Fish On!

Looking through my notes of "missed blogging opportunities" I saw that I had wanted to blog about the first day of fishing season here but never did.  This past Saturday the base held a fishing derby for the kids (families) on base. Now that I'm about 90% over the awful cold I was seriously suffering from last week, I decided to sit down and blog about both!

First things first, the beginning of fishing season was back in April.  Josh was SO excited for it that he got up and went fishing at, like, 6:00am or something ridiculous like that.  By the time the rest of us woke up and started moving around, he returned triumphant.

That's right, he caught TWO decent sized trouts(?). Clearly he was very pleased with himself. As well he should be.

Later that day we took all the boys, and Tante, fishing. I don't know that anything was caught that day except for the one Finn got. Sweet Boy managed to catch a fish with the net we have. The fist was already dead, but he was still pretty excited about getting it himself.

Doesn't he looked thrilled? He actually was excited but when he went to pose for the picture he fell backwards into some sticker bushes (which is why Josh is directly behind him here - to stop him from falling again and to keep him somewhat still so I could snap a picture right quick).

After this Finn got bored and so I took him to play in the sand box (the volley ball court by our house) while everyone else stayed and fished on.

All in all, a pretty good day!

Now, we come to this past Saturday. As I said in my intro, the base held a fishing derby thing for kids and their families. There was also food, and archery and rifles set up for the kids to try out. (Everything was supervised by experienced and qualified adults.) This time my mom and stepdad came up. Josh and Pappy took Zeke and Deacon fishing while my mom and I stayed home with Finn.

After a nice day visiting with my mom and dad, Josh took Pappy back out for some "grown men fishing time." (No one called it that, but that's essentially what it was.)  None of them caught anything that morning, but Pappy sure was the big winner that night!

As you can clearly see by the picture that fish was at least eleventy feet long! And, I heard it took both of them to pull it in, plus three other guys who were out fishing as well.  In fact, the fish was SO big, and it pulled SO hard, the line snapped in the process, and Pappy had to dive in and wrestle the thing ashore! Well done, sir. Fish on!

So...the Rest of July Happened

Besides the Ford-Faesch Manor, and the big two boys going to camp for a week, a few other things happened this month that I thought I'd just highlight quickly before August happens.

The week before camp, the boys (and I) went to VBS at a church nearby.  It was a super fun time for the kids and I'm really impressed with this church and their program. I almost wish we weren't so committed to our chapel, or I'd seriously consider attending there. All of the kids had a blast and we already can't wait for next year!

The last night of VBS, and the day before the day before we left for camp, my friend Christina came up to spend the night and visit us once more before she moves to Hawaii. It was a great visit and we wish her luck as she heads back home. (Home being Hawaii - it's where she's from.)

OH! One day during VBS I looked out the window of the "class" I was taking and saw a mama bear with FOUR bear cubs. They were adorable! My favorite was the runt of the liter, so to speak, who kept running to keep up with his older siblings. Poor Mama Bear was lagging behind, clearly worn out by her offspring.

There was also lots of fun playing outside and just being boys.

So far, so good for this summer vacation!

Yay For the Circus!

This past weekend my stepdad treated the older 2 boys and me to a performance of the Big Apple Circus. (I made the call to leave Finn at home - he's not old enough to appreciate it nor is he good enough to sit quietly through the performances. He loses interest in things rather quickly.) It's not a super huge circus like the 3 ring ones that come around, but it was the perfect little circus for the boy as it was their first time at one, and they had NO idea what to expect.

We had a really great time. The boys were so excited by all of it. I think Zeke's mouth hung open while his eyes popped out almost the entire time. It was almost as much fun watching him as it was watching the circus.

My mom and 2 of my sisters (the twins) went too. You weren't supposed to take pictures during the performances, hence my only having pics of us and the set up before they announced to pictures. Which is really too bad because we did enjoy the show and it would have been fun to have pictures for them to tak about.

But I got some good pictures anyway, and as you can see by all the smiles we had a really good time. Thank you, Pappy, for a fun day!

So Much To Say

Hello New Jersey! We landed last Saturday and essentially hit the ground running. By the time we got off the plane, gathered our luggage (and cat), got to Josh's car, and sat in 2 hours worth of shore traffic to get to Josh's parent's house, we were exhausted. Luckily it was nap time, so after some quick pbj sandwiches, we all went to sleep for a little bit. We also went to bed early that night.

