Yuma

Josh went to Yuma for about a month for some weapons training. He was ultra busy, but Gray and I drove out into the dessert to visit him one weekend. A month isn't that long to be gone, but I think it's not fair to Gray or Josh for them to be separated for that long when we are so close (about 3.5 hour drive). 

Breakfast with Daddy!

Yuma is basically alone out in the middle of nowhere, so it wasn't super easy to find something that we could do fairly quickly outside without melting. Josh had a roommate, so we didn't want to just take over while he was trying to study. That lead us to the Yuma Territorial Prison! It was a very interesting museum/prison from the 1800s. It was a very inexpensive little place to visit, and we all enjoyed it. Naturally after we looked around for about an hour, it was way to hot to stick around. We we went to a little sports bar and watched some football in the glorious air conditioning! 

Gray's sad prison face. 

Cells out in the middle of the dessert.
I'm getting hot just thinking about this place in the summer. 

Gray loved this bell because it was incredibly loud! 

After a day in Yuma, we turned around and came back to San Diego. We got to see some great friends that just moved out there and spend some time with Josh, so it was a great trip. If Josh has to go back out again for more training, I'm going to check into some indoor activities because it's too hot in the desert to spend much time outside. :) 

This is always my favorite part of the drive.
Imperial Dunes just over the California state line.

Exhausted after an action packed day!
Passed out in bed with his Bible and his Daddy! 

Fletch claims his Daddy's spot when he isn't around to do it himself.
We really need to buy Fletch his own bed... 

Since we moved...

June has been a wild and crazy month so far. We moved the last week of May and spend several days following getting the old house ready to turn back over to the landlords. To say that I've never been more ready to get out of a place and get away from a landlord, is the understatement of the decade. The second night we were in the new house, the landlord (knowing we weren't staying at the house) decided it was perfectly acceptable to just go in the house without our knowledge. That just so happens to be totally illegal in case you were wondering. Trespassing anyone? I had left the alarm armed, so of course it went off and drama ensued. Not only did we not receive an apology, she later demanded we let her have free run of the house for TWO full days to do general maintenance that is normally done after a tenant vacates, on top of several other days she had already spent in and out fixing things. The landlord did not leave herself any time to make changes because she started the new tenants lease the day after ours ended. Does this give you some idea of some of the ridiculous things we had to deal with for 2.5 years? Again, understatement of the decade. 

Gray on moving day.

Gray was not a fan of the house hunt, but he is a huge fan of the "new house." He loves that he can go from his room to the living room without having to take a parent with him. He is also in love with the yard and the play ground about 6 houses up from ours. This was his 3rd move in three years (from Florida to North Carolina to California to this house), but the first one that he remembers I'm sure. He seems to be right at home here like we never moved.

Memorial Day. Loving the new backyard! 

Brothers. One is a lot more relaxed than the other. :)

Now a month after we moved down to the beach, we are mostly unpacked (4 boxes remain). It would all be done by now, but I'm going through everything as I put it up to throw out and donate things that we don't need or use anymore. We downsized a lot when we moved into this house and there isn't room for all the crap we have been lugging around the USA. If you steer clear of the guest room (where I'm hiding the boxes), I think it looks pretty put together. Curtains and hanging the rest of the pictures is next on the to do list! 

Too much sun.

Getting too much sun is pretty easy to do when the weather is so nice out. And you are the whitest woman in North America... A lesson I have managed to learn once more as I sit here with lobster arms.

Fletch is going through his totally awesome annual 'summer shed' phase so my house has been covered in the never-ending aftermath of a Fletch hair tornado. To say that I'm completely sick of his hair covering every square inch of my house and everything I own would be an understatement. Ok, maybe that's just a touch dramatic. However, having to vacuum every other day is no exaggeration. 

Today I couldn't take it anymore, so I took him outside with some de-shedding shampoo and a couple of brushes. I'm not sure if you are supposed to wash a dog and brush him at the same time, but it seemed to get a lot of hair out. I dried him off a bit and started brushing. I'm not even kidding that after an hour of Fletch washing/brushing he was still losing hair like I had just started. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything like it. Apparently I didn't get his neck well enough because a little scratching and now I need to vacuum upstairs again. 

This is not his happy face. 

Long story short, after grooming Fletch for over an hour then planting/watering some new flowers in the yard I could play Sebastian on Broadway!

Happy Monday! 

At least I got almost all of Gray's room, all the linens, and some random things from our closet packed up today after I baked myself in the sun. I'm officially out of boxes, so tomorrow the packing continues after a trip to Walmart for more moving supplies! 

I'm still holding out for legitimate offers for help with packing and moving.

Anyone? Anyone?

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought.

Road Trip.

I've been rather shady in the last month because of a large amount of Christmas shopping, packing, and traveling (again). My latest travels included Mom flying out to San Diego to ride back to Louisiana with Gray, Fletch, and I. Naturally we went a little out of the way to see some extra sights, but we made the trip in 5 not totally full days.

Gray and Fletch on the road.

I picked Mom up from the airport around 5pm on our first day of travels. Naturally I was about 20 minutes late to the airport because I was trying to pack for 2 months away (including Christmas gifts) PLUS get the house clean enough for guests. Otherwise the trip went smoothly. We drove into Arizona before stopping for the night. We saw the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City then were off to the next thing on the list. 

