TC Homecoming 2008

Updated version! This one has pictures from Sofie and is about 1 1/2 minutes longer. I surprised her with the first one and then we added her pictures.

Enjoy!

Homecoming 2008

Here's a little compilation of Sofie's 'greatest hits' from Homecoming week. It was fun to feel like we all were part of a community again!

Enjoy!

Mani/Pedi

We've had an exciting week around here! Sofie has been experiencing her first "Homecoming" and has participated in all of the events to the fullest. I've been a good mom and have taken many, many pictures (probably some to her embarrassment...that's the nice thing about little ones, you can't embarrass them yet!). I'll put more pictures up soon, but here are few to enjoy!

After attending a birthday party for a sweet little two year old, we headed off to begin the Homecoming dance beautification afternoon. Sofie wanted to get her nails and toes done and since Kailey has had an amazing few days, we decided that she should have her nails painted too. It was the FIRST time Kailey has ever had her fingernails painted (she had her toes done a few times this summer). Sofie had a french manicure on her fingers and eggplanton her toes to match her dress. Kailey had shimmer, sparkle silver on both. Owen just got to dip his hands...he really wasn't interested anyway.

Fish, Ducks and Pirate Ships

After a long weekend of volleyball tournaments and graduate classes, we decided to go downtown for some fresh air, and a chance to catch some of nature's finest. The fish are now running in the river, so we wanted to see the big guys and possibly feed some ducks. Armed with old bread, we were incredibly disappointed to see the big signs everywhere that we were not to feed the water fowl. Bummer. So, we headed across the street to find some more ducks who could benefit from a treat.

On our way over, we happened to 'stumble' on the American Classic Regatta. There were several classic boats and ships that were preparing for a run out to the bay. One old boat was made in 1929! Of course, Kailey was most excited to see the boats with pirates, but not excited enough to get very close. So, we kept a tight hold and walked along the skinny pier up to a little light house/ light post/ Nice place for pictures?

By the way, we weren't supposed to feed the ducks there either, but fortunately, the boats and pirates were a great distraction!

Owen loved the rocks and didn't want to leave. Kailey decided she was done and wanted to make a quick exit. Sofie just thought everything was beautiful. I swear, she is the most positive, adventurous 17 year old I've ever met...we all could take a few lessons!

The Neglected Member of the Family

Poor Eddie. Two months after Paul and I got married, I came home from work to find Paul walking out of the guest room, followed by the cutest puppy I had ever seen. It was a tiny 8 week old, nine pound Eddie. He quickly became our first baby and we treated him as such. He was loved...well loved. When we lived in DC, Paul would take him on a long adventure walk every afternoon where he would chase birds and deer. Then came the less hairy children, busy schedules and now Eddie is just a big lump of lazy dog.

The kids are starting to really enjoy him and give him love, so much so, that Kailey often wants him to sleep with her during nap time. She likes to make sure he is comfortable. I like to make sure she's not traumatizing him. Last week, I went in to check on them and he was mighty comfy all curled up on her stuffed animal, carefully covered with a blanket. He was so comfortable, that he didn't move when I walked in the first time OR the second time to take the picture.

Eddie, we promise to show you more love.

PS. Many have asked about my sister and her family. They are doing okay and everyone is safe. They lost some rather large trees, but not much damage to their house. Right now, they have evacuated to San Antonio and they are literally living like rock stars. They will likely be out of Houston for a while because of no power for 2-4 weeks! YIKES! They did learn from our mistakes and made sure to clean out their freezer before they left...so, no meat slushy for them!

Happy Birthday Oda Marie!

Can you imagine turning nine years old and not being able to see your awesome, fabulous 17 year old big sister for an entire year? We think it would be rough. So, to celebrate Oda's BIG NINE, we put together a little birthday greeting, just for her!

We hope you have a wonderful day and that your party was a big success!!

Also, Sofie's Dad has a birthday tomorrow, so, Happy Birthday greetings to Per Arne as well!!

Hurricanes

This was from the front of the house. This was a portion of the big tree that shaded the front yard. We were SO lucky the way it fell because it only took out a fence. If it had fallen a different way, it would have fallen on the house. The rest of the tree fell in 2005 after Hurricane Dennis.

This was the back of our driveway. This tree was huge and shaded the entire back of the lot.

This was the front of our house, heading into the driveway.

