Back to School

Even though the temperatures still topped 100 degrees, the boys are I are back to school.  I started back to work August 2nd…waaayyy too early and the boys started August 9th.  They wanted more summer but seemed excited to start back to school.  Preston is a FRESHMAN! this year and Grant joins him at the high school in the 7th grade.  Ryan is in the 5th grade.  This is an “odd” year…5.7.9!

They had their backpacks by the door the night before without me telling them to :)

Ryan- too tired to stand up to wait for the bus

Dennis “skyped” us and got to see the boys off to school

 

Our annual back to school picture and a new one this year to include Dennis!  I have the picture of the 3 boys on Preston’s first ever day of school framed and I set it out this time every year.

Luckily the bus stops right in front of our house!  Look at their footprints in the dew.

Annual Water Park Day

For several years now, we have driven to Chesapeake Beach, MD to a little out of the way “beach” to look for shark teeth and sea glass.  Then we spend the rest of the day at the water park in town.  So this year was no exception.  Friday actually started out cool and breezy.  It was great after much hot weather but  not water park weather.  But it warmed up quite nicely and we all enjoyed the day.  I have decided that I want a lazy river to go around our dream house, around my parent’s pool and back!  Wouldn’t that be nice!?!

Walking back to the parking lot

Preston playing with jelly fish!

See the shark tooth?  They were really hard to find this year.

 

..TO THE WATER PARK….

5 of the 6…missing Kevin

 

Teagan and Ryan

 

Think I got all 6 this time +1 haha

 

Ryan!

 

 

Preston and Kevin….down and ………splash!

Matt and Grant                                 waiting at the top

A view from our lounge chairs…2 slides and the lazy river

Maryland Vacation

This time last year we had just arrived in Alabama from a grueling 16+ hour trip and were seeing our new house (full of boxes) for the first time.  I can’t believe we have been here a year already.  In some ways it seems we have been here forever but while we were in Maryland it seemed like we had just left.  When we left Maryland, there was a lot a crying going on as we left some really great friends.  So this summer with Dennis gone I thought it would be a nice easy trip to head back to Maryland and see our friends.  I had enough miles to fly for “free” and they agreed to pick us up and let us stay with them.  Can’t get much easier than that! Right?

WRONG!  We left Dothan AL at 10:30am and were due to get to DC by 3 pm (via ATL of course).  We were an hour late leaving Atlanta and then ran into storms over DC.  After circling in a holding pattern, we thought we might land….WRONG!  After being bounced around like a warped basketball, they ditched the landing and flew to safer skies…Norfolk VA!  By then we were all nauseous, some more than others and a bit scared out of our minds!  Think we all said a prayer or two…I know I did.  Well, after sitting on the runway in VA for 2 and 1/2 hours, we flew to DC.  By then it was after 8pm.  It took forever to park us, unload us and get our bags!  Poor Carey had been driving all over the area killing time and then drove miles around the airport waiting for us with 3 impatient kids!  FINALLY we were in their car and heading “home” at around 9:30pm!  We might have been able to drive faster!

When we got to the house Scott met me at the car with a much needed glass of wine and “bad news”…he had burned dinner!  Which Carey reminded him, was his only job!  In his defense we were 6 and 1/2 hours late!

I just busted out laughing and we headed to Denny’s, the only place open at 10:30pm on a Sunday night.  Day one was a bust but we were here!!!

The rest of the week was great.  Filled with a little relaxing, visiting, day trips, dinners out, happy hours!  It was GREAT!  We swam in their pool almost every day, went bowling and out to lunch on a rainy day, went shark tooth hunting and to a water park one day,  and visited with friends!

The kids all went to a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game and all 6 got baseballs in various ways!

The Boys camped in the backyard

Bowling was fun

Swimming relays

 

Pool time with the Koshulsky’s

Colleen eating grapes and giving “knucks”

Anniversary Ice cream…my treat for my 19th wedding anniversary!  Dennis and I (and all) SKYPED earlier in the day!

Boys can sleep any where!!

 

They worked long and hard on this!

We had a 5+ hour lunch with my “old” co-workers.  It was just like old times as we talked about everyone and everything.  We could have talked another 5 hours and had plenty of great food too!

A “nice”ville visit

We went to Niceville FL to visit with friends we were stationed with in 2002-2003.  The have 3 kids the exact ages as our and we hit it off then and our friendship has continued through the years.  They have visited us a few times in the last 7 yrs but we have not seen them in 2 yrs.  The kids jumped right in where they left off and I had to drag them home at the end of the day with promises that now that we live this close, we will visit more often.  It was less than a 2 hr trip and they live just 10 minutes from the beaches in Destin and the bay…and the OUTLET stores!  The boys played baseball, played in the pool, in the ocean and more baseball in the rain!  We did not get home until after 10pm and our neighbor met us and said he was trying to catch our dogs but they ran off!!!  Preston and I drove around but I am sure they hid from us because their adventure had just started…anyway, I left the gate open and at 6:30am I heard them come home…wet and tired, they are sleeping it off on the back porch!  DOGS!!!!  Not sure what they are gonna do when we leave for Maryland tomorrow for a week!

Baseball within minutes of our arrival

Scott (Grant’s age)

Playing in the pool like fish!

They enjoyed the ocean too but it was full of seaweed and we did not stay too long

 

Group Shot

Round 2 and 3 of baseball in the rain

Melanie (Ryan’s age)

Steven (2 days younger than Preston)

Family “visit” with Dennis

Dennis woke up early and we gathered late so we could all Skype with Dennis.  I found a cord so that we could hook the laptop up to the big screen TV and then we could all see Dennis on it.  His brother, Kenny, Nicki and the 4 kids came along with Dennis’s parents.  It was fun and we spent over 2 hours with him via technology!  Everyone got to see him, ask him questions and we all had a laugh or two.  It was nice.