for now. Today was a good day.

Vegas 2010

Last week we had the chance to go to Las Vegas with a few of our friends. It was a great time as usual. Last time I went, the camera stayed at home because I figured it would be way too touristy. This time, I decided to downsize the camera by taking off the vertical grip and only taking my 50mm lens. It was nice and compact and I was able to get some fun shots. Here are a few:

Jill inside the mall at Caesar's Palace

Jill (with our friends Dave and Letitia behind) playing slots at the Venetian

Us outside the Venetian

Everyone passed out on the way home

Sunset over the wing of our plane. This frame had me contorting myself in my seat to try and get the angle and not have window frame in the shot. The people in the seats around me probably thought I was insane.

More Fun in the Pool

Here are the promised pictures of Emma in the pool. She loves being in the water so much. She literally jumps up and down when she learns that we will be going into the pool.

I threw a couple of Jill and Josh up here too because they were too cute not to share. 95% of the time, Josh will pick me over Jill. For some reason though, when it comes to the pool he just wants his mom. Here they are giving kisses in the pool.

Josh at the Pool

This image is from today at the pool down the street. Josh is just starting to get back into the water and he's a little tentative still. We thought he might be a little more comfortable in a zero depth pool where he could walk right in. He warmed up to it after a while, but he still clings to mom and dad for dear life.

I tried to snap a few images of Emma, but she was bouncing all over the place and I wasn't willing to risk my camera by going any deeper into the pool. I'll get some pictures up of her in one of the family pools soon.