Day 12: Family Fun Day!

Today was the squadron's forced family fun day! We headed to the marina on base, with empty bellies and ready for some fun! Kaleb was so excited for the water slides, me and Danny just hung out by the boats enjoying the sun and water. I'm sure we were supposed to mingle a little bit more but for some reason none of Danny's friends were there!

Kaleb must have went up and down the slide atleast fifty times. He took a quick break to eat dinner and then went right back to the slide. He was having waaaay too much fun! He made a few friends and didn't want to leave after 3 hours of going up and down the slide!

It was such a beautiful day on the water!

Thanksgiving at Charlotte Motor Speedway

For the past two years we have been going to Ohio for Thanksgiving. This year we decided we don't want to travel for the holidays - it costs a fortune to get from Place A to Place B. Of course there are going to be things we miss, Thanksgiving movie with Kaleb, Aunt Edna's delicious food, and personally...I like the road trip. But, we're staying put this year.

Instead of making ourselves a big meal....we are going to volunteer. I think it's a great way to give back to the community that we love.

I wish Charlotte was a little closer. I received this e-mail the other day and now I want to go so bad! Is anyone planning to go to this?!

Lowe's, the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the USO of North Carolina invite our Military and their families for Thanksgiving Dinner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway!

Be our guests for a traditional Thanksgiving feast, a visit by Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a very special performance by Grammy nominated artist, John Parr.  Additionally, we invite you to take the opportunity to experience Speedway's Carolina Christmas, one of the largest drive-through light parks in the country after dinner.  Carolina Christmas will be one of the largest holiday light shows in the United States, featuring nearly 500 different LED light displays, a realistic Bethlehem-themed village, NASCAR souvenir rigs for Christmas shopping, Santa's Village and themed areas for children with food, music and rides. 

Contact Megan Grady at m.grady@uso-nc.org or 704/359-5584 for more information or to reserve your spot!  Reservations must be made by Sunday, November 20! 

**This offer is for Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard and their families!  Dinner and all activities are free of charge!  Local hotel discounts are available!

Day 5: Playground and Ball Parks

Danny's schedule is absolutely nuts lately. Sometimes he works nights, sometimes it's days and sometimes it both. Since he was working the day shift yesterday I planned a little trip to the park with Jacque and her kids. I was crossing my fingers that Danny would get out early so we could make it to the (free) Kinston Indians game!

The kids had a fun time at the park. I (obviously) don't spend a lot of time at kids parks so I didn't realize how weird some parents are. What kind of rule is it to not get dirty at a park? But as weird as the parents are some kids are just down right strange...apparently "don't talk to strangers" means nothing to kids!

The kids had fun! Lots of running around, swinging, sliding, and more running! It was impossible to get a picture of Kaleb, the second he saw the camera he was off running again!

When we got home we took a bike ride to my friend Deven's house to see her and the new baby. Five days old, the tiniest thing I have ever seen! While we were there I got a text from Danny saying he was home...but had to be back to work at 6:30. Same time the game started! So, me and Jacque made a plan that we would take all the kids!

It was military appreciation night at the game last night..that means, free! And the Kinston Indians were playing the Salem Red Sox, how appropriate since Jacque is from Ohio and I'm from Boston! We got our seats some cheap food ($10 bucks for two hot dogs, fries, popcorn and a drink..in Boston I would have taken a small loan to get the same thing!) and enjoyed the game! We had some super nosy southern chic sitting in front of us. Every time we said something she would answer us....loudly. Towards the end of the game she said "If you let me, I'll take the kids down to get autographs." Um...I think we can do that! The Indians won, the kids all got baseballs and some autographs! It was a great night! 

96 Hours

I have always loved holiday weekends. But a military holiday weekend is amazing. Danny got out of work early on Friday. We headed to Raleigh for dinner with the in-laws. Danny's step-dad got a new truck, one of those fancy-schmancy ones with OnStar. Seriously, how cool is that? You call, a lady picks up, and you tell her where you want to go. She then sends the directions to your truck. When a direction comes up, the radio volume and air conditioner get quiet so you can actually  hear whats coming up. AND it has a built in phone. The TRUCK has it's own PHONE NUMBER! All five of us called Danny's grandma. Oh, and dinner was good too!

Saturday, after Miley peed on our bed, me and Danny had a long-overdue date night. First, we headed to Target to get some shelves for our living room, I love having pictures around the house...you can never have enough! We had dinner at the Olive Garden. Red wine, pasta...mmm, it was a good night! We were going to see a movie, and I don't really remember why we didn't...but we ended up back at the house finishing up season 1 of LOST. Danny swore he would never get addicted to it...but if you're a fan, you know that's impossible! We slept on the floor Saturday night....after Miley peed on the bed, I washed my sheets...and was waaaay to lazy to make the bed!

 Date night!

Sunday we hung the new shelves and put up some new pictures. I've never celebrated the 4th without a crowd, so it was a little different for me. We made ribs and corn on the cob...very yummy! Then we headed out to New Bern for the air show. We got there waaay early. We sat in the sun, listened to music and people watched. For doing absolutely  nothing, I had a lot of fun. The air show was awesome. The first guy went straight up in the air and shut his engine off! A lady walked on the wings of an airplane. That is I-N-S-A-N-E. We wanted to beat the traffic, so we left early. We settled in for the night with the Boston Pops and Toby Keith. I love the Pops, I've seen their Christmas show so many times. Watching it totally made  me miss home!

 Drawbridge in New Bern

This dog was waaaay bigger than me!

This girl was so cute! And I loved her dress!

LOVED the air show!

Monday I woke up, and my hips hurt. I think the night on the floor and sitting at the airshow killed my hips. Danny says its because I don't drink milk (I like it in coffee, cereal, ice cream and cheese...can't do it straight.) I seriously think he is going to make me take vitamins. ICK! We went to the golf course, he hit a bucket of balls. I was just getting getting enough nerve to hit a ball myself when a ton of people came. I'm such a wimp, totally bailed. I promised him next time I would hit a whole bucket. We took Miley to the pet store, she get's SO excited when another dog comes up to her...she always pees. That girl needs some bladder control! We ended the day with a great dinner and a trip to Starbucks!

Fun in the sun!

Today was the last day of "vacation." We went down to Wilmington to do a little shopping. Jacksonville has so many stores, including two Walmarts, but there is NO KOHLS! We got some cheap beach towels, a couple area rugs and I got the cutest dress! I also started scoping out ideas for the summer essentials swap! We're grilling out again tonight...and probably going to end the day with more LOST.

You know what my favorite part of a 96 is? Danny only has 3 days of work...and then it's the weekend! LOVE IT! 

And just a little blogging business: if you are going to sign up for the swap, please do it before noon tomorrow. That way I can figure out the pairs in time for Thursday's post!  I haven't decided if I'm going to do it by location or randomly. Any feedback would be great!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! 

You stay up for 16 hours. He stays up for days on end.
You take a warm shower to help you warm up.
He goes weeks without running water.
You complain of a 'headache' and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You talk trash about your buddies that aren't there.
He knows he may never see any of his ever again.
You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his forehead.
You get mad at the waiter for getting your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

You're mad that your class got held 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.
You roll your eyes when your baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new baby, and wonders if they'll ever meet.