Fam Bam 4th Festivities

I say 4th, but it was really a celebration on the 3rd for us. Our first 4th of July in Germany can be summed up in two words....heated and LONG! We started out with sprucing things up around the house for the BBQ, took a few 4th Family photos,



then we headed out to the Freedom Fest (which is only a couple blocks from my house...SCORE on that). Saige and her softball team were in charge of working the Dunk Tank for a Little League Fundraiser. It was frickin' HOT!! Hot not only for Germany's standards, but it was flirting with Okinawa/FL hot! But seriously, I think when people sweat like this they ARE actually melting!

The Dunk Tank was fun and I even tried to pay somebody to get me in that thing ...but only the coaches were getting dunked.

testing out the ammunition

Coach Kent in the tank...

Surrounding the area was the children's section...bounce houses, duck pond games, face painting, over-sized sumo wrestling, and an inflatable boxing ring. There was even the occasional superhero roaming around. The boys went to town...

Shrek looks like Zombie Shrek...but Teage didn't seem to mind.

Punch-Out Time!

NANANANANANANA...BATMAN!

After we left the fest, we went back home and I started grilling (again, how hard is it for a certain cubexican to grill up some burgers and chicken? ...all the days perpetrating). Rhea and the kids were in tow along with a friend of hers, my new friend, Brooke and her hubby came and then some other people I didn't really know too well. Needless to say, it is challenging to keep everyone in sync and happy when there are blind dates (guests) in the mix...especially when kids are involved. But, I was on a mission to have a good time, and I did.

Singstar is always doing everybody right...they were totally singing Britney Spears' "Toxic"

After the YUMMY eats and pool time (both water and table), we ventured back to the fest to check out the kid's rides and watch the fireworks. It turned into a gorgeous night and finally things started to cool down.

Next week we are headed to Italy for Saige's Regional tournament (they play Italy and Poland) and if they win, they represent Europe and move to the World Series in August held in Kirkland, Washington. They are a really great team and have the potential to go super far...can't wait to see my girlie kick some Italian and Polish booty!

Until next time....HAPPY 4TH PEEPS!!!

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!!

Father of 14

I'm so excited to report that the wait on the party for Saige was well worth it because this has been the sunniest weekend we have had in over a month. The day started early as all get out...with a flea market sell. With all the rain we have had, the humidity is off the charts! I was sweating from every orifice by 6:30 am and it was all wrong! By 11:00, I was at the Japanese Bakery buying Saige's Strawberry Roll Cakes...the bakeries here are incredible. The precision they use is amazing! Look how beautiful...

Anyway, we headed to the beach first, I don't have any pictures of that because with the amount of stuff we had to carry, I opted to leave the 10 lb camera at home this time (plus, I didn't want it to get all sandy). Good thing, because the big kids didn't even step foot in the water. They were too cool I guess. There were 5 girls and two boys (one of them being Justice, the EX). They still act like a couple and when I asked her what was up with that...she said, I forgave him, but I'm not going back out with him because we're moving. Smart girl! He did give her a really nice gift...a silver chunk chain with a charm that says 'Saige & Justice' in Kanji.



I told her, "oh that's nice and it's in a different language so no one will ever know what it means and you can wear it long after you two are apart" LOL. She didn't care for that! It's really hard to adjust to the whole BOY thing. I'm trying though. Sometimes I feel like it would be much easier if it was like this...

...ahh the memories of when they were littles!


After the beach, we went back to the house and commenced with karaoke and World Tour. It was fun! Check them out in action....



Once the performances were over, the boys left and the girls got their goofy on! The icing on the cake was they decided to record their antics. And now, mama has a montage...YES!! These girls are a riot and Saige is always right in the middle of it all...

*THIS IS WHERE THE VIDEO WILL BE AFTER I FINISH BEATING THE CRAP OUT OF THIS COMPUTER* (stay tuned...)

Ahhh...Success, they finally wore themselves out!!



I know she had a great time and I'm so glad the kids enjoyed hanging out with our Family!

Today is Father's Day so I want to give a "Thumbs Up, High Five, Smack on the A$, Warm Fuzzy, Tight Squeeze Huggy, Slobbering Kiss" to my husband! Happy Padre Day to the man who makes all things possible for us...Love you George!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the other child rearing men in my life as well...

Love Ya!!

Dam...Water Parks rock!

Well, we have successfully conquered another week of our winding summer. I had some FRG stuff to attend to (a baby shower and mini-meetings) but more importantly we visited some places that were not only fun but refreshing. Once we got past the God awful night of softball hell...(I was almost ejected from a game and had the MPs called on me, by the way...since when can they eject fans?) I was truly misread :o) We also found out that George will be going to the states the first week of Sept for about 3 weeks for 1SG course. I am totally jealous that he's gonna be eating Arby's...I told him if he loved me he would dry ice that crap for me and make it happen LOL. I know he is going to see baby Joaquin, oh yeah as well as Alex and Rhea (hee hee) and I am really annoyed by that. I know he will kiss him all over for me too but it's not the same. And I am also missing my family reunion this weekend...I am waiting for the pictures Ebeth (no pressure). Happy 90th Grandma!!! I love you all and wish we could have been there to see you guys. Well, back to our exciting life....

Anyway, Wednesday I took the big kids to the Kurashiki Dam with my girlfriend Brooke and her son, which is really cute and a great place for a picnic or some minnow hunting. JD was all about it and was already in the creek before we made it down the stairs.

The water was extremely shallow, but that didn't stop JD from taking a full-on swim in there.

I had to coax Saige and her friend to get their feet wet and venture into the water. Saige didn't like how "brown" the water was.

From the looks of it, Brooke had fun...

While we were exploring the waterfalls, we noticed full size fish swimming around...so it looks like we were really "swimming with the fishes" as the old fashioned mobsters would say.

There were some local kids there picking up things from the water and placing them in nets...I walked up to try and see and it looked like little fishies and maybe some hermit crabs. JD brought me one as a gift...it never came out of its shell though. I definitely will be back with the whole family soon.

We also made our way back to the water park this weekend, this time with the whole fam bam in tow. Teage wasn't feeling it at first. I guess too much going on for him. But he warmed up and really took to the lazy river...along with his dad.

It has the makings of a good old water park with slides and a kid area and waterfalls.

Saige brought another friend and they were pretending they were Charlie's Angels I guess.

JD stayed on the river for over an hour and finally made his way to the tubey slide. He was rolling with laughter...

Overall, it was good times and made the hot weekend a little more cooler.

This coming week is the last of the summer, we have more adventures lined up for next week before we all get back to the books. I think we're ready for it though. I will post the pics form our last days of summer vacation asap. Love ya....

P.S. This is why I love this place...