first day of school

Today was the kids first day of school. They got up pretty excited, had a decent breakfast and stood for a few pictures before heading out to meet up with our neighbor to walk to school. They were both nervously excited to get to their classroom but went in/sat down at the table with no fuss or looking back. Cameron and I then walked Jeff to his class and headed home for a bit before Jeff and a highschool friends family came to walk around campus a bit. Jeff's schedule is great right now as he hasn't gotten in too deep with work and can be home much more than usual. The bus should be bringing the kids home soon so we can hear all about their day ;-) I made them each their own pencil cake to celebrate their first day at school.

catching up with life

We've been very busy since we've moved back to the states. We spent a weekend in Ohio with my parents, brother and sister (and new baby!!) to celebrate my dad's retirement and birthday. It was great to spend time with family although challenging at times as well. The kids love spending time with their grandparents and enjoyed some time for tennis, gardening and playing on the cement by the house. The retirement party was nice and people had very nice things to say about dad as a leader and friend. He had an unprecedented number of years as director (Ok so there was only really one director before him but still...) and did great things for the program as well as his staff. Cameron loved to climb up in my dad's lap and give him hugs--it was really cute--a bit overwhelming for dad at times but much love was offered by cameron. We had a nice picnic for his birthday including some swimming and fun.

We then headed back to our house for a few days before my brother came back east to visit. It was great to have him swimming with the kids and he even set up a tent and they "camped" for a night. Kelly even came over for an overnight with Adam which the kids loved, "Adam coming to my house" cameron said over and over. After we sent them off we headed back to my parents for a night and then up to Mt. Vernon for a birthday party for the kids cousins. They had a great time playing with kids and getting to know their cousins better--never takes long since they are so close in age and they are fast friends. We then headed back home to get ready for the first day of school!!

2 busy 2 blog

We've been so busy unpacking and exploring our new home and town that I haven't had time to blog. We've had the help of Jeff's mom unpacking and playing with the kids. We've done a lot of typical moving stuff, buying new cleaning supplies, brooms, food, and a few fun things--a big TV, surround sound and loft bed for Heather. We drove through the rain, bought a tarp on the way, loaded it (fortunately not in the rain) and drove through a huge thunderstorm on the way back. Now it's drying in the garage. I forgot how cool (and kind of scary) thunderstorms are when you can see the lightening off in the distance. We are now spending time with my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday and retirement. The kids love being with grandma and grandpa--especially Cameron who will go over to my dad and try to climb up in his lap and just give him hug after hug. Dad's not quite sure what to do with him but it's so cute to see ;-) The kids got a chance to go to the park this morning and then tried out the slip and slide and pool my mom got for them to play with.

cousins and a new home

We headed for Kelly's to meet baby Adam and the kids couldn't have been more excited. Charlie jumped out of the car and both were running for Kelly's house "baby adam here we come" they shouted. All the kids delighted in the chance to hold him and look at him. Even cameron sat so still as Adam was in his lap and he seemed so proud to have "his turn" to hold the baby. The kids slept terribly and got up early. We took Adam on his first park and beach adventure--he slept and ate his way through the whole thing. The kids had a good time at a cute state park with a lake that had floats and a slide. We took care of Adam while Kelly and Bryan went out to dinner and had a nice walk around unsucessfully looking for geocaches.

Tuesday afternoon we headed for our new house and the kids were again excited. They ran around the empty house looking at their rooms, playroom and the pool. They were so excited to get to try the pool that we had to get in as soon as we had unloaded the car. Jeff's mom came that evening. The next day our stuff from long storage was delivered and the kids loved finding toys and stuffed animals that they hadn't seen in a long time. We got all the boxes unpacked but have a few more moving around of things to do. The kids enjoyed a few dips in the pool and played with our new neighbor. So far the move has been very smooth and we are excited to start exploring our new space.

The Long Trip Home

Friday morning everyone got up and we frantically finished shoving things into bags. Mid-morning we headed out for final errands and a trip to the park where Heather couldn’t overcome her fear of sliding down that darn pole. It will forever be unconquered!! Our friend made us lunch which was really nice, then Jeff and I headed over to a CE lunch before dropping off our bags. Sad goodbyes after final frantic packing…it’s always the kids who set me crying because they change so much! So a hug from Isabelle was all it took to start the waterworks. We said our goodbyes, one more picture in front of the house, and went to wait for the plane. At about 8 (we’d been there for 2 hours) they announced that the plane would not be leaving until tomorrow and to stick around for a showtime. An hour later we were heading for the Oceanview restaurant for a later dinner and an early showtime. We surprised a few friends, played some games and crashed late—another good “last” night in the Azores! Saturday we got to the terminal at 8, boarded a plane at noon and made it to Norfolk safely. The kids were pretty good on the plane ride as usual. We picked up our car and had dinner with a guy Jeff deployed with 3 years ago and then headed to the hotel to crash (well Jeff took Heather and Charlie swimming and Cameron and I crashed).

Final Countdown

Our last few days on the island were great! The weather was pretty nice and we got to do the last few things that the kids had to do. Wednesday the kids played in the morning while I ran some errands and we all went to the beach with several families. The kids had a good time and I even go in the water with Cameron—had to do it once before we moved!! After the beach we headed for one final bullfight at a friends in Fontainish which was really fun—definitely a great thing to get in before we left. I ended the evening with one more glee night and then crashed! Thursday—Our last full day on the island we took a few spirit house pictures of the kids, got t-shirts and looked for kindereggs (none to be found) before heading back to base so the kids could play with friends. When we got back we went to a park on base for a picnic then to library time where they did the final library summer program day. It was fun—the librarians Anna and Anna are awesome and we will miss them. Finally dinner at a friends and games, games, games at our house.