Question: Military Beginnings

Where to start? Do you remember those first few days before you or your spouse joined the military? The first time you met your oh-so-honest recruiter? Those fab few months of Basic whether being there yourself or with your lonely butt waiting not-so-patiently for his/her return? How about your specialized training? Experience with your first FRG?

There are a million questions, really, that never seem to get answered before one surrenders to the whiles of Uncle Sam. I now have a brother-in-law about to sign his life away and I wanted to help out his wife-to-be. Let her know a little of what goes on beyond that first decision of, "Let's join the Army."

So, first question (in two parts):

How do you get what you want from your recruiter? What do you wish you would have done differently?

Interpretations Please

Grant comes up to me today and says, "I want the Gay Part. The Gay Part of the woovie."

Should this worry me?

Anyone well versed in 3 year old language that could maybe interpret for me?

Summer Fun

I finally got around to uploading some photos so I guess it's time to start letting y'all know what we did this summer.

Starting with the 4th of July. We had some friends from Adam's work come over for a BBQ then time at our community pool. It was relaxing and fun and the food was great.

Then we headed to Ft Meade for their fireworks festivities. We left the house around 8pm and got a fabulous parking space behind the post chapel. It was a short walk to the parade field and after a quick walk around the grounds and a few sparklers, we were ready for fireworks. My first decent shot of a firework. Yay me!

Our second set of photos took place last week. We took advantage of some well deserved time off and made our way down to Myrtle Beach with a couple stops along the way.

Here are the kids at Virginia Beach. We drove down on Monday, played at the beach and then made our way back to Williamsburg to play in the hotel pool.What a hunk. woowooOn Tuesday we went to Busch Gardens. Unfortunately those pictures are on our other camera, so it'll just have to wait. The kids LOVE roller coasters, so we actually got to go on some fun rides this year. Oh, and this year they have a Sesame Street set up, so any of you planning on going to Sesame Place, don't. They have all the same rides at Busch Gardens with much less crowding. After the park we took a trip into VA Beach once more to visit some family. We ate dinner with Adam's cousin Darcy and her husband and adorable son, Justin. I can't believe we forgot to take pictures there. We had a blast. It's not often one sees family in the military.

We had another pleasant night in our hotel before taking another trip down the coast, this time to South Carolina. Wyndham Resorts hooked us up with a 2 night/3 day stay in a fabulous resort right on the beach for $50 plus that lovely presentation where they try and get you to buy into their timeshare plan. So, we went. Spent our 3 days in the sun, had a great time...

then bought a timeshare.

Bryson and Josh spent hours sitting just like this. Happy as can be.

What are those? you ask. Sand Crabs.

This one's a female...see the eggs. Most of our time was spent trying to capture little sea creatures.This is a creature we weren't expecting to catch.Jelly Fish. I feel a little more like spongebob at the moment.

This is as close as Grant would get to the water. He actually spent most of his time walking back to the hotel to go potty. Oh the joys of potty training.The only pic you'll get of me. The camera was resting in the cooler and taken straight out into the humid heat. That's when Adam decided to pick up the camera.It's potty time.

For being a week long trip, we actually didn't spend that much. We brought all our food. Busch Gardens was free for the military. We only spent money on parking, gas, and lodging while in Williamsburg. If you want to go to Myrtle Beach for $50 I can totally hook you up. It was so worth it.

To explain the bruises and scratches...

My kids have been having a lot of fun this summer. It's just too bad they sustained injuries throughout most of it. Again, I promise we don't beat our kids.
Just to catch you up on some of our summer fun. Here is Josh at the Cub Scout Bike Rally. He raced a good race and felled a good fall? Yeah, he got beat up pretty bad after a collision with another biker. A couple days later, he was playing on a merry go round park apparatus and fell yet again wearing a swim suit, so scratches all up the side of his ribs. Poor guy.

Here's yet another reason our kids have been getting new scratches. Look at the cute little kitty! This is Dot. See the dot on her little head? She's a sweetie. The kids love her, despite the scratching, biting, etc. I don't know if she loves us yet. Hmmm. Grant can be kinda scary.Bruises here we come. Who knew you could get so beat up going down a hill at high speed down a bunch of plastic? We (meaning Adam) had a ton of fun connecting several slip 'n slides to max out our hill side enjoyment. Yeah, one is never enough. Especially when the kids start their pre-slide run at the mailbox 25 meters away. Here are a couple of pics and a video I'm sure you'll enjoy.

A little giddy

I am a huge fan of Vampires. Yes, the Twilight Series (minus the horrible first movie), Moonlight, Trueblood, Buffy, you name it. Where did it start, you ask? Well, I was 14, browsing the book shelves at Borders and I came across some YA fiction by LJ Smith. The Vampire Diaries became my favorite books and I read them over and over again. Yeah...not Little Women or Anne of Green Gables, sorry ladies.

So, when I found out that the CW was taking on my favorite childhood books for their Fall Season, I admit, I got a little giddy...I may have even giggled. I did not however run around screaming like crazy adolescents.

Here's the teaser. It's like Twilight, only I'm sure the acting is better, directing is better, music is better, and by golly, the boys are fantastic eye candy.