I love this photo that Steve took today while he was chatting to Tyler and I. The tallest building in the world was behind him, but not shown in this photo. I could see it on the webcam which was really neat. Today he went to the mall again. This time he bought some clothes for himself. He also found a cafe where he had coffee and a cool drink called Vanilla Sky which has espresso and vanilla ice cream blended in. He said it was very tasty and we're going to try and recreate it when he comes home. We chatted for most of the day which made both Tyler and I extremely happy. Tomorrow he is back on the ship for duty. :(

Dad's in Dubai

Steve had a good night's sleep at the hotel. Check out wasn't until 3pm, so he had tons of time to sleep in. He took advantage of the international breakfast buffet and then later on caught the Metro to the mall where they had lunch, shopped at a huge book store and of course, enjoyed some great coffee. Later on we got to chat with him however the internet connection wasn't the best, but still we were thankful for the amount of time we could talk to each other. Afterwards, they had dinner and headed back to the ship for the night.
Tyler and I were suppose to go to Rachael's birthday party today, but it got canceled due to rain and the fact she wasn't feeling well. So, after talking to Dad, we went to the play place at the mall for something to do and to get out.

If Only We Could Reach Through the Screen

Dad is in Dubai again and Tyler and I were able to have a good chat with him via webcam. Today's events included a trip to the mall, then checking into their hotel followed by dinner and some cappos at a cafe. He returned to his room for the night and we talked until it was his bedtime. We're finally getting closer to him coming home, but until then we try and wait patiently. Seeing and talking to him on the webcam makes it a little easier for us.

We put the Growing Finn that Dad sent in water today. We're super excited to see how big he will eventually get. Stay tuned...

Am I Harry Potter?

No, that's not Harry Potter with a card stuck to his forehead. LOL Tyler and I had fun tonight after bathtime playing a game where we both had to wear these glasses and try and guess what cards we had by asking questions.

North American Millipede

While outside this afternoon, Tyler and the group of kids we were with discovered something huge crawling on the tennis court. Myself, along with the other mom, were trying to figure out what it was because it was gigantic and fast moving. It was about 3 inches long! Meanwhile, the kids were fascinated watching it. I took a couple of photos so I could look it up when I got home and properly identify it. Turns out it is a North American Millipede and yes, they can grow up to 3 inches in length. Mystery solved.

 

Paper Making

What crazy messy fun we had today making paper at the park with the Ranger. The Ranger showed us how to make recycled paper. She blended the pulp for us and then we went to work putting it altogether. It was sort of like making pancakes, where the first ones don't really turn out that great; but once we got the hang of it, there was no stopping us. We even added some pretty flower petals and grass for added texture. Tyler did a pretty good job and then he let me have a turn at it.We got to take our paper that we made home with us and of course, Tyler used one of his papers to make a paper airplane...boys will be boys. LOL Here are some photos of our paper making.

 

Gone to the Dogs

A few weeks ago, Tyler noticed a sign advertising an upcoming dog show and he expressed his interest in attending. Every weekend he would ask if it was the weekend of the show. Finally we reached the day the show started. I suspected that he would probably watch for about 10 minutes or so and then start complaining how bored he was, and today I proved my suspicions were correct. Actually, he lasted about 30 minutes before he became bored, but the show was free and it was adjacent to his favorite playground. I, myself, enjoyed the show and as it brought back memories of the horse showmanship classes we would have to compete in 4H every year.

Last Day of Summer

After I picked Tyler up from school this afternoon, we went directly to the park to enjoy this beautiful day. Tyler brought his wind sock that he made in Art Class today.

Box from Dad

There was one happy boy this afternoon when he learned that we received a parcel from Dad. Inside were some awesome toys he picked up along the way especially for Tyler as a 'Back to School' present. I allowed him to have one of the toys today and he decided on the car set which was a lot of fun. We miss Steve so very much and as the days are getting closer to his return, they actually feel like they are going slower. This little surprise today made us feel a little bit better.

Custom Made Jewelery

Tyler made me a beautiful pair of earrings and a lovely bracelet.

