Oh boy! This is going to be a LONG post.

We are finally in Nebraska and in our own home again! It's so great to be home again, but with all the craziness I am so behind in blogging! I have about a month's worth of P366 photos to post as well as everything that goes along with a move half way across the world, so please bear with me while I try to catch up.
One night before we left we went to getting something to eat at the bowling alley on base. Steven loves those arcade games that you try and grab a stuffed animal. Every time he sees one he has to try it. This time he won a monkey for Sadie. She loves it, but it was one of those really cheaply made stuffed animals and the butt seam immediately so Daddy came to the rescue and sewed it back up for her.

The weekend before we left we took some time to go to the movies. We went and saw the new Muppet movie. It was so cute and we all loved it. Before the movie they actually had a few of the Muppets there so the kids could take a picture with them. Ruby ran right up, Sadie patiently waited for her turn after Ruby, and Lilly decided she was going to be shy and not take a picture. We managed to convince her to take the photo because she would have balled and thrown a fit when she realized she missed out on something great, it's just what Lilly does and does often. Ruby wanted to keep Kermit and take him with her, but she reluctantly gave him back.

Lilly's last day of school was bitter sweet. As excited she was to get on the plane and leave, she was equally sad. We did our best to cheer her up and thwart off a panic attack. And yes, she does have panic attacks so we have to be really careful with her. Once she's started, it's really hard to get her out of it. Steven asked her if she'd like Papou to bring her something special when he picked us up at the airport, and she said, 'A Dr. Pepper?'. Bless her little heart because she definitely pulled some of Steven's heart strings with that one :)

This year we had the greatest Valentine's Day we've ever had. I really don't know if Steven will be able to ever top it ;) We got on a plane and we headed back to the states! It was awesome. We were able to find some cute little bumble bees that we attached to the girls backpacks. We filled them with chap stick, lip gloss, and some spending money. The were thrilled. We are completely blessed with kids who are the greatest little travelers. They've endured days of traveling with out a stop, long flights, short flights, international flights, and long car rides. They are the best. We arrived at the Passenger Terminal early so we had time to eat some breakfast and hang out in the family room a bit. Ruby was sweet enough to take a picture with me :)

We were thrilled to get to my parent's house in time to celebrate our sweet niece's 2nd birthday! She has the biggest personality and is just so much fun to be around.

We also got to meet and spend time with our new nephew, Logan! He is such a sweet baby.

We were blessed to be able to take a night and go out on a date. We have made a sort of tradition of going out for dinner at Carraba's when we're in town. The food is so good there!

There's a really great McDonald's in Allentown. I know it's a McDonald's, how great could it be. It's really all about the play place. It's music themed and the girls love playing there, so we stole our niece Phia and headed there. After lunch, playing at the play place, we ordered Shamrock Shakes and headed out again!

I forgot to take photos on the 19th and 20th, disappointed about it but hey we've been really busy. So I found a couple of other photos to 'stand in' for those days. The first one is of Phia at Best Buy. We were looking for a protective case for Steven's cell phone.

This one is of our new TV obsession, American Pickers. We love shows from the History channel so this is awesome.

And sadly we had to leave. Before we got on the road, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts. The adults got coffee and the kiddos got Munchkins. Ruby improvised a new way to get the powder off the powered donuts without actually eating the donut. Girl loves her some sugar!


Now that catches up on all the days before we got to Nebraska. All of those photos and days will be in another post. But so far, we love it here :)

