I am horribly late in posting this but for our tenth anniversary (7/11), John surprised me with a trip to Hawaii.  We were there from 6/27 to 7/3.  We stayed on the big island the whole time and enjoyed our time without the kids.  We did a little snorkling, explored some waterfalls, saw some volcanos (although we missed out on viewing the lava at night because the wind was blowing the fumes our way), and of course just relaxed.  It was hard coming back to our crazy schedule and adjusting to the time change.  I got to hand it to him, he kept the details about the trip a secret and took care of all the planning on his own.  You can check out some of our pictures from the trip in our Hawaii album.

It has been way too long since I posted.  I have added a folder with pictures titled “Catching Up” since that is what I am trying to do.  Let’s see what has happened since I last wrote.  Let me start with Ashley- she has finished up soccer and went right into Swim Team.  She has been doing well in school and really enjoyed her field day.  You will see in the pictures that she has lost her top two front teeth.  She found her tooth and asked some questions about the Tooth Fairy   I was able to dodge the issue for the most part.  Sydney graduated from Preschool on May 20th and has been loving sleeping in (she is definitely like me in that respect).  She had a recital in which she did a short tap routine.  It was cute although I am glad that she wasn’t too fond of dance because it is expensive with the costumes and such. 

She also likes to go to the pool to play even though she won’t be on the Swim Team this year.  She turns 5 on the 18th and we will be celebrating with a luau pool party.  She is very excited since she has been asking about her birthday since probably January.  Natalie is a little cutie with attitude.  She has taken up hitting and biting since her sisters bother her quite a bit.  I can’t blame her much but I still put her in time out which is hard when she sticks out her bottom lip to pout.  She has been going through the process to evaluate whether she is eligible for speech therapy through the county.  She has actually started repeating more and trying to say more recently.  Just the other day, John got out of the car and she said “Bye bye Daddy”  It doesn’t seem like much for a 2.5 year old but since she hasn’t said much in the past, I was impressed.  This is getting long but I will keep going.  John has started flying again and working on his Instrument Rating.  He has had two instructors leave but is hoping that the current one will stick around.  He also has been biking a lot.  He attempted a century this past weekend (yes that is 100 miles) but with the temperature getting over a 100 degrees he was only able to complete 65 miles.  I don’t know about you but that is about 63 more than I could do.  Now for me- let’s see… laundry, dishes, baths, meals, changing diapers, repeat.  Just kidding, sort of.  I am Concessions Co-Chair for Swim Team so that will keep me busy during swim season and then I am a volunteer at Girl Scout Camp in August.  After that, I joined the PTA Board as Fund raising Co-Chair.  I know, I over commit myself but I guess I have a hard time saying no.  I will do my best to post more frequently over the summer.

We had a very busy weekend that included two big milestones. First, on Friday night John had his graduation ceremony for his Master’s Program at George Washington University. His parents & I were able to attend while we left the kids home with a babysitter. The speakers were boring as usual and the graduates were many but we still celebrated the accomplishment.

On Saturday, we started the day with a yard sale. Then, we went to a soccer game in the afternoon (which her team won and remains undefeated). In the later part of the day, the girls were out playing and riding bikes. Ashley saw her friend riding without training wheels and finally got up the nerve to try herself. She did really well and by Sunday she was a “pro”. Of course, Sydney wanted to try too but after one try on her friend’s bike she decided to stick to the training wheels. All of the pictures from the weekend are posted in the “What a Weekend” Folder including video of Ashley riding (sorry for the shaky video).

Well it seems that Spring has sprung and with it comes some final field trips for the classes. First, Ashley went to a puppet show with the first graders in Maryland. I actually volunteered to chaperone and was responsible for her and 3 little boys (hand-picked by Ashley ) It was a nice time except for the 45 minute bus ride.

Next, Sydney’s preschool went to a farm to feed animals and have fun. They have a huge bouncey dome that the kids can jump on and some of us adults went for it too. It was fun and made me wish I was a kid again. The weather cooperated and warmed up quite a bit. The final pictures in the field trip folder were taken in a big corn “sand” box. They enjoyed this although I found several kernels of corn in my laundry after.

Today John celebrated his 33rd birthday. Well, I am not so sure he celebrated it but the kids had a lot of fun with it. He received some small gifts from us including an air rocket launcher that he enjoyed playing with and his parents got him an ice cream cake (his favorite) before having to go out of town. The weather turned out to be really nice and he got to fit in a bike ride as well. I have put a couple extra pictures from the day in a separate album. Enjoy!

When John informed me that he was going to a conference in San Diego I was a little jealous, but when I found out it was Spring Break week I was determined to join him. With help from my mom and John’s parents watching the kids, we were able to go out West for 4 days. The area was beautiful and I even got to go past my first home (that I remember-it was a big disappointment). The weather was nice and while John went to his conference I spent time reading, relaxing, and shopping. His co-workers were very nice to me and included me in their meals and “networking” socials. The highlight had to be a party on an aircraft carrier called The Midway. I got to see the plane my dad flew. For pictures from our trip and of the girls check out the Spring Break album.

Well after a seven year hiatus (which not so coincidentally coincides with Ashley’s arrival) I am finally flying again. I got checked out in a Piper Warrior II. It is a low wing as opposed to the high wing Cessna 152 and 172 that all my time was in. I was a little rusty but the number of landings I have equals my takeoffs and all my landings were on a runway. If feels good to fly again. I am now looking into a partnership or club membership so I no longer have to pay the high rental rates.

Well, I passed the IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) written exam this morning. I did not do as well as I would have liked, but a passing grade is a passing grade and that is all that matters in the end. I hope to start my flight training next week. It has been over 7 years since I was a pilot in command of an aircraft so I am a little nervous. I am sure that I will pick it back up pretty quickly, but this is a whole new airspace and they have a lot of rules here because of Dulles Airport and Homeland Security.

On Friday, the girls had school canceled due to some ice on the streets. Most of the day it just rained and the weather warmed up so the ice didn’t stay long. I did notice how pretty the trees looked though and had to get a picture. It was a very long day with lots of fighting amongst the kids. I will have to have a talk with that school board about my kids being stuck home with me