Hoppy Easter

The Easter Bunny came to our apartment and left all kinds of eggs stuffed with Hotwheels tattoos and a basket full of goodies including windup toys, games, a bunny ear headband, ducky pen, markers, and even a Mini Cooper toy car, yogurt crunch balls, fruit and veggie shredz, among other little surprises. Tyler had fun looking for his eggs and found them all, except the last one which was a little tricky. It was located inside a card from Nanny on a shelf. Another egg was hidden so high up on top of a mirror that Dad had to assist in the retrieval.
The best part of our Easter was having Dad home for it. We had 4 Easters in a row where we missed having him here due to three underway deployments and one deployment in Baghdad. Here are more photos from this mornings' egg hunt.

Boys With Their Toys

So Nice Seeing You Again

Guess who was just here visiting us??? Grandma and Grandpa from Rhode Island. They stopped on their way back from their trip to Florida and stayed for a couple of days. Yesterday since Tyler was home sick, Grandma, Tyler and I had a blast playing the board game, 'Smashed Potatoes' where Tyler had the enjoyment of smashing us all up in various ways. That's okay though because Grandma and I got to have our sweet revenge. LOL
Steve ended up coming home at lunch because he had a community relations project in Norfolk he went to in the morning where they volunteered at a food bank. So, we decided to go to Jason's Deli for lunch. Then Grandma went to go get her nails done while Grandpa, Steve Tyler and I came back home to fly Steve's helicopter and Tyler gave his new remote control 4 wheeler, that he got from Uncle Joey for Easter, a test drive. The remainder of our night included some more needed relaxation in front of the TV. Grandma and Grandpa left very early this morning to head back home to Rhode Island. As always, we enjoyed their company and we look forward to seeing them when the weather gets warmer.

Overseas Screening

We've been pretty busy the past month and a half with preparations that the military requires for us to move to our next duty station overseas. While I have my medical requirements done, Tyler has been attempting to get his completed without taking too much time off from school. Yesterday we had Tyler's physical and of course, he passed with flying colors. The nurse measured him to be almost 4 feet tall and 43.4 pounds in weight.
Since we took the day off for the physical, we decided to work on the paperwork needed for our "no fee" passport. We had to drive to another base and meet Steve at his office and we all went over to the passport office together. However, before this happened, as we were driving into the parking lot of Steve's building, Tyler threw up. He was sick on Saturday, but we figured it was something he ate because he was well again on Sunday. So, we are back to being sick again, probably with a stomach bug. Tyler took today off because he was still suffering with tummy pains associated with diarrhea. :(

Tyler Artwork

Mom: Tyler, why does your bunny have 3 eyes?
Tyler: Because it's an alien bunny.

Knight In Shining Raincoat

I love my new raincoat, Nanny!!! Thank you so much!!!

Bring on Spring

This is how we celebrated the first day of Spring: Going to Rita's for free Italian ice. Steve and I both got green apple and Tyler got fruit punch.

That Leprechaun

We came home from our trip to Maryland to find that a leprechaun had been by and shattered shamrocks all over the place.

Natalie MacMaster Concert Video 1

More Maryland Fun and the Natalie MacMaster Concert

The next morning we woke up and started our day later than we anticipated. Our friends, Beau, Jo, and Cody met us down in the hotel parking lot to say hi and to do some caches together in the immediate area. Some of the caches were Beau and Jo's, so they had fun watching us trying to find their hides. After we were done caching and we said goodbye to our friends, we went down the street to grab some breakfast at a bagel shop. We decided to eat in the restaurant since we had a little time left before we were meeting our friends. Before long, Katherine, Rodney, Fran and Liam arrived and we got back on the road to do more CAM caches. This time Liam drove with us and the two boys had a blast in the backseat talking about all kinds of things they had in common.

Along the way to the next CAM cache we passed by the Aviation Museum in Patuxent River. We used to live close by in Lusby and so we've been to that museum before, however we didn't get the geocache there because the plane that it was hidden in was in for repainting. Katherine thought it would be fun to stop and let the boys see the planes and we totally agreed. It was a fun stop for us all. We even took a special photo for her daughter, Diane, who is also in the Navy working in aviation.

After our visit to the museum, we proceeded to the first CAM cache of the day which was in St.Mary's county near the old historic town. To get to the cache location we had to hike a fair distance, but it was a great trail in the woods and parts of it went along the scenic water. We met a few of our caching friends along the way too. Tyler and Liam ended up finding the cache for us. We signed the log, took some photos and then got back on the trail again.
On the way to the next cache, we stopped and did an awesome cache that involved a container with the lock that required a combination. Once we figured it out what it was and opened it, we had found a fishing pole attached to a long tube that went up the side of the telephone pole. When you reeled the line out, the cache container came down for us to sign the log. It was by far, one of the coolest caches we've ever done.

 The next CAM cache was in Prince George's county. Unfortunately, we were short on time, so we didn't stick around too long afterwards. We had to make a mad dash to Fairfax, Virginia which was an hour away to go and get ready for the Natalie MacMaster concert.

While on our way, we double checked the time it started and found out that actually started an hour earlier than what we thought. We ended up arriving at our hotel 30 mins before the concert, checked in, quickly changing our clothes, and getting back in the car again to find the venue she was playing at. We literary sat down and the concert started. The concert was phenomenal. As soon as I heard Natalie's thick Cape Breton accent, it felt like I was back home watching her at the Savoy Theatre.  She asked if there were any Cape Bretoners in the audience and of course, Steve yelled that I was from Sydney. LOL Amazing enough I wasn't the only one with Caper roots in the audience. There was another person from Judique (I'm assuming her family touring with her) and a person just three rows over from us with a father from Port Hood and mother from Judique, however he was born in Detroit. This wasn't the first time Natalie played in Fairfax, she said it was a regular tour stop for her. The crowd absolutely adorned her and the band. She had the whole place clapping, tapping their toes and yelling for more. She is truly an amazing talent and I was so proud to say she was from my home island. The next morning we woke up to snow on the ground. It was the perfect way to end our fabulous weekend.

