Aftermath of the Cicadas

So many have heard about the cicadas that plagued our area this year.  They are harmless but ugly and annoying little suckers.  And boy are they loud. 

Now that the onslaught is pretty much over, its nice to finally be able to hear the birds and such again.  Unfortunately, they do cause a little aftermath.  We have many many trees in the area that look like the picture below with lots of brown spots.  But, we won't see these guys for another 17 years.

Happy Father's Day!

I asked Ken today if 10 years ago he thought he would ever be driving a minivan rocking out to songs from Disney movies.  He really is an awesome Dad.  If he wasn't, would he allow his kids (and his niece) to do this to him.

Isabella had decided that she needed to have a spa night, so Ken helped her make a "facial" and she painted toenails and fingernails.  And he was rewarded by this....

Kindergarten Graduation

I can't believe Kindergarten is over.  Isabella's Kindergarten Graduation was on Friday (even though there is still a day and a half left of school).  It was lots of fun to see a few skits and such from Isabella's class and to see them get their certificates.  It was especially fun for me since I was in the classroom every week and knew the kids as well.  Unfortunately she got sick that night and couldn't go out and celebrate with us.  We'll celebrate later instead.

The background kind of stunk, so I added this background in for all the kids in the class.

Spring Break and Easter

Spring Break was last week.  This is the first year that its a big deal for us since this is the first year we've had a kid in school.  We kept it pretty low key.  The kids "camped" a few times in the living room with their Daddy.  We went into DC one day and stopped at the Natural History Museum.  The kids loved riding the metro in, Ken...not so much.  We spent a lot of time together just hanging out.  Friday night they decided to have a fashion show modeling their Easter outfits (and a few of Ken's new shirts).  Saturday was Easter with Ken's side and we had lots of fun.  Bella flipped out about her Aunt and Uncle's dogs (I don't think she could have climbed any higher up her Daddy), but she eventually calmed down and would even pet them.  Sunday was pretty quiet.  The Easter Bunny did visit and brought some fun treats and toys.  We of course had church and got to see some cousins we hadn't seen in a few years.  Monday was spent doing Easter for Tammy's side and it was very busy with 11 kids around.  Lots of fun though.  Here are a few pictures from the week.

We went into the Butterfly Pavilion at the Natural History Museum.  It was pretty cool.

Ken modeling

Pictures of the kids

So I've been playing with the camera and actually learning how to use it, you know, actually take it off of Auto Mode.  So of course, I used my best models to practice with.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Bryce is not the easiest to shoot because he never stops moving and I frequently get the top of his head, but I got a few good ones of him.  I'm getting better, I think.  Now to master Photoshop and to get a good 50mm lens for better portraits.

Yes, this will be saved for blackmail

I love that her tongue is sticking out

And one of Ken for good measure

A cute picture even if he was being a punk and throwing mulch