Super fun times to be had at water parks in the middle of summer!
wave pool! always a favorite...
kiddie play area, they could have stayed here all day...
we even took them on a family watertube slide... it was totally fun, and though Carter shook the whole time, he wasn't scared, it was just adrenaline. Does that make him an adrenaline junkie?
chocolate pudding goatee! of course he rubbed half of it off when he was screaming and crying at me because I laughed at him when I saw what he had done to his face... it seriously upset him!
We heard that a dear friend was coming our way to see her daughter's retirement, and thought it would be a good time to visit the beach since it was a two hour drive there. So we had lunch with Judy, (Coryn had slightly forgotten how to say her name so she became Sister Brownie that day) but they both love her still and Carter tried to make her 'grandma' when he saw me going through pictures to make the blog! Here's one thing we never saw in the oceans around Okinawa... dolphins! It was pretty cool seeing them go up and down the coast, playing with some people in boats. Poor Carter forgot how beach water moves, and spent a good half an hour being afraid of the water until I convinced him it was a fun game to pop the 'bubbles' of ocean froth. They weren't allowed to go in the water because its jellyfish season, and we were on an Army post where safety is #1. But thats okay, they had way too much fun in the sand and chasing the crabs around. Another fun to watch not seen by us before... pelicans. They fish so funnily! All graceful looking until they dive into the water, which isn't really a dive, more of a smack the water and don't go under, I'm surprised they manage to survive... :D
With the help of some adventurous fellow CLC3 attendees we found out about the gardens in Richmond, and were able to go several times during the summer before we left for colder pastures. This year they had a special art exhibit in conjunction with the garden, a glass sculpture by the name of Hans Godo Frabel had quite a variety of works on display, starting with this cube. There were also several really well done renditions of flowers, from orchids to this pitcher plant as well as some more on the fantastical side that reminded me a good deal of Georgia O'Keeffe.
There were several pure whimsey as well, figures dancing, stick figures on a bicycle, and these jesters on balls in the water who Coryn decided were "playing beach ball".
They have a fantastic kids area, with learning gardens, art area, water play, sand area, picnic tables, and even a tree they have designated for climbing. Coryn made a garden with the spoons and shovels...
Look ma! I tried to break my leg! yeah, he jumped off a friend's bed and landed funny on it, was pretty sad for two days especially during the x-rays, and ended up with a precautionary cast for 10 days. Thankfully, he got to keep it off after further review with more x-rays. As you can see though, it didn't slow him down after the first little bit.
Coryn got his 'graduation' from preschool, do a little dance!
We visited Williamsburg to see some colonial stuff before we left for Amish country, we happened to go over the memorial day weekend which meant that we got in free! Go us.
Obviously, the kids favorite part was getting put in the stocks.
Like I said, the cast didn't slow this boy down, he still went about being a crazy boy, trying to beat a tree with a stick and all...
So yeah, Williamsburg has some cool historic buildings, people dressed in costume, and some pretty fancy interior decorating...
like this wallpaper, must be gold or something right? nope... you'll never guess, its pressed leather. thats right, wallpaper out of fancy pressed leather. I would never have thought to put cowhide on my walls unless I had been a native american in a teepee or something like that.
Ladybug season hit, which meant that any time we spent outside meant me with a sad face because every step in the grass was accompanied by the crunch of ladybug death.
Karaoke! man do those boys love their Rock Band! (xbox game)
They also love going for walks around the block, and the occasional race between Dad and Coryn...
Not to mention watering the flowers... or sidewalk, thanks Carter! :)
Since our time in Virginia is going to be much shorter than our time in Okinawa was (3 years) or our time in New York will be (2-3 years) we're trying to cram as much in on the weekends as possible. While Lisa promises that she's going to write about everything else the next two are on me.
For several years now my favorite band has been the Canadian group Barenaked Ladies (BNL from here on out)(just ask the folks who were down range with me. For several months I sent out a "Barenaked Lyric of the Day" via e-mail). For those who don't know too much about them their music is really catchy and their lyrics are smart, witty and whimsical. While they're probably best know for their #1 single One Week that came out in 1998, they've been together since 1988 and have cranked out 1 live and 11 studio albums in that time. While I was in Afghanistan I purchased several of their CDs to complete my collection (thank you Amazon) which went a long way in helping me stay sane through my deployment.
