living it up in crete!

We have spent the last 10 days in crete and are currently sitting at a harbour restauraunt eating ice cream, watching the sunset and typing this. Thy have internet and even little computers to use!! the trip has been great! I'll add info when we get home and i have more time. We've done lots of beaches, scenic drives and beautiful sunets. The kids have been great and have really enjoyed the trip.

summer's here

Summer finally arrived in the Azores much to our delight! It's been quite nice and we actually feel like we live on an island. Mid 70's and sunny can be very appealing. Heather had her last week of school last week and on Thursday they had a celebration with parents. Heather read one of the clues for the hidden object and I was very impressed that she stood up and read the paper in front of all those people. It was even loud enough that MOST people could hear it! Friday we celebrated by going to the beach with some friends. Going to the beach is quite fun but it takes a lot of preparation and after work to make it happen! All week we traded off eating at our friends houses to welcome in a new Major whose family is basically stuck in a TLF so we've enjoyed the company of friends, and not cooking dinner every night. Friday we did pizza and a movie night at Rory's house and then Saturday we hosted a cookout with ample food for everyone to enjoy. Yesterday we went to the Brazilian "death by meat" restauraunt and then our friend who take pictures gave Jeff some tips on stock photography and let him use his studio space for a couple of shots of the kids. It was fun and we even got a very nice family photo out of it. Unfortunately Cameron wasn't cooperating too well with the photos so he kind of missed out..This week we're heading off to Crete to enjoy the mid-90's heat. We'll see how it goes...

Busy, busy days

The past few days have been pretty busy. Yesterday Heather had summer school during which she proudly helped her teacher move the squid, lobster, and fish from the "big bag" to the "small bags" she was so excited to get to stay when the other kids were going to computers to help that she was bursting with excitement. Charlie and I had to go and check out her "work." After school we headed to a picnic in the drizzle (that's what summer's been here) and actually had a good time. The food was good, there were awards, and the kids climbed on teh rocks and Heather searched for shells while Cameron took a nap and Jeff and I chatted with his co-workers. On the way home we realized it was really nice so we headed to the pool and the kids swam. Cameron likes to splash in the pool and is pretty funny. Jeff coaxed the bigger kids in the big pool and they had fun as well. We decided to go for pizza afterwards and returned one tired gang. Today we got a late start but headed for a "hike" along rocks on the beach. Charlie petered out and joined Cameron (sleeping again) and I by the car but regained steam when Cameron woke up. We headed out to find the cool tidepools with tiny jelly fish (like you see in the small cylindrical tubes at the aquarium), eel type of fish, and other marine life. It was pretty neat. Jeff got a few sand crabs but upon reading about how to care for them we decided that we would be taking them back. We explained to Heather that we couldn't give them the right food or create the right home to which she innocently and determinedly replied, "we could take them to the beach everyday. I mean EVERY day!" After the exploring we had lunch and the kids swam in a little protected inlet. They really waded and it was a pretty short trip. On the way home we headed up the hill to check out the view from the windmills (above). A pretty fun--and tiring--day.
We also saw TONS of these really pretty flowers and Jeff got one for me to take a close up of...

fabulous fourth!

We had a fabulous long weekend since Jeff had an extra day off. He spent Friday morning golfing with a few pals while the kids and I relaxed and headed for an hour at the beach with Heather's teacher and a friend. She showed us a "secret" beach that was kind of out of the way but lots of room for the kids, no waves, and a lot of sand to play in. Friday night Heather had a few friends over and despite them, "not wanting to do what I want to do" and a few moments of "i'm not having any fun" (well you're friends are!) the four girls and charlie had a good time. At 10:15 begging for more hide and seek we introduced them to a movie and sleeping bags ;-).

We took it a little bit easy as the girls got picked up the morning of the fourth then went in search of turtles but settled for tadpoles from a lake on the island. We now have moved them into the turtle tank and they are feasting on frozen lettuce (they love it!) and swimming around their new "pond". The base did a nice event with jumpy castles and booths manned by the squadrons as fund raisers. We ate our fill of cotton candy, fried twinkies, french fries and funnel cakes (YUM!), the kids jumped and ran around with their friends and we listened to the band. It was a great picnic atmosphere and the fireworks were great--set to patriotic music and everything. Cameron fell asleep right before they started and slept until I tried to put him in the car and the other two fell asleep after about 25 minutes of fire works. It was a long day! We spent most of Sunday recovering, resting, and eventually took the kids out to hit some tennis balls. Both did pretty well and had fun. Charlie created his own game that did not involve the use of a racket but was good for positioning and reaction time...

boys and bathrooms

Cameron is now crawling all over and his favorite place to escape to is the bathroom toilet. Fortunately no incidents of hands in pee water but we're learning to close the door (and the lid!). The other day I had my hands full of something and I yelled at Charlie, "make sure he doesn't get into the toilet." Charlie's distraction technique was to sit down with him and share his snack (see above picture if I can get it posted). Cameron loves the water, he flails his arms or crawls straight for it when he gets the chance. A lake, ocean, bathtub, pool, or the kitchen sink (where Jeff has let him play several times) can all be cause for excitement. He also is standing up holding onto things. The funny thing is he can't get down. He stands there and screams or "talks loudly" until someone comes to help him sit down. Sometimes he tries balancing with his head and reaching for the ground but his little arms are just too short so he's pretty much stuck.

june--what june?

June went by so fast it was unbelieveable! With swimming lessons in the evening, vacation bible school in the mornings, the start of summer school we feel even busier than when school was in session! The kids finished up swimming lessons with flying colors--well they were barely floating by the time it was over. The water was cold and they didn't learn as much as I had hoped but they did what they were asked and with the cool water and rainy evenings that was all I could ask of them. Heather is loving summer school. Thursday they did satellites and she wanted to go in early on Friday to work on hers.

Last weekend we did the children's parade on Sunday which was OK. There were some characters from the Panda chanel--which is in Portuguese so the other kids were really excited but ours were ho-hum. We've also been doing lots of promotion, farewell and good byes at the airport as lots of friends and jeff's co-workers leave the island. Today we were introduced to a "remote" beach near Praia by Heather's kindergarten teacher and enjoyed a bit of time with friends there. Cameron did not like the ocean but he loved the kiddie pool on base. He crawled and splashed around the chilly pool like a pro.

Cameron is now crawling like crazy, pulling himself up and is into EVERYTHING! He's got quite a temper (bottom lip) when something is taken away from him--which is often now that he can get into everything. He also does not like to be left alone in a room and will book it to where ever there are people. Oh and he can go up the landing and the first step..we can't get the house baby proofed fast enough ;-)