Busy Day

I was all set to go for my walk this morning when Dan asked if I thought I was going for a walk because it was raining. So I skipped the walk and got right to work on the things I wanted to get done around the house. When I was cleaning yesterday, came upon the pins I had bought over the past two years and decided it was time to make a new pin board. I'm sure you can tell which one is new. So now I have quite a bit of empty space to add more pins to, should last a few year.


Then it was on to more dusting and rearranging. I did the front three rooms and got them all done. We changed the computer room around about a year or so ago and I never got pictures hung back up, how does that happen? So I got all of those back up today. Dusted the Santa room and that always means that I shift the santa's around to different places, don't know why I do, I just do. Probably so it will take me longer.

Then of course what ever room I'm in the cats have to be there also. Cozzie is the worse, she always follows me around. So I decided to snap some pictures of them. This is Cozzie, who came to us as Cosette and we just shortened it. Both she and Juan joined our family while we were in Spain. We weren't suppose to get any pets while we were there but Dan stopped in at the Rescue on base one day and the next thing I know Chris and I are bringing Juan and Cozzie home to live with us.


This is Juan, he at least looked at me when I got down to take his picture. He doesn't follow me around as much but does have certain rooms that he goes to at certain times of the day.


Even though they look a lot alike they came from two different litters and Juan is about three months older than Cozzie.

Not much else going on today. It stayed overcast and dark all day and showered a couple of times. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer and I will get out for my walk.

The World is not Ending

It was time to get back to my morning walks, for some reason the last two weeks I wasn't going out and I miss it when I don't. This morning I went 15 minutes later than normal but it was really dark out. Didn't even see the hint of a sunrise until I got down on Pine Tree. It was a beautiful sunrise, not much color but the clouds were spectacular.


Always like to see what I can catch in the little pond here and today it was a pretty good reflection of the sky.


In case any of you felt any tremors or anything this morning, it wasn't the world coming to an end but me dusting. I know I always say it is the job I hate most and I will tell you why. I spent two hours and all I got done was the living room. I have to take everything off the shelves, dust the pictures and knick-knacks, dust the shelves and put everything back on. Then I do all the pictures and the fireplace and mantle.

So tomorrow if you feel the earth move it is because I have moved on to the Santa Room, the worse in the house but it will be done and I won't have to think about it for a while.

Today I got to watch Kaleigh because Riley had his first appointment with the Dentist. He did very well and his teeth look great. He will be getting four more teeth sometime in the next year. He also got a fluoride treatment.

Kaleigh and I played on the floor and then I got some pictures of her. I remember when I could get pictures of Riley all the time. So much easier when they just lay where you put them.

She definitely has Andy's eyes.



I came home and worked on some scrapbook stuff, non-digital, it's the first time I've done that in a while.

Dan had a really long day, not many jobs but everyone wanted a specific time and his last job was at 1700 so he didn't get home until about 1830.

Today It's People

This was taken in May 1996 (it was printed on the back of the photo or I never would have figured it out) when Sami and Tommy came to stay with us during Kim's two weeks of active duty. I really don't remember her ever sleeping during the day but this proves me wrong. Can't imagine what we had been doing that would make her so tired she would fall asleep during her snack.


Here we are in South Dakota and as with everything there is always one in the crowd that has to be different. This day it was Chris, everyone else was busy watching the climbers on Devil's Tower and he wasn't interested at this point and decided to face the other way. This was a really great vacation that we took in 1998.


This was also in South Dakota and Chris was much more interested in the bus driving through the narrow opening at the Needles. That is him on the left side of the photo above the bus. He was checking out just how close the bus was coming to the walls. He was amazed that there probably wasn't anymore than 6 inches on either side of the bus.



Chris and Andy wearing the Mardi Gras masks that Grampa G and Lois brought from New Orleans when they came to visit us in Pensacola. They flew into New Orleans from Santa Barbara and spent a few days there, then drove over to see us for a few more days. That was one of the great things about living in Pensacola it was only about three hours to New Orleans and we made it over there at least once a year if not more.


Hope you enjoyed the trip back in time. I'm sure there will be more posts just like this one.

