Surprise Package!!!

We were delighted to see that Steve sent us a parcel that he totally surprised us with. Among some other things, he sent some more olive oil from Greece, coffee mugs to add to our collection, Italian coffee, and an extremely cute little Japanese unicorn with sprinkles in her pink hair. Tyler and I totally weren't expecting this and it made our day. I soo can't wait until tomorrow morning when I can make some Italian coffee and drink from one of the cool coffee mugs. I'll invite my little unicorn to sit with me at the table. LOL
Steve Update: He moved into his new office today. He said everything was going good so far despite it being an extremely hectic day.
Mom Update: She arrived back home tonight safe and sound.

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

"I'm walking my dogs."

Steve Update: Great news for Steve!!! Starting tomorrow he will be moving into his chief's office and acting as chief for the remainder of his deployment regardless of whether he gets promoted to chief or not. The chief results should be posted sometime in early August. Keep your fingers crossed.

We Miss You, Nanny!!!

The time that Nanny was here went by way too fast. Today we sadly had to say our goodbyes at the airport before she went through security. We sure had some fun times with her and we will cherish all the great memories that were made. My Aunt Norma confirmed that she made it to Halifax alright and there she will stay and visit her and my grandmother for the next couple of days before returning back home. We miss you sooo much, Nanny, but before you know it we will be together again. :)

Last Full Day

Sadly, this is my mom's last full day of her visit with us. :( This morning, I made blueberry squares using the batch of berries that Tyler's picked. The squares turned out very tasty. Mom and I ended up having some for breakfast right out of the oven. This afternoon, Mom got her hair all prettied up again by the hairdresser. It looks beautiful for her trip home and her visit with my aunt and grandmother. Tonight, I helped pack my mom's suitcase. :( Tyler and I are trying to convince her to stay longer, but so far we're not successful. Here are some photos we took last week that I didn't get a chance to post. We had the BEST time with her.

Cupcakes, Swimming, and a Movie

While running on a few errands in the morning we ran into the cupcake truck. We each picked out a cupcake to try and then brought them into the NEX food court. We then spit them up in parts and sampled each others' cupcake. They were deeelish!!! Mom especially loved them.
Once we finished munching on our lovely desserts, we then returned home to get ready for Tyler's swim class. The class before was canceled due to the thunder and lightning, so he was excited to go and start the next semester of classes. As always, he did an awesome job in his class.
Afterwards, we joined Tyler's friend, Rachael, and her family at the movies. We all went to see 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' which was hilarious.
Overall, it was another great day with my mom. :)

From Sushi to Planes to Berries

We had a full day today starting with lunch with Yasuko and her family visiting from Japan, then a trip to the military aviation museum, followed by some berry picking.
Yasuko's mom and niece arrived in the U.S. on Monday afternoon. Yasuko and I were excited that both of our moms were visiting at the same time, so we definitely had to get together. We met for lunch at our favorite seafood buffet. Yasuko's mom is just as sweet as her daughter and her niece is super cute and adorable. Yasuko's mom is an expert on proper table manners and was helping me learn the correct way to hold the chopsticks. She said it took her daughter 14 years to finally master it, so I didn't feel so bad. LOL There was a bit of a language barrier, but we still had some great laughs together. I hope to see Yasuko's mom and her niece again before they return to Japan.

After we left the restaurant, we then went to the military aviation museum where we viewed several war planes, military uniforms, oil paintings, and other war artifacts. Tyler thought everything was cool. He loves his paper airplanes at home and so, seeing the real thing upclose was even better. We had two hangars along with the main museum to walk through. One of the hangars was where they repaired the old war planes and prepared them for show. When we walked out of the last hangar, we saw an actual war plane flew overhead with a banner attached to it advertising the museum. It was quite neat and made our visit even more special.

Mom and I thought the planes were OK, but the highlight of our visit was actually the dinosaur statues outside of the museum. LOL We had a blast taking funny photos with the dinosaurs as if they were attacking us and in some of the photos we acted as if we were one of the dinosaurs. Tyler thought we were crazy. LOL
On the way to the museum, we noticed a sign for blueberry picking. Coincidentally during lunch with Yasuko, she mentioned that the blueberry picking had started in the area. Mom has always been an avid berry picker, especially blueberries for many years, so we decided to check it out.
The blueberries were very abundant. Mom, Tyler, and I picked enough to make about 4 or 5 pies. After the blueberry picking, Mom noticed the same farm had blackberries as well. We went across the street and picked a few blackberries to take home. We didn't pick that many because they weren't as sweet and ripe as the blueberries. As always, here are some extra photos for you to view.

Beach Day

This morning we packed our breakfast and headed to the beach on the base for a few hours. Mom built a sand castle, Tyler splashed in the water and dug a huge hole, and I laid on my towel soaking in the sun, listening to the waves wishing my husband was with us.
It was the perfect day for the beach. There was a nice breeze, so it wasn't too hot for us. After awhile I joined Tyler in the water as the waves started to get bigger and they splashed us pretty good. We left just in time for lunch and before it got too hot.

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

While we were discussing other countries and how healthier their diets are to ours, I said "Yes, they don't have all the fast foods places like we do." Then Tyler says, "No, they have to take their time so they know what goes in their food." 
Mom and I laughed so much when he said this. We had tears in our eyes.

21st Annual Crab & Seafood Feast

Mmmm...it was a yummilicious day, indeed. Mom, Tyler, and I attended the annual crab and seafood feast in Norfolk. Mom ordered a crab sandwich, I had a soft shelled crab sandwich, and we both shared some fried shrimp. Meanwhile, Tyler, who is not a fan of eating sea creatures just decided to stick with eating an order of fries. Mom and I absolutely loved our crab. It was one of the best I've ever tasted and told Steve that if we're here again next year for it that we'll definitely have to attend.

