Author's Celebration & Tea Party

Today I attended Tyler's Author's Celebration and Tea Party for him and his classmates. Did you know that Tyler is a published author? He has a total of 4 books published. We celebrated the children's writings with song, a slideshow, food and tea. The children performed a series of songs. Tyler showed me his novels, 'The Exciting Birthday' detailing his adventures at his friend, Casey's 7th birthday party earlier this year. 'The Cruise', about our cruise to Cozumel, Mexico in November. 'Are We There Yet', written all about his 7th birthday party at the zoo. And 'The Fair' which is about our trip to the county fair with Rachael, Heather, and Dawn last summer. All his books are self illustrated. Awesome job, Tyler!!! Mom and Dad are proud of how well you are doing in school. I will post some video of the songs they performed later, so stay tuned...

Riding Without Training Wheels For the Very First Time!!!

Steve and I were in the garage pricing our stuff for our upcoming yard sale and Tyler comes running in and says he has something to show us. He then gets on his friend's bike and rides it like he's been riding it forever. This is the very first time he has ridden without training wheels. We couldn't believe our eyes. After a few rides, we took the training wheels off his shark bike and he drove around like a pro. This boy never ceases to amaze us.

Pools days are here again...though the water is still a bit chilly.

Memorial Day Weekend

We started our drive down south for Memorial Day weekend Thursday afternoon once Tyler came home from school and Steve got out of work. Walterboro, South Carolina was where we stopped for the night.
The next morning we continued on our way again and finally made our arrival at Chellee and Peter's house later that afternoon. We were staying at their house because Papa was still recovering from his triple bypass surgery. The Taylor's had moved into a new house recently, so we were excited to see it.
We visited with Peter and Javan for a bit and then had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicle to return the license plate to my old car that we sold. The whole process practically took minutes and so we went back and saw the girls before Chellee came home from work. We ordered pizza for dinner and got caught up with each other's lives before going to bed later on.

For breakfast we made omelets by putting the ingredients in a Ziplock baggie and then boiling the baggie in a large pot. It was really cool and they turned out quite tasty. Definitely something I would like to try again. Chellee and Peter are hosting a Life Group breakfast next week and so they will be making this again then.
Steve brought his remote control helicopter and GoPro camera and we all went outside while the children roade their scooters and we watched Steve fly his helicopter around. Everything was going great until it went over some dense woods and decided to land itself while on the way over to the Taylor's old house just about a mile away. Steve and Peter made a few attempts to try and locate it, but came up empty handed each time. Chellee and Peter had a wedding to go to and so Steve, Tyler and I decided to go over and say hi to Grandma and see how Papa was feeling. Tyler made a Get Well card for him as did the other grandchildren.

 We stayed for awhile and then Steve wanted to have dinner at this cool sushi place that opened up not too long ago. The food was absolutely amazing!!! Steve had sword fish, I had sushi with eel and avocado, Tyler had rice and edamame, and Steve and I both shared toasted coconut shrimp sushi. Then to top it off we had some incredible desserts. Steve had Chinese apple fritters, Tyler had sea salted caramel ice cream and I had peanut butter molten with sea salted caramel ice cream. Our taste buds were in heaven and our tummies were quite stuffed by the time we finished. We then went back to the Taylor's for the night.

The next morning we had breakfast and Steve, Peter, and I made our way back to the woods where the helicopter was last seen for one last search. Meanwhile, the kids and Chellee made super delish cookies to take to Grandma's BBQ later on that day. Unfortunately, we did not find the helicopter after giving it a good try. We cleaned up, had lunch, made deviled eggs, and then went over to Grandma and Papa's house to start the BBQ festivities. Steve cooked hotdogs and hamburgers and we ate outside under Harvey the tree. The kids played in the pool and in the clubhouse while the adults talked under the shade. Brian and Rachel joined us later on. Rachel brought her new puppy that she got to help train it to be a seeing eye dog.  We talked some more before having to say goodbye and head back over to Chellee and Peter's for the night. We felt pretty exhausted from our day and so we ended the night watching a few episodes of The Regular Show. The following morning we woke up early and drove all the way back home to Virginia.
It was so good to see everyone again. We were very thankful for Chellee and Peter's hospitality and for letting us stay with them for the weekend. We are planing on returning again before we move to Bahrain.

