Vacay....to FL!

You can't even imagine how much I need to catch up on with the blog! I have tons of pics, lots to say (as always), and a few "what'd you learn" posts to come in the future!

SO, let me get right to it!! After our hellish flight to DC,we got in our rental van (not full size SUV like we had reserved, but at this point......EFF IT), we drove straight to West Palm and arrived around 12 midnight! I about died when I walked through the threshold to find Thyme's two oldest kids!! They were gigantic...for real. GJ looks like he could almost be a MAN and Starr reminds me sooo much of Saige when she was at that age....beautiful young girl emerging into a young lady....but still with that tomboy-ish persona we moms love to hold onto in our girls. The kids immediately sparked their every own convo and it was like no time had passed. Anyway, after the tears and long hugs to my sister and Popo, we all sat and small-talked, staring at each other like we weren't sure if we were in a dream or not. It was definitely a "moment" to say the least. Finally, we went to bed (we were BEAT) but I soon found myself opening my eyes after only 7 minutes to the sound of Teage screaming "All Aboard" as he guided Thomas the Tank Engine along the play table that was in the bedroom we stayed in. Damn kid slept the whole way down...

...so he was WIDE AWAKE!!! I'm sure he planned this on purpose....

After sleeping about 1.5 hours for the night, I then found the morning sun glaring in on me (at this point I'm thinking...was this a set-up?) so I said what the heck and decided to get this party started...sleep will come later right?? We only had one week in FL, so we needed to use our time wisely. So "up" we were and by 7:30am all children had eaten breakfast and were in the pool...ALL OF THEM....I'm talking 8 kids whooping it up at 7:30 in the morning poolside!! It was awesome. You have got to love this....

The little ones...Teage, Bren Bren & Markie

(Oh, so I was going on and on about Markie looking like someone famous, but I couldn't put my finger on it....until now! Doesn't he look like Joseph Gordon Levitt??...he's so cute! Here's a pic of him to compare...I'm just sayin')

G & J

Katie & Saige

Starr baby and T


GJ (my fave pic of the whole trip)


Aaron



Playing Chicken (P.S. my son has a ba donk-a-donk, WTF?)

I told you they were big!!

Teage didn't waste any time getting all up in Brenna's face competing to see who was the alpha kid in the house. They both could have stood some more quality time together on the trip I think. I say they both think they are WAY too cute for their own good....and dang it they are right!! TOO CUTIE!!


We decided that night we would do our traditional "crab leg" feast and with that I got to finally see my cousin Jennifer and her two babies. It had been way too long since we saw each other...never again will we let that happen. Anyway....feast your eyes on crab night!!!


Another funny moment concerned the stairs at Thyme's house. I swear she had the carpet laced with some form of Ambien!! Both my boys took to them like a crackhead to a dollar. These we taken on consecutive nights...



So that was just a 24 hour period of what went down...I won't go on about every little detail of what we did (well, because even though I know my peeps love me and my blog...overkill is overkill)...here are the highlights, meaning pics mostly:

SHOPPING....amazingly though, it wasn't for me (WTF??!!) damn kids!!!
EATING OUT....duh (I had greek twice, Arby's twice, Chick-Fil-A, and a couple restaurants, but who's counting?)
HANG W/THE KIDS...Above all, I was more than thrilled that I got to spend time with my nieces and nephews. They are the best and all I wanted to do was spoil them rotten and hug them all the days! I hope they felt both...
PARTY W/THE PEEPS...nuff said!! I will get down to the reunion BBQ later...all I will say is that it was GOOD TIMES!!

Oh, I forgot to say that Ebeth came down in between all the fun and I got to see Leila and Kai as well as meet baby Rayah. She is a DOLL and also a lil rambunctious like Thyme and I's youngest. What is it with the last babies?? I am now starting to think the real test of motherhood comes with that last push. Literally!! But like I said before....you can't hate on the cuteness!!

Rayah

Check out more of our highlights...

This is how I like them...at Smokey Bones

Starr

Kailani

Leila

Saige & Kai

Aunt Thyme (aka Seester)

Jennifer Poo Poo...(I had to)

Me & Chris

SMORES!!!

I am so glad I got to see my familia....they made us feel so welcomed and missed. I am trying to finagle using our free round trip tickets to go back for another short visit during winter break when we go see the familia in AZ. I think they will only fly us as far as FL anyway for our COT leave. More of that info to come as we get settled.

Back to the Party with the Peeps. I couldn't have had a better time on our last full day there + I had boiled peanuts.


Cousin Jennifer set up the best spot for the BBQ and Mike grilled all the food (he rocked)...

...and they fronted the cost (she thinks I forgot probably, but I didn't...her reward will come soon enough...that, my friend, is called paying it forward). Anyway, it was a blast!!! I am so glad the people that came, came. It was nice to see my old buddies. We didn't skip a beat and got right back into our old friendships. Thank you to them for coming and for making us feel welcome back at our old stomping ground. I know, I know...you wish you were there (no really, you do) :o) LOL!!

