Home Sweet Home

We got back last night from our wonderful vacation in the mountains. The return trip was about as rough as the one there. I had some tire trouble and ended up spending two hours at the BMW dealership in Atlanta, getting two rear tires put on. I am so thankful for the mechanic in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Ga., who put my spare on for me and gave me directions. Luckily, I have two amazing travelers who barely complained, even when we drove nonstop from Atlanta. Snacks, toys and unlimited gangsta rap worked their magic.

But the stresses to the trip were totally worth it for the time I spent with my friends. We hadn't all been together since about two years ago in Italy, before Sam left. But it was like we had just last seen each other last weekend. As I told Win, it was four days of non-stop girl talk, and it was perfect.

The cabin was beautiful, the setting incredible. All the kiddos got along, despite the age differences. There were a few squabbles, but nothing major. It was really cute to see them all running around together in various stages of dress.

So we are safely back home, and back to the hot hot weather. Win took Bean Dip to the pool, and Baby G and I are unpacking/cleaning/recovering from the horrendous drive yesterday. I'll try to post some pictures soon, or check out Vicenza Girls Getaway.

Blogging from the Mountains

The kids and I are having a little vacation in the mountains. It is also a reunion, of my best friends from Italy. I have seen Gretchen in the past year, but I have not seen Michelle since I left Italy, and Sam in 2(?) years. Michelle and Samantha and I were all pregnant together, and our babies spent their first year together. This is the beginning of an annual get-together to see each other, no matter live/Army sends us.

We don't have cell phone service, but we do have wireless internet. The drive was pretty brutal, not what I was expecting. I got a late start, forgot about the time change, and then spent 2.5 hours driving through Atlanta traffic in a severe thunderstorm. The kids were great, considering I didn't unstrap them after our very short break for lunch. (I stopped at a state park and let them run around.) But that was at 12 p.m., and we didn't get here until 7:30.

For G, it was just about 45 minutes to long. She cried the last bit, which consisted of a gravel road that got smaller and smaller as we drove along. It winds along a beautiful river. But driving at 15 miles an hour with a screaming baby no longer interested in Lord Infamous was not fun.

But everyone was happy when we got here, there was an almost immediate epic Star Wars battle, and all the kids (and moms) are having a blast. I can't wait to explore tomorrow.

Oh and if you want to read more about our trip, check out our Vicenza Girls Getaway blog (here).

Let's Play a Game

I'm stealing this from here. I'm not going to add up the price of the contents of my bag, but for fun I'm going to list what I carry on a daily basis. On my monthly trip to Target this week, I impulse-bought a new bag. I have spent the summer constantly changing which bag I carry, based on what is planned for the day. In Italy, I carried a huge messenger bag, mainly because I usually parked and walked everywhere. Here, I have to drive everywhere, so I don't need such a big bag. Anyway ... I found a mid-sized, very casual messenger (my favorite type) that I think will hold all the basics but not be too big.
This is what I always have with me:

Wallet
Phone
Keys
Gum/Tic-Tacs
Brush
Chapstick
Hand sanitizer
Baby wipes
1 diaper for each kid
Light blanket

And then I usually throw in these:

Various snacks
Water bottles for myself and each kid
Pen
Sunglasses for myself and each kid
Hat for Baby G
Various random toys

I like to think I travel pretty light, considering I have two kiddos. I also like to think I've simplified my life by getting one bag and sticking with it. I have my monster black leather hobo bag for winter. I found it in San Marino and absolutely love it.

What do you always carry with you? And what is your favorite bag/purse?

Eleven

Miss Baby G is eleven months old. I can't believe it. It goes by so fast.

I am so happy that she is finally crawling. In just the last couple weeks she has gone from her zombie crawling to full-on "crocodile" crawling and pulling up. Last week, she pulled up on me and let go, standing on her own for half a second.

She is also happy as ever, her name really suits her. She's always laughing or smiling, and always gets the joke. She says "hi" and "hi, dada" and has a few other sounds that almost sound like words. She also started clapping, waves, and does the "all done" sign. I think she is also starting to do the "more" sign, but it looks more like clapping right now.

On Sunday, we went to the pool. G loves the water. I rolled her over so she was lying on her back, and she was fine. She just lay there chuckling. As soon as she's 18 months, I'll put her in swim lessons. She is the same in the bathtub -- she lies on her belly and squirms around. When she gets her face wet, she's surprised but not scared. I love it.

Chocolate Cures Everything

This morning I woke up when Bean Dip came in. I told him I hadn't slept well and had had a bad dream.

He responded very matter-of-factly, "But Mama, you need to eat M&Ms so you don't have bad dreams!"