Let's Go On a Tour

Not a very exciting day, did our normal errands and chores. So I thought I would post some pictures of my favorite places we have lived.

This is Annapolis and even though we didn't live here (we lived in Glen Burnie) it is where Dan and I got married. The church in the center of the picture is in the middle of a circle and City Hall was right across the street. We got married in a closet-sized room, I still don't know how we fit five people in there. And this just proves there was a time in our life that we did go out after dark.


Next is Adak, AK out in the Aleutians, we were so close to Russia we could almost see it. Adak was a beautiful place and we liked it so much we went back ten years later for another tour.

This is looking down the runway, I don't think I ever flew in on a day that looked like this. It was always rainy or overcast and windy so the plane would rock back and forth and of course you just knew you were either going into the water or into a mountain.


Just another view to show the beauty and when the weather was nice you couldn't ask for anything more. We would have "Sunshine Liberty" on a day like this. Everyone would get to go home early so they could enjoy being outside.


Of course there were eagles everywhere, some days you would see groups of 20 - 50 just walking around. You can also see the imagination that went into naming things on Adak, this is No Name Creek because no one could come up with a name.


Talk about going from one extreme to another. Our next duty station was Guam where our lowest temperatures never even hit the highest temps of Adak. We saw 60 degrees a couple of times on Adak but never dropped below 70 on Guam.

This is the south end of the island, it was pretty mountainous, the north end where we lived was a plateau but pretty high about sea level. That made for some terrible walks down to the ocean to go diving, carrying all of our gear. Guess it really wasn't the going down that was bad, it was more the back up after a couple of hours in the water.


This is still the south end just looking over the cliff in the top picture. Again this was a beautiful place to live. We were always very lucky with the places the Navy sent us.


That was just a quick tour of our first three duty stations, maybe I'll do this again sometime for some of the others.

New ATM

I was so excited when I went to the bank this morning, they had the new ATM's. You don't have to use an envelope to make a deposit and it put a copy of the check on you receipt. If they had had this last week I wouldn't have forgotten that I had two checks in the deposit envelope, I only put the amount for one and had to wait for the bank to catch the error. Which of course they did. Now you know just how exciting my life is, a new ATM is one of the highlights of my day.

Okay the real highlight of my day is getting to see these two kids. Nikki had a dentist appointment and wanted to do a couple of errands so I got to watch the kids. Kaleigh was in the cutest dress, I know I always say that, but she does have the cutest clothes and pink is definitely her color.


Gave Riley a bath and he got away from me to go play with the play-doh, which is his new favorite thing.


Got Riley dressed and then I decided to put Kaleigh in the bumbo chair so she could sit up for a bit and she really liked it. Once again Riley just wanted to be as close to her as he could get.


I have had many talks with Kaleigh about keeping her dress/skirt down but she just wants to show off her belly and chew on the hems.


Tammy came to visit us, she had just finished up getting her hair cut and blown dry. It looked really nice, she needs to get a personal beautician to blow dry her hair everyday.

Everyone went down for their nap at about 1300. I was really surprised that Kaleigh fell asleep because it was almost time to eat again but she only slept for an hour and then she was ready to eat. Riley was still asleep when I left.

Dan beat me home, he only had about a 3/4 day so he had a nice break this afternoon.

Before I forget, Andy wasn't playing Guitar Hero, it was Rock Band want to get everything right.

Now we are ready for the weekend, nothing planned at the moment so we will see.

Shopping

Time got away from me this evening and almost forgot to post an entry.

Wasn't sure what I would be doing today but then I got the call to go shopping and I can never turn that down. Went with Mum, Dad, and Tammy. Didn't have a lot of places to go but the morning sure did go by fast. Started at Panera then it was on to Michaels, Bed Bath and Beyond, Lowe's and BJ. I didn't really need anything but it was nice to be out with everyone.

Got home and I worked on pictures and digital layouts. Trying to come up with ideas for presents and that type of thing. I have thought of lots of things just have to translate them from my head to paper.

Dan had another long day and didn't get home until almost 1900. Luckily he has a short day tomorrow.

