Nature Walk and Paraphernalia...

Yesterday I went with my Mom, brother, and nieces to a new attraction in Rapid City. I love coming back home and visiting new places as you can only visit Mt. Rushmore so many times in one person's lifetime. Although, I have to say the evening lighting ceremony never gets old. Anyway, we went to The Outdoor Campus which is sponsored by the South Dakota Game, Fish, & Parks. Good times were had by all. Especially when Cam decided to scour the bottom of a pond with a stick. I promised my brother if I posted the picture I HAD to tell the story that goes along with it. 

There was a nature walk trail and along this trail is a little pond. Kids being kids wanted to go explore this nasty pond and we let them. There was a dead tree laying out in the pond which Cam walked out onto with a big stick. He proceeded to dredge the bottom of the pond with this stick. Well, he picked up on something. We could see what looked like a plastic tube coming up on his stick and then it would fall off and go back under. Cam was determined to get this thing to shore as he thought it was a rod holder and he could give it to his Papa. It took him nearly 15 minutes but he finally got the thing to shore. He picked it up and showed it to me and it clearly wasn't a rod holder. It was a bong! My brother and I were laughing so hard. I made my brother hold it while I took a picture. I'm sure there are some pissed off teenagers somewhere in Rapid City that are missing their bong. 

Little Miss Lilly and a bunny rabbit puppet

Ella Bella had a blast in this tent

Cam and Ella fishing

King of the Mountain Cam

Cam climbing

Ella can climb just like Cam

My baby boy, Cameron

Little Miss Lilly

Ella Bella

Cam playing with a stick and Ella watching

The Cousin's

Sister's

The infamous scum pond

My brother and the Paraphernalia Cam found at the bottom of the pond

Cam atop a tower

Ella got tired so she had to hitch a ride with Dad. Dad said, "Ella, don't pee!!"

End of the trail at a cold water spring

The Birthday Boy...

Well, today was the big day. Douglas turned 18 and became an official adult. He got a little scared when I said I have no more legal obligation to feed him anymore. In between going to baseball games with his Grandpa we got a little fun in. I just can't believe how fast the last 18 years have gone. For many years Doug and I got a lot of grief because we do everything with our kids. We may have a date night twice a year, in fact the boys have always gone with us on our Anniversary dinner. In addition, we have only gone on one vacation without the kids. My thought was, if I get 80-some good years on this Earth, I only get my kids for 18 of those years. It's a very short time!!! So, we always tried to create memories every chance we got. This is just our way, and I certainly don't think there is anything wrong for those of you who do create more adult time. It was just our preference. I suppose it was one of the perks of having kids so young, Doug and I will have oodles of time to spend together while we still have our drivers licenses. 

I was out early this morning in my PJ's creating this masterpiece. 

Grandma and I spent the evening blowing up all these balloons and snuck them into his room while he was asleep this morning. 

His birthday present, a new car stereo so he can plug in and play his tunes off his phone. My brother and I spent 2 hours taking apart his car to put it in the night before but realize neither one of us knows jack about wiring. LOL 

Birthday dinner

He loves it when we sing to him!

He finally complied to being happy after I kicked him under the table

The birthday party people! It was all fun until Ella became the party pooper...literally!

I love you...

I posted this picture on Facebook from Dougie's graduation. Everyone loved it! Him looking up at us in the crowd and signing "I Love You" seemed to melt all your hearts. As I promised, there is a story pertaining to this picture. I'll never forget the day when he was in fourth grade and he got to that point where he was too big to kiss his mother good-bye for school in front of everyone. It's the day we lose our babies for good! So, I showed him the sign for I Love You and he decided that was okay to do when we said good-bye. And that is what we did everyday when he left my car and entered the school building. It then followed onto the football field. When his team took the field, the first thing he did was find me and sign I Love You. When he flew for the first time last year by himself, I didn't leave until he got through security and he turned around and signed, I Love You. So, last Saturday when he looked up and signed I Love You, it was a natural thing to do. It's been our thing for many years. In fact, I do the very same thing with Cameron. Just because they are boys and don't want that physical attention from Mom anymore doesn't mean they can't be affectionate in their own way. I love it, and wouldn't change a thing!

Homeless...