Sunday morning though, we got up at our "usual" time (no room for jetlag here - keeping on schedule seems to help the kiddos out quite a bit). After breakfast and what's it, we went to my old church, up closer to where my mom lives. And since we were "in the area" we had lunch, naps (the kids napped anyway), dinner, and LOTS of outside running around time at my mom's. It was so great. All 3 of my sisters were there, as was my stepdad and my one sister's boyfriend. We all had a great time. And, unfortunately, all the pictures from this visit are on my mom's camera, so I can't share any of them with you.

Monday we did some summer clothes shopping (living in Alaska, we didn't really have much of that sort of thing) and some food shopping. Josh showed the kids around Grammy and Papa's garden, where they picked lots of fresh veggies for us to have with dinner.

Tuesday, we drove down to LBI to see Josh's parents. They rented a house down there for the week, so by the time we got in on Saturday, they were already long gone, so we went down to see them, as well as Josh's sister and her hubby and son. It was so much fun getting all of the boys together (FINALLY).

Her son is a year younger than Deacon, but almost the exact same size, so, needless to say, they all had a blast. My sister, Katherine (aka Tia, to the boys) came with us, so that was fun too. We got there in time for lunch and naps (short ones this time). After naps everyone headed to the ocean. Everyone, that is, except for me and Josh's mom since Finn was still napping and I wanted him to sleep. Of course, by the time Finn finally woke up, 1 1/2 hours later, and we made it to the ocean, everyone else was packing up to head down to the little bay beach.

Don't ask why both of them are sticking their tongues out while they play. I have no idea.

I also don't know how the big kids were when they saw the ocean, but Finn was thrilled. I put him down on the sand when we reached where everyone else had set up, mostly because he's HEAVY, and he made an immediate beeline for the water. And coldness be darned, he went right in and continued to walk in the water until it reached about his knees. Then he let me hold on to him and sit him down as the waves rolled back, and stand him up as the waves came at him. It was hilarious too, every time a wave came and splashed against him, he would roar back at the water. But after a few minutes everyone was ready to leave, and Finn's lips were blue and he was shaking, so we bundled him up in a towel and paraded down to the bay, where the water was calmer, warmer, and much more fun for the kids.

Then it was dinner, some play time and then home. A good day.

Wednesday we tried to just stay home and relax a little, and recouperate from the "non-stopping-ness of our first few days in state. Wednesday and Thursday we (and by "we" I pretty much mean Josh) set up a little blow-up pool for the kids to play in. And by "the kids" I mean all 4 of them.

Thursday we also did some food shopping in the morning, and had my father, stepmother and brother over for dinner. We ordered some pizza and had a really nice time just hanging out and visiting with them. Again, no pictures, my bad.

Friday and Saturday were low key days again, with Friday being ridiculously hot so we took the boys to the mall. And Saturday Josh's parents came home from LBI, much to the boys' delight. In fact, Zeke decided he wanted to pray at dinner that night and said, "Thank you that Grandma and Papa could come visit us today." I guess he doesn't quite get that we are the ones visiting.

Which brings us to yesterday. Yesterday we went down to my father and Karen's house in Brick. Again, we got there in time for lunch and naps. Well, before the bigger boys had lunch they went with my dad, my cousin, Josh and another cousin's daughter, in the boat to go check on the crab hotels they had placed in the water earlier. Yep, their first boat ride. Josh said Deacon sort of hung back by him and was just chill, mostly out of shyness rather than fear, but that Zeke and Zoe were up on the front of the boat, holding on, enjoying the ride and the wind blowing around their faces.

After naps they swam in the little pool for bit, swam in the lagoon behind the house for a little bit, and had a GREAT time with all the water and all the toys and things there. After a huge, delicious dinner, we got back on the road, headed home, and promptly put our tired boys in bed.

Now we're hanging out, relaxing again, so I thought I'd take this time to let you all know we made it safely and we're already finding plenty of things to do to keep ourselves busy. And I promise to write about our flights and how all that went soon.

I'm Ba-ack!

Hey everyone! SO sorry for my absence. As I mentioned in my last post, my mom was here visiting (for a week and a half) and so I decided not to blog while she was here. I used her time here as a little bit of a rest time for me. But she left last Wednesday, and now I'm here to write about her visit, because really, we did have a lovely time.

The day after my mom got here we it was Memorial Day so we just hung out and enjoyed the gorgeous weather. The following day, Tuesday, we went to the zoo (which I've already blogged about HERE). Then it started raining. And raining, and raining. It rained for pretty much the rest of her visit. So, we pretty much hung out the rest of the time.

