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WDW!!!

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:44:23 -0600

We just got back from a great trip to Walt Disney World. They were offering great deals for military members this year and we simply couldn’t avoid it any longer, so we decided to do it for Jason’s birthday and Veteran’s Day in order to minimize absences from school for Camden. It turns out, because of Hurricane Ida, they preemptively cancelled school the two days he was going to miss, so he STILL has perfect attendance!!! Tres bien planning on our part, no? My dad was happily able to meet us out there, and we were very grateful to have him with us. His love for the photo op definitely outshined the rest of us!!! As always, the pictures mostly speak for themselves, so I will post the link to the photos...

here...

To see the rest of the photos, return to the gallery after viewing this set, and you can access the other sets (there are about 200 pics). Happy viewing!

It’s STILL not Halloween?!?!

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:45:40 -0500

The thing about that farm we went to last weekend...it had a lot of corn, but no pumpkins. If you want pumpkins in Florida, you have to go to church...so, this weekend, we met up with our friends, the Millers, at the church pumpkin patch. They don’t actually grow any pumpkins there, but they haul a bunch in...and create a landscape lush with photo ops and fun.

Of course, Nettie HAD to put the dried stump strings from the pumpkin in her mouth (damn you, Pica! what will the Pediatrician say?!). She didn’t enjoy it...but it was a fun experience anyway or at least one of many great photo ops!

Trying to get three kids under 5 to all look at the camera and smile was challenging. Tyler (aka Superman) is just a month older than Camden and is also his best buddy. Madelyn, is 19 months and never far behind the boys. She and Nettie love each other and soon will be at a point where they can actually play together.

The hay ride at the church was MUCH faster than the hay ride at the farm, even if it was in a parking lot and grass side lot...the kids loved it!

I adore this picture...I can’t wait until Nettie is old enough to be squished in the middle with Madelyn.

This is as close as we could get to a good sibling photo, but since I call family pics a success despite weird arm poses by the four year old, and little or no eye contact by the children in general...I have to call this one good, as well.

Busy Autumn, part tres - it’s not even Halloween yet???

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:20:44 -0500

One day, while I was in the kitchen and Camden and Nettie were playing on the floor, I heard her giggling and Camden sounding way too enthusiastic. I peeked around the corner and found her IN the laundry basket, which she surely did not manage on her own. Camden was spinning the basket around in circles on the carpet and Nettie was in love with the ride. It was so cute! I had to remind Camden that he is not allowed to “move” Nettie without help from a grown up (i.e. pick her up, drag her, etc. - but pushing in the basket was okay if it stayed at a moderate speed). Playing with an empty laundry basket is one of their favorite activities.

Last weekend, we went to a farm about an hour from our house where they have a corn maze, hay rides, a corn cannon, a farm themed playground, and this little thing called the cow-train that Camden is seated in above. It was actually pretty cold that day...about 60 degrees with 15 mph winds (vs. the 95 degree heat index we were experiencing just a few days earlier).

This is a huge corn pit (dried corn, like popcorn) on the playground...I’m still finding this stuff in the dryer...

This was also Nettie’s second experience in the daypack...she loves that thing.

Here we are seated on the hay ride, which was pretty tame compared to that cow train that Camden was riding - his was pulled by an electric golfcart (i.e. fast), while ours was pulled by a tractor (slowwwwww).

They also had this huge pipe slide at the playground and kids would come FLYING out of this thing...as you can see (on the left), Camden was no exception. I give him a 9.5 for sticking the landing (right).

Who knew a kid could have so much fun peeking out of a dirty old horse trailer...

Farmer Camden and his tractor...there is no better sky than that seen on a crisp fall day. Thank you, Fall...I’ll miss you when you are gone.

Busy Autumn, part dos...

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:55:46 -0500

We also finally made it to another tourist attraction in our area...the famed Fort Pickens. It’s not all that exciting, but Geronimo lived there for a year or two (maybe a few more) and there are a lot of ants...A LOT...like swarms of them, so we couldn’t stand in any one spot for longer than a minute or two or they would start crawling up your leg (luckily, they didn’t seem to be fire ants, just big black ants...yuck anyway).

Afterwards, we went to a great restaurant out on Pensacola Beach called Flounders. It’s a notorious Navy student hangout in the evenings, but during the day, families frequent it because it opens up out onto the beach and they have a playground and misters for kids. We planned ahead for this and brought Camden’s beach attire. He had a great time showing off and playing with other kids. Granddad and Beverly did not accompany us to Fort Pickens, but made it to lunch and enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Nettie is now proficient enough in her independence that she often plans trips into the kitchen. Mommy doesn’t like this much and has yet to concoct a blockade. However, Mommy does have a drawer right at the entrance to the kitchen that has previously been known as “Camden’s drawer”...Nettie, too, now has a key, and you can see the joy and excitement on her face...there will be more pictures like this to follow. Camden seems to be okay with sharing his keys to the drawer, except when he is watching t.v. and she tries to play with the steel bowls.