Here's the latest photo of my husband on the ship. Taken yesterday.

Tyler Says the Sweetest/Darndest Things

Tyler wanted me to have the Daddy Pillow last night so that I could have a turn. Awww...how sweet of him!!! But he said only if I didn't drool on it while I was sleeping. LOL

Isle of Wight County Fair

Yesterday we were invited to go to the county fair in Windsor, Virginia with our friends Heather, Dawn, and Rachael. The fair was a good size offering lots of attractions including truck pulls, bull riding, livestock, camel rides, 4H tent, carnival rides, Tracy Lawrence concert, and of course, tons of food.
After getting the kids some ice cream from the giant ice cream hut, we went over to see the truck pull competition. This was a first for me and it was quite fun to watch, not to mention extremely LOUD. To my surprise, the trucks didn't pull things like concrete blocks, but rather a huge contraption made especially for this sport. One truck pulled almost to the end of the line, however it stalled after it was finished.
We left the truck pull after awhile to check out the other attractions. We ended up in the livestock tent where Tyler fell in love with all the chickens. LOL The tent also included a petting zoo. We got the kids some feed to give to the animals. Tyler laughed and laughed as he fed them because a lot of the animals would stick out their tongues and just lick the food off of your hand to get it.

The most exciting attraction we were looking forward to doing when we first heard about the fair was taking the kids for a camel ride. The camel's name was Stewart and Tyler and Rachael had a blast on him. While Tyler was taking his turn, a newspaper reporter came along and took his photo. He said it would be in the Virginian's Pilot newspaper either today or on Thursday. I looked today, but there was no coverage of the fair, so it might be in on Thursday. The reporter took Tyler's name and age. If it does make the paper, then this will be Tyler's second time having his photo published in a newspaper. Not bad for a 6 year old!

After a few more tents and attending a rooster crowing contest, our bellies started rumbling and we stopped to seek food. The selection of food was great. All kinds of fair foods to chose from including the typical, but then we saw them unusual such as Fried Twinkies, Fried Oreos, as well as Fried Snickers. That was just a little bit too much for my stomack to handle, so we stayed away from that crazy stuff. While Tyler was eating his corn dog, he found a spot on a firetuck to sit. LOL As soon as our appetites were satisfied, we headed on over to the bull riding competition.

When we arrived at the stands, the place was absolutely packed and we could only find a place on the lawn where we had to stand to watch. This was the first time for all of us to see bull riding. It was very intense. Much more intense than I thought it would be. There were sooo many close calls and even one guy had a bad accident. He stood up afterwards and you could tell one of his arms was so limp. It just hung there. Then he went on his knees and the paramedics came in to see to him and put him on the stretcher to take him to the hospital. I can't imagine doing this for a living. The guy did wave to the crowd on his way out to let us all know that he is going to be alright.

By this time, it was dark out. The kids didn't want to leave without going on some carnival rides first. So they went on a couple before we stopped to get a funnel cake for our commute home. It was almost 11pm before Tyler and I arrived back home. Tyler, of course, fell asleep in the car on the way home. I had to carry him up three flights of stairs. LOL To say the least, we slept in for a bit this morning. It was a great day though. Lots of fun with our friends and we are so grateful for their invite. Here are some more photos for you to see.

 

 

 

 

That was Fast

The second set official started. We discovered a new tooth popping up in the spot where he just lost his first tooth.

Daddy Pillow

Today we received something very special in the mail, a pillow with a photo of Dad and Tyler together; we call it the Daddy Pillow. It's to help Tyler cope with his father being gone while on deployment and so far, it is working fantastic. We gave Daddy lots and lots of hugs and kisses today and tonight Tyler fell asleep with a great big smile and Daddy snug in his arms.

An older couple make the pillows for children of parents who are deployed 3 months or longer. They do them absolutely free of charge and only ask for a donation to help cover the costs of making and shipping the pillow to you. I can't say enough how wonderful this project is. It gives my son something he can actually hold when he gets lonely for his father and he can look at the photo of the two of them together and think of the good times we have when he is here. We miss Steve so very much and though nothing can take the place of him not being here, at least we have a little something to help until he comes back to us. Here is the website with more information about the pillows. I get very emotional everytime I see the video.