Towards the end of my deployment I was shocked, horrified, dismayed, etc, etc to hear that band co-founder Steven Page was leaving the band. BNL tries to maintain a relatively clean, family friendly image and Steven kept ending up in houses that were being raided by narcotics agents. ANYWAY, while this might have killed many other bands (for all intents and purposes Steven was the lead singer and front man for the group), the four remaining members are all accomplished musicians and song writers, they've all sung lead on several songs throughout the bands history and Ed Robertson, their current front man (and the other co-founder) has sung lead on as many songs as Steven has. In April BNL released their first CD since the quintet became a quartet and have managed to maintain the same feel and sound as they've always had.
In 2008 before I deployed we saw that BNL had released an album of original children's songs and the boys have absolutely loved it. On a side note, the CD is just as entertaining for adults as for kids so for all my friends out there while young children I would highly recommend Snacktime!, especially if you're getting tired of hearing Old McDonald over and over. When we heard that they were coming to a nice outdoor amphitheater just north of Richmond we thought it would be a fun to take the boys to their first concert (because, as you know, kids these days love the rock & roll). It was a great show, both Coryn and Carter really seemed to enjoy themselves and they even got to hear their favorite BNL song preformed live, the classic Polliwog in a Bog preformed by bassist Jim Creeggan and drummer Tyler Stewart :
Serena Ryder was the opening act. We got there after she went on so I'm not sure if she was supposed to have back up musicians or not but she hinted that she should have, specifically during one song where she was all over the place and then had to stop and catch her breath. While she did that she explained that this is where the other two singers were supposed to be giving her a break. Ed did come out to accompany her for one song, so that was kind of cool. Once the main act came out things got hoppin'. We were sitting towards the back of the venue (we didn't want the boys to go deaf after all) so we weren't able to get too many good pictures but we did bring the boys closer to the stage a time or two so they could get a good look at the essential rock instruments being used (like the rock staples of bongos and stand up bass in the clip above).
SONG LIST for RICHMOND 4 JUNE 2010:
1. Testing 1,2,3 2. Old Apartment 3. Falling for the First Time 4. ADLIB - It's a Beautiful Day Virginia (First 30 Seconds of this clip)
5. Every Subway Car 6. Anther Heartbreak 7. A Medley for Robin the Fan (Robin has been following them for several cities now, he always requests songs and the band always disappoints him so they played three or four lines of a few songs he'd requested) 8. The Love We're In 9. Polliwog in a Bog 10. Sound of Your Voice 11. Get in Line 12. Four Seconds (The boys current favorite, for the record, they successfully rhyme orange three times... though the Canadian accent might have helped) This version is not from our show but was from September 09
13. Too Little Too Late 14. On the Lookout 15. The Big Bang Theory (the theme song from the TV show with the same name. One of my favorites and one of the last songs I thought I'd hear at the show)
16. One Week 17. It's All Been Done 18. Pinch Me 19. $1000000 20. Adlib - Magic (got to love the choreographed dance moves at the end)
(If you're wondering about the boxers, on song #18 (Pinch Me) there is a line that says (I could hide out under there/I just made you say underwear... well when Ed finished saying I could hide out under there several articles were thrown on stage and he changed the line to say I just made you throw underwear. Anyway by the end of the song Jim had a yellow bra on the end of his has base and Kevin who plays keyboard, synthesizer, accordion, etc) had the boxers on the end of his electric guitar that he started rocking back and forth, when they fell off there was a thong underneath it)
ENCORE: 21. Easy 22. What a Good Boy
And no musical even is complete without Coryn playing the air guitar!
Most of the rest of February consisted of emptying boxes, which made for quite a lot of fun for Coryn and his new friends because for quite a while we had a room fairly well devoted to empty boxes and paper...
Here's our house... its pretty cute. Most of Virginia has screened in back porches, no garages, and columns... ok the columns are on all the baptist churches and the really old houses, but its still a crazy amount.
The neighbors are fantastic, they all somehow knew we were moving in, and the day after they didn't see a moving truck, they started asking what we needed, and ended up letting us borrow old snowsuits and shoes among other things... I can't believe we spent two weeks without anything but our suitcases and a few borrowed things.
