Beach Trip 2010

Cory and I have a love for beach trips. If either of us had any Vacation option available, our wish list would ALWAYS be as follows: 1. Hawaii Beach 2. Any other beach 3. A cruise to somewhere that had a beach.

It makes vacation planning very amicable.

Also - our kids love the beach, and this year since we traveled with friends, there were insta-playmates which = mommy gets to sit and snooze while listening to the waves.

We rented a house down in Carlsbad, CA with some friends. (They are actually our SROs in our TPS class who live 3 houses down from us.)

They have a little girl who is a year older than Carter and a little boy about 6 months older than Clay. They all know and love each other from all the TPS social activities, babysitting and Carter and their daughter were in preschool together this past year.

Our beach house was about a 10 minute walk from the beach, so each morning we loaded Cory up like a pack mule and hiked to the beach. Clay walked the whole way every day, and even learned to "run" across the street so we could make the crossing light in time.

The house was gorgeous and had plenty of room for all 8 of us! Cory and I slept in a California King bed and I've been trying to convince him we need to upgrade to one at home ever since.

It was a beautiful home!

*These are all pictures of our house off of a website. When uploading I realized I never actually took pictures of the house!

This is the master bathroom! One day, in our dream house, I will have one of these!



The master bedroom



Living room



Front room



Fully stocked Kitchen



Front door



Dining room




This is where Carter and Clay slept




This couch pulled out and is where our friends' kids slept



Mine and Cory's room




This is the first time we've ever vacationed in cold water. The California beaches are much different than the Gulf Coast or Hawaii beaches. It took some getting used to on the first day, but after that, I was just as content as I would have been at any other beach. In fact, I don't think there was any way I would have been able to sit outside on the Gulf Coast this time of year on the beach. I would have been dying from the heat. San Diego is the perfect beach weather for a 32 week pregnant woman.

Between the two families we had the perfect beach 'recipe'. We brought the napping tent, they brought the kiddie pool, and we all shared in the beach toys and sunblock. (In case you're wondering, my family goes through more than 2 cans of sunblock/day)

I meant to take many more pictures, but closing my eyes and listening to the waves while getting my tan on was much more appealing at the time.
Cory was nice enough to do most of the beach 'playing'. But even with that, the boys were pretty self entertaining with their friends.

I wish there were more shots of Clay playing at the beach, but he's like his mama and decided the beach was the perfect place for a mid morning nap. We would get to the beach around 10am, He'd wander around the sand for about 15 minutes and then ask to sit in my lap. I'd hold him and he'd be P-A-S-S-E-D O-U-T within minutes.
I'd lay him under the napping tent and he'd sleep for about 2 hours. He'd wake up and there'd only be a little bit of time before everyone decided it was time to head in.

We finally stayed late on purpose the last two days so he could enjoy the sand and he loved it. He chased sea gulls, threw rocks, pushed plenty of sand around and on the last day, played in the GIANT hole that Cory made for all the little ones.




Dad and son playing in the waves. Carter was much more brave this vacation. He's not a big fan of water, but he got more and more comfortable with it as the week progressed (and he saw that his girlfriend wasn't afraid of them).




Our beach setup. We were backed up kind of against some cliffs. It's not the prettiest beach in the world, but it had everything we needed. Like I said, by the second day, we didn't even notice. And none of that is 'dirty' beach, it's just black sand.




Carter, Cory, Pugs and Aden




Clay taking his daily nap




Cory and Carter way out in the waves. (I know we need a telescopic lens - or maybe just a mom who's willing to get off her butt to take the pictures...)




Carter and Aden sharing lunch in the tent.



I think they were playing "Secret Spy Animal" or "Captain Hook" at this point.



They worked on their running skills quite a bit and were pretty worn out by the end of the days.



Clay waking up



A rare 'real' smile from Carter




Burying the Sand Monster



Posing. This other little boy was a friend of our friends.








The Sand Monster sequence...

Driving

I posted a few months back that we were the proud new owners of a new-to-us Honda Odyssey. It's pretty sweet with it's automatic seats, moon roof, DVD system with wireless headsets, leather seating for 8, and XM radio. We're totally driving the 'real' swagger wagon.



However, about a month and a half ago, I got a pretty hefty speeding ticket (to the lovely tune of $391) on base property. Now let me say that I wasn't 'on base'. I was on a desolate 14 miles of road that is in between the West gate and the nearest town. This property is still base property and considered 'on base'. But it's before you reach any checkpoints.



We had only had the new car for about a week and I was staring into the empty desert horizon when flashing lights appeared in my rear window and I got a speeding ticket.
Not to make any excuses, but it's really hard to know how fast you were going when there are no points of reference on the road. No other cars, no poles, no trees...just flat dirt. Cory said I could've maybe looked at the speedometer as a reference...he might have had a point, I guess.

About 2 weeks after the ticket, Cory got a call from work saying that my on base driving privileges were going to be revoked for 90 days and if I wanted to contest it, I needed to attend a special hearing with a colonel.

Today was that hearing.


We went back and forth with what to do if my privileges were actually revoked....how would I go to the Dr? the commissary? Clay's GI appts?
It's not like I can park my car off base and walk to it..it's more than 18 miles from my house to "off base".
For me to do ANYTHING, I have to be able to drive. I can't walk places like at Osan, everything is so far away!

What were my options? Move home and risk Cory missing the birth of his daughter because of this? It seems pretty extreme to have to move home because I can't drive...

I sat in the hearing with sweaty palms and a few teary eyed moments and like Cory said, "It probably went the best we could hope for."