Hurricanes. Hate 'em. After living in what seemed like a bulls-eye for hurricanes for 8 years, I wish I could say I'd never have to deal with one again. We even got hit with Hurricane Isabelle while living in Virginia! As an experienced hurricane 'survivor?', I can say some are way over hyped, but some are pretty darn scary. Hurricane Ike, that's baring down on Houston, is one of those underrated scary ones. I know Nancy and the family live 90 miles from the coast, but this one is big and she lives in a place with lots and lots of trees. It's probably why they call it "The Woodlands"- clever! I'm sure they'll be without power for a little while and will experience some seriously scary winds and rain. Let's hope they all stay safe and there isn't too much damage.

This one concerns me because we've been through a few. It sickens my stomach and it's something you can NEVER get used to or properly prepare for. I lived in Naples for six years and had first hand experience with some tropical storms and Category 1 storms. The wind and rain are fast and furious. We were actually at school when one tropical storm came rolling in. We were loading kids on buses and when those big buses pulled away, the winds were literally knocking us off our feet. I was wetter than wet, falling down and our Principal's skirt flew up. At that point, I decided that if that was 'just' a tropical storm, I NEVER wanted to experience a full-on hurricane.

Fast forward to 2004. Pensacola, Florida WAS the bulls-eye for hurricanes during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. I was six months pregnant with Kailey and Category 4 Hurricane Ivan was heading toward a direct hit at Pensacola. We lived about a mile from the bay, which then lead out to the gulf. I had class on Monday night, when I returned home, Paul said, we've got to leave tonight. There's no gas, this storm is bad, we need to go. He thinks no hurricane is serious, so when he finally did, I knew we had to leave. We took pictures of everything, packed up what we could and pulled away having no idea what we'd find when we return. We headed to the safe refuge of Nancy and Matt's house in Houston. Little did we know that we'd be spending the next ten days there. Ivan hit and Ivan hit hard. I remember standing in the loft of their house, watching the weather channel, learning the news that Ivan had jogged a little to the east. I remember looking at Nancy and just crying. We knew it was not good.

Our friends headed back for a day and stopped by our home to check to see if it was still standing. Our tiny little brick house had withstood the storm, but almost all of our neighbors lost roofs and portions of houses among other things. (If you Google Earth Pensacola, it was obviously taken right after Ivan, as the entire city has blue roofs!) We did have a beautiful wooded lot, that had now been blown to a barren, dry, brown landscape. Pensacola was without all public utilities for nine days...yep, no electricity, water...sewage! Plus, supplies were very, very scarce. When we finally did return, it looked like a war zone. As someone wrote, Pensacola Beach was the new Beirut.

I wish this on no one. We were lucky and now have the perspective that it's just stuff. But it's still so scary. My point is, stay safe and let's hope that this scary storm will whither away into nothing before it does too much damage.

First Day of School

On Tuesday morning, we enrolled one student in the highest grade and one in the earliest grade.

We'll start with our Senior!

Sofie headed off to school bright and early to finish getting registered and get her ID card. It was only a half day for students (weird), but she was as ready as she could possibly be. Keep in mind, she's 17, in a foreign country and knew not a single soul as she entered the doors with 1,900 other students. She handled it like a champ!!! We were so proud of her!

I know it was hard as teenagers aren't always willing to chat up the new girl. Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about lunch on Tuesday, because of the half day. She seemed to like her classes and her teachers and there are definitely some good prospects for new friends.

After school, Sofie and I headed to the beach since we hadn't been there yet. It was 90 degrees out that day and it was a beautiful day to sit and do homework (her) read the celebrity rags (me).

She was supposed to have volleyball practice in the afternoon, but unfortunately, the coach didn't tell her that she moved it up to immediately after school. Sofie was really looking forward to this so she could meet some new friends. I felt pretty bad for her because I knew she was disappointed. But this girl is tough...she rebounded nicely with a phone call from her best friend who is currently living in Missouri. Things have been getting each and everyday and I think she's pretty happy to be here!

Now, our Pre-Kindergartener!

Kailey was ready for school and had been for days! The most exciting part of school for Kailey this year, is that she gets to bring her lunch in a brand new princess lunch bag. (Of course). Well, mommy didn't know that even though Kailey would be released from school at her regular time, since it was a half day, she wouldn't get to eat lunch at school. This was upsetting to her, but she recovered nicely. When we dropped her off...Daddy, Owen and me, she seemed a little apprehensive and Owen was downright sad. "Where's Kailey???" he kept asking. Her teacher, Ms. Cindy, seemed to smooth things over well and Kailey was fine when we left.

