Fort Lewis!!!

So Tuesday (June 23rd) morning before we left Washington for Oregon, and after we bid Scarlett and the girls goodbye (after Ben's morning nap) we went up to Ft. Lewis and drove around LDACistan, where Chris spent 5 weeks training in between his junior and senior years of ROTC. It was fun having him point out all the locations where he lived, called me, was in the field, did exercises, ate,etc.

We almost got them all to look. Of course Ben was infatuated by Kaitlyn


Much better,at least he was looking forward if not at the camera


The kiddos...and Annabelle gets lost!


Yay, we managed to get 4 kiddos 2 & under to all look at the camera and smile(ish) at the same time!! Definitely a great pic!


So, these cattle cars, actually carry cadets, to and from wherever they need to go for the day, not cattle. I think if you click on the picture, you can actually see some of them in the windows.


Some cadets planning out their drills for an exercise later that day.


The line of barracks where cadets live for 5 weeks.


We stopped in a parking lot while Chris got out to take some pictures, orient himself (ie where was he in the field, where was he at the range...)and I got Ben out cuz he was fussy. He makes some of the cutest faces!

My happy boy!

Skookum's. Chris has some funny stories about these things. Only at Ft. Lewis are they called Skookum's and not port-a-potties.


This the building Chris stayed in. There's a phone on the outside that he used to call me on, when he was given permission (they take away all cell phones).


Chris's room was the 2nd one from the end, top floor.


Mount Rainier. Chris saw this amazing site nearly everyday he was there, thanks to no rain/cloud coverage for most of the 5 weeks. We got to hike parts of it when I went up for his graduation!

I loved hearing all the stories he told as he pointed out different buildings. He got so excited reliving it!

Since Nils had to go to work early, we stopped by to say goodbye (he works right near the cadet land) and to get a pic


Since our boys were acting up when we went to visit Ron & Susan, and we didn't get a picture, they met with us at Panera Bread on the way out of town, and we got a family shot.

Ron, Susan, & Ben!

The boys finally slept on the drive down to Oregon. This was the only "long" drive that we didn't do in the middle of the night.

The beginnings of sleep (he hated to sleep in the car)


And we are getting more comfortable (rolling)-yes I know bad mom,taking the seatbelt off, but I was desperate for him to sleep.


And the final roll, nose pressed into the seat.

Puget Sound

So Monday morning of our trip to Seattle (22nd of June) we decided to head to see Puget Sound since it was only like 10 minutes away from Nils & Scarlett's house. We found that out from Ron & Susan, whom we had spent Fathers Day afternoon with. It was beautiful. Ben had a blast playing in the sand, and John kept trying to chase the splash, and throw rocks into it!

Checking out the splash!

I LOVE this picture!

Did I mention Ben was playing in the sand?!


This little "stream" trickled into the ocean. The cove was beautiful.


Daddy teaching John how to throw rocks. Can you see that speck that he threw, and the follow through!

Mommy & John skipping/throwing rocks.

Panoramic view of the cove


I loved this island. So,strange, yet so perfect a location.

This is how you do it mommy!


So, since John had a minor meltdown/tantrum the day before, we had to come back the next day to get a family pic in front of the cove.

Also, Monday evening, we got to hang out with one of the guys who was in our Bible Study in San Antonio, Chris Black. He got stationed in Washington shortly after graduating flight school. It was really neat to see him, and catch up on what was going on in his life. He was still the same old Chris, which was neat to see!
So, one was too far away, but pretty much everyone was looking (well Ben didn't look at anything but the ground the entire time!), one Chris & Chris must have said something to each other, and John is starting to get frustrated, and the last one, well we are all looking (almost). Bonus, front of Nils and Scarlett's house in the background!!!


So, a brief note about Father's Day. We went to Nils & Scarlett's church which was pretty good. Nils even won a grilling apron for being the dad with the youngest baby there. Too bad, Ben wasn't born a wee bit later!!! Those aprons were pretty cool if I do say so myself. We decided not to brave any crowds for lunch and rather headed to Quiznos, and got some sandwiches to go. After lunch the kiddos all took naps, as did Nils, as he wasn't feeling well. Meanwhile, one of Scarlett's friends dropped her dog off to be watched for a few days. The dog had really long toenails, and her dew claw was almost growing into her paw, so since Chris knew how to trim dog's toenails, he did. I married a man of many talents, I am finding! A better way to spend Father's Day, I think not!! (We did end up spending some really neat time that evening -until the kids went crazy-with Ron & Susan & Lydia, and had some delicious food!!)

Pics as promised

So, I finally uploaded the pics from my camera from the last two months, so I have tons more pics to post, but these are the ones I promised from my time visiting Kathryn & Zaky!

Sitting on the back porch which overlooks Belton Lake. John is busy in the background throwing rocks down the hill behind her grandma's house.

Chillin!

Aunt Lisa got a chance to hold both babies!!

I think this was the best attempt at getting them both to look at the camera. Although, I do believe Zaky was fascinated with Ben's hair!


Again, fascinated with the hair. This was the best pic I could get of John with us.


And he is off my lap to go explore, and Zaky is still after Ben's hair!


An orange picture of Kathryn & I. This is what happens when you are silly and try to take the picture yourself, instead of letting one of the numerous picture taking capable people around you take the picture!!


And a much better picture! It was a great reunion! Can't wait to do it again!