Day One of Yosemite

The weekend after J got back from his one month deployment we headed to Yosemite National Park. It was one of the many places we hoped to make it to before we moved from CA, thankfully even with just a few hours of planning we were able to check it off the list.

Our first little waterfall we came across, the boys were excited to get out and take a look.

There really are no words to describe how beautiful it is.

An amazing backdrop for my boys.

A throne for my little prince.

Off on a hike, rated as a moderate, included rocky paths, streams to cross and about 2 miles.

Coming across a tree a bear used as a scratching post.

Finding a hidin' hole...leads to three pics of three little boys hiding.

Our two headed four armed robot according to N.

Another tree with some claw marks, guessing a bobcat.

Watching the eclipse.

The boys ventured up one of the rocks to talk to some professional photographers. With their help J managed to snag some great pictures through a piece of welders glass.

Welcome Home Daddy!

A week ago today our own hero came home from a partial deployment...

we waited patiently...

excitedly...

and patiently again.

Finally!

One Last Time...for now.

We made our way to the flight line last week to welcome home our hero. We have some adventures that I will share soon, with less then 30 days until we leave blog time might start to become an issue...

The Many Faces of a Three Year Old Boy

Enjoy some cute pics I've been saving up on my iPhone.

Keeping the Tooth Fairy Busy

So last week J came home from school with exciting news...one of his teeth had become seriously loose at school. Within 24 hours he ended up with a small gap in his mouth and was ecstatic that he had finally joined the ranks of toothless grins and to have money that didn't involve completing his chores of the day. After a quick search we found the tooth fairy bear, he happily went to sleep and in the morning he woke to $3 to spend as he wished.

Within the next 24 hours his gap got a little larger and his piggy bank a little fuller...however he was also getting a little scared. He expressed his concern that all of his teeth would fall out and he wouldn't be able to eat. Being the mom I am I told him not to worry, I can always buy him applesauce and baby food for him to eat if he did lose all his teeth...and then I told him not to worry for real.
For your viewing pleasure, his toothless pics, one of pure excitement at the fact that it happened and one completely worried. (sorry for the poor quality iphone pictures)

Starting to Look Official

Great news, we have official orders... as official as it can get...those who have been involved with the military ever know that things could still possibly change, but in our case probably (and hopefully) not. I went with my POA (Power of Attorney), his Deployment Orders, and our PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders and got all signed up at the TMO (Travel Management Office) that we were moving and signed up for 2 one hour classes about our move (1 about having movers move your stuff and 1 on moving your own stuff), filled out some initial paperwork, and picked out some dates for the movers to come pack up our stuff and load it up on a truck. It seems like all these dates are creeping into the very near future....did someone find that pause button I mentioned a couple posts back?

Everyday I post more things on bookoo.com (a more local craigslist site), and slowly things are disappearing...giving me less to pack! While online I also have been checking to see if more houses have been added for sale in our price range and to see if any we have been eyeing have changed in price. I haven't been checking as much, but I also have been seeing if more houses have been listed for rent...there really hasn't been...there are far more houses for sale then to rent.

The boys, especially N, have a good time talking to everyone that we are moving and seem the need to explain we are moving to Illinois. We have shared a good cry once or twice about moving and leaving our friends, but try to remember that if we didn't move we would have missed out on some incredible experiences. From Hawaii, Disney Land, Washington DC, New York City, Sea World, Philadelphia, Lego Land, and so many more we have gotten to share some pretty spectacular places and experiences.

I have scheduled the boys yearly physicals, something I usually have them done at the end of June, so that we are all set to register them for their new school(s)...N might start a preschool this year! N also has a scheduled check up with one of the ENT Doctors to recheck his ears before we hit the road again...hopefully the tubes are still in place and functioning correctly. Fingers crossed that this is the end of any problems we have had with his ears, if not I hope we find a ENT out there that is just as easy to work with.

J is due to be back in about a week and a half, I bet we will be in full swing of loading the trailer...boxes, packing tape, and filler paper~oh my! If anyone wants to help load up about 4-6000lbs worth of our stuff let me know, I'm sure we can find you a job and put you to work.