-K

Dover's AMC Museum

One thing that we love about Dover is the Air Mobility Command Museum. It's a museum about the Air Force's past and present. They have static displays of all kinds of air crafts and exhibits about World War II and the beginnings of the Air Force. We've made a few visits in the past 6 years and we have fun everytime we've gone.
We knew we wanted to visit there because last time we went in November and it was cold! We were able to see everything inside but when we tried to see the planes outside it was so cold and windy that we turned around fast. This time it was beautiful. It wasn't too hot and it was clear and sunny. We got lucky and they had a few planes open for us to go inside and take a look. We got to go inside a KC-135- which is tanker that can refuel other planes in midair, and a C-130- which is a cargo plane and the plane Steven worked on back in England.
While we were on the 130, a retired military navigator was telling some of his stories from when he was active duty. He was a great storyteller and kept us all captivated for a while. The girls are very proud that their Daddy is in the US Air Force- that's how they refer to it always, the US Air Force not just Air Force!
The girls also had their pictures taken in the little yellow airplane again. It's always one of their favorite things. Last time we were there Steven got a build-it-yourself C-130, so this time he was looking for a C-5- the plane he worked on when we lived in Dover. We couldn't find a build-it-yourself one so we got a small already built model.
We had a lot of fun and when we were done we headed to Auntie Ninny's house. But I'll save that for another post- there's a lot of pictures!

-k

Gettysburg

Warning! This post has a LOT of photos!
Steven and I are both fascinated with history, and Steven has always loved learning about the Civil War. So when we decided to spend the summer in the states, we knew we should go to Gettysburg. The drive there was nice and the scenery was beautiful. Unfortunately we left later in the day we had planned so we didn't get to do everything or see everything that we wanted. We did notice that they are gearing up for the 150th anniversary of the 3 day battle so we decided we need to get back there for that. So here's to hoping that that actually happens!
One of the great things about Gettysburg is the auto tour of the battlefields. There's a map and signs pointing out the route and it was very easy to follow. There are monuments all along the way. We stopped at a lot of them but it was obvious that we couldn't stop at every single one, we just didn't have that much time left in the day. We did make sure we stopped at the Texas monument and the Robert E. Lee monument.

The photo in the bottom left corner is from the big observation tower. I got up maybe 2 flights of stairs and chickened out. Steven made sure to take lots of photos for me. This was a map that was up there and pointed out the directions of several important places in Gettysburg, like Little Round Top.

And I made sure I took lots of photos of the cannons for Papop!



Here's Ruby modeling one of the cannons for Papop!


The pointed monument is the Massachusetts monument. Oh and if your wondering if our kids think they're Texans or New Englanders, they're English! They'll tell you they're from England, ha!




The guy on a horse is Robert E. Lee and the next photos are from the Lee monument. One interesting tid bit- they actually had to put up a sign there that said do not deface the Lee monument. Steven was worried that the girls couldn't go near it, but I assured them that they were just going up to take a photo there.


This is all three girls on the rock wall of Seminary Ridge.


The cannon is also from Seminary Ridge and I didn't get what the other monument was. We just drove slow by it so that I could get a picture.


The one on the left is the Texas monument and the one on the right is the Louisiana monument.


Here's a closer picture of the Texas one.


And just because I love this one of Ruby!


One more funny tidbit- We were in my parent's basement looking for some dolls. My dad found a print of Abraham Lincoln and asked the girls if they knew who it was. Lilly says, "Ben Gates?", from National Treasure! So when we were walking around Gettysburg he kept asking the girls who all the photos of Lincoln were. Thanks to that day, the girls now know who Lincoln is and what he looks like.
We really had a good time and can't wait to go back. And hopefully with Memaw, Papop, and Shelby!

Peach Picking

We were trying to figure out something to do one weekend. We looked at a few different things but the weather didn't seem like it would stay clear for long. Rain clouds just kept coming in. Gabbie mentioned going fruit picking since she has been craving fruit so far in this pregnancy. Strawberries were all picked but the peaches picking season had just begun. So peach picking we went. We all climbed into the car and headed for Strawberry Acres farm.

The summer before we left England we took Lilly and Sadie strawberry picking and they loved it. The had so much fun and we got some great fruit. I knew they would love this too. The only thing I was worried about was them picking too many and not wanting to stop, but that was only an issue for a minute. All of the girls picked some and we got some really good peaches.

