C by the Sea

Boot Camp, here he comes! 9.20.2011

Today the much anticipated, more than a little dreaded, day arrived. Sean left for Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. He will be there for 9 weeks and then will head off to Ft. Eustis, VA  for helicopter repair school for 15 weeks. He decided to join the National Guard back in April and was able to plan his departure for after the summer. He spent a lot of time with his family, avoided the hot summer in SC and now it was time to "get the show on the road!" ;)

Always lots of last minute details to take care of.

 

Proud father and brother.

 

And, of course, very proud mother!

 

No caption necessary.

 

It would have been nice to have Reed here for pictures, but he was in school. Ultimately, I think that was for the best for both him and Sean. 

 

Race, however, was home from school in time to be there when Sean left. But, being only 2 1/2, it was just another day to him. He provided the comic relief. ;)

 

Instead of "High Fives" with his hand, Race decided to use his foot. ;)

 

Sean is going to miss his little guys so very much. 

 

Time to say goodbye.  (Love Race's little hand peeking out from between them.)

 

"They also serve who stand and wait." (And, Lisha herself serves as a member of the Air National Guard. They are a real military family now!)

 

Godspeed, Sean. Stay safe, try to have fun ;), keep learning and always remember your family loves you and we are all very proud of you. We've got your back, son!

 

Family Day at the ANG

Lisha invited us all to come out to the base on Sunday for the Guard's annual Family Day. The boys always have a good time with the different activities and the weather was beautiful, so we had a great time.

There was a giant bouncy slide (which makes me so nervous, I can't watch the kids on it). 

 

And, of course there was the bouncy house that they all love. There was also a bouncy jousting platform that was way too hard for the little guys to do.

 

Jenn wasn't feeling too well, but Heath brought Caleb and Joshua out.

 

A very popular booth was the Home Depot one. The kids were all given little work aprons and could pick a project to make. They all seemed to really enjoy it.

 

Race had this cute little hat with fake hair...

and all the kids thought David should try it on since "Poppy has no hair!" 

 

Discussing important matters.

 

Caleb was so sweet offering some of his popcorn to everyone.

 

David spent the longest time trying to get Race to look at the camera, but to no avail. I think the sun was too bright for the little guy, even with two hats and sunglasses!

 

Whenever Joshua is in a place with lots of people, he turns into a silent observer, studying everything around him very carefully. Quite different from his usual outgoing self. ;)

 

Lisha made sure she was the highest bidder, winning the right to throw a whipped cream pie into the face of her commanding officer. ;)

All in good fun, right, Sir? Sir??

 

When we all sat down to grab a bite to eat, I attempted the impossible by uttering, "You boys all get together and smile. I want to take a picture of you."

Another full and fun day. Then, we all headed to our house for birthday cake and to sing "Happy Birthday" to Heath ;)

(Carolyn and Rachael were there also, but sadly I didn't get any pictures of them. But, I'm pretty sure they had a good time, too!)

Long Island Steamers

On Sunday, David and I met Sean and his boys up at Long Island Steamers. This is a fun little place up near Southaven Park that has miniature trains to ride on. The tracks go all around in the woods and the kids really enjoyed it. We were glad we got there early because by the time we left the line for the rides reminded me of waiting on line at Disney. And, even though we had a fun time, I'm not 100% sure I would want to wait on a big line to ride again. ;)

There were two different lines, the red and the blue. The red was at ground level and anyone was able to ride on it. The blue line was elevated a few feet and the children had to be at least 4 years old and there was a slightly stricter weight limit. 

Sean took Race and Reed on the red line for the first ride of the day.

Hi, guys!

After a bit of discussion it was decided that I would take Reed on the blue line. David and Sean were both afraid they wouldn't make the weight limit and Race, of course, was too young. ;)

David manned the camera and got this shot of Reed and me as we passed by.

And, this really cute one of Race...

When the woman who was driving the train saw David and Sean, she said they were certainly not too heavy to ride, so they took Reed for a second ride while I waited with Race.

Since it was September 11, some of the trains were dressed in patriotic colors. I spotted this one (which was a model train and not one to be ridden on) as they were getting it ready.

