Allen Celebration

Over the weekend we went to our 4th annual Allen Celebration.  Oh how I love this event!  It is ridiculously huge and SO much fun.  We look forward to it every year, not just because of the great music and the fireworks at the end of the night, but also because we get to see our friends, especially the Rodriguez family.  It's been way too long since we've gotten together, and I loved getting to connect with them for a little while in between all the celebration festivities.  

Savannah worked the event this year, so we took full advantage of her VIP parking pass and she loved being in the center of everything.  

And who wouldn't want to be in the center of this!?

Every year, we have an awesome show.  We've had Foreigner, Styx, and the Bangles in previous years.  And this year it was Pentatonix!!  Seriously...so exciting!  We opted to sit a little closer to the stage this year because we love them so much.  

I love this time of year.  I love staying out late at night and sleeping in the next day.  I love lazy weekends, and friends finding any excuse to get together.  I love live music outside.  And I especially love fireworks! 

This is the first of lots of fireworks shows we'll get to watch this summer, and it's only June!  

I love summer.  

And here's some Pentatonix music just in case you haven't heard them before.  

Allen Celebration

Fourth of July festivities start early in Allen.   Tonight was our 3rd annual Allen Celebration with the Rodriguez's.  We had so much fun...as always...at this amazing summer tradition.

All this is literally right in the Rodriguez's backyard so we always have an up close parking space, perfect seats for the entire night and great company.

 Here's how brooding teenagers spend their evenings outside in the gorgeous summer weather.  I finally got her to perk up and smile for one picture with me.

 McKay spent most of his night trying to track down people to play catch with him.  

 Isn't this the most adorable Rodriguez you've ever seen??

Emerald City...70s and 80s cover band.  Unbelievable.  Best local live band EVER!  They opened for Dennis DeYoung, who wasn't as good as these guys.  :)

 Star Spangled Girls

 Another adorable Rodriguez.

Fireworks!  I tried to practice with my manual settings...it's SO hard to hold the camera still without a tripod.  

We had an amazing night hanging out with our dear friends in the cool Dallas summer breezes.  What a great way to end June and bring in July.  More fireworks next week, too! 
I LOVE summer.

Baseball Season

It's baseball season again, which means there are cleats, gloves and socks spread from one end of my house to the other.  It means little boys are camped out in the front yard playing catch until all hours of the night.  And it means our weekends are pretty much committed to the ball field from now until June.

But McKay LOVES baseball season.  

He's playing 2nd base this year which is exciting.  He has been an aspiring pitcher for the last two seasons, but just a move from outfield to infield is pretty satisfying right now.  

I decided last week that since I will be spending so much time at that ballpark, since I desperately need the photography practice, and since there aren't any other self-appointed team photographers, I would drag my camera with me and get some practice taking action shots.  It's hard, guys!  I can't get the white balance, the shutter speed, and the aperture all coordinated with the cloud cover, direct sunlight, and moving subjects in time to catch the shot.  (sigh...)  So, after missing the first two innings, I relented and set my camera back on AUTO (I know, don't tell Vernetta, ok?)  BUT...I did try that little tip from my friend, Chad...you know, the one about taking a bazillion pictures because the odds are good that you'll get at least a handful of shots that are great.  I also set my camera on continuous shooting mode so that I could take multiple pictures really quickly.  

via

Here's what that does...

Instead of just getting one shot per second, you get three to five shots per second.  Awesome for capturing things like batting...

sliding into home..

or pitching...

  
Pretty cool, huh?  

We're all very excited about this season.  The team is mostly made up of kids who are brand new to baseball, so that makes McKay feel pretty confident since he's already played for two seasons.  They are great boys who are all working really hard together.  And I LOVE the red jerseys!  McKay has already had lots of opportunity to get better at his batting and fielding skills.  He's so enthusiastic about trying everything he learns.  And he's made some pretty great new friends.

I love this place where we live that has so many opportunities for my kids to grow and launch and find their super powers.  We are grateful everyday to live in Allen.