Sunday, January 29, 2012

Surprise! Merry Christmas Baby!!


It was the most perfectly beautiful day to go to Alcatraz!  Coming in on the boat.
 Ed has wanted to go to Alcatraz since he heard about it as a little boy....my family is just 45 minutes away from The Rock...you would think i had taken him there sometime in the last 16 years....nope, unfortunately it hasn't happened....It has been a long standing joke anytime we see reference to it on TV or in a movie or a conversation...going something like this; 

Ed, "Wow, wish i knew somebody from up there so I could have a reason to go to Alcatraz....."  "Too bad i didn't marry a girl who had family near Alcatraz so when we visited i could go there..."  "Wish we had an excuse to go up to Northern California so i could go to Alcatraz...."  "I've seen pictures of the place, looks really cool..."  "How many times have you been there?"  "Wow, my kids have even been there..."

So, yes, the teasing has been horrendous.....and every San Francisco's sports team always shows shots of it when their home games are aired....there has been no escaping the snide remarks....I honestly did not know Ed had wanted to go to Alcatraz our first couple of years of marriage....when something is in your backyard and you have gone multiple times you just don't realize someone might want to go there, so that part wasn't my fault.  Once Ed let me know he wanted to visit Alcatraz I did try to make that happen.  Unfortunately, when visiting, the days available for going didn't correspond with plans already made on visiting with everyone...so the joke turned to he just wanted to go there before he died.  We tried to go in 2007 when we were visiting from Okinawa, but the only slots they had available were a couple days after he was flying back out to our own rock in the Pacific.  The kids and i were staying longer, so we went, again...without him....Soooo, i knew this trip i really needed to get that guy to Alcatraz!  He's fought in 2 wars in 2 different countries and so i really wanted to get this in before his next deployment!  I called home and told them about the plans i had for Ed's Christmas present.  Grandma and Grandpa thought it would be really fun and wanted to go with us!  Perfect!  I reserved all our tickets for our 2nd day there and mum was the word.  Ed brought up Alcatraz a few times as our fly date got closer.  I told him i was pretty sure it was closed this time of year and that it would be really cold, windy, probably rainy, and just plain miserable to go this time of year.  It was soooo hard to watch his face get that expression of a little kid who just watched his dog die...but i wanted to surprise him!  We flew to Cali on Wednesday and Thursday morning we got up and i told Ed we were going into the City for the day and were going to have fun on Fisherman's Wharf and just enjoy all the Christmas festivities in the City.  He asked about Alcatraz.  I said it was closed. Again, the 'my dog just died' look...i almost caved and told him, but didn't.  As we were driving across the Bay Bridge he was looking out the window and asking if that was Alcatraz out there in the water.  We went on and on about how clear it was outside and that it is sooo cool he is able to see it from the bridge, and again about it being closed during the holidays and how cold it would be out there.  He just looked out the window....the kids knew where we were going and i was sooo proud of them for not spilling the beans!!!  We parked and began walking over to the water and the boats.  We found where we were supposed to board and Ed was just looking at the boat that said Alcatraz Tours and said, "I think they are open..."  I said, "They are!  Merry Christmas Baby!  Our boat leaves in an hour!!!"  He was sooo happy and the kids were all full of giggles!  Sooo, Ed finally got to go to Alcatraz!  I think it was everything he thought it would be.....I am just sooo glad i was finally able to do something on HIS bucket list since he is ALWAYS taking care of my bucket list....scuba certified, elephant riding in the jungles of Thailand, hiking The Great Wall of China, shark cage diving, visiting Guam where my Mom lived as a military brat, family vacation to Hawaii, The Grand Hotel, my famous ferris wheel addiction, family tandem bike riding...the list goes on, maybe i will blog about my bucket list someday....but anyways, 16 years worth of him making my simple and not so simple dreams come true....sooo glad i could take care of one of his, especially since his job is waaaaay more dangerous than mine!!!  We had a great day on Alcatraz!  The audio tour is amazing as it it takes you through the prison and the grounds.  You have your own head set and so you can pause it if you want to stay longer on any given part of the tour.  Or, you can take one in a different language and test your skills!  Haha!  I am sure the tours with the Park Rangers are still just as good as they have always been, but it was nice with the audio tour on how you got all the sound effects to go along with all the stories and the different voices in the narration..it was a perfect day to visit Alcatraz and relive all the history on The Rock!


He didn't know until we walked up to our boat!

Home sweet home for the Michigan boy!




Playing a mock baseball game in the rec yard


The tourist picture...

Is this your first time behind bars? Um, dont answer that!

Ty reading about an escape attempt that happened at that very spot





Friday, January 27, 2012

The Beast Has (Temporarily) Roared Back To Life!

