Trip to the Mountains

Mike casually mentioned one day, "Hey, do you think we should call up the Newbolds and see if they want to take a trip to the mountains for Veteran's day weekend?" And of course I was online with Sarah minutes later to find a place. We searched that night and more the next day for a place reasonably close by and pet friendly. We ended up finding "Alpine Cottage" in Cherokee, NC, a beautiful log cabin in the mountainous, western side of the state. We packed up the car and headed out minutes after Mike finished his last flight of the day on Friday and met up with the Newbolds six hours later at a Red Roof Inn just short of our destination. We stayed the night and then - after a yummy Cracker Barrel breakfast - left the next morning for our wooded haven in the Smokey Mountains.

We had a wonderful, relaxing, super-fun time hiking, hot tubbing, marshmallow roasting, sipping coffee-n-Bailey's, stuffing our faces, laughing and enjoying watching our girls experience the mountains. We ate chili and Sarah's awesome potato soup to warm up the cold nights. And then we ate some more just because we could. "Hey, who cares?! We're on vacation!" we said many times. We played board games and chubby bunny (I'll explain) and chatted fire-side late into the nights. The girls had a blast and were real troupers on our hikes.

It was the perfect get-away with great friends! Some highlights...

Our cabin, complete with gas fireplace, flat-screen TV and hot tub!

Even Junah had to dress warm. :)

I unsuccessfully attempted to rescue Eden from Colin who was trapped between very slippery rocks out in the middle of the creek. As I reached out for her, I shifted and ended up submerging my left foot and ankle into the creek. Colin and Mike decided to "roast" my sock and shoe. Several other falls by Colin, Eden and Maren resulted in more wet pants and shoes, as well as plenty of laughter.

"Baby Jack" joined us for hiking one day as well.

Gotta love having strong men to carry the goods!

Enjoying the beautiful landscape.

Newbold Family enjoying the scenery from the porch. We are so thankful they joined us!

THIS is a glimpse of the fun game called "Chubby Bunny." The goal is to get as many marshmallows in your mouth as you can while still being able to say 'chubby bunny.' Colin was the winner with more than 17 marshmallows stuffed in his cheeks! Mike chose to stuff his cheeks with a burrito instead. haha

This picture cracks me up because Sarah and Colin look like they are having a casual conversation albeit loads of marshmallows in their mouths.

A seasoned hiker by the time we left.

Buzz, Buzz...

Apparently witches, ghosts and skeletons are only scary when they are not handing out chewy, chocolate-y goodness. Abby Kate won't even look at a skeleton or witch in a book, but when I told her, "Hey, that witch wants to give you some candy. Just say trick-or-treat and hold out your pumpkin," all fear subsided. After that, our little bee was on a mission, as well as a sugar high. She walked past all kinds of scary costumes on streets and front porches and didn't even seem to notice. She was completely focused and could see nothing but the people with the bowls of candy. One time, she forgot to take her little pumpkin up to the door. When it was her turn to get the candy, she realized she didn't have her bag and almost started crying. She said, "oh no, Mommy, puuuuunkin!" I guess she didn't think she'd be given any candy without her pumpkin.

We drove her over to our friends' neighborhood (our neighborhood still has a lot of construction going on and only a handful of the homes are lived in). She was happy to be able to trick-or-treat with Eden and Maren. Eden was a very cute pirate and Maren was dressed as a little monkey. Maren cracked us up. She was so excited to eat the candy along the way that she just bit right into it without unwrapping any of the pieces. Every time we looked down she had bitten into the side of a Tootsie Roll or chewed the top right off a box of Nerds.

Maren and AK got started off right with mouthfuls of candy!

Mike had duty on Halloween, unfortunately, but he was able
to come by for a few minutes to see AK in her costume.

We had a fun time before it got too cold and we had to call it a night. Abby Kate enjoyed her treats and has asked for candy ever since. Today, when I asked her what she wanted for lunch she said simply, a jellybean sandwich.

