Trick or Treat

OooOOOOooooOOOOooo...Boo! Our Halloween was done a little bit differently than years past. Instead of going to a neighborhood for trick or treating, we decided to go to the mall. It was chilly, so the warmth comfort of the indoors was more appealing than walking around outside. Grandma dressed up as a witch and her costume was one of the best I've seen, very special attention to the littlest details to make her the perfect witch. Tyler was the Ice Angry Bird and wore last year's Fiona costume from the show, Adventure Time.
When we arrived at the mall, we couldn't believe how jammed packed it was full of trick or treaters. There was one big long line going from store to store. Not all the stores participated, so Tyler didn't get much candy which was OK because it's not really good for him anyway.
We met up with some of our neighbor friends and their kids, did some trick or treating with them and then we all got a table at the food court to grab some food/drinks and check out the candy the kids received.
I can't dsay that we'll do the mall trick or treating again because it was a little bit disappointing, however when I was putting Tyler to bed, I asked whether he had a good Halloween and his reply was that he did and that he liked going to the mall a lot better because it wasn't scary like some of the decorated houses we would normally trick or treat at. LOL

Steve Update: The Enterprise made it to Mayport yesterday, unloaded their squadrons never to return to the ship again. Steve got off the ship, had a delicious seafood dinner with some of his shipmates, returned to the ship to pack an overnight bag to stay at a hotel. It was sooo good to hear his voice again and to know that he'll be returning home in just a few days. He is sooo excited, as all of us here. It's just so hard to believe it's all coming to an end soon. It seems like he's been gone forever.

Steve's Photos

Steve sent me these two photos today. The first one is the picture his shipmate drew of him with the world on his shoulders. The second one is his little personal cafe he put together in his office where he can make secret lattes and espressos. LOL

Surviving the Storm

The hurricane has impacted the entire Smith family. Miles away on the sea, Dad's ship had to take a detore further down south. His ship even became flooded today, the front of the ship had knee deep water. The seas were pretty rough and some sailors got seriously injured from all the rocking. Steve was one of the few people in his office, not to get sea sick. He said the other smaller ships he was deployed on in the past was a lot worse. He said this afternoon they had clear skies. They are making good time and so far, everything is still on schedule. In other related news, I'm super happy and proud to report that Steve was presented a Navy Achievement Medal tonight. He was the only one in his department to receive a medal. Someone also drew a picture of him carrying the world on his back. Very appropriate considering the stuff he had to go through this deployment.

Meanwhile back home, we are also surviving the storm. Today was mostly an inside day. Tyler's school was canceled. We tried to keep busy with playing the Angry Birds board game, cards, and Grandpa and Tyler went out and braved the storm to get a quick look outside. Oh and we baked molasses cookies too. We made the best of a other wise rainy day inside. Tomorrow Tyler's school is having a two hour delay.

 

 

More Rain

To get out and about and to break up our day inside, we decided to hit the mall this afternoon. After browsing the mall for a bit, we went to the food court for some lunch while Tyler burned off some energy at the play place. We walked around for a bit more, before leaving and then getting some last minute items to prepare for the storm. When we came home, Grandma surprised Tyler with a game and some Halloween window clings. They already canceled school for tomorrow. Bring on the storm, we are ready here in Virginia. I feel a lot safer having Walt and Wanda here with us. Steve Update: In regards to the storm, Steve said it's pretty rocky and they had to go south a bit to avoid it, but so far it shouldn't affect the ship's schedule.

 

 

Pumpkin Patch, Trains & Antiques

We needed to get out and have some fun today before the big hurricane hits, so we started out by going to the pumpkin patch in Great Bridge. There, Tyler enjoyed all kinds of activities such as bouncy tent jumping, swinging, and climbing on and going in this neat little fort made of straw bales. It was a great day to go because there was hardly anyone there and no lines to wait in. We had just enjoy time to check out everything and watch Tyler play for awhile when it started to rain. We got back in the van and went to this really nice train store. We were all in awe of the trains and the antique toys. There was so much to see. From there, we grabbed lunch and then continued on with some more antique and train store browsing. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. :) Check out our other photos from today.

 

Hanging Out with Grandpa & Grandma

Tyler was so excited to come home after school to see Grandpa and Grandma. We had hoped to go to the park today, but the rain forced us to cancel our plans. So, instead we just hung out at the apartment. Tyler and Grandpa had a blast playing marbles together. Tyler showed Grandpa the contraption he made for his marbles, then Grandpa showed Tyler how to play marbles using your thumb. Later on we went out for dinner at our local pizzeria here in Chesapeake.