Ed’s truck began doing the dreaded  kirplunk…..sooooo, it went into the shop in July for a new transmission.  We dropped it off right before Ed left and let the mechanic know it wasn’t a rush because Ed was going to be gone most of the summer.  We knew it would take a while since the transmission was still under warranty.  The warranty peeps wanted the mechanic to do all these other things before they actually forked out the money for a new transmission.  It took over a month of going back and forth with the warranty peeps.  Ed was back now and a little irked that his baby was still parked elsewhere and unavailable.  But, he left in September and wasn’t due back until right before Thanksgiving, so no biggie.  Well, Ed got home and his beloved truck was still not sitting in the driveway.  He was beyond irked now and drove down to talk to the mechanic, and not very nicely.  He was told his truck would be ready to pick up on Friday due to now it needed the NC State Inspection so we could now renew the tags.  The mechanic said he would do the Inspection for free and for Ed to come pick it up on Friday.  Welllllllll, Ed got a phone call from the mechanic on his (Ed’s) birthday that a car driving on the Highway had lost control and had flown over the ditch and smacked into Ed’s truck.  He was sooo close to getting it back…..Soooooo, needless to say, Ed was more than just a little irked!  Happy Birthday baby!!!  Now we went into the waiting for Insurance companies to do their thing, which made the registration late as the mechanic couldn’t do the NC Inspection until the truck had been taken to a body shop and fixed and that couldn’t be done until the Adjuster came out.  Of course since this was right around Thanksgiving the Adjuster said it would take awhile due to all the accidents over the Thanksgiving holiday.  That didn’t fly well with Ed as the accident happened November 16th!  Well before Thanksgiving, soooo Ed wasn’t the nicest person to the Adjuster either….needless to say…..the Adjuster finally got everything done, the Beast was taken to a body shop and now it was time to leave for California to go on Christmas Holiday!  When did the truck go in the shop?  Oh yeah, JULY!!!  We came back from California and the guy at the body shop asked Ed why the overhead light wouldn’t go off and that it was causing the battery to constantly be dead.  Ed told the guy it didn’t do that before taking it there.  The Auto Body Shop guy told Ed he would figure out what was causing it and take care of it.  We finally got his baby back.  She looked beautiful.....  

Love These Hands

I love my guys hands.....whether they are clean or dirty.  I especially love how my hand gets swallowed up into his whenever he takes my hand...... 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Sky High!

Sky High, another reason why we are not so fond of North Carolina...there just isn't much to do here, especially in the winter time!  But in California there is always something to do!!!  Rain or shine, cold or hot, there is always something fun to go and DO.  We are not a family that is fond of sitting and watching!  Here in NC it is the movies or stay at home on a rainy or super cold day.  We can only hike sooo many trails, canoe and kyaak the waters, and wander Civil War trails so many times before the kids are a bit irked at the redundancy of our activities!  We have seen the Battleship NC a few times, done the Red Neck Wedding, toured the different plantations, been to Tryon Palace during different seasons, as well as the newly opened hands on mueseum down the road from the Palace, visited the birthplace of Pepsi, done the Ghost Walks, the Pirate Invasion, the Cape Fear Serpentarium, Zip Quest Park, bought our sandals at the Cottin Gin, ate the famous dinner at Mikes Farm, bought our pumpkins on the hay ride, screamed our heads off (well, i did) on the haunted hay ride, saw the Christmas lights on the other hay ride, Medieval Times (twice), the Ripleys Aquarium, the NC Aquarium, Okracoke and Hatteras Lighthouses ( we will see the rest this year), been to Blackbeards house, Shackleford Banks to find the wild Mustangs, which we did as well as go shelling, successfully, gone horseback riding on the Outter Banks and have even ventured up to Virginia and Maryland.....you name it, we have been there, done it....but most of these places you only go to once, where places like Sky High you can go to on any rainy day!!!  Yes, we miss the fun things our other Marine Corps duty stations had to offer, so for now we will branch out and i guess visit places that require us to stay the night somewhere as i think we have exhausted everything there is to do between Myrtle Beach and Raleigh....

But, anyways, enough of my grumbles....here was a fun day at Sky High with all our California cousins, Grams, and Aunts and Uncles.  It is a huge work out but sooo much fun as even the walls are trampolines and you can jump off of those!  I am soo bummed i have no pixs or vids from the foam pit!  There is a place where you can run and jump or run and jump off the walls into this huge foam pit!  Wish i had a picture of Ed trying to get out!!!  He got swallowed up in the foam!  Ryan is the one that does the flips off the walls into the foam pit and i just close my eyes!  Dodge Ball is our favorite and thank goodness there are refs to call you out!  Sooo wish they had one of these near our house!
Oh, and i HATE to jump in the same square as Ed!            He sends me flying! 


Grams can still do her cheerleading jumps!


Vicki in the air and everyone else is related to me!


Ed is in the air and again, everyone else is related to me!



My brothers having fun jumping and yes, everyone in video is family....





Trampoline Dodge Ball is the best!  Most of both teams i am related to....


