Labor Day Tourney

Typically Labor Day = Soccer Tournament and this year was no different; however, we did get a change of venue which was nice. Instead Frank having multiple teams going to the Richmond tournament, he only had one team and we went to Greensboro, NC. His first game wasn't until early Saturday afternoon, so we were able to explore Greensboro a little in the morning. We found a cute little park and walked around before heading to the fields for both afternoon games. Unfortunately (or fortunately ;) ), Frank's team didn't make it to the finals, so their last game was at 9:00 Sunday morning, so we were able to get back home at a decent time which also gave us all day Monday to relax!

Nature Adventure

Frank and I are not normally 'nature' people, but with our busy schedules, I'm slowly coming to realize how nice it is to just get outside and be away from our phones, computers, etc. We've lived in Northern Virginia for almost 10 years (yikes!) and have never (yes, I said never) gone to Great Falls Park which is about 20 minutes away from our house. On one Sunday in August, we had a few hours with nothing to do (in between church and Frank's 2:00 soccer scrimmage), so we decided to head to the Park and do a little 'hiking'. I use the term 'hiking' loosely because, by no means is Great Falls a strenuous hike (remember, it's 20 minutes from our house in Arlington); however, it was nice to get outside and walk along the Potomac River and enjoy the scenery. It was a gorgeous morning, and ever since, I've even started toying with the idea of camping (although Frank told me I'd better practice in our own back yard)...

Belated Bday Celebration

For Frank's birthday this year, I got him an evening in Baltimore, which typically wouldn't be that great of a gift, except this one came with tickets to the Manchester City v. Inter Milan soccer match. After doing some chores around the house (including yard work which later led to two very itchy cases of poison ivy), we drove up to Baltimore mid-afternoon on Saturday and checked into our hotel in the Inner Harbor. After doing a little walking around, we headed over to Little Italy for a phenomenal dinner at La Scala before the soccer match, which was also good...maybe not as good as dinner ;), but I have to say that I do enjoy watching the European teams compete (just maybe not as much as Frank does). After the game, we ended the night where we started; back to Little Italy for dessert at Vaccaro's (of course!) where we both over indulged in some birthday cake! Happy Birthday, Frank!