a week at home

sure feels like a lot more but it's just been a week since we got back from our whirlwind trip to the states. We made it on the flight, then got delayed 12 hours (until 1 am) so we hung out at the BWI terminal at the USO and the upstairs play area with a family who was PCSing to Lajes. Jeff knew him from a few trainings and the kids got along well so it was nice to have company. We time adjusted eventually although it was kind of a rough road getting Cameron and Sara back to normal. Heather had her first t-ball practice on Thursday and did really well. Some of the kids told her she hit the ball farther than one of the older boys (she didn't but whatever) and she was pretty proud. It's coach pitch and she probably hit about 1/3-1/2 the balls pitched to her which was pretty good (the coach is apparently a better pitcher than I!!). She seemed to have fun although getting her to the field was kind of a challenge. We had the new family over for dinner a few times and helped them out with figuring things out and they were kind enough to offer to watch the kids when we had the chance to go to an arena bullfight. We took them up on the offer and had a nice time at the bullfight which was really interesting. Some of the guys (the most prestegious i think) rode on horses and tried to place a decorative spear in the bulls back (it's not as bad watching as it sounds). The horses were very impressive doing just what the guys asked them to do and only a few times got knocked by the bull and they were within inches many times. There were also matadors with the capes who distracted the bulls while the other guys entered and exited the ring. Finally there were these crazy people who lined up across from the bull, taunted it into charging and the the lead guy jumped on the bull literally catching it between the horns. The rest of the guys jump on the bull and the guy until submission. It was pretty crazy! Upon returning home we found that Cameron was nicely sleeping however Charlie had thrown up. That was the trend for the rest of the night--well actually cameron joined in a few times. Charlie was much better the rest of the weekend so we hit some birthday parties and time with friends who are leaving. Unfortunately Sunday night Heather decided to join the sick club so it was a rough start to the week.

house hunting

We decided to try to travel Space A to look for houses at the college town where we will be living next summer. Unfortunately the planes got grounded that we had hoped to go on so we had to leave a bit later than expected. It negated the chance of getting to grandparents, however it ended up working out better because Sara's parents came down and stayed with us. The kids were soooo happy not to look at houses after only 1 day of looking--it would have been quite a struggle to get them through the other 7 houses we looked at. After looking at 3 terrible houses we looked at 2 good ones then a few more that were in locations we weren't sure about (just farther away). After a lot of deliberation we went back and gave a house one more look and made a decision. Along the way the kids got to try out some parks and spend time teaching grandma some new games. After settling on a house we headed on to my sister's house and spent about 24 hours with her and her husband before heading back to Baltimore to try to fly back. Currently we're waiting to see if we will keep the seats we have (3, 4, 5, 6, 7 out of 7 available) on the plane ;-)

easter

We celebrated a rainy easter with an egg hunt and easter baskets. The night before Charlie said, "how does the easter bunny hop into the house?" Heather responded, "Well it's not actually a bunny--it's a person in a bunny costume." So close yet still so fun!! The egg hunt at the community center the day before Easter was quite fun. The little kids went first and Cameron was more interested in observing than picking up eggs. He did get some but mostly wanted to see what the other kids were going to do. Luckily there was lots of room for the kids to spread out and be their slow little selves...The big kids was another story. The outfield of the softball field was filled with eggs and the kids fanned out along the grass and mass chaos ensued when the "go" was given. Heather and Charlie held their own and got enough eggs to make them happy. Easter morning was rainy so eggs were hidden in the garage--which took the kids a while to find. They were pleased with their baskets and we spent a nice morning with everyone getting along. We shared Easter dinner at a friends house with some other families who didn't have spouses or were unaccompanied--it was a very nice time for all ending with a rousing game of cranium!

charie's birthday party

Although Charlie's birthday was the 30th we had his party with friends on April 3. Jeff called it the kids "fake birthday". Charlie wanted to have his Bakugan birthday at the bowling alley. Jeff and the kids did another piniata and we made a cake using charlie's bakugan as decorations. Charlie had 15 of his friends and neighbors come and create chaos at the bowling alley. When we got there conveniently there was another birthday party with similar age kids in the 3 lanes next to us--because we weren't enough chaos in our 3 lanes!! Charlie had a great time bowling and breaking the piniata which held strong once again.

Charlie turns 5

We continued our busy birthday month as charlie turned 5 on March 30. He had some friends come over in the morning to play until lunch. They had a good time being boys (5 year old boys apparently bring new language and gestures to being a boy which I hope to squelch!) and had a nice lunch and cupcakes together. Once Heather got home from school charlie got to open some of his presents which were numerous! He received some bakugon, books, power rangers and a transformer that only Jeff can transform. He went back outside and played with some friends until we had his chosen dinner of steak, broccoli, and tater tots (i forgot to get french fries for him..5 is a new fun age but we hope that charlie continues to be his sweet, giving, loving self and maybe can get a little less clumsy (he is hurt all the time!!)--but we love him anyway!!