Boots & Football

When I picked up Ty from football he comes walking to the car in his boots and shorts. One of his coaches stops and looks at him and just shakes his head, smiles, and keeps walking. I am laughing as Ty gets in the car. This kid always has me laughing. I love that he is who he is and he is happy with who he is and doesn't ever try to be what he thinks people think he should be, if that even makes sense!  He loves his boots and he doesn't care if they are in style or not. He said some of the kids looked at his weird when he asked if it was legal to hunt cyotees. I laughed and said he might want to check with his dog and see how she feels about that. He laughed. 

Ty entertained me walking up to the front door.

The Hamster Ball

The Fall Festival had a really fun venue! A giant hamster ball! Vicki tried it first. She crawled in, the guy strapped her in, she had handles to hold on to, and than he rolled her all over the lawn. She loved it!

This is Vicki starting to climb in......

Vicki being rolled around.....there was LOTS of

giggling and screaming.......

Ed decided to try it.....once his Marines found out

he was in the hamster ball they took over......

There were several Marines having fun rolling him

all over the lawn instead of the lone guy who rolled

Vicki and I around.....

The 1st Sgt got an extra long turn!!!

Normally there are two people strapped in at a time

but due to how windy it was and only this one guy

working this venue there was only one person allowed

in the ball at a time for safety.

I give it a 2 thumbs up!

Now The Old Hospital!

Ohhhhhh.......Navel Hospital Camp Pendleton.....I went there as a kid AND I had TWO children born there!!! Thing One & Thing Two (Ty and Ryan) were both born there and all 4 had numerous shots there, Jorden had a his physical for Kindergarten there, his sling for when he broke his collar bone there, I had my head stapled back together there.....ohhhhh the memories.......we also camped there at the camp grounds at Lake O'Neil right there by the hospital......sad to see that the hospital is no longer in use.....there is a much nicer one now right by the main gate going out to Oceanside, but this will always be a beautiful site to me.....

Updated Shell Box

I updated our shell box from when the Adolpho's were visiting. I love my shell box. I can pick up any shell and there is a memory written on it....the latest one with the Adolpho's at the Dog Beach on Camp Lejeune.  It was a super fun day! The kids had a blast and so did the dog!!! I was thinking back on all the fun my kids have had with Adolpho kids and all the places we've been and it is pretty funny for us to have only been stationed on an itty bitty island in the middle of the Pacific we have been to a LOT of places together!

Our kids have been on three islands together:

*Okinawa

*Guam

*Hawaii

They have been in

*North Carolina

*Maryland

*Delaware

*New Jersey

*New York

and Vicki in Virginia with them when she went to Busch Gardens and rode roller coasters!

 

They have played together in the Pacific & Atlantic oceans and The East China Sea

 

AND!!! We were even all together on a Space A flight, so they have flown together on a giant C-5!!! I wonder how many childhood friends can match up with these Military Brats!!!

 

Yep, these Military Brats have had an awesome childhood and now teen years together on fun adventures!

His Growing Up Has Been Intertwined With Iraq and Afghanistan

I was watching Ty as he went around the entire Iraq and Afghanistan wall....he was just reading everything and looking at all the pictures.....he was very quiet.  I wonder what our children are thinking.....there are times like these they don't talk and i can tell they don't want to....this was one of those moments....he just wanted to read it all....so much of his growing up has been immersed in what is going on in the Middle East. He has seen his Dad off to both of these countries to fight.  The early years it was just to 'go get the bad guys' but now he knows more of what it is to actually go and get the bad guys and so with each deployment his thoughts have changed i am sure.....i just really wonder what goes thru our childrens minds when they are quiet like in this moment..... 

Delaware Stop

It was time for a potty break while heading up to New York. Delaware was the stop! Another state these Military Brats can add to their Okiohana adventures!

Boys At The Beach

I think I will have to frame this....

Beach Day With Oki Peeps!

