Bee Movie & Photo Session

Friday was not going well. I found myself desperate to get out of the workshop, so Max and I snuck out to see The Bee Movie. Verdict? It was fun enough. Not nearly up to Pixar or even Dreamworks/Sony standards. Animated features depend more on story than live-action films. Pixar of course has prioritized story, and their storytelling, above all else, and this is how they manage to stay on top in this now-competitive field. This one was weak in the story. There were giggles in there, in the grown-up asides, but I must recommend that you Netflix this one instead of dropping $10-20 on seeing it in a theater.

Then Max and I drove around looking for what was left of our fall color so we could shoot his "school portraits". I'm happy to say that this was my first truly successful portrait photo shoot! I actually got a handful of images, in different poses, showing different facets of my uber-faceted son! Also got a lot of poop. But that's why you take so many shots :). Here is MY favorite:



AK really likes it too, but she says it makes him look 18. And she's just not ready for that. So she prefers this one:



We got a few more really good ones too :) Perhaps most importantly, we spent the day hanging out & goofing off.

Gramma got a "raise" somehow in her pension check, and treated us all to Applebees for dinner. It. Was. Sooooooooooooo nice to have someone cook our dinner and clean up for us! Eating out has not been in our budget, oh, since 2006. So this was a special treat, and it came at the end of a special day that started out -- for this middle-aged shmo -- not so special.

Thank you FAMILY!