Guitar Hero

Today was a visit with Kaleigh and Riley day. First I had to go to the post office to get some stamps, I'm so glad they have the machine in the lobby so I didn't have to wait in line for stamps. So I was in and out of there pretty fast.

They I went over to the apartment, it was like Grand Central Station there. Andy was home for lunch and Ashley was visiting. Just seemed like a lot of people, at least a lot more than normal. Riley had already gone done for his nap and he must have been very tired because he slept for almost three hours, he hasn't done that in a while.

Kaleigh was wide awake for a bit, so we got down on the floor and played for a time. She is getting better with tummy time, did almost 20 minutes today. If she is doing tummy time that means I am too, so I can get pictures of her.


Looking pretty serious in this one.


Once Riley got up we were very busy. Dan had gotten some stickers from one of his customers and we put those all over the place. Including my face and Riley's shorts, got them all picked up and it was time to blow some bubbles. I also brought over a new coloring book that I got from the Publix Kid's Club and Riley was very interested in what all the animals were so he pointed and I named them. Then it was time for Play-Doh, I'm not a big fan of play-doh but Riley did very well with it. Didn't try to eat it or mush in into anything. He did want to bounce it on the floor when I told him it looked like a ball.

When Andy got home he treated me to a Diet Coke at Sonic and then we went to AT&T to see what plan he should be using with his new phone and we got that changed and will save some money so it was well worth the trip. We were in and out of there faster than I ever have been. I had made a peanut butter sandwich for Riley to keep him busy and he only got about 1/2 of it eaten.

Went back to the apartment to drop them off and I watched Andy play two songs on Guitar Hero, that is pretty hard work, I was tired by the time he got done. Riley is funny because he plays along, using one of the regular controllers and just goes to town.

Got home and Dan had arrived just before me and was putting the big ladder on the truck, it is going back to Walt's to live and not take up room in the garage.

Rest of the evening was pretty quiet.

Quiet Day

Just a quiet day at home. Got all caught up with all the paperwork that seems to accumulate around the house. Just means that I sorted and filed and shredded a bunch of stuff.

I also watch my shows from last night. I was really tired last night so I went to bed early, that was a mistake because I was up at about 0400 which could mean that I will want to go to bed early tonight but I'm really going to try to stay up.

Well back to the shows. Heroes did not disappoint, it was a really good first show and I'm looking forward to this season. It did leave a lot of unanswered questions and I hope that the writers of this show have a plan and are looking at what the end of the show should be so that one season we aren't just left hanging.

CSI: Miami was pretty predictable but I still enjoyed it. I looking forward to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation but it doesn't start it's new season for at least two more weeks. Fringe was pretty far fetched but I like the actors that are in the cast so I will keep watching and maybe it will go in a more believable direction.

Also started working on our Christmas card for this year. Really like the design I found and a good portion of it is digital so that kept me busy for a while.

Nikki's Home

Nikki made it home today, had two very happy kids when they saw her. You wouldn't think they would really notice that she was gone but you could tell that they missed her. Kaleigh didn't sleep as well at night and Riley just knew that he hadn't seen his momma in a few days. So now everything should be getting back to normal.

We had a good morning. Just did the normal things. Riley seems to have changed his nap time to going down at about 1300 so will probably have to change when he has lunch. Normally he would have his lunch when he got up from his nap but now he can probably have it before and he might sleep a bit longer and go down easier.

Short and sweet today, maybe tomorrow will be more exciting.

Turtles Everywhere

We went to help Andy replace the blinds in the apartment and when we were going in, looked down and what do we see but a little turtle. Just like the ones in the pond but much, much smaller. Andy took it to the water so it could make itself at home. Then I was taking the trash out and there was another in the parking lot. This one wasn't as lucky because it didn't survive. We wonder where they came from. Maybe when the big one showed up at Andy and Nikki's door a few months ago it was really laying eggs somewhere nearby and these came from there. Don't have a better explanation and I guess we will never know.


Got the blinds all hung, although Dan and Andy had quite an adventure at Home Depot. Paid and saw that one of the blinds was bent so they had to go swap it out and there was something else but I don't remember.

