There are no words!!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Cayce's Day
Due to the Navy and their knack for ruining Hallmark holidays Cayce won't be able to celebrate Father's Day with us tomorrow. So in order to enjoy the special day we spent the day devoted to Cayce.... with a little bit o' Lily spoiling thrown in (of course).
Cayce had to work this morning. A baptism was held in the ship's chapel. Lily and I went with Cayce. I've never been on the Wasp. When Cayce was on the Gettysburg in FL I spent lots of time on the ship. Just about every duty day (once a week) I made my way to the ship, and we usually ate dinner together on board. For those not in the know "duty" means 24 hours of fun spent on the ship. No lunch off the boat, no bath time with Lily, no sleeping in a comfy bed, no privacy, and no peace and quiet. 24 hours of "work." Cayce does this every week. Anyseaduty. Since this time around it's not just me I have to worry about going on a big ol' ship, and a baby takes a lot more effort and planning we haven't made it on. Today was the day. On we went. It was awesome. I took as many pictures as I could OPSEC (operational security) permitting. Fun thing about that. I didn't lug my camera on board. Instead I used my iPod. The pictures are grainy, but they get the point across. To see them just follow this link! facebook album
On the ship Lily gave Cayce his gift from her: a gift certificate for a car detailing. Once we finished with our tour we headed to Cayce's gift from me. He didn't know where we were going or what we were doing. Fun fact: Cayce's severely directionally challenged and couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. I could have been taking the back roads home and he would have been clueless. Anymapquest. We drove to Town Center to Dick's Sporting Good's where Cayce picked out a pair of white sneakers. His old one's looked more the shade of oatmeal (with some blue paint thrown in). He was happy. He'd been dropping pretty big hints. I picked 'em up with a dump truck. His other gifts were a fresh supply of all his necessary under garments. All and all we had a great day. Lily took a late nap and is still up. She's WIRED! Anyspeed. Off to play with her!
Cayce had to work this morning. A baptism was held in the ship's chapel. Lily and I went with Cayce. I've never been on the Wasp. When Cayce was on the Gettysburg in FL I spent lots of time on the ship. Just about every duty day (once a week) I made my way to the ship, and we usually ate dinner together on board. For those not in the know "duty" means 24 hours of fun spent on the ship. No lunch off the boat, no bath time with Lily, no sleeping in a comfy bed, no privacy, and no peace and quiet. 24 hours of "work." Cayce does this every week. Anyseaduty. Since this time around it's not just me I have to worry about going on a big ol' ship, and a baby takes a lot more effort and planning we haven't made it on. Today was the day. On we went. It was awesome. I took as many pictures as I could OPSEC (operational security) permitting. Fun thing about that. I didn't lug my camera on board. Instead I used my iPod. The pictures are grainy, but they get the point across. To see them just follow this link! facebook album
On the ship Lily gave Cayce his gift from her: a gift certificate for a car detailing. Once we finished with our tour we headed to Cayce's gift from me. He didn't know where we were going or what we were doing. Fun fact: Cayce's severely directionally challenged and couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. I could have been taking the back roads home and he would have been clueless. Anymapquest. We drove to Town Center to Dick's Sporting Good's where Cayce picked out a pair of white sneakers. His old one's looked more the shade of oatmeal (with some blue paint thrown in). He was happy. He'd been dropping pretty big hints. I picked 'em up with a dump truck. His other gifts were a fresh supply of all his necessary under garments. All and all we had a great day. Lily took a late nap and is still up. She's WIRED! Anyspeed. Off to play with her!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Monticello: The House Jefferson built....and built again
A few weeks ago we traveled to Charlottesville, VA for the day. Our destination was Monticello. I had been once before with my dad and family, loved it, but Cayce had never visited the area. It was a gorgeous drive, and the weather was great. Lily napped for most of the drive. Oh, let me go back.
We had to make one stop on our way out of town. There's a great kids consignment shop in Newport News I had shopped. While there I noticed signs advertising a Memorial Day weekend sale. Military could get 20% off of everything. I was in desperate need of a big comfy stroller for Lily. We've mostly been making do with a light weight stroller and an umbrella stroller. Lily's not the best stroller rider, at all. That's been fine while Cayce's here because one of us can take her out and carry her once she starts getting fussy, but once Cayce leaves that's not going to be an option when I'm out shopping alone. The store had several strollers including some name brand Peg Peregos, while marked down significantly, I wasn't needing anything fancy. I was needing something big and comfortable. After all was said and done we walked out with a great Graco for less than $30. Lily loves it! She kicks back, puts her feet up on the tray, and just chills. A total 180 from previous stroller trips! *peace* So back to the story at hand.
We arrived in Charlottesville around lunch time, stopped at Michie Tavern and enjoyed a yummy lunch. Cayce had the BBQ, which tasted so good, and I had the fried chicken. I can't remember the last time I had fried chicken, but, omg, it was so good! Lily enjoyed green beans, beats, and all the rolls her tummy could fit. After a fun lunch we moseyed on up the hill to Monticello. When we set out for the day I had planned on us spending between $30 and $40 for our tickets. I knew they had a military discount, but I couldn't remember what it was. Tickets run $22 each. When we were getting our tickets Cayce asked if they had a military discount. Low and behold they did. A big one. FREE. They had started THAT DAY participating in the Blue Star Museums program which allows free entrance to various museums for military and immediate family. What a great surprise! Who doesn't love saving $44?? :-)
We rode the bus up to the house, and embarked on our tour. Lily put on quite the show. I felt terrible. She did not stop talking through out the entire tour despite repeated shushes by mommy and daddy. Cayce started to head out back with her, but one of the other couples told him she wasn't bothering anybody. She kept up the running commentary, and thankfully most everyone in our group made comments about how cute she was instead of how annoying she is. She's my baby so I love to hear her talk, but I certainly don't expect others to feel the same way. Once the tour was over we spent some time on the lawn playing.