I-Spy with My Little Eye...

I Spy: A big green ring, some Legos, two Army soldiers, six superheros, and white dot.

Tyler constructed this I-Spy when we got home from school. Please find the above.

Just Ducky

The other day Tyler and I went to feed the ducks at the pond at our apartment complex. Along came Momma Duck and her ducklings. They sure are getting big. We'll miss feeding our feathered friends when we move to Bahrain.

Praying for Oklahoma

Ever since we first found out about the devastation in Oklahoma after the tornadoes ripped through the town of Moore, we've been practically glued to live stream websites. Thinking of the victims and their families and what they must be enduring right now makes us realize how blessed we are each and every day that we are together. We are praying for you, Oklahoma.

Weekend Update

Friday, after school, we went to Elizabeth River Boat Landing Park so that Steve could fly his helicopter and get some photos and video. He managed to get some awesome shots. It is an industrial area with lots to see including ships, trains, a power plant, and tugboats. The Jordon bridge was nearly built since the last time we were there. While Steve was flying his remote control helicopter, Tyler and I played at the playground. There were a lot of caterpillars hanging around and Tyler had fun letting them crawl all over his hands. Afterwards we met Dawn, Heather, and Rachael for pizza at Chesapeake Pizza. The above photo is one of several that Steve took using his helicopter.

The next day we went to the highly anticipated Greek Festival in Norfolk. This is the longest running festival in the area and Tyler and I have gone every year, this time making it our 4th visit. Sadly, Steve was always gone on deployment when the festival was taking place and every year I would dream of Steve joining us. Steve was stationed in Crete, Greece for 2 years and grew to love their culture and food. This year was a little less crowded which was nice. We ate delicious Greek food while being entertained by a live Greek band. Afterwards, we checked out the marketplace where they were selling everything from Greek food to jewelry to artwork. Steve ended up buying 3 lbs of real feta cheese imported from Greece and 3 litres of olive oil from Crete. Oh and also, some peach juice also imported from Greece. We ended our visit to the festival with some ice cream for Tyler and some loukoumades for Steve and I, which are a type of Greek pastry-like doughnut with honey and cinnamon. The best part of the festival was being able to have Steve there with us, finally! It's just too bad that this is our last year here.

The highlight of our day on Sunday was having a picnic on the grill at our apartment complex park. We grilled hot dogs and eggplant and also had Greek salad (gotta use up that feta and oil that we bought LOL). Tyler had lunch over at his friend's house, so it was just Steve and I.
So, there you have it, a summary of what we did this weekend.

Career Week

This week was Career Week at Tyler's school. He still wants to be an "airplane designer" when he grows up, but for Dress Up day he decided to go as a Disney Cruise Line Cast Member.

Dinner the Beach

Yesterday when I got out of school after volunteering all day, I couldn't believe how nice it was outside. It was hot and sunny. I thought it would be a great day for having a BBQ outside at our apartment. When I mentioned the idea to Steve, he had an even better idea, to BBQ at the beach instead. So, I quickly prepared some potatoes and thawed out some pork chops, and packed up everything else and when Steve got home we went to the beach for dinner. It was a little windy, but the sun was nice and warm. After eating, we moved our things to the beach front for some sun and sand. Steve and Tyler made another cool castle. It was an awesome evening overall.

Clean Teeth & No Cavities

Today Tyler had a dental cleaning and x-rays. It was our last appointment before we move. We are super happy to report that he has no cavities, putting him back in 'The No Cavities Club' and allowing him to be entered in the draw for $50 each month. His dentist, Dr. Plauka, said that Tyler's teeth are excellent and everything looks wonderful. She enjoyed having him as a patient and watching him grow these past few years. She and her staff wished us good luck in Bahrain. Our experience at the dental practice has been phenomenal.  

