Lately

Things have been busy around here lately. Here's a bit of what's going on with all of us......

Claire is doing great. She's made a nice little group of friends, and she's all set to start school in August. She's also growing like a weed, although we can't seem to get over 31 lbs. She's up to size 5 shirts and dresses and size 4 skirts and shorts. Fashion and jewelry are big interests at the moment, with pink still being a necessity in all outfits and pants still on the "no way" list. She's finally letting me put her hair in a ponytail as long as a trip to the park or the splashpad is in the immediate future, but otherwise it must be down with some sort of huge flowery headband perfectly in place. And, thanks to the movie Tangled, she hasn't had a haircut since she turned 4. She's also reading, and it's pretty crazy how good she is. She won't admit to it if you ask her if she can read something, but then she asks a question about some detail in a book or on tv that she could have only read. Her favorite book at the moment is a reference book about the ocean, and she can't wait to go back to Cayman so she can "snorkle like H". She's also fascinated with planes and has decided she wants to be a pilot, specifically of an F16. Amazing what 5 months at an Air Force base will do to ya.

Madeleine is also doing great. Conveniently, all of Claire's friends have little brothers and sisters her age, so playgroups are fun for all. She still seems to be more interested in sitting and eating rather than playing, but that's fine with me. She doesn't seem to be gaining much, if any, weight, but she is getting so tall. She's just about outgrown her 18 months clothes length-wise, which is a huge bummer since C spent about an entire year in that size and we have tons of clothes. Her hair is bleached from the sun right now, but definitely wants to go reddish, and it is CURLY. She must have pigtails, otherwise it's one big afro mess back there. She is learning new words every day, and her pronunciation is getting better and better. She can also identify quite a few colors and C has started teaching her some letters. It's so very cute to see them sit on the couch together and read a book. M is also starting school in August, and, as long as this little Mommy-only phase we're in goes away, I think she'll do great. She's going 3 days a week, which is more than I originally wanted, but I think by December I'll be wishing it was a boarding program.

J has had quite a few big accomplishments at work lately. He's been awarded two separate grants, with one requiring research at CERN in Switzerland. We're hoping space is available for him next May so we can all tag along. He also just started his PhD program with AFIT and seems to be enjoying it so far, as much as someone can for just being 3 days into it. I have no idea was 75% of the words he uses means, but I have a feeling it won't be long until I'm back in the swing of it. It's definitely weird to hear him use words and phrases that I haven't heard him say in 8 years. And when he's not reading some weird nuclear engineering or military book, he's running. He's training to do another marathon in September, so that will be exciting. C can't wait to watch him race.

I'm doing just fine, too, just trying to rest as much as I can. For those who haven't heard yet, we're expecting Baby#3 in December! I'm 16 weeks along, which makes my due date Dec. 15, my birthday. We've had only 1 ultrasound so far, and the consensus is that this is another girl. She was lying a bit funny, though, so we'll know for sure in about a month. J is not surprised in the slightest, but my symptoms have been completely different this time around, so I was thinking boy. I have absolutely zero sweet tooth, and I could eat peaches, grapes, and raspberries all day long. I can feel her move every once in awhile, and she already has some super kicks since my shirt has already started to jump when she gets me. We haven't come up with any names yet, and if J gets his way, none of you will know until she's born, anyway. I'm working on him to tell the name earlier, but we'll see. I usually have no luck when it comes to that.

Friday

We headed to base on Friday evening for a night filled with fun! Wright Patterson had their annual tattoo, which, unlike what the idiots in J's office thought, had nothing to do with body art. It was a big festival, with lots of music, fly overs, and ended with fireworks. We met up with some friends early in the evening so the kids could enjoy the bounce houses before it got busy, then we found a spot on the lawn to watch the show and eat some pizza. Madeleine LOVED the fly over. She settled herself on my lap and quickly learned to cover her ears when a plane approached. Claire was fascinated at first, but then the appeal of playing chase took over. After the planes were finished, we let the kids do a few more bounce houses, then picked up a funnel cake and said good bye to our friends. We had been told that the traffic getting off base would be horrible after the fireworks ended, so we trooped back to the car to watch from there. I was so impressed that the girls stayed up as late as they did. The fireworks didn't start until after 10, and they were still going strong even after they ended. Sure enough, the traffic was horrible. Even with us leaving immediately after the fireworks, we still sat completely still in the parking lot for 45 minutes before we started moving. Next year, we'll plan differently.

