Getting ready for the trip

It's Wednesday night and I am sick w/ some sort of stomach 'thing'...have felt yucky off and on since yesterday afternoon...wouldn't be so bad if we weren't traveling across the country tomorrow...me and two little squirmy busy boys on a closed up airplane for several hours...sigh...

But tomorrow is another day and I hope to be feeling so much better...the boys are very excited to be going on the airplane tomorrow...that was all Finn could talk about this morning...every few minutes he would say to me (as I lay sprawled on the sofa!) "air-pane? ih up?"...he is going to be thrilled beyond words tomorrow when we hit the airport! They will be fine on the plane too...I have lots of snacks and books and games,etc...crossing my fingers anyway!!....

We are off to Savannah, Ga where it was raining today...I am excited for that!! Rain?? What is that? Can't wait to see, hear and smell some different weather for awhile!

I'm very much looking forward to seeing my family! It has been almost 6 mos. since we were with them last and I have felt the absence...really looking forward to seeing all of the cousins together...especially Ava and Finn as they are so close in age...and of course Ma Mere and Ma Soeur (??) Looking forward to just hanging out and talking and laughing...

Will write from Savannah and I hope to be able to post pictures from Erin's camera while I am there...

It's 7 am and my boys are still sleeping!!! What is going on? Ahhh...just the busy weekend catching up with them I'm sure. We had a good weekend...Saturday evening the boys went to our friends and Collin and I went in to town for dinner and a movie.

The dinner was disappointing (Logan's Stkhouse) but the movie Slumdog Millionaire was EXCELLENT!! We both really enjoyed it...an inspiring type of movie...I highly recommend it!

Aiden and Finn had a grand time with the Mikkelsen children yet both were up early on Sunday morning (see previous post about eggs) and so were also tired all morning. We watched some of Star Wars...very exciting!...then took a break from that and then Aiden's morning kind of went downhill after that...

When he is very worn out as I know he was yesterday, his behavior deteriorates...so, he spent a good bit of time in his room yesterday for behavior that was not acceptable...after the afternoon nap though he had a nice recovery!

We all went on a fun bike ride around the base. Borrowed a bike + child carrier-trailer from our neighbors and I pulled both boys along. It was very cute...they both had hats on and books w/ them to read on the ride...they loved it!

We watched more of Star Wars before dinner too but didn't finish it yet...then during bath Collin got each boy a chemlight (neon green) and turned the lites out for them whilst in the tub! Now that was fun!

I am posting a few photos from earlier this month. On a Saturday we went into town for the Yuma Jamboree- lots of different booths selling all kinds of stuff plus food and music and the big inflatable slide...

We ate at a picnic table across from this cute couple...they were just engaged the day prior! They were very nice, quite vivacious too! I couldn't keep my eyes off of her sparkliness so I asked if I could take their picture!!!

Also...the little doggy in the picture? yes, Aiden loves to wear the costume around the house even though it is much too small for him!

The Eggs

I'm not sure how it started but...Aiden loves eggs. And I don't mean he loves to eat eggs...although he does enjoy them. No, at this point in time, he loves to touch the eggs. "Mommy, can I play with the eggs?". Ummmm...yes, ok.

This morning he was up before 6 am and I got him back in his room w/ orders to read his books for awhile..."it's too early for you to be up"...

5 minutes later the kitchen light is on and Collin goes and repeats the process...this time he stays there in his room until coming into ours 45 minutes later requesting water...we hang out for a few minutes and then Collin discovers the carton of eggs in Aiden's room...

Mind you, this is not the first time he has snuck the eggs out of the refrigerator...in the last 3 days its happened several times and I don't know what precipitated it...

At any rate...he loves to hold the eggs! When I told my Mom she said " Well who can blame him!? They're hard and cold and smooth to touch! Why wouldn't he want to hold the eggs?"

It's a rationale I can't really argue with since we are talking about a 4 1/2 y/o boy here...