When I picked her up, it was a whole different story. Remember from the movie Mr. Mom, when he's the guy who is driving up the down aisle? That was me. I parked exactly where I dropped her off on the adjacent street. Not a good idea. I literally HELD up the pick-up line once I got back to the car and there was NO place for me to turn around. It was bad. Really bad. Finally, someone let me out and I learned a big lesson...park farther away!

Anyhow, Kailey had a great day, but was absolutely exhausted when I picked her up. More like wilted. Remember how it was 90 degrees that day? Well, her school doesn't have air conditioning. She was pathetic, so I was at least able to blast the air conditioning on her while I ducked and waited on the car riders line.

Over all, school is a success and we seem to have two very happy and motivated girls!

Fallen Heroes

It's been a very, very busy week around here which is again, why I haven't updated. Before I start catching up, I somehow always feel the need to share sad news, or news that puts things in to perspective.

The Coast Guard is small, only 12,000 active duty members (give or take a few). When you narrow it down to the aviation community, it gets smaller. When we discuss HH-65 pilots, it's only about 300 total for the entire Coast Guard. So, if you don't know someone, chances are really good, you know someone who does.

On Thursday night, the Coast Guard had a terrible tragedy. In Barbers Point, Hawaii, 4 brave crewmen were conducting a routine SAR practice. It is a practice that Paul does very frequently and one that I always write about how he demonstrates. Something went terribly wrong on this evening mission and the HH- 65 helicopter crashed into the ocean, killing 3 men on board, while the 4th is still missing. This hit WAY too close to home. All of these men have spouses and children...these families are just like us and my heart aches and aches for them. It puts into perspective that Paul doesn't have a normal job. Of course I knew this, but the danger is real and the risks are high. I know that tragedies can happen every day, but we've seen the footage of his demonstrations. We've seen how close he gets to water or the scary night-time conditions that in which they fly. I just don't have the words to properly explain the heaviness that I feel in my heart and for those of my friends who are aching. It's different when Paul goes to work now. I will think about things differently when I know he's flying.

The Coast Guard aviation crews do not sport guns. They aren't your typical 'Military' men and women, but they risk their lives on every mission, practice or real, so that complete strangers can all be safe. They are making the ultimate sacrifice. They are heroes. Please, take a minute to think about these victims and their families. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be...

Oh yeah, the air show!

Duh! This was actually the biggest reason for going down to Cleveland. The Air Show was a lot of fun and very different from the Traverse City show. In TC, because it's much smaller, we were really treated like VIPs with food, drink, bathrooms, shade, etc. For this show, VIP meant a seat. That's it. Just a seat. We certainly made the best of it and still had a great time climbing aboard all of the many, many aircraft and displays. Sofie even got to meet some of the original Tuskegee Airmen and got their autographs. Very cool and historic! Todd and Sloan met us for the Coast Guard SAR demo. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the banks, so it looked, like Kailey said, as if Charlie was landing in the grass.

Finally, we got to see the Blues again and it was a longer show because they did the take-off right in front of us. Plus, 'Fat Albert' the C-130, had a much bigger part in this show. The Blues are always impressive and I think Sofie really enjoyed it! Owen again loved the show and danced, had a great time and flew his big jet around in the path of the Blue Angels. Kailey was ambivalent and only liked it when they played the Rascal Flats version of "Life is a Highway."

To top it all off, I have the most magnificent farmer's tan I've ever had. It's a lovely reminder of this fantastic weekend that I will get to keep until at least November!

Hometown, U.S.A.

This past weekend, Paul had the opportunity to fly in the Cleveland Air Show, which also featured the Blue Angels. We decided to take Sofie down so we could visit the sites, as well as take her to a Browns game and the air show.

We started off with a loooong seven hour drive down to Akron, with me as the pilot and Sofie as the co-pilot. Paul had to fly the helicopter down with his crew earlier in the day. The kids were okay, but it was by no means a relaxing 'Sunday' drive. Almost as soon as we got there, we left the kids with my mom (thanks, Toosie!) so that we could go downtown to Browns Stadium. This was my first trip to the 'new' stadium and Sofie's first time ever at an American football game and we had great seats for all the action. I think it's safe to say she liked it A LOT more than baseball. The Browns looked pretty good in the first quarter with their starters, then really stunk it up with their bench warmers for the rest of the game. Let's hope everyone stays healthy and the scrubs never have to play.