Peace Out

Look we saw this morning while on our way to school. The dove!!! Tyler pointed him out as we were walking down the stairs. He was on the second floor...same floor that the stray cat was found a couple of months ago. Kinda crazy, out of 20 or so apartment buildings in our complex, both the cat and dove would pick the same building and same floor. Anyway, later on I saw him walking over around the playgound again, though later after that he was gone. I wonder if we'll see him again?

A Sign of Peace?

While out for a walk this morning I ran into one of neighbors. Her two daughters were with her and one of the daughter asked me if I had seen the pretty white bird by the tennis courts. I told her that I had not. Then her mom proceeded to tell me that they think it is a dove that perhaps belongs to someone because it very friendly and it appeared to have some kind of tag on one of its' legs. During our conversation, we noticed the bird walk down the sidewalk. I got a much closer look and it was absolutely beautiful. My neighbor and I said our goodbyes and we both went on our ways. Then after school, I took Tyler to the playground in front of our apartment and sure enough, in walks the same exact bird. He walked right towards and around me, totally unfrightened. I don't think I've ever seen a dove that close before and in person. I wonder where it came from and I hope it makes it back to wherever it belongs.

Age 6 is so much fun.

Homework officially started today and tonight's assignment Tyler was required to write three sentences about his family. He had to sound out each word to spell them out without anyone's help. Well, I nearly died laughing to myself when I read the first sentence:
"Mom and Dad and Wine are in my family. "
The teacher is probably going to think we are a bunch of alcholics. LOL Of course, Tyler was really trying to spell out his buddies name, "Winnie". I'm glad that he wrote "Wine is a 'baer'." for the last sentence, so the teacher can get an idea who "Wine" really is. LOL

All About Me

To help everyone get to know each other, Tyler's teacher assigned them a project to do where she gave them each a brown paper bag and they had to fill it up with their favorite things, awards, and other items that represent who they are. Tyler chose these things for his bag: A monster truck, his soccer trophy, a plastic rat, a Hot Wheels car, a Lego man, the rock that looks like a shark that Nanny found on the beach and gave to him, his gymnastics medal, and his ribbons he got from school for his academic achievements. He also decorated his bag with a family photo, a Magic School Bus picture, and a picture from Phineas and Ferb. On the back of the bag he put a big photo from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

Partying with Chuck E. and Dalton

Tyler's friend from the pool, Dalton, had his birthday party today with friends and family. We had a wonderful time together at Chuck E. Cheese's celebrating Dalton's 6th birthday. Both Dalton's parents are deaf and it turned out that I, along with two others at the party were the only adults that weren't. Everyone was super friendly and made us feel comfortable and there wasn't much of a communication gap because we used a pen and paper. My mom taught me the alphabet in sign language when I was growing up, but I would someday like to learn more. Dalton's mom wants to get together for a play date, so maybe she could teach me a few words.

At Dalton's Birthday Party

First Art Class

Tyler was very excited to have his very first Art Class today at school. They didn't have Art Class last year. When I picked him up this afternoom, he couldn't wait to show me the picture he made. It is a dog in the rain. And I'm not sure why after I posted this picture that it is not right side up, so you'll have to turn your head to admire his artwork. LOL
Car Update: Hooray, Hooray!!! I FINALLY got the Pacifica fixed today. I took it back in because the key fob and power windows and locks weren't working. They reprogrammed the key fob and installed a new switch for the power windows. I've been driving it around ever since and seems to be working wonderfully. I hope I'm not jinxing myself now. LOL

