Memorial Day Weekend Part I

We had such a wonderful, relaxing Memorial Day weekend! It was so much fun that I'm going to have to make two posts to get it all in!!

We decided that we were going to make it a long weekend and visit Josh's family in TN, especially since we are leaving for Korea in a couple of weeks!  Our plan was to leave Thursday around lunch time, however we had a last minute appointment at the Air Force base that we had to go to for our PCS. The meeting was supposed to be over by 3:30, but of course they were running an hour behind.  For that reason, we ended up leaving the DC area around 4:30....which is NOT good!!!  That put us right in rush hour traffic.  Needless to say for the next two hours we moved VERY SLOW!  Thankfully the further we got away from DC the better things were...unfortunately, that put us getting to TN around 1:30 in the morning.  It actually was not that bad of a ride.  The kids slept the majority of the time and thanks to a large McDonald's Carmel Mocha (which by the way is amazing) Josh and I stayed awake the entire time.  Once we arrived we chatted a little with Josh's parents and then hit the hay.

Getting ready to hit the road...

Taking a dinner break at Chick fil A....YUMMY!

The next day we all were really exhausted, so we just hung around the house.  The kids made forts, played tag, enjoyed being outside, and caught fireflies!

On Saturday, the entire family headed up to one of my favorite places in TN, Cades Cove.  Right before you enter the cove, there is a picnic area by the water that we love going to.  Matt, Josh's oldest brother, got up super early so we would have a great spot by the water :). The kids always love going there because they can play in the creek while the adults talk and get the food ready. Matt also brought his cornhole set for us to play!    After we had eaten and let the kids play,  we packed things up and headed to drive around the Cades Cove loop....another one of my favs!  It was such a wonderful and relaxing day!  

Getting things set up for the day...

Josh and his two brothers, Matt & Jonathan

The kids really loved playing cornhole...

Uncle Jonathan was also visiting from Oklahoma...we are so thankful we got to see him before our big move!

Having fun with Uncle Matt..

They love their mama.....and of course Josh is always cutting up...lol

Poor Ethan had a little fall on his skateboard the day before and messed up both of his knees :(

"Mom, this hot dog is GREAT!"

Creek time!

The kids played a little game of baseball too!

It was a little chilly and this one was getting really sleepy.....

Always the cut up.....lol

As we were eating watermelon, we looked over and sure enough a couple was getting married!!  I guess they love Cades Cove too :)

Headed around the loop....

By the time we had gotten home all the kids were worn out!

More to come tomorrow......so stayed tuned!

Until Next Time,

Michelle

It was BaltiMORE than we bargained for....

Today has been quite the adventure!  We left our house this morning to head to Baltimore ( about an hour and a half away), to have our vehicle shipped over to Korea.  Our trip started out really great. Traffic was not bad at all and the kids were quite content.  For those of you who are not in the military, there are several things you have to do in order to have your vehicle shipped.  A couple of them being having all your paperwork completed ( check), making sure the vehicle has been cleaned well (check), and not to have more than 1/4 of a tank of gas left (you would think this would be easy, NOT).  We thought we had figured out how much gas we would need to get there and have 1/4 of a tank or less left.  Well, for some reason our truck decided today of all days it was going to get great gas milage and when we got there we had 1/2 a tank of gas left.  We thought no problem, we have 3 hours left before the place where we are shipping our vehicle closes, so we should have plenty of time to do that....NOT.  It took forever for us to burn that gas off!!  I'm telling you, driving around Baltimore for 2 hours (we stopped for lunch, if we had known how hard it was going to be to burn off the gas we probably would have skipped this part) with 4 kids in the truck, trying to burn off gas is NO FUN AT ALL!!!!!  We finally pulled into the parking lot with 5 minutes to spare and the needle just at 1/4 of a tank. We just prayed they would let us ship it.  Thankfully, it all worked out and after another hour of getting the truck inspected, it is now off to Korea!!

On a brighter note, our lunch was really great and we did get to see the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.  The kids loved all the big ships!  We would really like to go back when we have a full day to enjoy it because they had so many neat things that the kids would love!!   Here are a couple of pictures we took :)

Stopping for a bite to eat at The Hard Rock Cafe at the Inner Harbor

This was the BEST fish sandwich I have had since we left Florida....YUMMY!!

Some more shots of the Inner Harbor....

Until Next Time,
Michelle :)

Caleb's Worm Habitat....

Today Josh was outside washing the van and the boys were playing in the yard ( the weather today was AMAZING).  Well, being the boys they are, they dug in the dirt and found some worms. Caleb ran into the house so excited saying "Mom I need a cup!"  I asked him what it was for and he said his worms.  Next thing I know I hear a knock on the door and Caleb says "Mom, look what I made!"  I asked "What is that?" .  He says " It is my natural habitat I made for my worms!"...lol  I had to go back inside to grab my camera so he could tell me again because I thought it was so cute.  So here is the video :)

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Until Next Time, Michelle

Michael turns 4!

This week our baby turned 4!!  I still can't believe it and to make it even more special he is now officially potty trained!!!  Can I get an amen! Do you know how BIG of a  milestone that is in our household....9 out of the last 10 years we have had a child in diapers, so we are definitely doing the potty dance around here :) :)

Michael had great day!  It all started out with him waking up to a surprise on his door :) I wish you could have seen him when he opened the door...it was priceless!!  He thought it was the greatest thing ever.

After checking out his door decor, it was time to get his official birthday badge. Another prized possession for him.  I just love his enthusiasm for life :)

Later in the day we had cake, ice cream and opened presents.  It truly was a great day!  Here are some more pics :)

Happy Birthday to the sweetest 4 year old we know!  Michael you bring so much joy, laughter, and energy to our lives!  We love you!

Michael's  Favorites at 4:

What's your favorite color? blue and red
Favorite TV show? Phineas and Ferb
Favorite movie? Alvin and the Chimpmunks
Favorite Friend? Caleb
Favorite place? Korea ( funny since he hasn't been yet, but I guess we've been talking about it alot..lol)
Favorite veggie? peas
Favorite thing to eat ? pizza
Favorite breakfast food? pancakes
Favorite fruit? bananas
Favorite dessert/treat? fruit snack and my birthday cake
Favorite snack? cheese
Favorite place to eat out/restaurant? Chic fil a
Favorite animal? dog
Favorite toy? Buzz Lightyear and Captain America
Favorite book? I don't know
Favorite letter? M
Favorite number? 8

Favorite holiday? Christmas

Favorite thing to do outside?  Eat

Favorite sport? baseball

Favorite team? Tennessee

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A pilot


Until Next Time,
Michelle

Happy 4th Birthday, Michael

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Until Next Time, Michelle

Baby, Baby....

Can't believe our baby is going to be 4 in a matter of days! Seriously, where does the time go? His most recent thing has been singing.  It's so cute....he will be playing and then all of sudden break out into some random song. Lately, this has been his favorite.  As he was eating his snack he begged for me to play it, so I thought I would share it with you all.   Apparently, Justin Bieber is not that popular with the 4th graders around here, so it drives Ethan insane..lol.  I think it's cute :)

Until Next Time,
Michelle