You know how there are some people that you just mesh with...you meet and everyone just gets along and it is just fun and no trying to impress or anything. Just being yourself and having a good time? That was the Adolpho's who lived across from us when we lived on the island of Okinawa. They are in most of our pictures and almost all of our memories. My kids grew up with Adolpho kids for 5 years. They saw them daily except for when one of us were off the island, and somehow we even managed to run into each other when we were off the island and have spend time together on two other islands while hopping back to our home island of Okinawa! we were on Hawaii and Guam together and the kids have flown in a C-5 together! How many neighborhood kids have those kind of memories together?!!!  It was literally like we had never been apart!

Abby their deaf dog learned how to swim today....it was so cute to watch her as she figured out what to do! In the end she figured it out and i think she even liked it! Not enough to go charging into the ocean but enough that i think she thought it was a fun thing to check off her on her dogie bucket list!

Vicki thought she was just going to sit and get some sun....nope, Ajaye picked her up and threw her in the water! No special treatment for being a girl, she has always been like a sister/cousin to him so it was full fledged pick up and throw in! Later he threw plenty of wet sand on her. Definitely just like old times!

Yep, these kids haven't missed a beat! They had a blast playing in the waves, burying Byron in the sand, throwing each other in the water.....it was like they had been playing with each other on the beaches their whole lives and hadn't taken a 6 year hiatus due to the military sending their Dads to different duty stations!

He's Ready For Boot Camp

I sent this picture to The Dude in Cammies....he replies back, "He is ready for Boot Camp" lol

Road Trip Day Three

Ed lost a bet with Vicki on a math thingy so he has to wear her stripe socks today! They checked out of their hotel this morning in Oklahoma and made it to Flagstaff Arizona by nightfall! They have been zipping across America!!! They stoped in Albequerque this afternoon to see my family for a few hours and were even able to see my Grandma Mary! They had a late lunch with my Dad and Michelle and Mary and Ed said they had delicious Mexican food! 

Ed sporting his stripe socks!

Starting their drive!!!

Made it out of Texas and into New Mexico!

Hanging out with the familia!!!

Mary, Michelle, and Dad with Ed

Road Trip Day Two

They headed out of Mississippi and sent me this picture......the next text came from Arkansas......and they stopped in Oklahoma! They are quite the road trippers!!! They seem to be having fun and they haven't killed each other yet!!!! And the jeep is still going strong!!! All is good!

Road Trip Day One

These two are so silly! They had a great first travel day of their road trip to Barstow! They went from North Carolina, to South Carolina, to Georgia, and ended their Day One in Alabama! They are both still alive and the jeep is still running! All is good on the road trip to California!

Not Used To This!

Totally not used to this! Empty closet.......empty drive way.......and Vicki is the one heading out to the next duty station!  This is just all kinds of backwards!!!  His vehicles have always been left behind when he leaves, only his uniforms have left the closet, and Vicki scouting out our next duty station?!!! Yep, just all kinds of crazy!!! But they made it to Alabama!

Driving Away....With VICKI!!!

I'm the Mom, the Marine Wife....it's my double job to watch the Marine and my daughter drive away and wave until i see them no more....and than of course wipe away the tear drops and walk back into work with a smile like i will see them tonight at the dinner table.  The life of a Marine Wife....i dare someone to try it for a day....well a day when they are away....well a day when they are away with a gun, while being shot at, in a foreign country, with no laws, and not allowed to shoot back at the people shooting at them, and not sure if the people they are with will be shooting them.....try it on one of those days....those are the harder days.....this is actually an easy day.....i could call him right now if i wanted to, but i won't because he is still on base and he can't talk on his phone on base and i need to get back to my classroom......  

Stopped To Say Goodbye

Ed and Vicki stopped by my work to say goodbye before they headed out.....

She said to hurry because she was freezing!!!!

They are heading out!

One last goodbye....

The Navigator.....She's doing my job....

They've got their Pringles.....

All of Ed's bags....

Vicki's bag

He Knows....He's Sad

Jasper knows his best friend is leaving.....the jeep is packed....this dog wears his feelings right smack on his face!!! This guy has had to say good bye a lot, not as many times as we have had to, but he doesn't know that....sometimes i wonder if it is harder on a Marines dog than it is on a Marines furless family members on the seperation part...just another one of those questions on my list to be answered in the after life....