Best Mum's Day Ever

My very special day started out by Tyler coming to our bed and whispering in my ear that he wanted me to sleep in that morning. I wasn't going to argue with that. LOL He then went to Dad's side of the bed and the both of them went out to the kitchen. When Dad gave me the OK to get up, I came out to see a beautiful bouquet of flowers, cards and him busy making breakfast. He made the most delicious breakfast I think I've ever eaten. Heart shaped French toast with nutella, strawberries, whipped cream, with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was quite amazing!!! He also made yummilious cappuccinos.

Then when I thought my morning couldn't possibly get any better, Tyler tells me that they rented a Hello Kitty cartoon for me. LOL We sat down and watched it together. Then Tyler remembered that he made some things in school for me, a newspaper with facts about me and a beautiful magnet.

After we had lunch, we packed up the car and went to the beach. The weather was just perfect. I went for a nice walk along the beach and then came back and laid on my towel. I actually ended up falling asleep for a little bit while Dad and Tyler made a sand castle. It was the most relaxing time.

Tyler came over and said he had something to show me. He had written "Mom" in the sand and drew a big happy face. He then wished me a Happy Mother's Day again and gave me a big hug.

Before long, it was time to leave the beach and head back home. Dad said he wanted to take us out to dinner to finished off our Mother's Day celebration. So, we went to Red Robin. Yummm~
In conclusion, I have to say that this was one of the best days I've ever had. I was super happy to have Steve home for a change to help me celebrate. It had been at least 3 years. Both he and Tyler, made my day the most amazing Mother's Day I've ever had. I am so proud to be Tyler's mom and I am thankful every day that Steve made me a mother. My family is everything to me.
Steve just made milkshakes. Yep, best Mother's Day EVER!!!

For the last day of Teacher Appreciation week, Tyler brought in azaleas for Mrs. Liakos.

Food and MINIs

We met up with the Hampton Roads MINI group in Virginia Beach for dinner and of course, MINI conversation. It was wonderful meeting more MINI owners and swapping MINI stories. The food was good too! There was another Countryman that showed up and parked right beside ours. It looked almost identical. It was also white and had the same design in stripes, except their stripes were black. Neat!

Tyler wanted to have his picture taken with this guy...

Awwww...

I went to check on Tyler before I went to bed and found him sound asleep snuggling with Winnie.

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!  

CAM Picnic 2013

Sunday morning was another early rise for us. We had to get over to do the last CAM cache so that we could get the remaining coordinate to find out where the CAM picnic was being held. After breakfast at the hotel, we got back on the road and headed to the Prettyboy Reservoir park. When we arrived at the park, Steve double checked the coordinates. We discovered that we had to make a choice of two trails to take as they both started from the same point, but because the cache was so far away, it was difficult to judge which was the correct trail. We decided on a trail and begun our long walk to the cache. It was an absolutely beautiful morning and so the walk was very pleasant. However, as we got closer to the cache, it was apparent that we indeed took the wrong trail. We had to do some bushwacking until we got closer. It was okay though because it was still easy walking through the woods and the scenery was delightful. Tyler found the cache for us, we signed the log, took some pictures and then made our way back to the car. By this time it was 10:30 and the picnic started at 11:00. The coordinates took us to a park an hour away.

  When we arrived at the picnic site, everything is already in full swing. We got to see many of our caching friends we've met over the years. Katherine, Fran, Beau, Jo, Cody, Snurt, Sue, Mac, Lola...to mention a few. It was wonderful seeing everyone and it will probably the last time we'll see most of them for a long time. The Maryland Geocachers Association has tripled in size since we joined. The place was jammed packed full of cachers. Steve picked up our completion certificate and because it was the 10th anniversary CAM, we also received a nifty coin that Katherine had designed herself!

