Boys of Fall

We are a few weeks into Bryden's first football season.  He is playing flag football in Prosper and his team is the "Chargers".  I was so excited for this because I LOVE football.  Unfortunately, I am not so sure Bryden feels the same way as I do.  At first, Bryden absolutely hated it and wanted to quit.  I feel that kids shouldn't just quit something they started, so I told him we have to finish out the season and then decide if he wants to play again next year.

His team is 1-1 so far.  They lost their first game by one point.  I don't think his coach was too thrilled about that, but I thought it was a great game.  It is so fun to watch the boys and fairly amusing watching the coaches who get a LITTLE too into it.  I feel like they must be reminded that this is kindergarteners and first graders we are dealing with!  After his loss I asked how he felt about it and he said that he wasn't happy or upset about it.  I am pretty sure that means he still doesn't care too much about the sport, which is fine with me.  After they won their second game, he seemed a little happy about it, but he didn't display too much emotion.  I have noticed him improving a bit, but his motivation is not winning.  His coach started handing out little awards after their games for the best defensive and offensive players and Bryden has decided that it would be awesome to have one of those.  I want him to try his best, so I am all for whatever motivates him.  He also decided that if he gets one of those awards, that we must go to dinner at his choice of restaurant.  I love how my family always incorporates food into every situation.  :)

Flag football will last a couple more months, so it will be interesting to see him grow and improve.  I am also curious to see his final thoughts about football and if he will want to play another season.  I do not see a football star in our future, but it is still a lot of fun to watch.  I just hope the coaches loosen up a bit and remember that it is all about FUN at this age and learning about sportsmanship.

Life As It Should Be!

So as most of you know, it is official!!  We are now Mr. and Mrs. Milano.  The wedding took place in NY at Harvest on Hudson on August 5th 2011 with our close family and a few of our close friends.  It was absolutely perfect and I can not wait until we receive our professional photos.  We had the best photographer.  He was so fun to work with and I am confident the pictures will be fabulous.  Our ceremony was outside overlooking the Hudson River and we had a small lunch inside with great food and a delicious cake!  We were able to spend some time in New York, which allowed Bryden and Aeson to get to know Alex's NY family and we introduced them to NYC.  The kids loved it and were sad to leave.  They were really sad they had to leave Alex's younger brother, Jake, who they thought was one of the coolest guys ever.  Aeson has even mentioned how he would like to live there, although it is primarily because of the cooler weather! My poor child hates the heat and I am pretty sure he was born in the wrong state.  Once we left New York, we had to head back home to Dallas to drop the boys off and catch a flight to Hawaii the following day.  We actually were delayed leaving NY and missed our connecting flight in Atlanta, so we had to spend the night.  I was a nervous wreck that we wouldn't make it to Dallas and make it to our honeymoon!  My parents had to pack a few things and literally meet us at the airport in Dallas to grab the kids and take some of our stuff home, but we made it!  

Hawaii was so incredible and absolutely beautiful.  We both had a great time and really enjoyed Maui. We also discovered once we arrived that we had a guest that had snuck in the our suitcase.

 "Beary" is Bryden's bear that he has had since he was a baby, so we made sure to bring him along and snap some photos for Bryden to see!  We got a few strange looks along the way, but I think "Beary" enjoyed his trip.  :)

We relaxed a lot, but we made sure to experience the apparent "must do" activities on the island, which included the Road to Hana and the Haleakala Sunrise.  The road to Hana takes up an entire day and it is a two lane, windy road that leads to the town of Hana.  You see many waterfalls, hiking trails, and other amazing scenic views.  My favorite stop was at a park where we had lunch and there were black sandy beaches, a blow hole, and a few freshwater pools that you could jump into.  We didn't swim in them because it was raining pretty much the entire day, which made it too cold for me! 

The sunrise was actually something that I was NOT looking forward to.  You have to leave the hotel at 2:30 in the morning and drive approximately 2 1/2 hours to the top of the mountain, where it is very cold.  Alex was so excited about this trip and spent a lot of his time beforehand researching how to take the best photos.  Once we made it to the top, he set up the camera while I impatiently sat in the car.  Once the shuttle buses started arriving, I figured I should get out and go stand in our spot, so I would have a good view.  Although I was completely exhausted and grumpy, I was so happy that Alex dragged me along because it was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen!

The rest of our time on Maui consisted of laying by the pool, eating, playing in the ocean, and more eating.  I will have to say that my only regret (if any) is that we did not choose to visit any other islands (which was my decision).  So many people kept telling us about their experiences on different islands, that I became disappointed that we decided against it.  I am sure we will go back at some point in time.  I definitely want to bring the boys and we can plan our trip more wisely.

Even though it was a fabulous honeymoon, I was excited to head back home to live as husband and wife and jump back into our crazy beautiful life with the kids.  We didn't have much time to recuperate from the vacation once we arrived home, because Alex started a new job and Bryden started first grade and football, which I will have to save for a separate blog...