Two

Our little girl is two! She woke Sunday morning as bright and chipper as ever. When we reminded her that it was her birthday, her first words were, "Eat birthday cake?!"

Her friends arrived at 2 p.m. to start the party. We rented a Tinkerbell blow-up bouncy house for entertainment. It went well... up until the air hose popped out and the house came melting down on top of seven kids under 5. Screaming and panic ensued before Mike came out to save the day and popped the hose back in. The kids quickly began laughing and bouncing again. All of them except the birthday girl. She couldn't quite get past the terror of such an unexpected event and simply could not be persuaded that the bouncy house wasn't altogether evil. :)

She finally warmed back up to it after blowing out her candles and opening up some great gifts.

Thanks to all who came to celebrate with us. Abby Kate had a wonderful birthday!

It's my birthday! Yay!

Dressed and ready for my friends!

It takes hard concentration to blow out two candles.

Abby Kate and her friend learning how to use the noise-makers.

Bouncy fun!

Cupcakes for everyone!

The cake. Would you believe I made this? Shocker, I know!

We love you sweetheart!

She was very serious about her cupcake and on a
mission to eat it before someone took it from her!

Over the River and Through the Rain

Saturday morning was cold with a constant drizzle of rain just as the weather forecaster had predicted. My strained optimism had proved its fault, and I succumbed to the reality of running 6.2 long miles in the wind and rain. I had had high hopes of the beautiful views I would take in jogging over the Neuse River Bridge in downtown New Bern. The morning sun shining on the water. Fresh breezes. Blue skies. The beautiful sailboats floating in the harbor. [sigh] Those views are reserved for sunnier, happier mornings, I guess.




Mike drove me across the bridge to the neighboring town of Bayboro at 7:30 a.m. to drop me off at the starting line of this year's Neuse River Bridge 10K Run. I had a momentary weakness given my hatred of spending any amount of time outdoors while it's raining and thought I might change my mind, preferring to just go enjoy a cup of coffee instead. Then I quickly said "to heck with it, let's just get this over with!" and jumped out of the car.

When the horn blew, off I went, cursing myself for the entire first mile as I ducked my head into the blustering wind. Who in their right mind would willingly run over a bridge in the cold, rain and wind?! The guy running next to me must've felt the same as he grunted about the weather conditions and how he couldn't wait to get this over with. I agreed and said something about just wanting to hurry and get warm. And with that I sped up in hopes of getting my blood flowing faster and thus my body warmer.

I crossed the three mile marker at 23.5 minutes and feeling good. Water was dripping off the brim of my cap, and my pants, shoes and socks were soaked, but I had warmed up and felt I could finish with no problems. The only bad parts were the gusts of wind coming over the bridge and the exhaust from the cars passing by.

I crossed the finish line at 53:09 minutes and was happy to have shaved nearly four minutes off my last 10K time. Mike, AK and the Newbolds were waiting at the finish line. Thanks to you guys for waiting in the rain for me! Sarah had planned on running, too, but unfortunately she hurt her ankle pretty bad in our aerobics class earlier in the week, so Colin ran the 5K in her place. He finished 16th, running it in 21 minutes! Way to go, Colin!

All-in-all, I'm glad I ran in spite of the elements. And I'm also glad it's over!

All in a Day's Work

A day filled with flying (and hovering) a super fast, $23 million jet. That's Mike in there during his first week of flights in the Harrier. He's in the front of the jet and his instructor is in the back. The trainer jets have seats for two pilots, but the one Mike will fly once he gets to the fleet will be only one seat. Mike loves flying the Harrier. We got to watch him take off, land and hover the jet a few times. We witnessed it from pretty far away, hence the grainy, zoomed in shot. The jets are so fast. We were really impressed. Mike has been doing great in his training so far. He works hard, but we've been blessed to have him home almost every night and sometimes during the day as well. We're so proud of you, Mike!

Gym-nak-siks!