We ate and then went and did the Ice Breakers cache with Katherine, Fran and another cacher. The cache was up a hill and on the other side was a waterfall. After we all signed the log, we headed down to see the falls. There was another group of people there playing the drums right at the falls. It was a really neat experience. So we took a few more photos and then went back to the picnic. By this time, things were starting to wind down for the day. We had to get back on the road as we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us and Tyler had school in the morning. We sadly said our farewells to everyone, grabbed a few bottles of water for the road and then made our way back home.
We were so thankful that we didn't miss CAM this year. It's always our favorite caching event. Maryland cachers are the best and some of them became more than just friends to us, they are like family.

CAM!

Thursday night Steve and I were discussing that the CAM (Caching Across Maryland) picnic should be within a couple of weeks, however we were quite surprised when we learned that it was in fact this weekend! We had 4 more CAM caches to find before we qualified to be able to attend the picnic. Contained within each CAM cache is a letter from the alphabet; we then take each letter and put them in a decoder to get the coordinates of the picnic location. Steve suggested we leave Friday night after our usual dinner with friends. So, we packed up the car after coming home from the restaurant and headed to Fredericksburg, Va and stayed over night there to give us a head start to our CAM caching.

Early Saturday morning we were back on the road and were driving through the pretty countryside on our way to the first of four caches of the CAM series since we had found the other six with Katherine and Fran last month. Anyway, we were driving along when all of a sudden we drive by a huge roller skate. LOL I had read about the large roller skate a few years ago and had some friends visit it. It had always been something that I wanted to see, so I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was right there! We just had to turn around and get some pictures.

The first cache on our list was in western Maryland. This turned out to be our favorite cache because of its' beautiful location. the drive there took us through the mountains and quaint old towns nestled in the countryside. When we reached the coordinates of the cache, we had to cross a walking bridge and take a scenic hike through the woods. We got several photos along the way. It also turned out to be Tyler's absolute favorite cache mainly because he found a Beybade inside the cache! He said his dream came true when he saw it in there! LOL

This cache totally made up for the misfortune we received earlier in the day when we found out that we forgot Steve's backpack with the GPS, CAM forms, and his laptop all inside, back home. We had to use a combination of his iPad and a GPS receiver to find the caches. Then a screw came out of Steve's glasses, so he could no longer wear them. Luckily he had prescription sunglasses. But wait, our bad luck continued when we left the cache and were on our way to the next one. We ended up getting stuck in traffic for over 2 hours on Interstate 70 because of a bad accident. A guy had to be airlifted to the hospital. Meanwhile, people were getting out of their cars stretching their legs and wondering how long it would be before we could move again.

After we finally started moving again, we quickly headed to the second cache on our list. It was in Frederick, Va in a state park. Once we parked the car and found what trail the cache was located on, we made a mad dash to go find it. We did, however, see some chipmunks along the way which was really neat. Tyler found the cache for us and once we did our trading of swag and signed the log, we were making our way back up a hill and to the car for our next caching location. The accident on the interstate really set us back for time, but we were determined to get another cache done before dark, so we would only have to locate one before the picnic the next day.

The remaining cache for the day took us to familiar territory of Montgomery County. When we first moved to Maryland from Syracuse, we used to live there and because we were so active in caching back then we had already been to the cache location. The cache was located in the Seneca State Park. The remains of the old Black Rock mill was located there. After a quick tour of the mill, we quickly made our way to find our last cache for the evening. The trail was lush and green with a few small bridges to cross. We even saw four deer run through the woods. It was an absolute delight to finish off our busy day of CAM caching. One more to go find the next day and then we could go to the CAM picnic. We were getting quite excited!!! So, after a few more photos near the old mill we drove to border of Pennsylvania where we stayed the night. We actually stayed at the same hotel during another CAM run a few years ago. It was an awesome day, but we were quite exhausted and after dinner we went straight to bed.