We hit the gift shop on our way out. They've built up the area since the last time I was there, and their education area and gift shop were phenomenal. Super conducive to spending money. :-) I ended up buying some soap and strawberry butter. Cayce bought some private label Monticello beer. We ran into some of the fellow tour people, and they again said what a sweetheart she was. At this point Lily was getting restless, and ready to hit the road. Rain starting falling just before we left, and a sleepy worn out baby slept most of the way home. It was a great day, and great to get out of town for a while.
Sometime we've got to get to Williamsburg. I also want to go to Mt. Vernon, and we have friends who live in Annapolis. I can't wait to visit them there. Have I mentioned how much I love living in this area?? It's totally supportive of my nerdy tourist habit.
We had to make one stop on our way out of town. There's a great kids consignment shop in Newport News I had shopped. While there I noticed signs advertising a Memorial Day weekend sale. Military could get 20% off of everything. I was in desperate need of a big comfy stroller for Lily. We've mostly been making do with a light weight stroller and an umbrella stroller. Lily's not the best stroller rider, at all. That's been fine while Cayce's here because one of us can take her out and carry her once she starts getting fussy, but once Cayce leaves that's not going to be an option when I'm out shopping alone. The store had several strollers including some name brand Peg Peregos, while marked down significantly, I wasn't needing anything fancy. I was needing something big and comfortable. After all was said and done we walked out with a great Graco for less than $30. Lily loves it! She kicks back, puts her feet up on the tray, and just chills. A total 180 from previous stroller trips! *peace* So back to the story at hand.
We arrived in Charlottesville around lunch time, stopped at Michie Tavern and enjoyed a yummy lunch. Cayce had the BBQ, which tasted so good, and I had the fried chicken. I can't remember the last time I had fried chicken, but, omg, it was so good! Lily enjoyed green beans, beats, and all the rolls her tummy could fit. After a fun lunch we moseyed on up the hill to Monticello. When we set out for the day I had planned on us spending between $30 and $40 for our tickets. I knew they had a military discount, but I couldn't remember what it was. Tickets run $22 each. When we were getting our tickets Cayce asked if they had a military discount. Low and behold they did. A big one. FREE. They had started THAT DAY participating in the Blue Star Museums program which allows free entrance to various museums for military and immediate family. What a great surprise! Who doesn't love saving $44?? :-)
We rode the bus up to the house, and embarked on our tour. Lily put on quite the show. I felt terrible. She did not stop talking through out the entire tour despite repeated shushes by mommy and daddy. Cayce started to head out back with her, but one of the other couples told him she wasn't bothering anybody. She kept up the running commentary, and thankfully most everyone in our group made comments about how cute she was instead of how annoying she is. She's my baby so I love to hear her talk, but I certainly don't expect others to feel the same way. Once the tour was over we spent some time on the lawn playing.
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| What better place to learn to walk than at the home of one of America's greatest contributors to education? |
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| Mommy and Me |
We hit the gift shop on our way out. They've built up the area since the last time I was there, and their education area and gift shop were phenomenal. Super conducive to spending money. :-) I ended up buying some soap and strawberry butter. Cayce bought some private label Monticello beer. We ran into some of the fellow tour people, and they again said what a sweetheart she was. At this point Lily was getting restless, and ready to hit the road. Rain starting falling just before we left, and a sleepy worn out baby slept most of the way home. It was a great day, and great to get out of town for a while.
Sometime we've got to get to Williamsburg. I also want to go to Mt. Vernon, and we have friends who live in Annapolis. I can't wait to visit them there. Have I mentioned how much I love living in this area?? It's totally supportive of my nerdy tourist habit.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Prepare Your Heart
to withstand this uber amount of cuteness. Only those with stone cold souls will not appreciate this adorable shot of Lily at the zoo this weekend. Enjoy!!
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| Who's more curious? |
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Hurry Up and Wait, Please
The past several weeks have been full of ups and downs. Cayce's ship left the dry dock area, and is *supposedly* ready to go operational. Well the reputation the Wasp has had since it's christening, WASP - Welded Along Side the Pier, continues to ring true. His ship has had several planned trips, and then cancellations. Including a cancellation last week given the night before a planned departure. Anywho, yah, hurry up and wait. Because of of these trips Cayce was supposed to be going on (some for more than a week at a time) each weekend has been spent like it would be the last family fun time for a while. Now we're guaranteed some down time for a couple of months, and we can get back into a normal routine. However, I have some trips to share over the next few blogs. This first one is from our trip to the aquarium. It was surprisingly good, and we had a great time! Lily's reached an age where she's become quite interactive with the things around her. Please do enjoy!
Tune in again this week, and I'll post about our trips to Monticello and the Zoo. Lily's still not walking. :-)
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| First we enjoyed lunch at the beach. Lily enjoyed sitting in a booster for the first time rather than a high chair. |
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| Lily's favorite new trick: feeding others. Such a sharer. |
On to the aquarium!
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| Nice turtle. |
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| Friendly shark. |
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| She obviously is unaware of the danger Daddy is keeping from her. |
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| This was the coolest part of the aquarium. Lily loved being eye to eye with the aquatic life. |
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| Lily sized porthole. From this view we watched a shark eat a poor unsuspecting fish. *too real for me* |
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