The Car Nightmare That Won't End

One morning, while driving I noticed all the lights on the dash went off, the CD that Tyler was listening to went off, along with the AC. A few seconds later, the lights on the dash returned back on, however the stereo and AC, and the lights for that area of the car remained off. It came very hot without the AC and so I tried to open the windows but they weren't working either. So, we drove back home, shut the car off and restarted it again and everything returned back to as it should be. And so I contacted Steve and told him what happened. He said that it might have been just a fluke that it happened and we'll wait and see what happens. Later in the day, I decide to see what would happen if I took it for another drive. At first everything came on, but then soon after they same thing happened. So, Steve thought it was probably the alternator. His chief on the ship recommended that we take it to AAA as that is where he always brings his car. The next day I dropped it off, but it didn't get looked at until late the following day. They put in a new alternator and I drove off a happy customer. Unfortunately, I only made it 2 minutes down the street before the very same thing happened again. I immediately turned around and brought the car back. It was obvious to me that the alernator was not the problem at this point. However, the service advisor assured me that indeed it was. They kept the car in overnight and the following afternoon the same service advisor phoned me and said they took the new alternator out and put the old one back in. They thought the car needed a new fuse box, however they do not do this type of work. They gave me the name of the car electrical company down the street and suggested I have the car towed there. Luckily, our insurance company covers that. So, I called the car electric place and tell them to expect the car to arrive by tow truck later that day. They called back within the hour saying the car arrived, however the tow truck driver said there was a problem with the driver side window not going back up. Apparently, the mechanic at the last garage rolled the whole thing down even though this was part of the problem. It was about to rain and the lady said that they would keep it inside the garage for me overnight, which I was very thankful for. Dinnertime the next day, the electric place called and said they had good news and they had bad news. The good news was that they knew what the problem was, however the bad news was that they couldn't fix it because the VIN# on the fuse box did not match the VIN# of the car. AUGH! Soooo they said the only place that could fix this kind of problem was the dealership. Again, I called the insurance company and had them tow the car to the dealership to once again get looked at. However, before the tow truck came I went over and taped up the window because it was still stuck open. I explained to the service advisor everything that took place during the past few days and they said they would have their guys look at it. Well after a few more days, the advisor called back and said it needed something different than what we thought and he also said it would have to order the part in and it would take a few days to arrive. After it finally got there, they found out that it did not fix the problem. So they thought it was something else and ordered another part. Again, after waiting another few days, it arrived only to find out it also did not fix the car. The mechanics were stumped. They had no clue what was wrong, only that it was something majorily wrong with the electrical system. Meanwhile, a field agent just happened to be visiting the dealership to look at another car. While he was there, they asked him to look at our car. He suggested some ideas of what he thought was the problem, but then the top mechanic that was doing the job was on vacation and I had to wait until he returned the following week. *sigh* Again, more waiting. Finally, the dealership phoned to say that they were sure that they knew what the fix was and that they would order the part, but this time I would have a week and a half wait for it to come in. This brings us to today when the dealership called and said the car was good to go. I just could not believe it. After 32 days, 3 different garages, 2 tows, 3 parts installed and then taken off, and many stumped mechanics, the car was finally ready to be picked up. Yay!!!!I paid for the service and picked up the car only to bring it home and again find that it isn't fully repaired. The key fob stopped working completely, inside the car the power locks and windows aren't working. Soo here we're back to square one again. I'm hoping this time it will be an easy fix. I have an appt on Friday to bring it in. Wish me luck!!! I've already had to replace my cell phone that got wet, get my brother to fix my computer that got attacked by malware, and get the toilet fixed because of a leak and I see that it started again. And this all happened in the month of August. Praying for a much better month and for my husband to come home soon especially since none of this stuff happens when he is here. LOL

Tyler Update: Tyler had a fabulous second day at school. He came home all excited telling me all that he did. Tonight his teacher called to touch base with all the parents, and to say how much she loves having Tyler in her class. She said she briefly started testing and found out today that he is doing wonderfully reading at/and above his grade level. I was very happy and at the same time not surprised to hear this because we always did do a lot of reading at home. So, it was nice to receive some good news today after all.