"The Red Spider"

Yesterday evening, we were all hanging out in the back yard. Win and I were talking, and Bean Dip comes over and says, "Dada, come see the red spider!"

So Win goes over to see the spider that is hanging from the side of the house, right at BD height. Uh yeah. It was a Black Widow. Not cool. Normally, we don't kill spiders that are outside, but a Black Widow is on a whole different level. So Win went to kill it and quickly realized it was already dead. Probably from the Terminix guy's visit earlier this week.

I am terrified of spiders. I get the chills just thinking about them. Luckily, I've drilled into BD's head not to touch spiders, but to come tell me or Win immediately. And he does just that. He's not afraid of them, but he respects them. He has a "pet" wolf spider that is living between the window pane and screen in the TV room. Whenever it comes out, he goes over and bangs on the window. He has also studied at length the "Pest Decoder" wheel courtesy of Terminix. They do have a picture of a Black Widow, and the Brown Recluse on it. So he knows, if not totally understands.

Good times in the South, man.

Thursday

So is has been really sweet (and a little sad) to watch how excited the kids get when Win comes home. With the crazy flight school schedule, they are only seeing him for a couple hours at night (if even that), and on the weekends. Sometimes they are already in bed when he gets home.

Yesterday, I kept catching Baby G crawling to the door and peeking out the window. I'm positive she was looking for her Dada. She is absolutely in love with him. Her first (and so far, only) real words are "Hi, Dada."

I also think all this lack of dad time is negatively affecting Bean Dip. He's been acting out a lot more, and I know he misses his "man time" with his dad. Yesterday was better for both of us, and he was happy as long as I was ripping robots heads off with him (with the light sabers). These monsters and robots are really a menace -- they are everywhere and always coming back!

Today is the last day of swimming lessons for BD. It hasn't gone swimmingly, but it's gone well enough. I think he has gotten a good introduction to the water, and I've seen what we can practice together. Next year, I will get both of them in lessons early in the season.

Heard ...

... over the baby monitor last night:

(Over the sounds of light sabers ripping robots' heads off.)

BD: "Dada, you're a bad guy."

Win: "What's my name?"

BD: "Darth Vader."

Win: "Who are you?"

BD: "I'm Obi-Kadobi-Won."

Water and Light Sabers

Second day of swimming lessons went well. BD had a different teacher. I did not get into the water with him, and he was fine. Even (sort of) put his face in the water.

So BD has not put down his light sabers since Zia Venusja gave them to him this past weekend. He held on to the red one the entire drive back, and he's been taking them in the car everywhere we go. We just had to go outside to attack the monsters and robots in the back yard. Yay that we have two ...

My own little Anikan.

Quotes

Here are a few quotes from the 5-year-old girl this weekend. She was adorable and might be BD's first crush.

"I love bacon. It's like a miracle."

(on fireworks) "I think colors are one of my favorite things."

(her response when I said good-bye to her) "Can you get me a cupcake?"

An anniversary, a holiday, and some things new

BD had his first swim lesson today. It went well. I had to get in the water with him, but he participated and was smiling by the end, so I'm calling it a success. He has it every day for two weeks, and there are only five kids in the class. His teacher is very nice. Pictures to come later, since I couldn't photograph while swimming.

Our Fourth of July weekend was fun. Saturday (the third) was our six-year anniversary. We didn't do anything to celebrate except drive to the beach. But that is fine, for us it is a treat to just be together on our anniversary. We're averaging about 50 percent on that one -- (1) Win deployed, (2) Together at the beach, (3) Together with a brand-new Bean Dip, (4) another deployment, (5) Me in the U.S. and Win still in Italy, (6) together at the beach.

So we drove down Saturday night and spent the rest of the weekend with our friends Alex and Venusja, and also our friends Sean and Alicia, and their family. Sean was Win's squad leader during the first deployment, and we haven't seen them in about three years. Their kids are 8 and 5, and wonderful. BD had a blast. We had lots of delicious BBQ, went to the beach (it is beautiful, just a few tar balls and dead fish, and the ever present BP oil cleaners), and set off fireworks. The boys caused some drama by going to get tattoos. I guess it was a great man-bonding experience, but the rest of the group wasn't too pleased. There is something about infantry boys and that "brotherhood." When you get them together, it is like everything else falls away, and they forget they have any responsibilities.

This week, we have swim lessons, and are expecting a last-minute visitor at the end of the week. She called me today to tell me she is coming to see Baby G crawl. That's right, G is finally crawling. I'm so happy. She still kind of sits on her feet as she goes, and still flops back into her zombie (belly) crawl, but she is definitely crawling.

Having two mobile children is going to be interesting. It's a whole new ballgame.