I just don't want to have to clean them up when they break!!

The time has been short this week...where does it go?? So, a few pictures of these boys...down the road from the entrance to YPG. I took them to the tanks one afternoon after naps...Of course all the tanks have signs that say 'DO NOT CLIMB ON EQUIPMENT'!! LOL! But, what are ya gonna do???

...I love the black and whites...

Toodles...more this weekend!

The boys were promised doughnuts for Sunday morning and when I woke up Aiden had 4 big plates out for the grown -ups and two smaller bowls for himself and Finn. He was ready to tear into the package before anyone else was up! Once Finn woke and then Collin came out we got them set up for a chocolate doughnut and boy were they excited about those doughnuts!!

Getting to know family we rarely get a chance to see,

talk to,

laugh with,

break bread with,

share a cold Corona w/ lime with,

watch a ridiculous (utterly!!) Will Ferrell movie with,

fly a kite at the park with,

share a cold, creamy bowl (s) of ice cream with,

play HORSE with,

make fruit salsa with,

smile with,

laugh some more with...

We hope we get to see them again soon!

Finn had a really rough time waking from his nap this afternoon...poor fella! Not sure why he was so tired...we did go in to town this morning and had to grocery shop...he is sleeping HARD here and is normally a fairly light sleeper...he looks completely knackered! (?)

We had friends over for dinner...the Mikkelsen's and a guy who is on Collin and Reed's old team who is here taking the Free Fall Course...Jeremy. We had a nice dinner and the kids all got to play,play,play! Lots of fun out on the trampoline and in the sandbox in the backyard. It was really nice today too...70's w/ blue skies and a light breeze.

Aiden ended up not having a nap today and was showing his rough edges by the end of the night...here he has settled down after bath w/ his books on the couch. Both boys are very into reading now. Aiden has been for some time and Finn has really just in the last 4-6 wks. begun opening books to look at them on his own. He is very big into airplanes, balloons, helicopters, rockets, kites, ( a theme here?) -all things that go UP in the sky.

The Golden Knights will be here to train on Yuma Proving Grounds for a few mos. as they do every Jan-March and we will be able to walk down and see them almost every day. They land right on Cox field and I think Finn is really going to love watching them. Will let you know...

In the meantime...Collin has a 4 day weekend and we are expecting some company late tonight. Collin's stepbrother Lance and his wife Anne-Marie are coming for the weekend down from California. We are looking forward to seeing them...haven't seen them since their wedding in July 2006. We told them it would be a very Republican Weekend! :) They are Dems...we may end up w/ some very lively political discussions here...

High on the list of our agenda while in Flagstaff was viewing the Grand Canyon and getting the boys into the snow!! Sledding! We made it out to sled at least 3 times. Aiden, as you can see in the photos, absolutely had himself a ball! As with all adventures, he jumped right in with both feet first. He LOVED sledding down the hills!.

As for Finn, well, ...not so much. Both boys had on heavy snowsuits which, of course, encumbered their movements. Finn especially since he is much smaller than Aiden. So, that gave him a bit of difficulty but the real problem was his little gloves. The poor guy's gloves wouldn't stay on quite right and when something isn't right for Finn...well, it's just not going to work! So, consequently he was pulling and tugging them...his little digits got cold...and he wasn't happy. Therefore...not too many smiles on camera for the Mama!
He actually looks more miserable than I think he was in some of the photos. Luckily, we had some hot chocolate in a thermos in the warm van for the kids afterwards.

Well, I have finally decided to give this blogging phenomenon a try. I have been thinking about it for awhile now and am just going to go for it! So many people I know have blogs and I know it will be a great way for us to keep up with family and friends. Its also a great place to record a little piece of our lives for posterity!

So, bear with me as I figure out how all of this works. I hope to add quite a few pictures from our trip to Flagstaff, AZ as well as some more recent photos.