Weekend in Maryland

You may recall that for Valentine's Day, my bestest friend/most wonderful husband in the entire universe, got tickets to the Natalie MacMaster concert in Fairfax, Virginia. Steve decided to make a whole weekend out if it. We connected with our friends in Maryland to see what they were doing this weekend and found out that CAM (Caching Across Maryland) was starting. Steve and I sooo wanted to do that this year, but completely forgot about it and so it gave us the perfect chance to join in on the fun.

We made plans with our good friends, Katherine and Fran to meet in Ocean City, Maryland to start CAM together. We arrived at the scene a little early, so while we were waiting we found a couple of caches in the park and Tyler played for a bit at the playground. They were running a little late, so we went to grab a bite at the bagel place down the street, then came back to meet our friends, along with Katherine's grandson, Liam, whom she brought along especially so that Tyler could have a caching buddy for the weekend. After a few minutes of pretending to be shy, the boys mellowed out a bit and then were inseparable the remainder of the weekend.

Liam had the class bear, Brown Bear, for the weekend, and so Tyler took Winnie out for some caching fun also. After finding the CAM cache in Ocean City, we decided to go to our favorite pizza place in Maryland for some lunch. No trip to Maryland in complete without going to Ledo's Pizza. Soon after lunch we got back on the road to head to the eastern shore for more CAM fun. This location was near a fishing pier along a beautiful stretch of sandy beach. The boys had a blast playing together, throwing their bears up while Katherine and I attempted to take photos, and checking out the beach area. We were soon back in the car on our way to the next CAM location. After we were done caching for the day, we met up again for dinner at Red Robin's with Rodney included. It was getting late by this time and so after the boys ate we looked over and they were sound asleep. LOL They slept close together and reminded us of kittens. It was super cute!!! It wasn't long before we said goodnight.

First Flight

Video of one of our first flights with the helicopter for the GoPro Video Camera taken across the street from our apartment building at a vacant lot and dead end road.

Dream Come True

Well, the one single top tooth he had remaining is now gone too. Tyler said it came out about 10 minutes after the tornado drill they had at school. He was pretty excited about it as he said it was a "dream come true" to lose a tooth at school because they gave him a special tooth container to hold the tooth. Now he has one huge gap on his top gum.

Super Awesome

We were totally surprised and super proud of our little man when his Tae Kwon Do instructor, Master Hwang, presented Tyler and three other boys from the class with their first advancement towards making belt rank. They didn't even announce that they were planning to give out awards prior to clsass. Tyler received his first yellow tip which means he has gained knowledge and proper execution of all 20 steps of Kibon Poomse.

Surprise Revealed

So finally we found out what Steve's secret surprise was. As soon as we opened the box, Tyler knew exactly what it was...unlike his mom, who had no clue. LOL About a month ago we watched a video taken by a model helicopter. We thought it was the coolest thing ever. Well, after Steve ordered the GoPro video camera, he ordered a helicopter along with it to get some awesome shots.
After assembling it all together, we took it over across the street to test it out in a vacant lot. It took awhile for us to figure it all out and we had a lot of crash landings, but it was a blast!!! LOL

Take A Hike

Well, we finally got some decent weather to actually enjoy the outdoors. Dad found us an awesome park with lots of hiking trails called Merchant Millpond State Park located in North Carolina. We hiked amongst the cypress trees growing in a swamp, took some photos and enjoyed a nice quiet picnic. The trail we were on was 5 miles long, however we didn't have time to complete it. We would like to return back again for more hiking and some caches when we have more time. Steve and I are convinced North Carolina has the best state parks. Here are a few of my photos:

Lights, Camera, Action

Dad surprised us again with a camera he bought called Go Pro. It's a neat little camera that you can mount just about anywhere, including the outside of our car and you can control it using the IPad. In fact, to test the camera out we went on a little drive today and did just that. First, he took video mounted on the hood of the car, then later on he switched it to the top, followed by the side. We went to the Sandbridge beach and back, came home, and Steve edited the video. The quality is totally amazing as it is in High Definition. But wait there's more!!! Steve said there's another part to the surprise that hasn't arrived in the mail yet. So, Tyler and I are in total suspense!!! Stay tuned...

The writing on Tyler's uniform is actually his name written in Korean.

Getting Their Kicks In-Video

Our Little Pumpkin :)

Just 10 minutes after going to bed, Tyler comes out as proud as punch to show us another tooth had come out. This is another one in a series that came out in the past few weeks!!!

Grandpa and Grandma left this morning to continue their vacation down south. We wish them safe travels, sunny skies and hope they bring some warmer temperatures with them on their return stay in a couple of weeks. See you soon!!!

All Aboard

While on our way to the Portsmouth antique parking garage sale, we passed by the newly opened train museum. Steve had read about the opening just a couple of weeks after Grandpa and Grandma's last visit and said we should go the next time they are here. We had forgotten all about going there and so it was a nice surprise to add to our agenda for the day. After our antique shopping was completed, we headed on over there. The train museum was actually located in a train which was super cool! The staff was very informative and we very much enjoyed our visit. Here are a few more photos: