8-25, Nikolas' first day of first grade!

Nikolas began school on Monday-- a 1st grader! Between preschool and kindergarten, Nikolas has already attended 5 schools by the age of 6! He'll definitely have a lot more exposure than I did as a kid! So far so good, he's liking his teacher Mrs. Savage. Unfortunately, he's only attended 3 days of school this week and he's already out sick. Gotta love those back to school bugs...ugh!

8-23, Yankees (5), Orioles (3)

The gift that keeps on giving......Sven and Nikolas got me Yankees tickets for my birthday back in June....the game was last Saturday. A long time to wait but well worth it! Nikolas just couldn't understand why I was cheering for the Yankees and not the Orioles. I was worried about being a minority in the crowd but it didn't take long to realize that every New Yorker within 100 miles must have been at that game. We actually felt bad for the O's that the NY crowd overpowered the hometown one. As we left the game though we saw that there were easily 70 buses full of Yankees fans that had driven down for the game. I'd have to say that the most intriguing part of a Yanks game is the crowd..... talk about a study in human behavior! =) It was surely a good time.....and the Yanks won (5 to 3) =).

Surprisingly, ARod didn't get that warm of a reception when he was up to bat. But, Sven and I reminisced the games when we saw him play for the Mariners. I still like him...and he always did the Yanks proud his time around.

Derek Jeter has been with the Yankees for what seems like forever. I rememember watching him at Yankee stadium during my KP years. I just googled him and found out he's exactly ONE DAY older than I am. How cool is that? I always think these guys are so much older than us.....not by just one day either!

Crowd control......the crowd really started to heat up and law enforcement made its presence on the field.

What a beautiful sky!

8-15, Annapolis

We took our first pleasure trip to Annapolis on Sunday. (We don't qualify spending two hours in line to get my ID card and then having a "glitch in the system" on my turn and failing to get the ID card a pleasure trip!) We had a lovely lunch in a park (we have a new favorite deli!) in downtown. We befriended a local bird who was quite fond of Nikolas and his tidbits. We strolled around Annapolis and took in its uniqueness. I had always thought of Annapolis as just "the Naval Academy" never thinking twice about the possibility of it being a neat town as well. It is.......

This was our fun picnic in the park and our new birdie friend.

This is the Governor's mansion. What a place to call home!

Downtown is filled with character.

Do you see what I see? A MONTANA license plate parked at the academy. I wonder what part of the state he/she is from!

A walking tour of the Naval Academy is significantly different than the Merchant Marine Academy. It is SO much BIGGER. They have facilities there that Kings Point can only dream of! But, I do remember spending a night there the night before marching in Clinton's Inaugural parade. I'd have to say that the midshipmen at Kings Point are much friendlier than our Naval Academy counterparts. The girls we shared a room with didn't even acknowledge our presence (in their room!) or talk with us. Talk about uncomfortable! As I digress, anyway, the academy is very beautiful.

It's athletic fields have a wonderful view of the bay. These photos were taken by the sea wall.

This light is a neat memorial.

The officer's quarters at the academy are quite nice. Sven and I were imagining how neat it would be to live in them. We like our little house on Fort Meade, but it's nothing compared to this!

If you want to see my scenic photos of Annapolis, go to www.aseyeseeit.info, click on the gallery tab and then open the Maryland gallery.

8-14, Family Portraits

It's that time of year again. School is upon us and that somehow brings out the portrait photographer in me trying to capture another stepping stone in our lives. Here are our latest rounds of portraits..... Nikolas had enough of picture-taking the day before and preferred playing with his friends instead of smiling in front of the camera again. So, instead of a "family portrait" we have a "couples' portrait" this year!