The neighbors also have kids slightly older than Coryn which is why we were able to borrow the clothing. They also had fun things like sleds, and snow shovels to make a smooth surface on the driveway... Baby's first sled :)
And of course, we wouldn't be able to finish the day without making a snowman.
After living in the subtropics for three years, this is Carter's first snow :) We couldn't stay out too long, no snow suits, no snow shoes, only knit gloves... but they did enjoy it.
Super fun times to be had at water parks in the middle of summer!
wave pool! always a favorite...
we even took them on a family watertube slide... it was totally fun, and though Carter shook the whole time, he wasn't scared, it was just adrenaline. Does that make him an adrenaline junkie?
fun with goggles!
Graduation from main class...
Fourth of July!
chocolate pudding goatee! of course he rubbed half of it off when he was screaming and crying at me because I laughed at him when I saw what he had done to his face... it seriously upset him!
We heard that a dear friend was coming our way to see her daughter's retirement, and thought it would be a good time to visit the beach since it was a two hour drive there. So we had lunch with Judy, (Coryn had slightly forgotten how to say her name so she became Sister Brownie that day) but they both love her still and Carter tried to make her 'grandma' when he saw me going through pictures to make the blog!
Here's one thing we never saw in the oceans around Okinawa... dolphins! It was pretty cool seeing them go up and down the coast, playing with some people in boats. 
Poor Carter forgot how beach water moves, and spent a good half an hour being afraid of the water until I convinced him it was a fun game to pop the 'bubbles' of ocean froth.
Another fun to watch not seen by us before... pelicans. They fish so funnily! All graceful looking until they dive into the water, which isn't really a dive, more of a smack the water and don't go under, I'm surprised they manage to survive... :D
With the help of some adventurous fellow CLC3 attendees we found out about the gardens in Richmond, and were able to go several times during the summer before we left for colder pastures. This year they had a special art exhibit in conjunction with the garden, a glass sculpture by the name of Hans Godo Frabel had quite a variety of works on display, starting with this cube.
There were also several really well done renditions of flowers, from orchids to this pitcher plant as well as some more on the fantastical side that reminded me a good deal of Georgia O'Keeffe.
There were several pure whimsey as well, figures dancing, stick figures on a bicycle, and these jesters on balls in the water who Coryn decided were "playing beach ball".
Carter buried some dinosaurs.
Look ma! I tried to break my leg! yeah, he jumped off a friend's bed and landed funny on it, was pretty sad for two days especially during the x-rays, and ended up with a precautionary cast for 10 days. Thankfully, he got to keep it off after further review with more x-rays. As you can see though, it didn't slow him down after the first little bit.
Obviously, the kids favorite part was getting put in the stocks.
Ladybug season hit, which meant that any time we spent outside meant me with a sad face because every step in the grass was accompanied by the crunch of ladybug death. 
They also love going for walks around the block, and the occasional race between Dad and Coryn...
Not to mention watering the flowers... or sidewalk, thanks Carter! :)
quintet became a quartet and have managed to maintain the same feel and sound as they've always had.
p musicians or not but she hinted that she should have, specifically during one song where she was all over the place and then had to stop and catch her breath. While she did that she explained that this is where the other two singers were supposed to be giving her a break. Ed did come out to accompany her for one song, so that was kind of cool. Once the main act came out things got hoppin'. We were sitting towards the back of the venue (we didn't want the boys to go deaf after all) so we weren't able to get too many good pictures but we did bring the boys closer to the stage a time or two so they could get a good look at the essential rock instruments being used (like the rock staples of bongos and stand up bass in the clip above).
Here's our house... its pretty cute. Most of Virginia has screened in back porches, no garages, and columns... ok the columns are on all the baptist churches and the really old houses, but its still a crazy amount.
The neighbors are fantastic, they all somehow knew we were moving in, and the day after they didn't see a moving truck, they started asking what we needed, and ended up letting us borrow old snowsuits and shoes among other things... I can't believe we spent two weeks without anything but our suitcases and a few borrowed things.
The neighbors also have kids slightly older than Coryn which is why we were able to borrow the clothing. They also had fun things like sleds, and snow shovels to make a smooth surface on the driveway...
Baby's first sled :)
After living in the subtropics for three years, this is Carter's first snow :) We couldn't stay out too long, no snow suits, no snow shoes, only knit gloves... but they did enjoy it.
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