Special Prowler Fly By

Today the squadron was performing a special fly by of Prowlers in honor of the Marine Corps Aviation Centennial.  They invited the families out for lunch (Which they ended up not providing!  I mean, if you're going to ask us to skip naps for this, then at least provide a meal:o)  I won't complain too much, they did have drinks, cookies and chips.  We got there a little early so we could play at the beach.  Our backyard, which is surrounded by trees, which block most of the wind, completely fooled us into thinking it was warm out.  It wasn't.  Cloudy + 60 degrees + water = freezing!  For some reason, the fly by didn't go as planned, but we at least got one pass, which is always cool.

 Squinty eye just like her dad.

 Playing all by himself.

 Watching the Prowlers as they take off.

 Then it was back in the car to warm ourselves up.  I cheated, put in a movie and took a drive.  It was too nice to just go back home, so I took a little drive to one of my favorite areas (there are too many favorite areas to count - this whole place is my favorite area!) and took some pictures from inside the car.

Fort Ebey Beach

We had a busy weekend of get-togethers with friends.  The weather was perfect and on Friday the kids and I headed to the beach for a little while.  We started out with long sleeves on, but quickly took them off.  

 We don't have much planned for this week, but I have a feeling that if the weather is like it has been, we might just been in those mountains you see in the background this Labor Day weekend!

Saying Goodbye

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

~ C.S. Lewis

One of the things I will never get used to doing in this military life, is saying goodbye to friends.  One of the biggest reasons we were so excited to move back to Whidbey was because of this family.  They are special to us for so many reasons and I feel that we are saying goodbye to them way to soon.  We hope they won't be too cool for us now as they head to Pensacola to spend a couple of years with The Blue Angels:o)  I'm sad that we didn't get to spend as much time with them as I had hoped and I'm sad that we won't get to meet their daughter, Jenni, then they bring her home from Haiti.  

One of the best things about the military life, is meeting great friends.  One's you know you will have for the rest of your lives.  We wish them the best as they drive across the country to their new home.  We wish Nate the best with The Blue's.  We wish Connor and Cooper the best in their new schools.  And we wish them all the best when they become a family of five.

We love you guys and we will miss you!

Tumbling Tadpole and Tumbling Chickadee

Caleb and Amelia started tumbling class last week.  Amelia is the only one signed up in her class (it's right at naptime/lunchtime and I guess no one else is brave enough to try to make their kid do gymnastics at that time;o), so she just goes into Caleb's class with me.  We set her up her own little course, which she doesn't care do do, she just wants to run around and play on everything.  After about 30 minutes though, she's done.  Today I gave her a snack around that time and she kept on going for the next 30 minutes.  Caleb's class only has three students in it.  He had so much fun last week that he threw a tantrum when it was time to leave.  He was so excited to go again this morning when I told him it was today.  

 (Look at Caleb in the background:o)

I think this is the perfect activity for him!

The Jeep

Many of you may be wondering how the pirate ship bribery went.

Well, it didn't.  This kid just will not give in and poop on the toilet.  

So, we've moved onto bigger and better bribes.

The Jeep!

 We didn't buy this for this reason, let's just get that straight!  But, our friend's were selling it and we bought it for his birthday.  Then, I got to thinking that he won't get to ride it much once November comes and it's cold and rainy all the time.  So, I decided to see how it would work in coercing him to go on the pot:o)

At first he was hesitant...again...but then he got up there, told Amelia to leave because he had to go poop (how funny is that!) and sat there for a really long time, trying.  Then he only pooped the size of a pea and said he was done.  But I did tell him if he went he could drive it and I guess he went.  I told him that he had to keep going in the toilet in order to keep playing with it and the first time he pooped in his pull-up, we would have to take it away.  

They drove this thing around the yard for like an hour before I had to start handing out timeouts for not paying attention, driving while Amelia was standing, fighting, etc. :o)

Hopefully this will work!

First Dentist Visit

Today Caleb and Amelia visited the dentist for the very first time.

He looks so excited doesn't he:o)

 Caleb did awesome and was even giggling because he said it tickled. 

 Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Amelia because they had me just hold her....but of course, she screamed.  

Stickers and new toothbrushes all around....again, he looks really excited.

And what do you do after a good report from the dentist? 

You go get donuts...with sprinkles!