...and this is why Ryan is usually the last one standing...he just jumps and jumps and the ball never seems to hit him!  he usually gets out by someone on the other team catching a ball he threw. 

Festival of Lights

While on Christmas holiday we had the opportunity to attend the 20th annual Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside.  I have no idea how we did not know of this all those years stationed at Camp Pendleton, i mean Vixs was born in Riverside!!!  But, anyways, we went this Christmas and it was just absolutely amazing!!!  For anyone stationed in So Cal or if you happen to be there anytime between the day after Thanksgiving thru the New Year, this is a must do!!!  There are Cinderella Carriage rides, regular wagon style rides all pulled by beautifully decorated horses, carolers singing, some real, some looking very real hanging from the balconies, real reindeer, and outdoor ice rink set up just for this time frame, all the treats you can imagine and plenty of entertainment!  The 3.4 million lights is turned on the Friday following Thanksgiving, so if you are in the area, don't miss out on this incredible Christmas celebration!  AND, if we are ever stationed in So Cal again we are definately staying at this hotel for a night or two!  It is just incredible!!! 










Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ty And The Wax Peeps

Ty thought the Wax Museum was pretty cool, but didn't have as much fun posing as Vicki did....but he did like the Halo and Terminator Dudes!



Vicki And Her New Waxy Friends

Vicki had a blast at the Wax Museum while we were in Hollywood!  Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of her hamming it up with her new waxy friends.....


Looking cool with James Dean....

Taking a walk with the Beatles....


Oh No!!!  What should i do with my hair?!! 

Serious discussions with Clooney....

Posing with a Vampire....even though she is Team Jakob!

Thinking things over.....

Going western with John.....

Striking a pose with Mama Mia!



Looking serious.....




 


Vicki And Her Waxy Friends

Sunday, January 15, 2012

I Work Out

The whole Christmas Vacation Vicki and Julianna would just randomly say "I work owwwwwt" to just about anything.  Wow, and even a picture to go with their line from a song i hear all the time.....

Love My furry Friends

I just adore my furry friends, even though they drive me crazy at times!  Sooooo, every once in awhile they rate a few slots on the Blogger....here they are on my bed.....i vacuum my bed a LOT!


Eskimo Kisses

Leah and Tank have a love hate relationship.  Leah was born with the instinct to not only kill cats, but to destroy them in the process.  Thank goodness we got her as a puppy and we have been able to curb her kill instinct to play roughly instead.  Yes, Tank has seen down her throat on more than one occassion......But, every once in awhile they show each other some affection....

Tank was sleeping and Leah jumped up on the bed to say hello

Tank and Leah Looking into each others eyes.....
 

Leah came over and gave Tank an Eskimo Kiss.....


.....and than Tank slipped Leah the tongue......


Busted!

Jasper is not allowed on the couch, but whenever nobody is looking or home, he jumps up there like he owns the place!  I caught him and took some pictures while telling him i was going to show them to Daddy and he was going to be in TROUBLE!!!

Jasper giving me his dignified look after getting caught


Jasper saying "Go ahead, tell my master, i laugh at the thought of him seeing these pictures!  hahahahahaha!"


Lecture Time, Dog to Dog

I walked into my room and Jasper was on the bed talking to Leah.  I asked Jasper if he was telling Leah not to eat Tank, he just grumbled at me and laid down....

Found Some Reindeer!

What would Christmas be like if we couldn't see REAL Reindeer?!  Glad i don't have to know, found some!  Yep, only the female reindeers still have their antlers at Christmas time!


Happy 13th John!

Every other year we get together for a family reunion on the Mikolajcik side.  John 's birthday always falls somewhere during the reunion.  This year he turned 13!  We spent the day hiking in the desert, swimming in the late afternoon, dinner at Red Robins, seeing the lights that night at the famous Mission Inn, and ending the night with the famous Costco Chocolate Cake!  Happy 13th John!!!

John giving me a scary face before we start our hike in the desert........on a horse with no name....oooops, wrong desert trip....

......and 17 people wandered into the desert with only a water bottle each.....


Swim time after desert wandering.... 

Red Robbin was Johns choice for dinner, yum!
 
Than off to see the MILLIONS of lights at the Mission
 
.....and ending with a delicious Chocolate Cake!

Chocolate cakes are a favorite for these cousins.....Ryan even had one when we were visiting from Okinawa and his birthday fell during our Mikolajcik time!





Still Holds Our Hands....

Every chance i get i snap a picture of Ryan holding Ed's hand.  Someday he won't hold our hand anymore....and that makes me sad.....but until then i will snap away and than make a book of all these pictures i have taken of Ryan holding our hands.....

More Princess Carriage Ride

I forgot to add these last three pictures to our carriage ride...

Grandma Mik, Julianna, and Vicki


Me up top with our driver


Our beautiful Cinderella Carriage