Saying Goodbye then Saying Hello

The week went by way too fast and I still can't believe Erika was even here to visit me. We had a fantastic time together and I hope she comes back to visit again soon. As we were saying goodbye at the airport this morning, she passed me a card and inside were two best friend friendship bracelets for her and I to wear. They are really nice and I am going to cherish it forever. I am so thankful for her friendship over the years. She has always been there for me. Both her and our friend, Tanya, have been amazing best friends to me. Next time, Tanya has to come with Erika, so the three of us can hang out together. I miss those days. Thank you also Erika, for the card I found in the spare bedroom. :)

So after coming home from the airport, I finished preparing for our very special visitors that arrived this afternoon, Grandpa and Grandma from Rhode Island. We are excited that they are here. Tyler had a great time trying to pull Halloween pranks on Grandpa with his plastic rodents and spiders. We also went outside to enjoy this fabulous weather we've been having. Grandma and I took Tyler out to the playground where we explored around for different stuff. Grandpa and Grandma also gave Tyler some cool gifts including a light-up pumpkin ring, drawing pad, cool shirt, Rexy T-Rex Pillow Pet, and also some American stamps that we'll have fun using to make some welcome home posters for Dad. Tonight before bedtime, Tyler read his school book to Grandpa and Grandma. Overall, it was a sad, but happy day for Tyler and I.

 

 

So Much to Sea

After dropping off Tyler, we went to the base for some coffee, sight seeing, and purchasing. First stop was Tim Hortons. This was Erika's first American "Timmies". We spent most of our time there discussing the differences between this store and the Canadian stores while sipping our cafe mochas. Next up was a tour of the base. We started with Steve's office. Then on our way out, we stopped to take some photos of the planes on display. Afterwards, we went to the pier to see the ships. Being on the pier, made me even more excited for Steve's return. :)

From the pier, we went to the Navy Exchange for some browsing and then to the commissary for a few groceries. Then we came home, put the groceries away and grabbed some lunch at Sonic before picking Tyler up. Tyler did his homework and then we got in the car again to go for a beautiful walk at the Arboretum which is just down the street. We walked down the entire length of a trail and back again to the car. Yasuko made strawberry Japanese cookies especially for us that I was suppose to pick up yesterday, so we headed to her house to finally retrieve them. So, that's basically the highlights of our day. Enjoy some more photos:

Hairs Today's Post

This morning Erika got her hair done. It turned out beautiful!!! She was at the salon for a couple of hours and by the time she was finished, we were absolutely starving. Only one thing came to mind for food, the Turkish restaurant we went to the day before. This time we tried the lentil soup and I tried the beef doner sandwich. Both were incredible tasting. The lady there was so happy we came back and even gave us a free dessert, yummilicious baklava. I still crave food from that place whenever I think about it, it is just sooo tasty. After we ate, we still had some time before picking up Tyler from school. So, I took Erika to the Oake Grove park where we walked off our lunches by going on the lake trail. We then went and got Tyler, he did his homework and then we took him to get some gelato. From there, we went to a park we haven't been to before. We walked down a few trails. I'm sure we'll return there again with Steve as the trail no doubt was full of caches. Finally, we came home and Tyler opened up his parcel he got from Nanny. In it was a remote control spider, some cars, knights and horses, a volcano, and marbles. Tyler had fun with Erika playing with all the stuff.
Steve Update: Wooo hooo, they finally entered the Atlanic Ocean!!!!

Ice Skating, Turkish Food, and Playground

We woke up this morning with nothing on our agenda, however after getting some Dunkin Donuts coffee into us, we decided we should make the most of our day. With that being said, we started off with a trip to the ice skating rink where we totally had a flash back of years gone by. It took us awhile to get used to the ice again. Meanwhile figure skaters were zooming past us doing their fancy triple axles. LOL We concluded that even though it was good to get some skating in, we are not young chickens anymore. LOL It was so much harder than we remembered.

All that skating totally made us hungry, so we decided to finally try this turkish restaurant that some of my friends have been raving about. Wow, they weren't kidding. The food was absolutely out of this world good. I told Steve about it and he said we're definitely going when he returns. He's had the tea before when he was in Iraq. They give you turkish tea with your meal. Everything was sooo tasty. You just can't beat homemade hummus. When we came home, I ran into my turkish friend in the parking lot and she was so happy that I finally tried that restaurant. Erika got to meet her and the rest of her family too. Soon, it was time to go pick Tyler up. After homework was completed, we took him to the park where he gave Erika the grand tour. LOL So, that's pretty much our day.

 

 

Happy 7th Birthday, Casey

Sunday afternoon we went to Casey's birthday party. Our little buddy that we've known since preschool turned 7 years old. Erika came along too and she finally met some of my friends that I've been telling her about during the past few years. As usual, Tina put on an awesome party for the kids. She really should start her own party planning business because we are sure she would do well. The kids had a blast jumping in the bounce house, painting pumpkins, dressing in their costumes, and the entire place was totally decked out for Halloween. We stayed until it was too cold to be outside. LOL Here are some more photos: