July

Happy 11th Anniversary. Date night downtown New Orleans.
Thumbs up on another NOLA adventure. Okay, aquarium, let's check you out.
did not disappoint, aside from the crowds that day


So excited to have the birds land on the food stick we bought...too bad they wouldn't. Maybe next time when their bellies aren't already full from all the other people shoving food sticks in the air.
blurry but cute
Next stop...ZOO! No, not the same day.



I guess the Audubon Zoo had the right idea about installing a water play area. I mean, who wants to go look at animals in this heat in the summer? I'm sure the animals themselves are all sleeping inside somewhere.
Ah, I thought this day would never come. Not only did he sit still to practice writing his letters, he did every page in the book. Wow.
Day 4 or 5 at the zoo, I can't remember.

Morrissey is finally coming out of her shell at the new house. Not counting when we brought her home from the shelter in Key West, this is her 8th move (& don't forget the house fire when we were not at home) at 13 years old. I'm glad to see her enjoying herself.
The courtyard is the perfect spot for her to stretch out, eat grass and not worry about other animals scaring her. She is such a scaredy cat.
Let's try to bring Robin with us for a nice dinner out. Tried another Cuban place, always looking for Joe's churrasco and sweet plantains. Not as good as the place we tried on our anniversary. Joe is right, though, even the malls in Miami do it better.
Self-portrait. He insisted on a tie.
And another trip to the children's museum.

I'm trying to decide what kind of schooling I want to do next. There are some good certificate programs in holistic nutrition, but I think I'm going to hold out and look for a Master's in something related. Any ideas, throw them my way...nutritionist, dietician, health promotion...etc. It's just hard to find the right program to match with my interests and the payoff down the road. A distance learning would be ideal.
Today is Robin's last day of summer camp. He has been going 2 days a week for 8 weeks. He hated going in the beginning, but now is sad it's going to end. That's a good sign, right? Good thing is, he'll be attending a half-day Kinder there in September. I love being able to walk him to school. He also might have to have his tonsils out...so not looking forward to that. We'll keep you posted. Hope your day is great!!

Dad & Carmen's Wedding

On June 18th , my Dad married a sweet lady named Carmen on Clearwater Beach in Florida, at sunset. I flew out alone, and left Joe & Robin at home.
Me & Babci in the car on the way there.
Dad & Babci. Dad kept saying that he was relaxed as long as his shirt was unbuttoned.
Three generations
Exchanging of vows
Dad & Nick after the ceremony
Awww
Getting sand all in their shoes
Goofing off with my brother
Carmen has a bigger family and they are super nice. Here is our smaller version.
Here's to Dad & Carmen-may you have many happy, happy years with each other; that each present moment reflects the love you share on this day.

Oh, and it's my anniversary today...11 years! Think we might be able to get a babysitter too. :)

Beginning our New Orleans adventures

Of course we really didn't get out much the first couple weeks because we were in land of boxes. R liked to set up shop inside the big ones complete with food, drink, blanket, pillow, flashlight and DVD player. Joe did take Robin out a lot so I could get unpacking uninterrupted.
The AirStation has library programming on Saturdays which we have been going to right before the pool. Robin loved this magic show.
Cool thing about where we live is that's it's pretty easy to get around and we live pretty close to downtown. One way to get there is taking this free ferry over. It's fun for the kid and most things are walking distance since it drops you off right in the French Quarter.

The Louisiana Children's Museum was our first stop in the realm of kids stuff. You have to go to air conditioned places this time of year. Can you see Joe in the middle of the eye?

My favorite thing there is all the Mister Rogers memorabilia. I took a photo of Robin and Mr. Rogers' actual sweater...but he has no clue how I grew up watching that show!
Right where the ferry drops you off, there are tons of things to buy, eat, and do. We let him go on this right after a huge vanilla milkshake. Can't believe he held it in. This Riverwalk area also has a mall. Joe & Robin picked out a dress for me, and made sure I knew that Catherine Zeta-Jones bought three of them in different patterns...so said the salesperson.
Although we are finding lots of "cool" stuff here, it's still very HOT. We set up a small pool in the courtyard for the boy to practice his underwater skills and we have even gotten in to cool off too.

We're enjoying it so far...won't bore you with R's constant tonsillitis or joining the local Mom's group right now. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer and you New Englanders are not complaining about the heat. We'd love visitors.

Change of Command

Getting ready for the ceremony
Joe & Elsa came down for the event


Robin was very well behaved through the whole, hot & sticky change of command. He also gave thumbs ups to all who spoke...Captain Kulisch was appreciative.
LCDR Jones, CAPT Kulisch, LCDR Meuse
Robin congratulating his Dad right after the ceremony.
Joe's coworkers/bosses from ITD Yorktown.
Riding the ferry over to the French Quarter for a celebration dinner with parents and friends.
My daredevil son with his almost equally as daredevilish dad and grandfather.

Last days in Williamsburg

Goodbye, Williamsburg, Virginia. We will miss you very much...Busch Gardens, Water Country, CW, our awesome neighborhood, parks, my yoga friends, and the list could go on. Here is a brief post about our last month or so.
Robin's school had its end of the year Carnival...bounce house, petting zoo, balloon animals, crafts, icecream, etc.

We needed an emergency visit from Abuela & Papa. After getting a good runaround from a certain Military Treatment Facility and was told to go home since I was just fine, I ended up having an emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. Thank God for listening to your inner voice. I muscled my way in to get an ultrasound appointment when the doctor said I didn't need one. I knew something was wrong. If I had listened to her, I might be dead right now. Frustrating!!! Joe took great care of me after surgery and while the movers packed our house, but then he had to leave to NOLA. His parents came down for a few days to help me. Thank God again. They were such a blessing.
We stayed at Ford's Colony since our house was empty. The hotel was super nice, but it rained every day.

Snuggling with Abuela
I owe another huge thanks to our friends the Dubnanskys, who have just moved to Jacksonville. When Elsa & Joe left, I was still not recovered so they let me lay on their couch and entertained the little guy with their little guys. On the way down to their house one day, R & I stopped at a Williamsburg Festival.


The green hair was a must, but it took a few shampoos to get it out of the scalp. Ugh, chemicals.
Joe came back before Robin's last week of school. Thank God again because we were tired of sleeping in an empty house with a mattress on the floor! Here's R getting his feet painted by his teacher on water play day.
As soon as Joe got back, we spent our last few days at Great Wolf Lodge. Of course I was not allowed in the water, so Joe took Robin to the water park for hours on end. Robin is not only comfortable with going under the water now, but we can't seem to get him to stay on top. Thinking we must get pool for our new house.

Poor Joe, not a fan of the big water rides, but he had to do them all, over and over. I love them. Next time.
So, Joe left for NOLA before us so he could drive the cat down and get there in time to start work. That left me and the kid at Great Wolf together. I knew he was going to be disappointed he couldn't do all the things at the water park that he'd been doing with Dad, but he was a great sport about it. We basically didn't play long and then I basically spent a lot more money...arcade, magic quest, restaurant. This boy needs a haircut.
My little wolf the night before our flight. New Orleans, here we come!
Stay tuned for my next post...Joe's change of command, and our first days in NOLA.