To get the right area to pick the peaches, we had to ride in a bus up the hill. It wasn't a very long ride at all. The best part was that the bus didn't have top to it. It was like a bus convertible that you couldn't put the top back on. It was a bumpy, but fun little ride. And since we were on a hill, the view was amazing. The ride was just too bumpy. Instead of taking photos of the view, we were all holding on tightly to the kids.

They also had some farm animals that we could go see. The girls love animals so it was another win. They had so much fun and didn't want to leave. Since it was getting darker and darker out from the rain clouds coming in, they didn't put up too much of a fight. They were just excited to get home and eat some peaches!
Oh and just because Ruby looks so cute and a little disproportionate-more maybe a little TOO proportionate, here's one of Miss Ruby Doobes.

-k

Peddler's Village

My parents live in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, right next to Dorney Park. Dorney Park is an amusement park much like Six Flags. We drove by it all the time and Sadie fell in love with the ferris wheel. She wanted to go and just ride the ferris wheel all day long. Well tired little girls and hot weather don't make for a very good day for anyone, so we offered her an alternative.

Peddler's Village is an outdoor shopping center that has something for everyone. There's shopping, restaurants, festivals at various times of the year, and Giggleberry Fair. Giggleberry Fair has an enormous carousel that I can remember riding when I was little, but back then it was called something else. It also has arcade games, like Chuck E. Cheese, and an indoor playground. So we headed off for an afternoon at Peddler's Village.

When we got there we first headed out to find something to eat. It was passed lunchtime and we were all hungry. While we walked around trying to find someplace to eat, we took some time for a few photos. It is really beautiful there and they have some amazing flowers and landscapes. The girls were awed by the water wheel and were asking Daddy and Papou for all their coins to make wishes. Lunch was quick and delicious. The restaurant we ate had some really great kid activities for them to do while they waited. It had some crayons and coloring pages, and wiki sticks. Wiki sticks are waxy "strings" that you can mold to make whatever you want. Daddy used them to make all his girls the same ring he made me when he first proposed. The girls were in love with them and asked that he make them so more jewelery.

After lunch we headed for the carousel. Lilly, Ruby, and Sadie rode the first time and loved it. Ruby kept screaming "Weee!" and "Yaw!" the entire time. After the first ride, Steven took the big girls to play some games while Gabbie and I took Phia and Ruby to ride again. Phia was terrified for one turn of the carousel and happy for the next, then terrified and happy again. This went on the entire time, she was so cute.

After that ride Gabbie and I gave Yiayia and Papou some tokens to take Ruby and Phia on some of the rides. Gabbie and I went to play some of the arcade games and had a blast. The big girls were loving their time with Daddy and enjoying all the "kid things" to do, as Sadie would say. Ruby was loving the rides and would have sat on that carousel on the same horse all day.

That place was so much fun that we ended staying there a lot longer than we had planned.

After a while the babies joined us and wanted to play some games. They even tried Whack-A-Mole and Dance Dance Revolution.

After we left there we stopped at a couple of stores and then headed home. By that time it was almost 6. We had to take two cars down there so Steven drove my mom's car so I went with him and we had Sadie drive down with us and Lilly drive back. We played the alphabet game with her. We each had to say a word that began with every letter of the alphabet. She blew us away with some of her answers and even gave us a word when it was our turns, just in case we couldn't think of one. She is just too smart.

And on the way home, we stopped at Sonic for some cherry limeades and Steven's beloved Ocean Water. Since Lilly was the only kid awake she got a cherry slushie that she loved. It was a good day and we were all pretty much wiped when we got back.

