Saturday afternoon in Annapolis

A lot of the closer children's theater were putting on productions that didn't feel very age appropriate.  I had secured us tickets to see Peter Pan at the Children's Theater of Annapolis.  The boys enjoyed the show and afterwards we headed towards downtown Annapolis.

We got a table at the Boatyard. There were lots of midshipmen and you could tell that you were in Annapolis with all the banners.  Despite getting rave reviews, we were not that impressed.  The nachos had no flavor.  Connor's crabcake was good and my steamed shrimp were great.  Anything that wasn't seafood was debatable.  It was hard to overcome the nachos. 

Jackson decided to be adventurous and try oysters. He didn't get very far.  In his defense, the oysters were huge.  Connor, who typically loves oysters, was struggling. Neither Michael nor I actually expected him to swallow anything but the fact that he was trying was HUGE for him.  He's very picky about what he eats. 

After lunch, we decided to walk around. The scenery was so beautiful that we had to snap some pictures.

We definitely have to take the boys back on a nice day so that we can explore more about the City of Annapolis.  There's so much to see and we're not that far away.

Week 45 of 52 in 2018

The boys had a 1/2 day as it was the end of the 1st Marking Period.  On these days, they will have house parties at school and they will be representing in their house colors.  Red for Jackson and Yellow for Connor.

Since it was a 1/2 day and Everett had mentioned that he was interested in The Nutcracker, we asked him to join us.  It was a win win.  The movie was incredible and encouraged the boys to to want to read the book to learn more about the story of the Nutcracker.

Jackson didn't have lax practice so we were able to celebrate with their favorite birthday twins, Michael and Sophia.  Thanks for having us for the pizza party.

Coppermine Fall Lax Tournament

When we signed Jackson up for Coppermine lax, we knew that this tournament was going to be a big deal for the boys.  They had been practicing together on Friday nights and they finally had their chance to showcase their talents.

Unfortunately, with tournaments, there's a lot of one-sided games.  Our Coppermine boys got the rough end of the one-sided situation.  There were blown out by their opponents and it was definitely a learning experience for our team that had only been together for a couple of months.  We anticipate that most of the teams had been playing together for years. 

Despite it all, we had all kinds of smiles from our #13.   He was just happy to be part of the team. The boys kept their heads up.  The coaching staff was so good with them.  They were all ready for the next practice on Friday night.

Week 44 of 52 in 2018

The boys' school does an amazing parade through the neighborhood.  As a room mom for Jackson's class, I was able to walk with his class and host games in his classroom for the rotating Harvest party. It was so fun to watch how excited all the kids were to play Halloween Bingo.  We let them use candy corns as markers and they surprised all the parents with how well they handled themselves...

Our trick or treaters getting ready to join friends up the street for a get together prior to candy time.  We love our Justin Tucker and Ben Franklin!

Liverpool had their final game!  It was a long season but I'm so proud of the boys and how well they asserted themselves.  Jackson did a great job as midfielder working the ball forward and Connor held his own defensively.  We lucked out and didn't have to play Bayern so their goal differential was quite respectable.

Note: Jackson was probably angling a way to play FIFA! It's a big deal at our house.

Week 43 of 52 in 2018

Elsie's brother, Michael, was sleeping, so we got asked to bring her home.  The boys loved the chance to walk her home.  They love having Michael and Elsie just a couple of doors away.

We had down family pictures earlier in the morning.  It was early and we weren't really sure where we were going so it was a little hectic.  The good news is that the boys were all smiles and rocked our mini session.  I'm so excited to get our proof online.  After their work, we had offered up the idea of going out for brunch.  The boys decided on Iron Rooster.  While we were waiting for our food, they found the Premiere League and looked so grown up in their clothes for the photo shoot. 9 is approaching way too fast.

Good Bye to the PBK Anytime Chairs

We knew it was time.  It had been time.  If we were being honest, they never really liked sitting in the chairs and they took up so much room.

SO, we had to take last pics in the chairs before they were on their way out the door to another family.  Hopefully, they will get more use out of them than we did.  Good news is that we could sell the chairs and describe them in excellent used condition.

It was good while it lasted....

Week 42 of 52 in 2018

Jackson and Connor:   The administration was adamant that parents were not allowed to attend Generations Day.  Parents were to wait for American Education Week.  We checked with Sophia and Michael and they were both available.  The boys were thrilled to see them in the morning and have them help out on their diorama.

Liverpool has been having a rough year.  The teams were not evenly distributed and Liverpool definitely got the short end.  On this day, they salvaged a tie.  We think that's going to be the best option to not have a loss this year.  So, we are celebrating this TIE.

Jackson:  A sneak peak at Jackson's Halloween costume.  He's shouting "The British are Coming" if you couldn't tell.

Fall Festival at Falling Branch

It's been windy and rainy in the Baltimore area.  We've been trying to get the boys to a fall festival.  We decided on Falling Branch Brewery.  The setting was beautiful but we really didn't care for the beers and the boys were not that thrilled with what they had to offer.  Good thing they had a lot of grass and we had some balls in the car.   We will have to plan better for next year or was this the lesson that the boys are done with fall "festibals." I'm not ready.

We did have fun in the corn maze especially once we found Jackson.  He was running so far ahead of us.  Jackson still struggles to walk downstairs or upstairs by himself in our own house but in a corn maze, he's gone.

The Snyder's met up with us once Everett's game ended. The boys had a great time playing football and soccer.  So glad these boys have become such good friends.

Week 41 of 52 in 2018

Jackson and Connor:  The boys had a fun field trip to the Science Center. I wasn't able to chaperone but the best thing about our neighborhood is having an awesome group of mom friends that willingly take pictures of the boys.  Those smiles are HUGE and we are thinking about getting a Science Center membership since they had so much fun.

Week 40 of 52 in 2018

Jackson and Connor:  With my new role as PTA President, I sometimes get to be Rodger's handler as the costume is a little hard to negotiate.  On this day, Rodger was very peppy and since we got to the school early, they were able to catch up with all of the fun that Rodger provides.

Jackson: It's been an up and down indoor season for Jackson.  It could be the multiple days of sporting events during the weekend with lax being the last day.  However, the ups have been awesome to watch.  He's now putting the ball into the back of the net and we couldn't be more proud.  His Coppermine coach had indicated that he would spend time working across the field from defender to offense but clearly, he's gotten much better with his offense skills.