Eglin Air Show

The weekend of April 10 was the Eglin Air Show here on base. They usually do an air show every few years, but this one was extra special because it was celebrating the 75th anniversary of Eglin Air Force Base. We were planning on having both of our parents and Barrett's sister's family here with us for the weekend, but because Susanne got sick and was hospitalized, Grammy and Pappy were the only family that were able to come. They came up just for the weekend, and we had a great time again with them and we all enjoyed the air show. We got there in the morning for the beginning of it, and saw lots of plane demonstrations, including a Tora, Tora, Tora reenactment with the WWII japanese Zero planes. There was a stunt biplane, the Raptor jet, as well as numerous other demos, and the show ended with the Thunderbirds. It was so much fun being right there and seeing the planes flying right over our heads and right in front of us. The Thunderbirds were especially fun to watch. Getting to the air show was very convenient since we live on base. However, leaving the show and getting home was a different story. It took us an hour and a half to get back to our house since they routed us the wrong direction so we had to sit in traffic all the way around the base, only to be told that we had to exit from the opposite side of the base and drive around on the interstate to get back to the housing side of the base! It was just a little frustrating, but we made it back. The next day we went down to the beach behind our house to see the Thunderbirds from a different angle, and it was just as enjoyable.

Easter Activities

Easter was at the tail end of Spring Break this year, so the kids got to participate in an easter egg hunt in Largo at the local Publix before we left to go home. Isabelle had her easter party at school before spring break. On Easter Sunday we went to our friends, the Wards, for lunch after church with another family, and all the kids got to hunt eggs in their huge back yard.

Isabelle's school Easter party and egg hunt:



Egg hunt at Publix in Largo:


Easter Sunday:

Easter platter that our friend Destiny made- it was just so pretty I had to take a picture of it:

Spring Break

For Spring Break this year, we went down to Largo to visit Grammy and Pappy. On our way there, we stopped at Homassasa Springs and went to the wildlife park for the afternoon. We got to see manatees in their natural habitat as well as other animals throughout the park. The kids brought their own cameras with them and enjoyed getting to be photographers.

In the underwater observation room watching the manatees:

Boat ride to the park:



Another day during our visit, we went to Dinosaur Land, which has replicas of lots of dinosaurs that are built to scale. It was neat to see just how big some of those dinosaurs were in relation to people! They had some fossil dig areas for the kids to play, and they got to keep three real fossils as a souvenier.

Digging for fossils:




The week was fun and also relaxing, and we did a lot of the activities we normally do when we are visiting the area. We visited Lisa, the Macaw, at the Sand Key shops and watched her dance to the music and say "Mango". Caleb and Barrett did a little fishing with Pappy, and of course we made our regular trip to Chuck E. Cheeses. The kids enjoyed getting to do some art work with Grammy in her studio- they are becoming quite the little artists (taking after Grammy, of course!)

Budding artists:


At 7 months pregnant (curtesy of Isabelle's photography):

Caleb's 6th birthday

**Sorry that this blog is so outdated! We have had computer problems and were not able to access many of our photos for a while. I am going to try to do some quick updates to get our blog up to the present.

We celebrated Caleb's 6th birthday the second weekend of January at White Sands Bowling Alley. Thank goodness we planned an indoor party for that day! It was one of the coldest weekends of the winter, so anything outside would have been miserable. Almost all the friends Caleb invited were able to come, and Grammy and Pappy were able to be there to celebrate with us, so we had a great time. It was fun watching the different bowling styles of each of the kids, but with the bumpers up, everyone was a winner.

Christmas

For Christmas day this year, we celebrated with just our immediate family at our house. We had traveled to Biloxi the week before to celebrate with Barrett's extended family, and then his family came to our house the day after Christmas to exchange gifts. But for Christmas day, it was just the four of us. We had a really nice morning watching the kids open their stockings from Santa and their gifts from us under the Christmas tree. We had just enough time to open gifts and eat some breakfast before getting ready to go to the Waterfront Rescue Mission, which is a local charity, to help deliver meals to shut-ins and those in need. We were issued meals to deliver to three different homes, and we truly were blessed as we had the opportunity to meet some really neat elderly people who had lived in their homes for years and years and had seen the city transform around them. We were glad that the kids could participate as well, and I think it gave them a broader vision of how we can help others around us. After we had delivered the meals, we headed back home to fix our own Christmas dinner. We had a relaxing day and the kids got to play with their new toys. The next day, Grandmamma and Granddaddy, Uncle Tim, Aunt Susanne, and Elijah and Gracie Beth came just for the afternoon so we could exchange gifts. It was so nice of them to drive all that way for just a few hours, but that was just what worked into everyone's schedules, and it was so nice to get to spend that time with them.

Isabelle's favorite gift: play nail polish!


Caleb playing his new Nerf Wii game:


Isabelle's special gift from Grandmamma-the gold cross necklace that she had as a girl:


Caleb's special gift-Grandmamma's rock and gem collection for the future rock scientist (that is what Caleb said he wants to be when he grows up):


Uncle Tim with his nieces and nephews:


Our family Christmas picture:


Isabelle's masterpiece cake using her new Cra'Z'Cookin cake decorating contraption:

December activities

December is always a fast-paced month, but usually filled with similar activities each year. Isabelle saw a visit from Santa at her preschool and performed in their annual Christmas program. We baked some Christmas goodies and made sure that Santa had some yummy treats on his plate on Christmas Eve!
Despite the unusually cold weather we have had this winter here in the sunny state, Caleb and Isabelle had fun building a "fort" with odds and ends branches that they found in the field behind our house. They each had their own sleeping spot and talked about what kind of food they were going to have to find to eat. It was like their very own "Man vs. Wild" episode.

Isabelle with Mrs. Mackin and classmates with Santa:


Isabelle's school Christmas program:



Making some chocolate-covered peanut butter balls:


The Fort:

Isabelle's 4th Birthday

For Isabelle's actual birthday, we let her decide where she wanted to go out to eat for dinner. She chose Okinawa, a Japanese Hibachi Grill. We always enjoy eating at hibachi restaurants and seeing them cook in front of us, so it was a treat for all of us. For her birthday, they brought out a carved pineapple and some icecream for each of us. After dinner, we went back to the house to eat some cupcakes I had made for her, and to open her presents. Her present from us was a big girl princess bicycle with training wheels. She had been asking for a bike, so she was excited about it. Grammy and Pappy got her some drawing and stamp activities which she has enjoyed as well.


Isabelle's birthday celebration at school:


The following Saturday we celebrated her birthday party with her friends at Liza Jackson Park. Well, we took a chance having an outdoor party in December, but who knew that it would be freezing cold AND raining on the day of her party? We really didn't have a plan B option since we weren't prepared to have it at our house on base, so we just did it under the pavillion at the park and tried to make it quick. It really was a pretty miserable day to be outside, but we had faithful friends who showed up anyway, so Isabelle was happy. It stopped raining during the party so some of the kids actually went out on the playground for a little while, getting cold and wet in the process. Isabelle thought that was fun until she realized just how cold she was. Then she wasn't a happy camper. However, we survived and probably won't schedule an outdoor birthday party in the winter again!