Here is Dan keeping Riley amused by tossing him in the air. He thinks this is pretty fun but likes to be facing Dan and not looking out.

Kaleigh spent the whole time just bouncing in the bouncy chair, talking away. Only fussed when she decided she really wanted her diaper changed. So I changed her and put her in a onsies for the day. She went right back to amusing herself.


Riley was a different story, he just wanted to be right underfoot and just where he shouldn't be. But the job still got accomplished and all was well.


Got home just in time for Dan to do his chores and then sit down to watch the Fox Pre-Game show. Watched Miami defeat the Pats, wasn't a pretty sight. Also, watched the race on and off but saw the end and that was pretty exciting, at least if you are a Biffle fan. Gotta feel for Busch bad couple of weeks for him, don't know if he can come back from this.

Bright and early I head over to watch the kids until Nikki gets home. Should be somewhere around noon I guess.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Already looking forward to the next one.

Sea World

Can you believe we missed it? Yesterday was "National Talk Like a Pirate Day" And not a single word of Pirate came out of my mouth and I know Riley would have really enjoyed that. Maybe next year we will remember.

Today was our day to go to Sea World. Started with breakfast at Chick-Fil-A and everyone enjoyed their meals.

We arrived at Sea World right before 0900 and as always their parking was pretty strange. We weren't even parking in the lined areas, it was where you would normally drive, so I don't know what they were doing.

They had the back gate open so we were able to go in there and not have to walk all the way to the main entrance. But then I went around to the Pass Office to finally get Nikki a pass, she use to get in on her Universal Employee Pass and this is the first time we have been with them since she hasn't worked at Universal.

Started by getting our picture taken, as always.


Then we let Riley choose where he wanted to go on the map, can you believe he picked the Dolphin area which is where we always start. Although we did stop and feed the Rays first because we walked right by them.

Watching Daddy feed the rays, I couldn't get any good pictures of that, needed a polarizer and didn't have on with me.


We stopped at the Manatee exhibit and watch them. Dan, Riley and I went to the underwater viewing area and watched from there also. It is a really long walk to do that and then we stopped to let Riley look at the Manatee sculpture, he wasn't to sure about that.


Wasn't to very happy to have to get back in the stroller.


Looking at the penguins.



Then it was off to Pacific Point Preserve, better known as the seal area. There were a bunch of baby seals all born at the end of June, beginning of July so they are fairly young. They didn't do much but eat and nuzzle their moms.


As always lots of birds in the area and when the food would come out they were right there hoping to steal a fish.


Riley liked it when Grampa would walk him into the low hanging branches of the trees.

We were in one of the gift shops and this is what Riley saw over his shoulder.

Walked through the horse barn, always impressive to see the Clydesdales. Then we stopped by the Budweiser Pavilion and Dan tried the new American Ale, he said it didn't taste bad but had an aftertaste he didn't like.

This is right outside the Pavilion and it always looks so nice.


Riley playing the steel drums, he really enjoyed that.


This is on the ship in the kids area and he was shooting the water at Daddy, couldn't reach him but still thought it was pretty funny.



Kaleigh finally awake and facing forward so she can see everything.


Our last stopped was at the Arctic and saw all the animals there. The belugas were pretty active today, they had a bouy they were playing with and they were having a good time.

By this time we were all pretty hot and tired so we headed out. Picked up our picture and we were off to the car.

Had lunch at Steak n Shake, my first time there. It was very good, I especially like their skinny, little, crispy french fries.

We dropped Andy and the kids off and it was home for us to rest away the day.

Busy Friday

We were pretty busy today. Both the kids were up when I arrived at the apartment and I wasn't expecting that but they had a pretty exciting night. Riley got up in the middle of the night and wanted his diaper changed so Andy took care of that and put him back to bed. This morning when Kaleigh woke up early to be fed Andy found Riley sleeping on the living room floor. So the kids were a bit tired this morning.

