easter weekend

Friday evening, after Brooke was done with his classes, we set off for a quick trip to Florida.  We have some friends that we met in England who are now stationed there.  Of course, we had to take a picture at the Florida state line.  I think that will be the last one we get during our stay here in Alabama.

Saturday morning we met our friends, The Sophies, at Hurlburt AFB where there was an Easter egg hunt.  We weren't able to find an Easter basket for Jake, so Brooke found a bunny bag at the store and that worked just fine.  He is so resourceful!  For the 2 year old age group, the put tons of eggs on the playground area of the park and let the kids pick up all they could.  

Jake was doing pretty good at gathering eggs, until he realized the eggs were full of surprises.  Then, all he wanted to do was open the eggs and see what yummy treat or cool prize was in the egg.  

After all the eggs had been claimed, Jake sat down with Shelby (the Sophies 2 year old girl) and they compared their loot.

The two kids had fun at the playground and Jake kept wanting to hold Shelbys hand.  What a ladies man!  After the Egg hunt, the guys took the kids back to the Sophies and Kristin and I hit the outlet mall.  We had a great time shopping!  That night, we all went to dinner at a local seafood place.  The food was great and we had such a fun time.

The next morning, we had to go back to Montgomery so Brooke could finish his last big project.  We couldn't leave Florida without taking some pictures by the ocean.  It was VERY windy outside, but very pretty.

We had a great time on our little trip and it was so fun to see our friends again.  Our only complaint is that it wasn't long enough.  We hope you all had a great Easter weekend too.

weekend fun

Last week, there was a kids party that Jake and I went to. There were several activities set up for the kids to do and things for them to play with, one of which was a play bowling set. Jake bowled with a few of the other kids and he had such a blast. Since he enjoyed it so much, we decided to take him to a real bowling alley on Friday night. We went with a couple other families and everyone had a great time.

We got some dinner there and the most extraordinary thing happened....Jake ate some green beans! They weren't your average, healthy green beans though. They were fried. (yes, we are in the south) The boy just likes anything that is fried!!! But, i must admit, they were pretty tasty.

On Saturday, we left in the morning for a little trip to Birmingham. It was only about an hour away, so not too bad. We went to do a little shopping, but while we were there, we also went to an air museum.

At first, Jake was excited to see all the airplanes. One of the displays had a motion sensor and when someone got near to it, a recording would play of an airplane engine starting up. The noise scared him and he was a little reluctant to walk thru the rest of the hanger.

This actually ended up being the highlight of the museum for Jake...the kids playroom.
And this was a close second...Jake was helping Brooke fly one of the simulators they had set up.
It turned out to be a nice relaxing weekend!

half way there!

So, we are at the half way point of our time here in Alabama. I've been a slacker at keeping up with the blog, so this one might be a little longer. Let me back up and start with last Friday. Jake and I went with a few of the spouses to a place called Pump It Up. They had some of those bouncy inflatable things that the kids could go crazy on. Jake was a bit hesitant at first, but he got more comfortable with it and ended up having a great time.

After we got back from that, we headed over to the field to cheer on Brooke and his flight in their first Flickerball game. It is a game they play here that has a bunch of confusing rules. They didn't end up winning, but it was a close game and we had fun watching them.

After Brooke finished with his game, we packed a bag and headed to Atlanta. The drive was only 2 1/2 hours and it went pretty quick. Plus, we got to add another state line crossing to our growing collection....BONUS!

On this trip, whenever we have stayed at a hotel, Jake has enjoyed being able to pick out which of the two beds he will sleep in. This hotel had lots of big comfy pillows and he was so excited to crawl under the covers and relax.

Another highlight for Jake was riding up and down the Elevator. We stayed at the Marriott downtown and our room was on the 37th floor. The elevators were super fast and that made the adventure even more fun for him.

The next morning, we were up and ready to explore Atlanta. It was a chilly 43 degrees outside, but we were pretty much indoors, so it was ok. Our first stop was to the worlds LARGEST aquarium. Jake loves fish (both looking at them and eating them) so we knew he would have a great time there.

This area of the aquarium had a huge glass wall with TONS of tropical fish behind it. Jake was more interested in looking at the fish on the touch screen computers they had set up in the area. One of us would take him over to look at the fish, but he wouldn't stay there long before he headed back to one of the touch screens. It was amazing to us how fast he caught on to the menu set-up and knew what buttons he needed to push to go back.

After the aquarium, we went across the street to Coca-Cola World. It was pretty much a museum for Coke. The best part of that was going into the taste testing area. They had about 70 different Coca-Cola drinks that they sell throughout the world. Some were pretty tasty, but there were a few that tasted like soap.

After we finished drinking a bunch of soda, we found somewhere to eat dinner. It was called Ted's Montana Grill and it was fabulous. After stuffing ourselves silly, we rolled back into the car and headed back to Alabama, capturing another border crossing. It was a great weekend!

fire, fire!!