-k

Ruby's First Build A Bear

So I know I haven't posted in forever but now that we are back home in Turkey I am trying to get things updated. I am going to write separate posts on some of our outings we did. Right now we are home and resting. Phia had croup right before we left and it got passed to Ruby, me, and now Lilly. I've gotten it very mildly so in between resting when I have spurts of energy I've been unpacking and cleaning. Jet lag isn' so bad this time. They been sleeping at night but have been waking up a lot then going back to sleep. But thankfully, they slept straight through the night last night. I think I was anticipating them waking up a lot so I woke up a lot and they were sound asleep. We are just hoping everything is back to normal by September 6th, when Lilly goes back to school.
Up first is Ruby's first Build-A-Bear experience. She didn't build a bear, but instead she built a monkey! She had started stealing Lilly's monkey, Louie, and not wanting to give him back. So in trying to keep the peace we decided we needed to find Ruby her own monkey. Thankfully Build-A-Bear did have a monkey to build.
She was so excited when she saw where we were. She held onto her monkey and waited patiently for someone to help her. She got a little over excited in trying to stuff the thing. They showed her where the pedal was and what to do and before the stuffed animal was even attached she hit the pedal pretty hard. Stuffing flew out everywhere and we all had a pretty good laugh.

She looked so cute watching the monkey come alive. Her sissies were just as excited for her and enjoyed trying to help her and watching too.

She was just in awe the whole time. Once the monkey was stuffed we had to go find an outfit for her. We looked at all the clothes and Ruby just couldn't make up her mind. There was just too much to choose from. After walking around for what seemed like forever, Ruby spotted a Tinker Bell costume and that was her hands down choice. After she found that she was done looking at all the clothes.

She then sat down will Daddy and made her monkey a birth certificate. And then it was time to sit in the stroller and nuggle with her new monkey named Belle.

While Ruby was building her monkey, Lilly and Sadie picked out a dog to build for their cousin Phia. And then they picked out a small stuffed dog for themselves. They were so happy, considering we have a no stuffed animals policy. They have SO SO SO many stuffed animals and they just keep multiplying. They all just love Build-A-Bear and who knows when we'll be able to get back there again, so we let it
slide :)

Afterwards, Steven and i had a date night! We rarely get date nights so it was nice to not have to worry about the girls while eating a good meal. We went to Carraba's per everyone's advice and it didn't disappoint. Everything was really good and we really enjoyed our time together.


-k

Bethlehem

A couple of weekends ago we ventured out to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for some fresh air and some exploring. My parent's live about 20 minutes from there and we had a pretty good time. It was a nice change of scenery and a whole lot of fun for me to take some photos. I feel like a kid with a new toy every time I get the chance to photograph something new. I hope and pray that the feeling never goes away or gets old.





Just driving around was nice. Once we got there we parked and walked around. We found a nice little deli and had some lunch. The weather was beautiful and we were able to just enjoy our walk.





After lunch and a walk we headed out for Party City. Papou needed some costume pieces for work and Party City was just down the road. He found what he needed as well as some dress up stuff for all the little girls. We even managed to find Ruby a coveted Batman mask. We had been trying to find a replacement for the one at home that broke. She wasn't feeling good so she didn't wear it for a few days, until she started to feel a lot better. And when she rediscovered it at Papou's house she was so excited.






Little did we know that Ruby would end up at the hospital latter that day. Our kids never act sick unless they are throwing up or have a fever. It makes it very hard to judge just how sick they really are when they're still running around a playing. And I kid you not, you would never ave guessed that Ruby was battling a bad case of strep throat. The hospital was nice and even had a Children's ER separate from the main Er. The nurses and doctors were really nice and we got taken care of pretty fast.




On our way out of the parking lot I got a call from my sister Gabbie that Sadie wasn't feeling good and she thought that she had a fever as well. Great! Now I have two sick kiddos. When we got back o the house, Gabbie took me to a pharmacy that was still opened as it was going on 7:30PM. We didn't get home until after 9 and by then Sadie was burning up. I gave her and Ruby some medicine, set up camp in the living room and prayed for a good night of sleep. At this point we were all still jet lagged. Thankfully the Tylenol and Motrin kept the fevers down and we had a pretty good night of sleep, considering.




Oh the joys of military life. I'm just thankful we were with family that helped the best they could. Dealing with jet lagged kids is hard enough. Add strep throat and all it does is make life miserable for days. I'm grateful were over that hump though. I'll finish this in another post, this one is long enough!

-K