Wednesday we still had lunch at McDs. Friday we went to storytime at the library. Saturday my friend Marci turned 50, so we went to her birthday bash for a bit. Sunday was church. The rest of the time was spent hanging around the house. I sure do know how to show guests a good time. The second Monday she was here it wasn't raining so we went to the playground at the school by us. But the Wednesday she left it was nice again so we went to the park for lunch.

Even though we really didn't do much while Grammy was here, we did have a really nice time. It was nice for me to have someone else around to have adult conversation with, and to have some help with the kids. Not to mention, someone else to read them books over and over and over again. It was nice having someone else to chase the boys around the playground so I could sit and chat with my friends a little. Someone else to help with the dishes and the picking up. Someone to watch "Better Off Ted" with (which, is hilarious, by the way). Too bad Grammy had to leave before we finished it - I should have started watching it earlier in her visit. We are so happy she came to visit, and we can't wait until we're in NJ and closer to family for awhile.

To The Zoo!

This morning we met up with Amity and her passel of offspring at the zoo. With Grammy here, we just had to go at least once, right? We had so much fun. Zeke was SUPER excited and practically ran amok until I sat him down and had a little chat with him. I mean, it's one thing to be 5-7 feet in front of me, but it's a completely different thing to be on the other side of the zoo from me (he wasn't really that far from me, but you know what I'm saying). But he quickly calmed down and did a much better job staying with the pack.

The zoo had a few new baby animals on "display" including a baby musk ox, as well as the CUTEST baby polar bear ever. They only let her out of the infirmary from 11-12 and from 4-5, so we were able to see her out and about. But since she's behind bars all the time, it was hard to get a good picture, so I'm not going to waste blog space with pictures of animals. Well, I guess these animals are worth posting pictures of.

After spending 2 hours walking around and seeing all there possibly is to see there, we had some popcorn and headed home for lunch and much needed naps (even I laid down for a bit). A very good morning indeed.

Three Cheers For Aunt Linda!

Last week (from last Thursday until this past Monday) Josh's sister, Linda, came to visit us. We had such a great time, even though Finn was a bit of a pill and would freak out if I moved more than 3 feet away from him while she was here. He did eventually warm up to her, you know, the day she was leaving. And while we mostly just hung around the house and went about our everyday lives with her here, we really did have a lovely time. Besides, it was nice being able to go out, without any kids, during nap times to get some things done. It was also nice having someone else around to put the kids in bed so I didn't have to on days I was just too worn out to walk down those stairs one more time.

Let's see...here's what we did while Aunt Linda was here:

We went to the library (did you know Aunt Linda used to be a librarian? true story):

I got my haircut during one of those glorious nap times (sorry it's blurry - silly phone photos - but trust me, it's super cute):

The boys had even more technology to play with (don't be too surprised if I announce the addition of an iPad2 to our family soon):

And we showed Aunt Linda some of our new favorite shows/movies - She-Ra and Care Bears:

Thank you SO much for coming to see us Aunt Linda! We can't wait to see you again in your part of the world.

The Third and Final Round

Well, we had our last visitor of the deployment (pending any surprise guests) this past week. Grandma Walter was here from Friday until yesterday and we had a great time having her here. We didn't really do much...just sat around and let her change diapers (all the poopy ones included). Ahhh...grandmas are wonderful. :) Here's a picture of her and the boys at a fest that was going on in town this past weekend. We went for dinner.

Too bad Zeke isn't looking too...but that's him lately, always turning his head at just the right moment so you can't get a good picture of him anymore (unless you're really, really sneaky about it). Now we are looking forward to a quiet rest of the month...as quiet as things can get around here anyways, and to Daddy coming home sometime next month! It's so good to be able to say that.

Round Two...

So, this past week (from last Friday to this past Wednesday), we had more visitors here in the Walter home. My dad, stepmom, and step-grandmom came out for a nice little visit, and boy did we have a good time. Zeke had a blast playing with everyone and "talking" their ears off. Deacon enjoyed being held all the time and seeing new faces and hearing new voices. We are so thankful for their visit and are now getting ready for and looking forward to round three of visitors - Josh's mom, who will be out here next week for a few days.

Company Kick-off

This past week, Josh's sister, Linda, came to visit the boys and me (yay!), kicking off the spree of company we will be having over the next two months. We had such a great time! We went out to eat, went to and hosted Bible studies, ate a bunch of ice cream and tasty meals, watched a lot of House, Season 3, and really just hung out around the house. Aunt Linda even became a master at diaper changing (yes!). We'll definitely miss her, but not for too long as round two is just around the corner...