1st Day of 1st Grade

Another school year has started in full swing and today Tyler entered into the 1st grade. The 1st grade is full of new challenges that will help further the growth of my 6 year old boy. This is the first year for a full day of classes that in itself, will probably take some adjustment. This morning started out much earlier than we're used to and so, getting Tyler up and out of bed took some time. LOL Once we were in the car and on the way to school, I asked him some questions to help determine whether or not he was nervous or excited about his first day. But he was not interested in a conversation regarding school, instead he preferred to discuss bears and their ability to climb trees. LOL
Upon walking him to his classroom, he stopped and told me that he knew what room he had to go to and said I didn't need to escort him. I respected his wishes and as I watched him walk down the hallway, it was difficult not to burst in to tears. My boy is growing much too fast.
On my way out of the school, I ran into Mrs. Tyner, Tyler's kindergarten teacher, she was happy to see me again and said that she has another kid with the name Tyler Smith in her class this year. 
All day long I thought about how he was doing and prayed that he would have a good day. When I picked him up, the first thing he said to me was that he saw a ton of his friends from last year. He also told me that he really likes his teacher and said that must be how she got her name (Mrs Liakos). LOL The class read lots of books and they each got a turn sitting in bean bag chairs while they read. At lunch, his teacher bought the whole class pizza, corndogs and ice cream. And he said he really likes this girl named, Bella, because she would laugh at everything he said during lunch.  He was quite tired when he got home which is to be expected during the first week.Overall, my baby boy had a great first day of the first grade. 

Goodbye, Summer

Our very last day of summer vacation. When our pool plans didn't workout because it started to rain after getting there, we decided to go to The Orb where Tyler bounced on all the inflatables. As you can see, he totally worked up a sweat and used up some of that energy. Tomorrow, it's back to school.

Catching up with the COCs

In continuation of yesterday's events, we also managed to catch up with some of our caching friends from when we lived in Maryland. Beau and Jo (Couple of Cachers is their caching name or commonly known as the COCs) were attending a caching event in the area and thought it would be cool if we could meet up. Well, we did just that at the mall where we had dinner together. It had been at least a year since we last seen them, so it was wonderful seeing them again and hearing all the latest caching news from Maryland.

Tracking Some Tracks

We can't get enough of the beautiful outdoors. When we were at the park the other day with Yasuko and Yuki, I noticed they offered different types of classes on the weekend. As I was reading through the list, I immediately thought how much Tyler would enjoy these classes. So, when we arrived back home I phoned and registered both Tyler and I for the Animal Tracks class which took place this afternoon at the park.  However, I totally over estimated the time it takes to get to the park from our apartment and so, we had a lot of time to spare before the class even started. While we were waiting, Tyler and I checked out the cool looging train on display and then Tyler suggested we go hike the trail nearby that identified the different types of local trees. It was a great way to use up our time before class.

 

It wasn't long before our time was up and we headed on over to the building where we were to learn all about the several types of animal tracks and other signs that certain animals are present in the area. The Ranger showed us all the different clues to look for, including the different gait patterns and track shapes for the different types of animals. We learned a lot and had fun at the same time.

The best part was yet to come when The Ranger took us outside and the kids got to make their very own track mold. Tyler decided on the grey fox's paw to mold. It was a little messy, but Tyler had an awesome time. While we were waiting for it to dry the Ranger each gave the kids a scavenger hunt to do where she hit various animals and traces that certain animals were close by.

She gave us a sheet full of things we had to find on the scavenger hunt. They were hidden along the boardwalk trail. You are pretty much surrounded by so much nature on that trail that the hunt proved to be a little tricky for us. We really had to keep our eyes opened and look all over the place. We did managed to find the majority of the items, however there were three things that totally stumped Tyler and I. By the time we finished the scavenger hunt, we all met back again outside where we made our molds. They had a little longer to dry, however they were still dry enough for us to pick them up and take them back home. The Ranger said they would have to finish drying overnight, just to be on the safe side. On  the way out of the building, one of our group member spotted a buck close to where we did our scavenger hunt! Tyler was so excited he ran back inside to tell the Ranger. LOL Afterwards, Tyler wasn't ready to go home just yet. He asked if we could do another hike. Of course, I said we could and so we went on one last hike before heading back home. Look for more posts in the future with us taking more classes here. Tyler and I very much enjoyed ours today and can't wait to learn more about the beautiful nature that surrounds us.