Prowler Ball 2012

Last night Shawn and I got to get all dressed up for Prowler Ball, or Prowler Prom, as everyone else calls it.  It was also the first time Shawn's gotten to wear his new uniform.  We had a good time and got home at the very late time of.....wait for it.....9:30:o)  (To our defense, we did get there for the pre-party at 4 and the longer we're not at home, the more we have to pay the babysitter).  

It's actually pretty cool.  The ball is held in the hanger and there's a Prowler and a Growler in there.  We get to eat good food and spend the night, childless, with our friends.

 We'll get to do it all again in November for the Marine Corps Ball, which means I'll need a new dress that no one's seen me in just a couple of months prior.

 (Is it just me, or are we starting to look old? Don't answer that!  :o)

Miss Thang

I thought I'd write a little on what Amelia is doing now.

Don't let this sweet little girl fool you...

 She is a firecracker, diva, priss, independent and tomboy all rolled into one.

Her favorite toy is a rock.  Any rock will do.  

She cannot say her "s's" and instead uses a "k" sound for everything.  So, saying drink, snack, blanket, things like that come easy for her.  Saying Russ (her stuffed giraffe) sounds a lot like Ruck.  I finally figured out that eewww means shoe.  She gets so frustrated when I can't figure out what she's saying.  

She is deathly afraid of bugs and goes into a full on screaming, meltdown mode if anything flies near her.  No is now one of her favorite things to say.  And when you tell her to come here, she says no and starts running away.  She likes to hit....Caleb, mostly.  He likes to tattle, so she is now learning what it's like to stand in the corner.  Although, she just thinks it's funny and turns around and laughs at you.  

 She loves to point out puppies, cows and horses (cows and horses, which sound more like ukk, ukk.  I hope she grows out of this k sounding thing soon).  She will sit on the ground, pat the seat next to her and say Wrigley, ma! Which means Wrigley, come.    

 She has peed on the toilet once and is starting to tell us a lot more when she has to go.  Who knew potty training girls would be so much easier?  She loves to snuggle and most of the times wants you to put a blanket over you both.  She has decided sitting in her high chair is no fun and has resorted to screaming at meal times so that someone will get her out and hold her so she can eat in their laps.  (We learned that trick real quick and now either let her scream or she can sit in our laps, but not eat.  We're so mean, I know).

Caleb and Amelia are two totally different kids and it's fun watching them play together (the fighting gets old quick) and learning to be friends and brother and sister.

Children's Museum

Yesterday was, we have GOT to get out of the house day!  I looked for things to do around the island on a rainy day and I should have know...not much.  Then I remembered someone told me there's a children's museum in the mall, yes you heard that right, in the mall.  I decided that was where we were going.  Then I got Amelia up and she had a temperature of 102.  I am typically the mom that plays it safe and stays home to let her kids rest and so I'm not that mom who gets all the other kids sick.  That was not who I was yesterday!  Sorry Amelia.  Like I said, we had to get out of the house.  I gave her some Tylenol and she was acting fine, so we left.  A friend of mine told me the museum was, "cute".  And that is how I'd define it too.  Think of the size of a Gap and Baby Gap store, where they're an all in one store, and that's about the size of the museum.  Had Amelia felt better, I think we would have stayed  longer.  

They drove the semi.

 Played in the sandbox under the boat.

 Went to the farmer's market.

 Drove the crane, which really moved.

 Amelia played in the toddler section, which had this cute house, for about half a second.

 Caleb fished for magnetic fish (see him on the left) and would have done that one thing the entire time had I not made him go look around at all the other things.

 We sat in the dentist chair and looked at giant teeth.

 Caleb tried to brush his teeth with the giant toothbrush, which made me cringe thinking about how many other kids have done the same thing.

 They colored on the boat.

 Then we went to the craft room to make some fun things.  Amelia, at this point, was finished and wouldn't move from my arms.  Caleb painted a stop sign on an egg carton and made a work of art on the easel...which mom strategically left ...which we laid aside to dry and were so upset when we got home and remembered we had forgot it!

 Then he fished some more before I told him it was time to go eat lunch, which Chuck E Cheese placed very strategically next to the museum, so we had to eat there.  By this time though, Amelia was burning up again, wouldn't eat anything and Caleb would get on a ride and before even starting it, decide he wanted to do something else.  So, we saved our tokens and will try to use them another day.  On a side note, the time to go to Chuck E Cheese is in the middle of the day...like 4 other people were there.

It was a very "cute" museum and we may go back, but I hear there's a really good one another 30 minutes up the road, so we may try that when everyone's feeling better.