WW2 Honor Flight

Tonight we went to welcome home the World War 2 veterans who went on an honor flight today from Alabama. An Honor Flight is a free trip for the veteran that allows them to fly to Washington DC and see the World War 2 Memorial and other historic sites in DC and then fly back home to a Heroes Welcome. It was an amazingly powerful experience and I am so glad I was able to take the boys. There were over 200 active duty troops on hand to welcome them home and you could see the honor in their eyes when the vets would salute them as they passed. There was also a huge patriotic band and color guard waiting to greet them as well as all kinds of media. There were over 500 people just random civilians from the community holding up signs and waving flags and yelling out Welcome home and thank you for your service. It was very overwhelming for the vets at times as many of them were crying. Nick loved shaking the vets hands and I really felt so proud to be an American everytime I said thank you to them as they passed. Despite Aidan having a huge hunger and overtired meltdown it truly was a night I will never forget. I hope my kids won't forget it either.

Daniel Pratt Tech Trot

Nick and I ran in his school's race today called The Tech Trot which was raising money for the school's technology department. I ran the 5K with my running partner Paulette and her brother who was in town from Vegas. We ran it in 27 minutes which was faster then I thought I would run it in. Nick ran in the kids 1 mile race and finished in just under 12 minutes. I had intended to run it with him to help him pace himself but being Mr. Independent he told me he didn't want me to come with that he could do it all by himself. He beat a ton of people in his race which he was really proud of and he beat most of the people his age. He did so good and his Mommy was so proud. He had to walk a few times especially up the hill he said. He isn't sure if he wants to run anymore races yet.

Aidan's First Day of School

Well I forgot to take a picture of Aidan on his first day of school until we were already in the carpool line waiting for his turn to drop off. So I only have this one from my phone and he was not wanting his picture taken. Aidan is in the elephant room at his new school and he is loving it. He is going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:15-11:45. He will go one long day where he stays for lunch starting after labor day. The other pictures are from him playing at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham. We went up there the other day with our playgroup. Aidan had such a great time he didn't want to go home.

Nick's First Day of 2nd Grade

Today was Nick's first day back at school and in the second grade. He wasn't sure he was ready to go back and it didn't help that his Daddy was teasing him about having to go back to school already. He has a great teacher and some friends in his class so I am sure he is going to have a great year. He did o.k. until we got to school this morning and then he wasn't sure he could remember where his new classroom was and wanted me to walk him inside. Being the mean Mom that I am I made him go in on his own and he did just fine. He had a good day and brought home a note from his teacher saying he did great today.

Playing Tennis

I started playing tennis again in a league which has been a blast. I forgot how much I enjoyed playing and didn't realize how much I missed it. Anyways, the boys had been bugging me all summer to teach them how to play tennis. So we have been going out and hitting balls for a few hours here and there. They are both doing pretty good. Aidan gets frustrated pretty fast but Nick would stay all day if it weren't so hot out. We may try to put him in tennis lessons after baseball is over.

Haydens B-Day and The Big Lure

Here are a couple pictures from Aidan's friend Haydens birthday party. The kids had a great time going on a snake hunt and playing animals in their masks. The picture with the big lure is

from down by the pool and the boys made me take a picture of it because they thought it was cool.

The Baby Giraffe at the Zoo

We went to the Zoo a couple of weeks ago to see the new baby giraffe that was born in June. He is so cute and already so big! They have a new giraffe feeding station which both boys loved. Aidan fed the big giraffe a long tree branch but Nick was brave and fed him directly from his hands and got his hands licked. It was so hot out the day we went but thanks to the misters and some ice cream we still managed to have a good time.