Yesterday we were able to go take a tour of the firehouse here on base. They showed us around the place and then we got to take a look at the fire trucks. It was pretty fun! Unfortunately, they were out of the little hats to give the kids, but that's ok, it was still a great outing.

Just a little side note: As part of Brooke's class, they bring in different speakers to talk to the guys. Spouses are welcome to attend and if they have kids, they will set up a video feed of it in a separate room. Well, today Gene Kranz was here to talk about his experience with NASA...mostly the Apollo 13 mission. (Ed Harris played him in the movie) I decided to take the opportunity to go listen to his lecture. He was a great speaker and I really enjoyed it.

the great and spacious room

Here is a look at our room. I think we were both a little surprised at how small it was, but it is working out just fine. We also have a walk thru closet that takes us to the bathroom. The sofa pulls out to a bed and that is where Jake sleeps. He gets excited at night when it is time to pull out his bed and also enjoys making it back into a couch in the morning.

I am taking this shot from the door...you can see more of the kitchenette in this shot. The kitchen isn't very well equipped, but it is definitely nice to have at our disposal. Pretty much the only time we spend in the room is mornings, while I'm getting ready, for nap time and in the evening. It may be cozy, but we are just grateful that we get to be together.

They have organized some different activities for the spouses to participate in, if they choose. We were given a packet and calender with all information and if you want to join in, you meet others in the parking lot and caravan together. It has really helped to pass the time and it is nice having other kids for Jake to play with. Brooke is busy all day with classes, and then comes back "home" to do reading or different assignments. He is definitely ready for the weekend. Here are a few of the things we have done this week.

Wednesday was our outing to the zoo. Here is Jake with a couple of his new friends. It was pretty cold and windy outside that day, so we kind of hurried thru, but the kids all enjoyed looking at the animals

Here he is looking at all the cool kangaroos and other animals from Australia. I don't take many pictures of the animals because I think Jake is cuter and more fun to take pictures of.

Thursday we went to downtown Montgomery where there is a trolley ride you can take to all the different historic sites. Sorry, no photos, we didn't get out anywhere, we just went along for the ride and listened to the audio tour guide they played. We will probably go again with Brooke sometime, so i will snap a few shots then. Did you know the first confederate white house was here in Montgomery? This is turning into quite the educational trip!

Today we went to a little coffee house that had an indoor play area, so all the kids could let off some steam while the moms chatted nearby. We all are from different places, so it is fun to talk to them and see what you have in common. One girl was in England at the same time as us and we have a few common friends...small world!

I have to end today's post with a recommendation. When we first arrived here, we went to the commissary to do some basic grocery shopping. As we were walking up to the cash register, we had to walk by all the candy (which is SO strategically placed). I saw these and thought they looked fun...

...and boy was I right!! Yum! I'm not a huge jelly bean fan, but in less than a week, I have managed to eat most they bag on my own! So, if you are looking for a fun Easter treat, I highly recommend a bag of Sweetart Jelly Beans!

road trip!

So, after 3 days and nearly 20 hours on the road, we finally made it to Alabama. It wasn't too bad and Jake held up pretty well. We started off small Friday afternoon with a short 3 1/2 hour drive to Amarillo TX.

The next day we were off...a little later than we wanted, but still on our way. We went thru Oklahoma (the sooner state!)...
...and then Arkansas. There wasn't a good place to stop at the roadside state sign, so we stopped at the welcome center just a few miles from the border. They had REALLY nice bathrooms.
After 11 hours in the car, we stopped in West Memphis (which is still in Arkansas, not Tennessee) for the night. This bear was outside the restaurant where we ate breakfast Sunday morning. Jake got a kick out of it, but would only take a picture with the bear if one of us was standing with him.

Then just a few minutes into our drive on Sunday, we crossed over the border into Tennessee. We couldn't drive thru Memphis without making a quick stop at Graceland. So, we made a little photo-op stop.

Brooke and I actually made our first visit to Graceland about 5 years ago, but this was Jakes first visit:)

This is a shot of the museum that is just across the street from his house. That is one of the 2 planes that they have on display...the Lisa Marie. We walked thru it when we were last here and it was pretty pimped out!
We weren't in Tennessee too long before we crossed over into Mississippi. I think at this point, Jake was pretty sick of us dragging him in and out of the car to take pictures at the side of the road.
Unfortunately, when we got to Alabama, we weren't paying attention and we weren't able to get off to the side of the road to capture our final border crossing. Bummer! This was another short driving day...4 hours...so we made it into Montgomery by the early afternoon. We were grateful that our trip was safe. I have to end the post here because Jake is about to wake up from his nap but, i will write more soon of our Alabama adventures!