Ebeth (aka my other Seester)

I have so much more to tell you all, but like I always say..."you gotta crawl before you walk"!! Next, we get into the Germany posts. I already have multiple pics w/narration to spill, so get prepared!! I'll be in touch and as always....Love Ya!!

Monday Mortals

This week's mortal is none other than myself. The Fam Bam and I ventured off to Kinser pool Sunday and they have not one, but two diving boards. I'm all about getting my dive posing on!! It brings me back to my childhood and the days of backflips, backdives, front tucks, and oh yeah I forgot about butt busting (don't ask...the ones who know what it is appreciate a good butt buster). So here is my best pose that George managed to get (I did a toe touch, and a front flip as well...but he didn't get them).


I'm sooo going back....

Bon Voyage...June

The time has come and we said goodbye to our friend & Bn Cdr, Steve L...for the record, the air around here feels a little heavy! I am gonna miss his crazy self and his son, Jordan. We sent him off the right way though, doing what we now call his new passion...karaoke! It was fun and sad at the same time. We all did a tribute to Michael (I soloed one of my all time faves, Man in the Mirror). This is how we left it...P.S. I love the smile on his face!!



In other news, I think we are finally going to get orders soon. This means dates will be figured out...I know I've said it before, but I really do think it will happen this time! I am trying to stay positive even IF the Navy Hospital and their liaisons are uneducated slackers. But, it's all good because I have half of my foot in their "you know whats" as we speak. Sooooo....SWEET! I am already getting prepared for life in Germany. I bought Teage some cutie rain boots (everyone has them over here, but I didn't quite think it was that necessary in Oki since all they do is make your feet hot and Lord knows it is hot enough here). BUT, Germany is another story. Black ice and rain and snow...yeah, it's time to bust out the rain boots. Most of you know my disdain for frogs, but these made the cut because they don't actually look like REAL frogs (which again if you know me, you know I am freaked out by only real-looking frogs, not the fake-cartoony ones).

*my reaction would go far and beyond this broad's*

They're just all WRONG! I had to seriously look away when I uploaded this MASTY picture (as my nephew GJ would say)...

However, Keroppi rainboots are harmless. Check out his new kicks...


JD got bright yellow ones and I am still on the hunt for mine and Saige's because you know they gotta be really cute for us to wear them. I wonder if George would mind the bright blue ones w/stars I saw yesterday...hmmmmm!!

We hit up the pool this past week as well. Teage was so cute. He loves the water and all he kept yelling was "I gotta kick Mommy, WATCH"! Saige took our fun pool pic...


Loved it...I think I saw JD once when he was going down the slide. He loves to hide out in the corner and explore. Saige saw her friends there and decided she would just hang BY the pool instead of get in. Besides she says she doesn't like to show off her body (Thank You Jesus)!

This week we are heading off to the beaches to take some 4th of July photos of the kids (and us, too I guess). That should be fun.

What'd you think of theme days on the blog this week? I think it will be a fun addition and it gives me more opportunities to be on the lookout for the next best photo op. I am in the market to get a better lens for the Canon already. I need more zoom and this ones not cuttin' it. I guess we all gotta have a hobby to invest in, don't we?? OK that's all I gots...peace out friendlies!!

Summer crafting...cont'd

Well, the flower arrangement JD made is still alive and kicking. I am loving it. The next day we went back to the Arts & Crafts Center to take a ceramic/pottery class. This time Saige was able to go and again, I was impressed by their little artsy skills. JD, of course, went for the Indiana Jones motif. He even drew the whip-wielding hero on his tray...he's so funny!


Saige decided to go the souvenir route and made a beautiful "Island of Okinawa" tray.

Once they were done, they had to leave them there to dry before they could paint and glaze them. So we'll be back Thursday to finish up these fantabulous pieces of pottery. I can't wait to see the finished product. After we were done with that, we made a pit stop over at the Torii Pool to let the kids get their feet wet. JD was born half fish I think and immediately gravitated towards the slide which I think saw his heiny about 15 times. Gotta love a water slide...

Saige just laid out by the pool...she was apparently too cool for the water that day LOL.

And Teage was everywhere at the pool...being Teage!!

Once we got home, we rented some movies and Batman was the topic of conversation with the Dark Knight movie out, the animated movie on DVD, and the upcoming Lego Batman video game. The boys decided to take it a bit further and channel their inner Batman...Teage was all about copying his big bro!!!

The big kids are going to see the Dark Knight movie with a few friends tonight. I hope JD gets the fix he's been looking for. Actaully, I'm kind of glad they are going and not me...the Joker creeps me out!! Well, tomorrow's starts another work week. I'm thinking about the beach...

Catch you guys later!!! Kiss kiss...