I caught this on tape weeks ago as we were about to get out of the car and go into her class ... this is how AK says 'gymnastics.' Her lisp is so funny. We love it... right now, anyway!

Some Randomness...

Mike took his first flight in the Harrier over a week ago. He LOVED it. We went out a few days later and caught him in action. Very fast. Very cool. More to come on that later once I have time to download my photos. But great job, honey! It's amazing what you get to do, and we're so proud of you!

I'm getting back to my routine this week and preparing for a 10K run this coming weekend. We'll be running over the bridge crossing the Neuse River in downtown New Bern. So it should be fun and picturesque (and hopefully not too windy!).

We've had some great weather lately. It's been perfect for company. More about that, too, later this week when I have time to download the photos from Mike's parents' visit.

We're gearing up for Abby Kate's second birthday later in the month and also for Halloween. Abby Kate will be buzzing around in her little bumble bee costume. Very cute.

I'll leave you with a few of AK's latest and darnedest:

AK: Wha you doin', Mommy? (she asks me what I'm doing EVERY time I'm in the bathroom getting ready)

Me: Putting gel in my hair.

AK: OH my GOODNESS! (her response to what I'm doing EVERY time, no matter if I say brushing my teeth or putting on my socks)

AK: [quizzical stare with pause] Mommy, are you gellin'?

Me: [laughing] Yeah, I'm gellin'. Are you gellin'?

AK: [Nothing but a blank stare.]

She must hate those stupid commercials as much as I do.

...

AK has learned to stand like a flamingo in gymnastics class. One day I offered her some of the new peach/mango juice we bought. Now she regularly asks for "fla-mango" juice.

...

"Mommy, I'm a Pwinthith!"

You are, indeed, little one!
Abby Kate loves dress-up now. She's into fairy princesses and the like. She was having so much fun dancing around in this tutu I bought for her. And those necklaces - she wears them everywhere! I wish I still had some of my old dance recital costumes for her to wear. Mom, any chance you still have any of those?!

Beginnings of a curtsy, maybe?

For the record, this is AK's attempt at a pole climb, not a pole dance.

CJ, Amber and Luke Visit NC

Mike's brother, CJ, his wife, Amber, and their 18-month-old son, Luke, flew in for a few days this month. We had a wonderful time and the days flew by way too fast. We enjoyed touring downtown New Bern, Union Park, the aquarium, the beach, the base, Morehead City, Beaufort and Creekside Park. Mike and CJ got a couple of rounds of golf in as well. The weather was beautiful each day, so that was a huge plus. Abby Kate and Luke played well together and were giving each other hugs and smiles the whole time. (Except, of course, for the times they wanted the same toy!)

Thanks so much for coming to visit guys! We loved having you here and can't wait for you to come back.

Welcome to the World

I mentioned in a previous post that we have a new nephew, and I finally dug through Mike's e-mail and found a picture. Congrats to Matt (Mike's youngest brother) and our sister-in-law, Beth, on the birth of their first child - a beautiful baby boy! We are so, so excited to meet little Josh when we come to TX for Christmas. Congratulations, Matt and Beth!

Joshua Matthew Wallace was born Aug. 15, 2008 at 2:47 p.m.
He was 7 lbs, 10 oz and 21 and 3/4 inches long.

Random AK Quote

AK and I were being silly and dancing around today. She was repeating everything I did and said, so I started shaking up and down, singing "Dancin', dancin', dancin' machine!"

She immediately started shaking her hips and arms, singing, "Dancin', dancin', dancin' with sheep!"

:)

Mommy, What's a Shark Say?

Ummm... not really sure. Mike decided the shark says, "I'm gonna eat you!" with a growling sort of voice. And miss Abby Kate readily accepts that answer like she does every other piece of information right now. AK was infatuated with the sharks at the aquarium last weekend near Morehead City. They had an entire wall made of glass for excellent shark-viewing. Abby Kate was the loudest person in the place that day... every other sentence was, "Just like in Nemo, Mommy!" and "Look at all those fish! I like all those fish!" She absolutely loved every second that we were there and has been talking about sharks ever since, saying "Sharks! Eat you!"


