I Collect!

Today was a wonderful day. James and I met a friend, Carol and her little girl, for breakfast at Panera. After being there a few minutes, I invited Carol back to our house because the kids were restless. They had such fun playing and we had such a wonderful time chatting and "catching up" on life!

After lunch, James wanted to go to the park. It is a quick trip... usually. We can see the park from our house. We spent 1 1/2 hours this trip and only about 15 minutes was spent at the park. We had to stop every few feet, with James saying, "I collect, Mommy." He collected twigs, acorns, leaves. We even watched a group of ants for about 15 minutes. Thank goodness he didn't want to collect those!!! The little yellow bucket on the back of his tricycle is full even though I would toss items out while he was distracted with "collecting" something else!

Mya joined us for dinner. I had made tomato sauce this summer with yummy green pepper and tomatoes from my parents' garden (something that I will truly miss when we move!), so I defrosted the sauce and added zucchini and squash from the produce stand. Doesn't this just look yummy?!? When Mya came in to wash her hands, she put her hands on her hips and said, "Miss Jen, do you have Parmesan cheese and olive oil? That is how I like my spaghetti." I informed her that dinner was already made and on her plate. If she didn't like it, then she could return home and eat with her family. She cleaned her plate... as did Jemma. In fact, Jemma had a second plate! Yippie for being able to feed the kids healthy stuff!!

After dinner, it was homework time. My goal is to get homework done on Tuesdays since Jemma has martial arts on Monday, Pioneer club at church on Wednesday, and dance on Thursday! James wants to do homework, too. So, I photocopy Jemma's homework and James does the same thing. It is really quite cute and makes it easier not having to worry about what James is getting into! Jim was supposed to go to the boat yesterday, but the boat didn't pull out on time. So, he was supposed to go today. I was pleasantly surprised when he came home a few minutes ago... wonder if he will go tomorrow?!?

Carpet Update

We borrowed a steam cleaner from our neighbor and the carpet is like new! :) James did not like the extensive time out. He also did not like his Daddy's firm negative reaction. I do not think he will color the carpet again...

Young artist

James loves to draw. I try to encourage by providing markers, crayons, paints... all kinds of things. I always say, "Paper. Paper is where we draw. And the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk." I know that he understands because he repeats and says this all by himself. Today he tested the boundary...

Yes, he drew on EVERY step... I have borrowed the neighbor's steam cleaner and hope that it comes clean! He is quick... very, very quick...

Tailhook

The beginning of our trip was Wednesday, Sept 9. I had planned and packed and worried (just a little). The planning included having Jim print directions to school, the pediatrician, dance lessons and even my parents house in the event of a hurricane or any other emergency! It also meant letters to the teachers notifying them of our trip and contact information. I had not updated our home emergency/babysitter instruction sheets in over a year, so I prepared those with all kinds of contacts. I had a tear in my eye as Jemma hugged my neck at school. James was so excited to be at school that I didn't even get a hug!

When I planned the trip I thought the Tailhook events began on Thursday, so I had us departing Wednesday. It worked out great because Mary's flight was scheduled to land just after 11 and we were scheduled to take off just after 2. So, after having lunch with Mary in the airport and writing notes to our kids on cocktail napkins, it was time to go through security and begin our journey! As it turned out, Tailhook events didn't begin until Friday. So, we had Thursday just for ourselves. Thursday morning began with massages and pedicures for both of us at the hotel. It was wonderful to be pampered after the long journey! It was Jim's 40th birthday present and just a special treat for me! After being pampered, we put on our sneakers and hiked around Spooner Lake. Of course, my husband had to climb a big rock!

Although you can't see it in the picture, you could see Lake Tahoe from this vista.After hiking, we went to an amazing restaurant in Incline Village. We sat on the patio with a view of Lake Tahoe and had an especially wonderful dinner. There was a guitar player who strolled around and sang, too. I had cucumber soup with mint and smoked salmon. Jim had soup, too. Then we split a steak special... yummy! :)

Jim and I sat on the dock and watched the sunset over Lake Tahoe... beautiful! :) Can you tell that we were relaxed?!?

On Friday, we travelled to Fallon to see the Blue Angels perform. I wanted to go to Fallon because Jim spends so much time there for training. We could see the hot air balloon races every morning from our hotel. We got an even better view on our drive. It was so neat to see all the hot air balloons!You can see the pink Energizer bunny balloon if you look really close!

A scenic stop just before Virginia City on our way to Fallon... yes, we took the long scenic route!
Random "art" along the highway:

Jim gave me the grand tour of NAS Fallon, but only after stopping to get a monster burrito from one of the guy's favorite local spots in Fallon. We were very fortunate to be able to spend some time with "Woogie" and chat before heading into the airshow. Amy "Spur" was absolutely wonderful to give us VIP passes for the Blue Angels show in Fallon. Here she is making sure that everything is done right on cue!

The Blue Angels performed such a good show!
Jim wants to fly one of these. It is a retired aircraft and this one is privately owned.

Ken and Karen flew in Friday afternoon. We met them for the flight suit mixer Friday night, which was tons of fun. At least until about 10pm. It was then that the jet lag and time difference hit me! I had to say goodnight and head to bed. It was so convenient that we were staying in the host hotel and Jim could continue to mingle and have fun! On Saturday, Ken and Karen were at the awards luncheon with us.Jim accepting the award... NFO (Naval Flight Officer) of the year!Back at the table with his award:After the luncheon was over:This is Jim's current CO, Daniel Dwyer:After the luncheon, we drove to Squaw Valley for dinner. Squaw Valley is where the brothers went for their bonding weekend, so they were able to tell stories and show us around!

After dinner we stopped at a park near Lake Tahoe and there was a beautiful rainbow!

The same beautiful rainbow over Lake Tahoe

We were driving back to Reno and Ken said, "Look a helicopter." I was looking up and all around and then noticed a helicopter coming up from down a ravine. He was carrying water and went to dump it on a fire. Jim pulled off on the side of the road and we watched him circle back, lower into the ravine, scoop water and fly back to the fire. It was pretty neat! :)

After dropping Ken and Karen off at their hotel, it was time for us to go and pack for our trip back home. We had such a wonderful, wonderful trip but we both missed the kids! I am so grateful for GrandMary watching the kids. It was my first trip away from them and everything went wonderfully. In fact, the kids rarely wanted to talk to us when we called (and I was good... we only called once per day) because they were so busy having fun! It is nice to be home... although, I am quite tired from the travelling!

James' First Day of school

James was lucky enough to spend some time in his classroom yesterday, since it was Tuesday and not his official first day of school. Today is his first real day and it is going to be a long one, since we are leaving for NV today. He is staying to nap until 3:30 when GrandMary will pick up both kids and begin her adventure! :)

It was a beautiful morning, but the kids were so anxious to get into school that these are the only pictures...

Now, we are off to Nevada... I'll post when we return! :)

First Day of School

Jemma with her new backpack! I had a difficult time getting Jemma and James to stand still for a picture... they were ready!

It was raining for Jemma's first day of school, so we didn't get a good picture.Daddy with James:

Jemma's daily schedule is posted outside of her classroom:
Jemma was so excited to see her friends:

Since it was Tuesday, it technically was not James' first day. The teachers were kind enough to let him stay for a little while, though.

It was Mya's first day of kindergarten. She is upstairs with the "big kids" now.

After leaving Rollingwood, (James was crying, "I don't want to leave!") we went to the Aquarium for storytime.Miss Jenny leading the kids in a song before the story:

Jemma had a wonderful first day of school! :)