Ella Rose Photography

I realized that my photography habit has been creeping in pretty often to our "family" blog, so I decided to make a separate blog for photography. I'll probably still post portraits of family and friends on this family blog, but I'll keep it more related to our comings and goings as a family. Results of other photo sessions, like the picture above, will be posted on my photography blog. So go check out Ella Rose Photography and if you're interested in following my photography, add it to your bookmarks, bloglines, or become a follower. And if you know someone in the Phoenix area that needs pictures, send them my way. I'm itching to get out for more sessions!

Not Cool

The other day I was driving my 9 year old niece and her friend somewhere and they were asking me to scan through radio stations to find a good song. After 5 or 6 duds, I stumbled on Hotel California and said, "hey, this is a great song!" From the back seat there was an uncomfortable pause and then, in a voice heavy with annoyance my niece said, "my mom likes this song."

Well, I'm a mom. "Yeah, I guess moms like this song."

But everyone should like this song. It's a classic! It has an awesome guitar solo. It's melodic rock in its prime. Sure, it was written before I was born, but it's timeless! Or so I thought. I guess it's not cool to like this song anymore. Which means I'm not cool. Unless you think it's cool to know all the words to Hotel California. Then I stand corrected.

I didn't change the station. We listened to the whole thing and I sang every word.

Trip to DC

Blair's childhood friend got married in Washington DC last week, so we used it as an excuse to take trip out that way. The only time I have visited DC was last fall when we had only a few hours before we had to catch a train to VA. I didn't get to see much then. So I was glad to go back and see some more of the city. This time around we got to see the Capitol, the Library of Congress, Voice of America Studios, National Botanic Gardens, the National Archives, the Air and Space Museum, and the Museum of American History. We stayed with some friends who lived about an hour and a half away from DC so we drove to the end of the metro line and took the metro in a couple of times. It worked out really well.

Ella did great. She enjoyed sitting in her stroller and watching the people. She even took naps in her stroller.

Her favorite attraction was this exhibit at the National Archives where you can pick up a telephone and listen to a recording. She cried when we left.

She also really enjoyed the Botanic Gardens because there was a children's garden where she was allowed to play in water fountains.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. We loved staying with Blair's friends and the wedding was really nice. We're glad we could be there. And we hope that wasn't our last trip out that way!