Flash + Bang = Beauty

Around two weeks ago, Jacques and I attended an Oakland A's game, along with his brother who had received discounted tickets through his job for the three of us.  I hadn't realized that the last baseball game I went to was the Yankees vs. Rangers at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.  That was around 5 years ago, or maybe more, but the thing that stood out for me with that game was that there was a tornado on the ground and everyone spent 2 hours down underneath the field in the basement.  We also were compensated with free tickets to two later games because of the cancellation of that game.

Anyway, the point is that it was my first time at a California baseball game as well.  We just happened to be there on "Star Wars" night, celebrating its 35th anniversary.  After the A's crushed the Twins, the ballpark put on an awesome fireworks show, set to the music from Star Wars.  It was beautiful!  I spontaneously decided to capture the whole show on my phone.  I didn't remember that I could capture still photos at the same time until the show was already about a third of the way through.  But here are some of my favorites shots that I caught that night:

The Joys of a Newborn

It's so amazing to see how incredibly a newborn baby can change within just a day.  I hung out with Aidan almost every day for the first week and a half of his life and he was always changing and growing into his look.  This was the very first time I'd ever been around a newborn so often... and I can definitely see how it's an incredibly challenging, yet rewarding experience.  I can only imagine what his new parents are going through, but they are learning each day and helping each other,  as I knew they would, instead of being driven apart.  That little boy is going to be loved beyond words, by so many people, and I'm just happy that I'm lucky enough to be one of them.  I'm a little sad at the same time though, because I know I'm going to miss out on so much of his life and those special growing up moments.  But at least I was able to be there for him on his first days and although I know he's not going to remember it when he's older, I hope it will be enough for him to remember his only aunt.

Anyway... here are some of my favorite photos from the rest of my trip with Mr. Aidan Wesley!

This is one of my absolute favorites from the whole trip!  It was my last day to see him and he kept making that face when I did the same (as you can slightly see in the photo).  It was way too cute!!

Three generations captured in one single picture.

Aidan Wesley's Debut

So let me just say first off, it's been a crazy couple of days here in OKC for the Bridges family.

At around 6:30pm, I started out my visit back home by rushing off to my brother's house, literally from the airport, because my sister-in-law started having some contractions.  They were keeping track of them and using the 5-1-1 rule for when to take her to the hospital.  So since I hadn't eaten yet, and Jenn really didn't feel like eating anyway, my mom, my dad and I went out to dinner, all the while, ready to rush to the hospital at the first text or phone call from my brother.  We finally get the call, and arrive at the hospital around 9:00pm, thinking that the baby would be born before the end of the night... were we ever wrong!  Aidan was being one stubborn little boy, refusing to budge from his safe haven of the past 9 months.  But he finally made his appearance at 1:01pm on July 27th.

I like to think that he was just waiting for me to arrive in town. =)

Anyway, here are a few photos of my sweet little nephew from the past couple of days:

His very first photo shoot, with my proud brother by his side!

Dad, Aidan and I on his first day into the world.

Falling in love with my sweet nephew!

Me with Aidan, after a rough first night, with some very nervous parents!

Aidan with his very proud CeCe!

Just more posing with Aidan!  He gets cuter by the minute!

Embracing the Snow...

So I have to say that the photos from this post are my absolute FAVORITES from the whole Pennsylvania trip!  Simply because I'm in love with snow and that's just about ALL that you're going to see in these photos.  Our very last full day in Sharpsville, we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow... everything was covered!  I was the happiest girl in the world that day.  Who knew something as simple as snow could make someone so incredibly happy?!

Anyway, on with the photos.  I'm starting out with our trip up to Lake Erie and the amazing scenery we found there:

The lake shore, covered in pockets of snow, even out on those boulders!

Had to get creative for this one, taken right next to one of the "cliffs" and I even caught the sun up there in the corner as well!

Trying to capture the "eerie" of Lake Erie, with a little help from Erin.

Just the Two Of Us...

Okay, so where was I?

I'm going to skip over to the day after we drove back across the state to Sharpsville.  It was Saturday and we didn't really have any set plans, so my dad decided to take us on pretty much the same route he'd taken me on when I was there two years earlier.  Only this time, the oil well museum was open, so we were able to peek inside and take a look at where the first oil well was drilled and some other fun facts.  Meanwhile, Erin found the kids station and made some purple plastic (think silly putty).

Anyway... Jacques and I started the day out with a walk down to the lake behind the house, with a light dusting of snow on the ground (which I was really excited about, though I had no idea what I was in for just two days later).

It was great to have that morning together before embarking on our day trip.  There's nothing I love more than just the simple act of being outside and capturing the world around me!  Yeah, I'm a cheap date. ;)  (Though it wasn't even really classified as a date, but you get the picture...)

More to come!  .... Later.

Side-Tracked... and Philly

So, as I was saying at the end of my last entry, we saw the sign for Valley Forge on the way down to Philly and spontaneously decided to stop and check it out.  For those unfamiliar with the significance of Valley Forge, it was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777-1778 during the American Revolutionary War. (Taken from wikipedia's article on Valley Forge)  So I'll get straight on to photos:

 

Huts where the soldiers stayed.

This chapel is still actively used today.

After that little venture into history, we finally arrived in Philadelphia late in the afternoon, and since none of us had eaten since breakfast, naturally our first stop was for a real Philly cheesesteak... in the freezing cold!  Bucket list item, check.

Oh and I should mention that we did manage to unintentionally step foot in New Jersey momentarily after making a wrong turn (thanks to our "trusty" GPS) and being forced to drive across the Ben Franklin Bridge.  I didn't realize Philadelphia was so close to the border.

Capturing part of Independence Hall before catching a cab to go eat.

Pennsylvania in Spring...

... wasn't too different from winter this year!  We got to see a ton of snow, at least on the Eastern side of the state, not so much the Western though.  But we still had a blast on both sides!

Two weeks ago, Jacques, Erin and I were on a plane heading to Pennsylvania for a week-long vacation, where we'd land in Pittsburgh, spend one night there, then drive across the state in our Ford Explorer rental to Reading (about one hour north of Philadelphia), spend a couple nights there with Jacques's Uncle Jacques (who he was named after) and Aunt Jane, then drive back to Pittsburgh to spend some time with my dad.  We ended up logging close to 1600 miles on that rental, which is why the entire trip seemed longer than only a week.  But it was well worth it, and so much fun!

Anyway, straight to pictures:

Starting off with a photo of Alaska.

Buried railroad tracks somewhere in Sharpsville, before heading out across the state.

Running into snow at one of the rest stops!

Erin and I stopping to take a break from playing in the snow!!  I think she was as excited as I was about all the snow.

Starting to snow harder here.

Catching the sun out this time!  I loved all the shadows reflected on the snow.

Erin making... tree art?  (Or at least that's what she said.)

 That's the gist of the drive across the state to Reading.  We arrived late evening to a wonderfully delicious meal, cooked by Jacques's Aunt Jane and a couple of his cousins, along with homemade bread that Uncle Jacques makes every day.  We then spent some time visiting with his family, all of which he hadn't seen in years.  We didn't get to sleep until around midnight, then we woke up early the next day and headed out to Philadelphia.

On the way there, we pass a sign for Valley Forge National Historical Park... and on a whim, we decided to visit.  We spent too much time there though, and got into Philly around 2:30pm.  Look for those photos in my next post!