We went out to do our errands. Stopped at Wal-Mart first and Kaleigh fell asleep while we were shopping. Then it was over to Sonic for my Diet Coke and then to Weight Watcher's. Had a good day down .8. After the weigh-in we went to Panera, don't know what they are doing but I was there at about 0900 and all they had was five bagels. Not five kinds of bagels but five bagels, I bought four of them so I feel bad for anyone that came in after me.

Then it was home for us and Kaleigh fell asleep again, but woke up as soon as we got in the house. By this time everyone was ready for a snack. I split a bagel with Riley and Kaleigh got her bottle and everyone was happy.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids today. Kaleigh is wearing the outfit Tammy bought for her and she looked so cute.



Riley did much better with coloring today, managed to keep it in the coloring book so we were able to do that for quite a while.

I didn't put him down for his nap until he was about falling asleep on his feet and he went right down but that meant I had to put up with some crankiness but at least the bedroom didn't get torn apart. He was still sleeping when I left to come home.

Not much else going on here. Just a quiet evening for me and here it is 1900 and Dan isn't home yet, he is on his way but had to go by one of the stores first. Knew it would be a long day but not this long.

Belly Zorberts

Headed over to the apartment to watch the kids at about 0815 and when I got there everyone was occupied and having a good time. Riley was eating, always a good thing in his eyes and Kaleigh was just enjoying herself on the floor.

Don't you love the hat with the outfit?


Had a quiet morning, Nikki was waiting for her ride to Miami to go on her cruise. A get-together/bachelorette party for one of her friends getting married in November. Sounds like lots of fun to me.

Nikki has a kitchen spice wallflower in the apartment that smells really good but that is really bad because it makes me want to eat. I did control myself today, Weight Watcher's tomorrow and don't want to blow it.

I wish Riley would get better at going down for his naps. It took half an hour today before he fell asleep and in that time he emptied all his clothes out of the dresser, kicked the wall and just wandered around his room. The last time I went in he had wrapped his bear in his blanket and they both looked so cute.

During this time Kaleigh went down for her nap, thankfully she goes right down most times. Kaleigh got up first and I got her all fed and happy and babbling away on the floor. Spent a little time on her belly but she isn't a real fan of that.


Then Riley got up and was ready for lunch. While he was eating I was playing with Kaleigh and started giving her belly zorberts and Riley was very jealous. So I told him when he was done eating it would be his turn. As soon as everything was all cleaned up he was in front of me pulling his shirt up wanting his zorberts. We had lots of laughs doing this.

Then we did some bubbles and coloring. Crayons had to be taken away twice today, the first time because he colored on Kaleigh's shirt and the second because he colored on my shirt. They are washable crayons so the marks should come right out.


Then Andy arrived home and I was on my way.

Is There a Resemblance?

Went out to get the paper today and there was another great moon shot.


Spent the morning cleaning the house, doing all those things I put off all the time. Vacuuming, scrubbing the shower, and washing the kitchen floor. Notice I didn't add dusting I save that for when it gets really bad and the time is coming soon.

Then it was time to head over to watch the kids. Riley was in his room, not sleeping yet, but one last Mom visit made it quite clear it was time to go to sleep and this time he did. Nikki left shortly after that.

Kaleigh had two doctor appointments this week. The first with her pediatrician and she is doing good. Up to 15.5 pounds and 25 inches long. She also got a bunch of shots so she was kind of cranky today but she finally dropped off for about an hour nap and then she was her sweet self again. Her other appointment was with the cardiologist and they said the murmur is almost gone and should be completely gone by her next appointment at nine months. This is nothing really unusually but they wanted to keep an eye on it.



Kaleigh has become quite the talker and there is always some sound coming out of her mouth. It's pretty funny to listen too.

Riley decided he needed to go for a swing but that didn't last long before I chased him out and he wasn't to happy with that.


So do you think Kaleigh may just look a bit like this little girl here? I see a slight resemblance.


I was getting ready to leave after Andy got home and was saying my goodbyes and one of the things I said was, "See ya" and the next thing we know Riley is saying, "See ya", it was very cute.

He also said, "Bubbles" when he wanted the bottle of bubbles he got from Jessica's party. So of course we had to blow a few even though he really just wanted to drink them.