On a very hot fall day in October, Camden was playing with his beach ball sprinkler...I think he stopped playing and started tackling, because a few minutes later, the ball began filling with water instead of spraying water and this was the face...

However, shortly after the sprinkler debacle, we found this guy living on Camden’s playset under the slide. Ohhh the animals who love to live on/in that playset. It really does add square footage to our housekeeping responsibilities. This orb weaver’s body is more than 1 inch long - maybe even 2...the guy was about the size of a tangerine...really. Not to worry people - they are harmless to humans, but luckily, deadly to many bugs which could be seen outside of the frame of the picture I posted. I do love creatures who reduce my flying insect population (so long as they don’t hurt the mammals in this habitat).

Nettie had her 9 month check up and she loves going to the Pediatrician...mostly because she loves the paper they put on the table...as a newborn, she would stare at and talk to the ocean themed paper and its bubbles and creatures. Now, she just wants to rip it and eat it. The doctor actually called it Pica...uhhhh, I thought all babies put EVERYTHING in their mouths. Babies don’t even know what they can/want to eat, so how can they have Pica??
Anyway, Nettie shocked me with her weight to length ratio. She is still a petite 20 lbs 1 oz....HUH? 75th percentile for weight? Whose baby is this? Of course, she’s off the charts for height at 29.5 inches. Keeping up with Camden in height, but showing him up by not eating like it’s a contest. Don’t get me wrong, the girl likes to eat, but she’s no Camden Goldberg. The boy was FAT...when I put her in some hand me down pajamas from him, they were loose....in the neck...
and now...onto part tres...

Busy Autumn

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:20:42 -0500

Summer is coming to an end in Florida...FINALLY!!! I love October (and April), when you can count on some kind of weather in the 70 degree range and the bugs begin their dormant period. We have been busy, busy, busy trying to enjoy this wonderful time outdoors, with festivals galore!

Here is Camden enjoying the slide at the Seafood Festival. There was also a huge pool set up to watch dogs compete for the longest jump (with owners throwing balls into the pool)...one of Camden’s other favorite things at the festival. It was actually quite hot on this day, and I did not enjoy myself as much. There wasn’t much shade, not much of a breeze and it was 85 degrees with a heat index that was closer to 96 because of the humidity.

This picture is from about a week later at our neighborhood Catholic Church’s Fall Festival. This was his third or fourth ride down the slide, but the first where he didn’t get slowed down by his Crocs because he finally figured out how to get onto the burlap...so his nervous expression is due to the fact that he caught some pretty serious speed on this ride.

That same night, the weather was just temperate enough to try a backyard campout. It was our intention to go camping at some point in October (we didn’t end up making it), so we needed to take our tent, and Camden, for a test run. Jason and Camden set everything up in the backyard and miraculously, Jason managed to get Camden to spend the whole night out there! They had a blast telling stories and roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

Our new squadron hosted their annual open house/kids Halloween party the next week. It is also attended by our old squadron and some other groups, and the Wing (umbrella administrative group on base) decided to host spouses to fly on several of the base airplanes, as well. It just so happened that Jason’s granddad, Bob, and his wife Beverly were also passing through that weekend. Nettie was quite smitten with her Great-Granddad.

Here is a picture of Camden and his best friend, Tyler, inside one of the C-130 models not flown by their dads.

Here is Mommy and Nettie standing in front of the super-secret luxury jet that Mommy got to go for a ride in that day - the helicopter rides were all taken...

So, if the pilot is taking the picture, who the hell is flying this plane??? Seriously, sometimes I question how smart you have to be to do that job...and I really want one of those planes...it was SWEET!!! As for the picture on the right...again, I say to you...YES, the beaches here really are that beautiful. If you haven’t come to visit...SHAME ON YOU!!! We won’t live here forever!

One of the perks of Jason’s job: cool gear. I have yet to break it to Nettie that we will NOT be filling the Camelbaks with milk...
The other part of the story about this crazy Halloween party/flight day was that Jason was the organizer for our squadron, so many days and weeks of our lives were consumed by the politics of military party planning...we are so glad that it was a success, and even more so that it is over!
Since this blog entry is getting so long, I will continue in a new entry...to be continued...