 The feast not only included delicious food, but also fun stuff for the kids to do. A woman came up just as we were finishing up eating our meal and asked Tyler if he would like his face painted. He was her first client and didn't even charge us. Tyler picked a turtle to be painted and she did an awesome job. It turned out really cool looking.

This was our first visit to the Oceanview Park, the location of the feast and we weren't aware before we arrived that there was an adjacent beach. Had we known before hand, we would have brought a change of clothes for Tyler and some towels. Nanny and Tyler had a blast jumping in the waves and walking along the shoreline. It was a great way to cool down a bit before returning back to the feast.
On a side note, there is some interesting history connected to the park. It once was the site of a very busy amusement park with roller coaster and other rides. Even though the amusement park was demolished in the seventies, there still remains some evidence of the park. I bet there are some caches in the area, and if not, there should be. LOL

 Once the beach fun was over, we went back up to join the feast again where we found a place on the lawn to sit and enjoy the live band that was playing. Tyler brought his paper airplanes with him and flew them for a bit before sitting down and listening to the band with us. Before long though, we noticed the sky was turning grey and we decided it was best to leave because it was about to rain. We were very close to the base and so I took Mom to have a hot beverage and a donut at the Tim Hortons. From there I showed her the building where Steve works. By this time, the rain was very heavy and we decided it was best to head home. Here's some additional photos from our day.

Breakfast & Bowling

We were long overdue to have a play date with our good friends, Wendy, Brady and Kyle. So, we made Friday our day to get together and have some fun with them. We got off to an early start by meeting them for breakfast at I-Hop. After eating, we headed over to the bowling alley for for strikes and spares. Once we finished playing a couple of games, we came back to the apartment where the boys played with Tyler's GeoTrax and Nanny, Wendy and I talked. Overall, it was wonderful getting together with our good friends again.

Busch Gardens

"What are we going to do today?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"We should go somewhere."
This conversation basically lead us to visit the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg. And it was the first time for all of us. Tyler and I got in free through a military program. We didn't realize how hot it was until we actually got there, but we cooled off by drinking lots of water and taking breaks in the a/c. Mom also bought a hat as soon as we got there to help shade herself from the sun.
Our first mission was to find Sesame Place in the park. Tyler climbed on a few things there and then went on a water ride. Afterwards, we discovered Elmo and Big Bird were there!!! I think I was more excited than Tyler about this. LOL I actually had to kind of force him to go over with me. Meeting one of the Sesame Street characters was on my bucket list of things to do before I die and there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity. LOL I grew up being an avid watcher on the show, unlike Tyler. It was never one of his favorites.
All the kids were flocking to see Elmo, so we jumped in the much shorter line to meet the tallest bird on the block. It was super cool to see Big Bird in real life. I was soo excited!!! LOL Somehow, I thought he would be a bit taller, but I think he may have been sitting in a chair. I can't remember, I was sooo excited. LOL

When we finished visiting Sesame Place, we continued our way through the park. We found several kid friendly rides that Tyler could go on. First was the hot air balloon ride and then the hand gliders. I got on the gliders with him and was shocked to find out how high they went up in the air, though most people wouldn't have found it that high. I'm terrified of heights, so it doesn't take much to scare me. LOL Next, we took some photos of Nanny and Tyler in the beautiful garden. Nanny looked so nice with her beautiful new hat.

Up next was the Italian section of the park. Mom wanted to stop in to see the Capodimonte shop. We watched the Capodimonte artist handcraft a beautiful rose ornament. For Mother's Day last year, I gave her a Capodimonte necklace and earring set and ever since she has become a fan. She in turn bought me a stunning flower necklace at the shop which I adore.

We made our way throughout the park taking in some games and going on some more rides. Nanny went on the carousal with Tyler. They had a fabulous time together. Tyler then wanted to go up in the tree house. Mom and I were going to watch down below, however before I knew it Mom disappeared from my sight. I had no idea where she went until she caught my eye up in the tree house! I never laughed so hard. I totally wasn't expecting that. She and Tyler had a blast exploring it together.

By this time, we were getting a little hungry. So, we ventured into the German pavilion where we got some awesome German food, including a enormous chunk of German cake that was by far the biggest piece of cake I've ever eaten in my life. LOL While we were enjoying our dinners, a show started on stage. The show was a combination of Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel an Gretel. It was a great performance with lots of singing, dancing and a few tricks.

When we exited the German building, we took Tyler on a few more rides in the German section. He went on the swings and had a blast on the bumper cars. However, soon we noticed the sky seemed to be getting covered with dark clouds and so we felt it was best to seek shelter before it started to storm. Sure enough it wasn't long after we found a table in the Italian building that it indeed started to rain. The theme park was temporarily shutdown until the storm had past. Then we made our way to the train station where we boarded the train and got off in New France.

We walked around for a bit, bought a giant cookie each, and watched the more thrilling rides that we wouldn't even dream of going on. Then we found ourselves in France where we caught another show featuring a man with a ladder. When it was over, we finished our tour of France and then watched an owl exercise by flying from one trainer to another in the animal conservation section. There were other birds such as bald eagles to view and other animals.

By this time, we had completely walked the entire park. It was starting to get late and even though we would have liked to have stayed for the fireworks and see the park all lit up in pretty lights, we felt it was time to start our trip back home. We had a long, but a very enjoyable day. Mom went on and on about how much she loved it there. And of course, Tyler had a fun time as well.  We finished off our visit to the park with a 4D show which turned out to be one of our favorite things in the park to do. Mom laughed so much throughout the movie. It really finished things off on an even higher note. Mom even said she would love to return to the park someday if we are still living here the next time she visits. Tyler and I are so happy she had a great time as she totally deserves it.
Here are a few more photos from our park visit.