It was an enjoyable outing and a fun way to spend some time outdoors with family on a beautiful day.

Easter baskets

Since everyone is going in all different directions, we gave the boys their Easter baskets on Saturday (Caleb and Joshua) and Sunday (Reed and Race). Just a bunch of little goodies and treats, but they seemed to enjoy it! All the pictures can be seen here. ;)

Sean's birthday celebration

For Sean's birthday we went to Dave and Buster's. We had way too much food and everyone had a lot of fun playing in the game arcade. I took a bunch of pictures and even after weeding through them, there are too many to post here. Soooo, check them out here.

Happy 38th (!) Birthday, Sean

Hope you are having a great day! May your year bring you all the health and happiness you wish for. You have never failed to make us laugh and keep our lives interesting and we thank God for bringing you into our lives. And, now we have the added blessing of your wonderful family (and the much anticipated arrival of your second son!) to add to our joy! We love you, son. 

 

Christmas Eve morning

This year we decided to have our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve morning. After a nice breakfast, we commenced with the opening of gifts. We had lots of fun watching the little boys, each with their own unwrapping style! Wonderful presents were exchanged all around and then we made our vain attempt at a group photo. Check HERE for all the pictures of the festivities.

Scenes from Thanksgiving

We had a great time at Sean and Lisha's on Thanksgiving. Here are a few shots from the day...

I love that Caleb had no problem sitting at the table with all these adults that he doesn't really know to enjoy some of Lisha's stromboli with them.

Lisha putting the finishing touches on some of the food. 

Reed wanted to play the guitar for us, but sadly the batteries didn't work. 

There were 4 little boys at the party -- Joshua and these three. Reed, Caleb and Aidan (the son of Sean and Lisha's friend, Jen) were all about the same age and got along so well together.

Reed takes a little break -- in the middle of the kitchen floor, of course!

Have I mentioned the family's "Goofy" gene?

Caleb announced that he needed a tiny nap. Believe me, it was tiny alright. 

"I think he's saying something. If I only knew what."

Not even 5 months old yet and Joshua is already sitting up by himself!

More "Goofy" gene evidence. Poor Joshua looks a bit worried, doesn't he?

A few of us wandered up to the beach to watch the sun go down and were treated to this spectacular sight. Truly one of the most amazing sunsets I've seen. A perfect way to end our wonderful day of giving thanks!

Joshua's Dedication, continued...

After the dedication ceremony, the festivities began. There was, as always, lots of yummy food, much good conversation and lots of entertainment provided by all the kids in attendance. Actually, some of our time was spent not getting plowed over by all the kids as they seemed to have great fun running around and around and suddenly engaging in impromptu wrestling matches in the middle of the floor (those pictures to follow soon). Here are a few some shots...

Proud grandfathers Pete (Grandpa) and David (Poppy). I love the way Joshua has a hold of their fingers!

Janice (Grammie) helps Reed with the mother of all cupcakes.

This cupcake was big enough for two!

Yum!

Beautiful little Olivia (in her Pilgrim dress) left the Pilgrim Voyage Day celebration at her house for a few minutes to say hi. Here she is (held by her Grandma, Sherry) greeting Kyle.

 

Our adorable guest of honor.

Joshua with his wonderful Aunt Kathy.

Jesiah and his mom, Keira, in a quiet moment together.

Caleb and Sean enjoy being together so much. I wonder if it's because they are both so goofy??

Caleb was completely smitten with Kaia. Can you blame him?

Another beauty! Can you believe those blue eyes? Rachael is all recovered from her tonsillectomy and none the worst for wear, obviously! 

Caleb in a rare quiet moment.

Kaia had great fun on this little bike. Don't you love her outfit?

Playtime

Reed goes to a play group with Sean and, a few weeks ago, they asked me to come along. It was a lot of fun watching all these little 2 year olds interacting with each other. It was kind of like organized chaos. They all had a great time though and the adults got plenty of exercise, too! Here are a few shots I managed to get. Not easy, since sitting still was not part of the program!

Look. They have the same chin! 

Reed loves making goofy faces for no particular reason...

See? Who knows why.