I’ve fallen behind on the amount of pictures I take of Avery this week. This is both a good and bad thing, but mostly good.
Bad in the sense that I don’t have as many pictures to choose from for #MySundayPhoto, but good (if not great) because I spent more time just playing with Avery instead of sticking a camera in her face.
Sometimes I think we all forget the most important part is time, and we don’t need 100+ pics a day. I know it’s hard, but so worth it. Now if only I can do better about this from now on….
But it’s hard when you capture your kid beaming with delight and not a worry in the world, isn’t it? Here’s one I snapped of Avery being “blinded by happiness”.
The quality wasn’t that great to start with, as it was fairly dark and grainy. I think with the exposure adjustment and sepia combo, it turned out pretty good. Please check out the original below and let me know what you think.
Are you a chronic picture taker or feel like you need to take more pics?
Do you like using full color or enjoy using more black & white, sepia, etc for picture formats?
It’s a little known fact that King Kong happened happened to be in Venice at the same time Claude Monet was visiting. Yep, apparently as Monet was painting the famous Sunset in Venice while looking out from his room in the Hotel Brittania, the Italian Armed Forces were closing in on the giant ape.
It was at this time, Monet was losing his eyesight from gray cataracts, so it’s hard to tell in his original painting. Maybe King Kong was on the other side of the church at the time. Who knows for sure? So there’s your history lesson for the day; you’re welcome.
Just like our last painting date, BYOB with Jellyfish on Date Night, my lovely wife and I went to Texas U Can Paint to recreate Monet’s Venice masterpiece while enjoying a few drinks. And, just like before, I chose scotch with Zevia for my drink of choice and Kelley had red wine.
We also had G-Ma watching Avery both times too. Thank you, G-Ma! It was only a couple hours, but man was it nice to be out and away with just my wife. You never realized how much you miss your spouse until you get some alone time with them.
Parenting is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but we need to make sure we make time for each other more often too. It’s vital for a healthy, happy relationship! Plus, I don’t make enough time to appreciate my beautiful wife who obviously deserves so much more than I give sometimes.
Seriously, she make me smile…..a lot!
Our painting subject seemed simple enough, but like most artsy things go (for me at least), looks can be deceiving. Alcohol doesn’t help. We started off okay making brush strokes along with the instructor as we took sips of our drinks in between.
The sips caught up to us fast, and both of our paintings started to stray from the instructor’s as we took to filling in the city and its shadows on the river. But no worries, this is when I “remembered” King Kong was being tracked down in Venice and was actually hanging on the church across the water from Monet’s hotel room.
Poor Monet, losing his eyesight at such an exciting time is real shame. Working against the instructor’s guidance, I decided to help bring to life what Monet had missed on that beautiful evening; King Kong going face to face with a tank.
Kelley gives it one thumb up. I’ll take it! I think my King Kong looks a little like a black Homer Simpson though, don’t you?
Painting aside, Kelley and I enjoyed our short time alone (with a big group of people), and both agree it needs to happen more often. Luckily, I was the winner of a gift card to come back for another paint class, so looks we need to plan another creative night together soon!
Maybe next time I’ll recreate that time Pablo Picasso was inspired by Godzilla’s destruction in one of his many cubist artworks. Not sure, but we’ll see.
It was short, but time with my wife is priceless. Thank you, G-Ma for watching our little hellion girl for our date night! And thank you, wife, for being you and all that you do to make our lifestyle work!
Do you ever go too long without spending time alone with just your loved one?
What places do you like to go together? Or is staying at home preferred?
After a weekend and a couple days of being ill, I am grateful to welcome hunger and happiness back into my life! No, not the book, never heard of it until I wrote the title to this post.
I woke up Wednesday morning with an actual appetite and body that felt normal again. Geez, it wasn’t that long, but sure did feel like for-ev-er. Bonus points if you get the reference. Sandlot, anyone?
Eating was not forced and I happily made a Nuttzo Banana Omelet for Avery and me to chow down on for breakfast.
It was good freakin’ delicious and so easy to make! A hit with daddy and daughter that will be repeated many times for sure!
You know that euphoric feeling you get after recovering from sickness or simply feeling down? Well, that’s how I felt yesterday and it seemed to rub off on Avery too. I took advantage of my rekindled energy and walked/jogged almost 2 miles with her to a nearby playground.
Getting ready to go down a slide!
Stocked with swings, slides, and a bigger area to run around than our small neighborhood playground, it was a nice change.
Where to first?
Still full of mulch that stuck all over her pants and socks after taking her shoes off, but she loved it. Or at least this makes me think so…
Giggles and crazy legs everywhere! I’m sorry those up North are getting such a beating with snow on top of snow on top of more snow, but we’re living it up here in Texas and making full use of the great outdoors!
Sorry about the snow, Northerners! I’m happy!
I was worried about having cryfest 2015 when it came time to take Avery back home since she usually hates leaving. But, after about 40 minutes of playing, she actually walked to her stroller and had no problem getting in and making the trip back. Phew!!
Hump Day was a great day to be back to my old self and just in time for what Kelley and I had planned for the night. G-Ma said she would watch Avery so we could go out for drinks for a few hours and have much needed together time. Drinking right after getting over being sick? Sure, why not?
We each had two beers on draft and shared another. The one we shared was a Texas seasonal from Shiner and it tasted very much like liquid cake. Probably why it’s chocolate stout called Birthday Beer. We felt it was similar to Bailey’s Irish Cream. Tasty, yes, but one too sweet to drink a full one alone.
The night was full of stouts, including the featured pint for Pint Night, Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, where you get to keep the glass. Win!
It was a nice glass….
But, I left it there like I had something inhibiting my brain processing correctly. Loss!
We were worried I might not be ready to go, but I felt ready enough! Plus it was nice to get out with my beautiful wife, high-water jeans and all!
Thanks again to my mom/G-Ma for watching Avery. She’s been a major help since Avery was born (actually, since I was born) and I love that Avery enjoys her company too. So much so, that she peed on the carpet after bath time upon our return home! #Toddlers
How do you normally celebrate getting over being sick?
Have you ever done something ill-advised (like drinking) right after recovery?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