First, let me explain the process of our military move to Germany. There are three shipments we are allowed. First is household goods (HHG) which is the bulk of the move. This shipment gets put on a ship and makes the long trek across the Atlantic Ocean. Second, is unaccompanied baggage. These are items you don't want to travel with but need to have around, such as extra clothing and handy housewares and are put on a plane to Germany. Last, there is storage which will sit here in the states until we move back and include our washer, dryer, and our extra fridge. 

We had reserved our dates of when the movers were to come. On Monday we were expecting the unaccompanied baggage movers, however the HHG movers came instead. To say I was unprepared is an understatement! I was planning on packing our suitcases Monday after the movers left. I had NOTHING packed. After a little (okay, maybe huge) meltdown I kicked it into gear and went through each room of the house one room at a time grabbing what I needed and then allowing the packers to come in and pack up the room after me. It worked out, but I think I aged 5 years in the process. 

We are currently staying in temporary lodging on Ft. Bragg until we leave North Carolina next Thursday. I still have a full schedule as relatives have come into town for Douglas's graduation this weekend. But, the physical packing and moving our household items are done. 

It's always comfortable when they pack your furniture

My wall of boxes in the kitchen

Living Room

Our dinner among the boxes. Cam is thrilled, right?!

This is Tuesday loading up the crates on the truck

New Bern, NC and Ocracoke Lighthouse

2009 was our first summer in North Carolina. The first time we went out to explore the coast we saw Cape Lookout Lighthouse and I thought it was so cool. At that time I made a goal of seeing every lighthouse in NC and I can say after 4 years, I finally have. On Saturday we spent the day in New Bern, NC. They have a neat historical downtown that is located right on the water. We spent the afternoon walking around and checking out the scenery. Cameron is the only Pepsi drinker in our house and thought it was so neat that New Bern was the birthplace of Pepsi. Yesterday we then made our way to Ocracoke Island to see Ocracoke Lighthouse. It is a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to the island. Once we made it to the island we saw the lighthouse, ate a yummy lunch, shopped, and took in the scenery. The Island itself was a little too busy and touristy for my taste. Growing up in a tourist town, I don't like vacationing in these kind of spots. Give me peace and quiet any day!

Cam in front of Bradham Pharmacy where Pepsi was invented

My fellas in front of Ocracoke Lighthouse

Cam enjoying his crab legs

Look at this pretty lady! 

Bald Head Island

As our time in North Carolina is coming to a close we are trying to get in as much beach time as possible. We are going to miss the beach. If you have never gone and are looking for an awesome summer vacation, consider the North Carolina coast. Yesterday we went to Bald Head Island. We just planned on seeing the lighthouse, but the island was so cool. We ended up renting a golf cart to explore and got some swimming in as well. We had a great time!

Old Baldy Lighthouse

The road around the island 

Marsh land in the middle of the Island

The beach

Season of Change

As our move to Germany approaches, to say I feel unprepared is an understatement. I keep adding things to our to-do list without ever marking anything off. I need a couple of house fairies to appear and help me! I was going to work until the end of May, but forgot I had to ship our vehicle. Logistically there is no way for me to work with only one car between Doug and myself. This will also give me 2 weeks to get the house in order before the movers come the first week of June.  I have to split everything up as there are 3 different movers coming. One will be for storage items, such as our washer, dryer, and fridge that we can’t take with us and will be stored here in the States during our time overseas. The second set of movers will be for unaccompanied baggage. This is for things we need to live our daily lives, such as basic kitchen items and clothing. This shipment gets there relatively fast. The last shipment is our household goods which includes everything else and will take 2 months.

So, the movers will be at our house the first week of June. That weekend Douglas will be graduating from high school and that following Wednesday Doug will start flying to Germany and the boys and I will be going to South Dakota. Douglas has been accepted into the Summer Bridge program for freshman at SDSU and will begin classes on July 22^nd. Cameron and I will then start traveling to Germany in early August.

My main goal for this week is to get my car shampooed before I ship it out. It is 6 years old and has hauled many stinky, sweaty boys and has never been shampooed before. It will sit on a ship, in a metal storage container for 6 weeks while it goes across the Atlantic and I don’t want anything to grow in there during that time. Is that gross or what?!?!