The next morning, I thought I'd show Sofie my hometown, Medina, Ohio. This was a little for Sofie and a little for me because I really haven't been back to Medina for a long time. We visited the high school, where my old high school is encased in the new one.

Next, we went to the square and took pictures at the Gazebo. This was the first full-circle moment that we had. When I was little, probably from birth, we would go up to the square for the band concerts that my dad still directs every Friday night. We used to run around the Gazebo and climb on the railings. It was very surreal to watch Kailey and Owen do the same thing.

Finally, I wanted to drive past a few of the five houses where I lived in Medina...we drove by four of them. Two have real significance for me. The first was the one that my parents first owed and it was a lot smaller than I remembered. The little picket fence is still standing that they built over 30 years ago. The next house was the house that we lived in the longest, from age four to sixteen. I wanted to take a picture, and of course, the owner was outside. We asked if it would be okay and explained who we were. He was a little reluctant at first, but then when we started sharing stories, we was much nicer. The funniest, which probably only Nancy will appreciate it, was when we asked if the neighbors to our left still lived there and he said, "The one who mows her lawn three times a week?" She was known for that. Too funny!

I did become sappy when he let me go around the side of the house to take a picture of "My tree." I gave this tree to my mom for Mother's Day, 1983. It was a sad little 6 inch stick in a milk carton, even sadder than Paul's stick in our front yard now. Look at it now! I got teary eyed because for my whole life, even until now, I have moved around so much. This was something that was permanent from my childhood that's still there, which for some weird reason, is very special to me.

Medina is still such a cute town, and maybe, if I didn't grow up there, I would probably want to live there forever. Unfortunately, I'm just not a Townie, so while my tree gets me choked up, it's really okay that I'm somewhat of free bird!

We concluded Friday night with a visit to a doting Bubbie and Poppy's house for Brisket and Cheesecake, because that's just what Bubbies do and that's just what Bubbies serve.

Beach Bums Game

Last Tuesday night was Coast Guard day at the local baseball field. It's really a beautiful field, however, nothing can improve the fact that baseball is really, really, really boring! We wanted to take Sofie because she had never been to a baseball game before. We didn't want to taint her experience so we kept quiet about our feelings for baseball. I think it took half an inning for her to side with us. We left after two hours and it was only the 4th inning. They do have a great playground which is where we spent most of our time, as well as taking some gorgeous pictures of "Charlie" flying overhead.

On a side note: We did realize that Kailey is learning manners, even if she doesn't use them often with us. A little boy was pushing and shoving other little kids who wanted to climb in the section of the play toy that he was guarding. After being shoved, Kailey took a few steps back and started to say, "Um, excuse me. Um excuse me please. Excuse me please." To which the little brute didn't respond, she said, "Aw phooey, that didn't work!" She should have shoved him back! ...did I just write that?!?

Choo-Choo!

Owen l-o-v-e-s trains right now. He sleeps with them, bathes with them, and carries them everywhere he goes. He's great at building tracks as well as knocking them down. Fortunately for all of us, TC has a real steam engine that runs through town during the summer. We took our last voyage on the train, as it will be closing on Labor Day. The kids call him "Percy train" (because he is green) without a face.

"I'm good at eating blueberries too!"

We went blueberry picking again this year. With some help, we were able to pick about 7 1/2 pounds in 45 minutes, which will all fit nicely in our new freezer. Kailey was really in to picking this year and when I told her, "Kailey, you're really good at picking blueberries." She replied, "I'm good at eating blueberries too!"

Norwegian factoid: Michigan blueberries are much plumper and juicier than Norwegian blueberries. Who knew?

Lots of updating

We've been running around like crazy people! We had one week before school started to have some family time before Sofie finds more interesting things to do that hang out with two little kids and their sorta cool/sorta dorky parents. We have had a marvelous time, but are ready for some routines and schedules. Kailey and Owen still adore her and want to know where she is at all times. It's gotta be tough for her, but she is AWESOME with them! We couldn't have asked for anyone more perfect!

Enjoy the pictures of our adventures!