We also invited our neighbors for a play date this week. Tameka's husband is also a Marine, and in fact we lived in VA at the same time and our husband's knew each other back then. Tameka and I finally met soon after we moved here. She brought her two adorable kids, Devon and Tayhlore over for some playtime. Thanks again for coming, guys, it was fun!


And of course the week wouldn't be complete without GYM-NAK-SICKS!!! AK is getting better and better at all the exercises each week. Daddy was able to come and watch for the first time and he was very impressed! He got a couple of pictures, too...

The balance beam.

Climbing the ladder.

Thirty-one

Happy birthday, honey! Hope you enjoyed your gifts, cake and ice cream. We are so thankful to have you, and we love you very much!

Alive and Well

Thanks to all of you who called/e-mailed to see how we weathered the storm last night. Hanna was sweet to us. No damage, no flooding - we didn't even lose electricity. We heard the 60 mph winds whipping around the corners of our house in the early morning hours, but rose to find nothing but small, stray branches here and there. The storm ended up going just West of us, moving somewhere between New Bern and Charlotte, NC.

Looks like Ike will most likely be headed into the gulf. While we may not have to worry about our safety in that storm, we will be praying it doesn't hit the house we own in the Pensacola area!

Labor Day Weekend

I was so excited for my parents to come and see this great, new place we live. We're so much happier here in this town and in this house and I couldn't wait to show them all of it. They arrived late Friday night, so they didn't get to see Abby Kate before she went to bed, but they peeked in to find her fast asleep wearing her beloved "gym-nak-sicks" shirt that she refused to take off.

The next morning, I awoke to hear AK sounds coming from our guest room. I found Abby Kate sitting in the middle of the bed, soaking up the hugs and kisses and laughs of Mimi and Pawpaw. They were amazed at how much she could say to them. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast and then took a tour of our surroundings. We went to the air station first to show Mom and Dad the Harriers parked in the hangars. They were quite impressive - it was my first time to see them up close as well. We toured the beautiful downtown New Bern area and had fun swinging at the waterfront park. We ate at Captain Ratty's and then followed it up with ice cream from the cafe next door.

Mike and Dad got 18 holes in on Sunday while Mom, AK and I did a bit of shopping. We drove down to Atlantic Beach on Labor Day and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, the sea breeze and the big waves. AK had no interest in the waves, but could've spent all day in the sand, searching for shells.

Mom and Dad watched AK for us a couple of times so we could do some furniture shopping. (We had forgotten how much easier it was back when we could just jump in and out of the car and jet around from place to place!) AK kept Mimi and Pawpaw entertained the entire weekend. She is so funny these days. And quite bossy! Especially to me. It's hard not to laugh, but I try my best. :)

Mom and Dad - thanks again for coming to see us. We had a WONDERFUL time and wish you could've stayed longer.

Oh, and we have a new, very comfortable queen-size bed for our guest room... so, you know, if anyone wants to come visit. Just sayin'. :)

Coastal Living Brings Visitors, Both Good and Bad

We have been enjoying the company of family and friends this past week. Mom and Dad came down for Labor Day weekend (post and pics to follow), and then some friends from MS have come to stay with us while they search for a house (they'll be moving here in the coming weeks).

Word is we'll be having yet another visitor - if not two - before the week is up, and we are not happy about it. Tropical storm Hanna and then possibly hurricane Ike will be unwelcome guests in this area. We're supposed to see the first signs of Hanna tonight, although it's already pouring here right now at 1:25 p.m. The worst part of the storm is expected to be in our area tomorrow (Sat.) afternoon.

We plan to stay right here with our flashlights, candles and water, but will definitely get out of town if necessary!

As AK would say, "Go away, rain, go away!"