My driving privileges have been revoked for 90 days EXCEPT for driving to the base clinic (where the boys' pediatrician and the on base pharmacy are) and to off base doctors appointments (whether for me or Clay)

90 days, that's 90 days on not driving to the grocery store, or to the bank, or to the post office, or running ANY errands, or taking the kids to the pool, or taking them to the park in town, or the zoo, or anything fun. That's 90 days of Cory not having time to run errands and so them not getting done. 90 days of trying to find a way to get my hair done, or bumming a ride to all the required social events of TPS (There's 4 just in the next 30 days) 90 days...until Sept 5th.

Dinner at Goofy's Kitchen

We ate at Goofys Kitchen the first night at Disney. My MIL set it up perfectly so that we had the first reservations. Turns out even if you have reservations, the later you go, the longer you have to wait. It gets backed up badly...but we didn't have to wait at all!
The kids really enjoyed it, and my favorite part: the dessert buffet :)

Here's Mulan! Carter hasn't ever watched Mulan, but he knows her from a preview from one of the other movies he does watch....I can't remember which one though.



This is either Chip or Dale...I'm not sure



Carter is familiar with Aladdin though



Clay was more than happy to get out on the dance floor with Pluto. He was his favorite character, he just kept yelling DOG! DOG! DOG!



Goofy!


Minnie Mouse was very cute. She would make a 'kissing' noise and Clay thought it was very funny.

Disney with the Naddys

Corys parents came into town over Memorial Day weekend and really wanted to treat the kids to Disney. They've taken the other grandkids, but since we're the only ones that live so far away, we haven't ever been able to make those trips.

It was PACKED to say the least, and I think I did enough walking and standing to last me the rest of my pregnancy, but we had a great time! Carter insisted on sleeping in Nana and Pops' room while Clay insisted on sleeping....right next to me.
I'm not really sure how he's going to take this "new baby" idea in a month or so.


This is how the boys spent their time in line, usually snack in hand...and either climbing all over the rails, or too tired to stand.
This is the line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride I think.



Carter's absolute favorite person on the planet...EVER.



Minnie Mouse at the Celebrate Parade



Just a side view of the parade as a hint at how crowded the park was.



The kids were allowed to get up and join in the parade, but Carter isn't much on 'performing', even with Nana's help.



The boys watching the 'Magic'!



Alice and the Mad Hatter



Carter climbing on the rocks outside our restaurant for the afternoon. I don't know if it's a boy thing, but they can't ever just walk on the ground....they have to be balancing or running or climbing on something.



Carter and Pop waiting for their car ride.



The boys and Buzz Lightyear. This is Carter's 2nd favorite person....ever.



The Naddys in front of the park



Bert and Mary Poppins. Last summer while we were spending time at the Naddy household, Carter went through a stage where he really liked watching Mary Poppins. He doesnt have much interest anymore, but hey, we were the first ones in line!




We did a character dinner with Goofy and some of his pals, but I figured I'd make that a separate post for next time. well, if we're being honest, I just was tired of uploading 100 pictures. More Disney adventures next time.....

Day at the Park

It's been pretty hot here lately. The weather here is so strange. I have been waiting for it to 'warm up' since February, and the temperature would just hover in the 60s, we'd get an occasional day in the 70s, a day or two in the 40s and then BAM! IT'S OVER 100 DEGREES. All of the sudden, just like that.
Also - it's still EXTREMELY WINDY here. and the wind...it's HOT. It's like living in a convection oven.

Before it got too excruciating, we had an afternoon picnic at the park on the only patch of grass in the Mojave desert.

Day Date

Cory and I were lucky enough to go on a 'Day Date' two weekends ago into L.A.
Our neighbors watched the kids all day Saturday and we watched their kids for them all day on Sunday.

We started off by driving down Mulholland Dr. to catch a glimpse of the 'scenic' LA and the mansions that sit atop the hills. I was able to see some of them, but unfortunately to road is SO WINDY that Cory had to keep his eye on the road every second or we would have burned up in a fiery car crash. Plus, anytime we're in LA, the locals take it upon themselves to honk at us rudely, just because we have Texas plates.

Here we are at one of the Scenic overlooks of the city.



HOLLYWOOD!



I took this picture quickly out of Cory's window. They were fumigating this GIANT mansion! How do they make tents that big!!!











We parked down close to Hollywood and Sunset Blvd, and had lunch at a GREAT Mexican place called El Compadre and then checked out Madame Tussauds. The wax statues look SO REAL! They look a little shiny in the pictures, but when you were in there, it was hard to know who was a statue and who wasn't!

Jackie Chan




Cory and the character from Halo



Ooooh, Leo. My first love!



And Johnny Depp..




Jim Carey




Life is like a box of Chocolates...



Hannibal (so creepy, I couldn't even get close to him. I was sure he was going to pop to life!)



Tell us how you really feel Cory











I am totally Gangster....




Brangelina




Jenn - they had here across the room facing (glaring at) Brangelina




Carrie Underwood




The prez, yo.

Name That Baby!

Cory and I cannot decide on a name. We're not arguing over it, or even having trouble finding names we like. The problem. We kind of like A LOT of names...No one hates any of them, so we can't eliminate any of them. It's hard to pick a name when you're kind of 'meh' on about 10 of them.

So in classic across the pond fashion, I have set up a name poll...Go ahead, it's on the right, and have at it.



***Name of the baby will not necessarily be chosen by popularity of this poll. If you remember correctly, Clay wasn't even an option on our baby name poll last year. :)