And, of course, the battery on the camera died seconds after I turned it on, so we had to resort to a phone camera again....

Daddy and M coming down the huge slide. C was on the other side but was way too fast to catch her.

Fly over time

Just some pictures off my phone

I took these a couple of weeks ago when we went to a nearby park. The girls love going here to watch the ducks (and the dog who chases them away), smell the flowers, and run through the little maze. It was a hot day, but we had a great time!

See the baby?? The girls were very excited.

Cayman May 2011

Click here to view these pictures larger

Weekend in Pittsburgh

We met J's Aunt Judy in Pittsburgh for the weekend and had a fantastic little trip. We drove 4 hours all the way across Ohio, about 10 min through West Virginia, then another 20 minutes in Pennsylvania before we made it into Pittsburgh. The girls did great in the car, with lots of sleeping, reading, and movie watching. Once we made it into town and unloaded the car, we piled back in with the intention of exploring the 3 Rivers Arts Festival which started that day. We did not realize the crazy amount of traffic headed in exactly the same direction for the Pirates baseball game, so what should have been a 20 minute drive turned into an hour. We finally made it, only to quickly realize that our Suburban was not meant to park in downtown Pittsburgh - it was too tall to fit into any of the parking garages! Definitely a first. So, instead, we picked up a couple of pizzas and went to a great park and conservatory by the Carnegie Mellon campus. And after all that time in the car, the girls did just what they needed to do - run free!

Pizza Picnic

Checking out some flowers

Can you see them? Nope, not squirrels, the girls are bent over looking at clover flowers.

We had a different plan of attack for Saturday's venture into downtown. Instead of messing with the Suburban, we dropped it off in a lot just outside of town, then moved everybody into Judy's car. We had no problems parking, then went to explore the area where the arts festival would be starting soon. We walked along one of the rivers and scoped out which art booths Claire wanted to visit when it opened. Of all of us, she definitely had the best time. We were there right when everything opened, which meant she had first choice of all the activities. We spent some time at the PBS tent making a paper plate bug, then moved over to the Children's Museum area where she launched paint rockets and made sand art with Madeleine. The day was starting to get pretty hot, so, much to her disappointment, we finished up at the giant cardboard fish painting station then grabbed some lunch.

Along the river

Paint Rockets

Sand Art

Giant Fish Painting

Catching a quick snooze

Our next stop was to meet up with one of Judy's college friends. We met at Carnegie Mellon, walked the campus, and ended up back at the conservatory from the night before. Claire had wanted to walk the gardens on Friday but it had already closed, so she was happy with getting to explore some more. I was getting pretty hot by this point so I waited in the air conditioned cafe, and soon enough everyone came back ready for ice cream. Claire did a little shopping in the gift shop, then it was on to our next stop of the day - hunting for H's old house and high school in nearby Fox Chapel. We had no problem finding either of them, and I enjoyed putting real places to all the stories I had heard about when he lived in Pittsburgh. We got as close as we could to his house, but it's at the end of a long and winding driveway, so we didn't go far. We oohed and awed over all the gorgeous homes and the beautiful grounds of his school, then headed back to the area of town where we were staying for dinner and bedtime. We were exhausted after such a busy day.

H's old house

Shady Side academic buiding

Sunday brought sleeping in (hurray for sleeping later than 7!) then a big breakfast before we got back in the car for the drive back home. The girls did great again with riding, and we even found a treat for ourselves in Columbus - one of the only 2 Jason's Delis in the entire state! It was glorious! I'm seriously considering buying a franchise just so I can have one closer than an hour away.