The London Bridge. Lake Havasu, AZ. 

We drove along Route 66 for a while so Mom could see some of little towns along the way. Including lunch in Kingman, AZ right across the street from this HUGE steam engine. Gray thought it was one of the coolest things on the trip easily. 

We made it to the Grand Canyon around dark, so we had dinner and went back to the hotel. It was pretty cold, but luckily there wasn't a blizzard like our last trip to the Grand Canyon! This may be the first picture that Gray has ever deliberately looked at the camera and smiled. It only too 2.5 years... 

Fletch was super excited about getting out of the car for some sightseeing!
He wasn't as thrilled with Gray holding the leash...

We decided to head north toward Monument Valley after leaving the Grand Canyon. We saw some wild horses, lots of beautiful scenery, and a little place where John Wayne stated multiple times while filming movies in the area. We shared some green chili soup and some Indian fry bread for a quick snack at Goulding's (I LOVE southwest food!), then headed north toward Moab! 

We weren't originally going to go this far north because Mom had to be back home within a certain number of days. We made good time (and I think she secretly wanted to see more awesome National Parks) and decided to add a few miles to the trip and see Arches National Park. Arches is a great park, with lots of different landscapes to see. There are tons of walking trails for visitors to use, but with Gray we decided it was best to stay close to the car. Plus I left the Bob stroller at home (for space concerns) and many are too long/strenuous to expect a 2 year old to keep up or at the least enjoy it. Luckily the roads take you right past most of the formations, so little walking is required to hit the high points. Just outside of Arches, there are many different examples of petroglyphs and pictographs. I could have spent hours/days checking out these rock art locations, but alas we had to get back on the road after seeing a couple (and a dinosaur track). 

Flat Daddy made it to Arches NP! 

Rock Art! 

We left Moab in just enough time, because we made it to the Four Corners just as they were closing. We didn't have to pay to get in and were there with about 5 other people. They actually had to re-open the gate to let us out. We missed the Native Americans that are there with crafts, but we had already done lots of craft shopping while near the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. I had already gotten a really fun Christmas ornament, a little piece of pottery, and some bookmarks or I may have been bitter. :) 

Gray in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado at once! 

Our last stop on the trip was the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Apparently there is a lot more to this place than Cadillacs begin partial buried. This started as a representation of the evolution of the car line (like the birth and death of the tail fin). The cars are buried nose-first at an angle corresponding to the angle of the Great Pyramids of Giza. The cars have been moved and are currently on private land. The cars are preprinted white periodically, and the spray paint art is actually encouraged. I decided to Google Cadillac Ranch that day to tell mom more about it and Wikipedia had a wealth of knowledge (which is where i got that info above from). I'm a little sad we didn't have any spray paint to tag one of the cars. :) It was so windy and super cold, so I recommend a coat if you visit! My ears were burning by the time I made it back to the car, but Fletch loved running around the cars in the open field!

Cadillac Ranch! 

From Amarillo, we made it home in a few hours. It was a long trip, but we had fun seeing tons of new sights!

Monkey happenings.

Gray will be two next month! Can you believe it? I am in party planning mode and have almost completed his birthday banner. I'm considering making his birthday cake, but I might be crazy. Anyone have any experience with making birthday cakes? That are cute? If so, I could use any advice you are willing to share! I'm knee deep in invitations, decorations, and party favors! 

Here are some photos of Monkey over the last few months. I have several more that I haven't uploaded from my cameras yet, so stay tuned!

Gray loves his Retro Rocket. 

Gray and Dada (after work) playing in the tent Maam got him for Christmas!

Window shopping from the train in the Escondido mall!

Gray loves trains!

Gray riding Fletch. Fletch is thrilled.
We are so lucky to have such a fantastic doggie.  They are actually starting to play together !

Gray loves climbing into this drawer.
I'm trying to stop it, but it's so darn cute!

Gray needed some face time on the blog...

Does anyone think they need more Gray pictures? If so, here is a post dedicated (almost entirely) to my Monkey! If not, I think you will enjoy them anyway. 

Gray is catching up on his reading.

Here DaDa, you look thirsty.
If you do what I'm doing, you should have no problems drinking out of this bottle.

Playing in the back of DaDa's 4Runner. 

Gray loves the malls in San Diego.
Malls are much more fun with dolphins and water!

And I would hate to leave out my other child, Fletch! He is simply adorable too! 

Fletch is a great doggie! 

September Shenanigans

Occasionally being in the military has it's advantages. I went to Miramar to buy some tickets to a Padre's game (since the season is almost over) and planned to buy some decent seats. The ticket office had two seats left (good thing Gray doesn't require a seat) right behind home plate for about $20 cheaper than ticket price! Naturally I snatched them up! We were about 8-10 rows from the front and the only downside was there was no sun cover. At some point one of the people that worked there asked if we needed some shade, and for Gray's sake, we gladly took some seats in the section behind us (also great seats) for some shade. This was the only game that we have been to that the Padre's didn't win, but it was still a pretty good game. I love baseball games, but I can't wait to go to a Charger's game! 

Watching the game!

Seats this close are pretty fab!

Wondering how long Gray has been able to drink out of a straw...

Family shot in the stadium.

I have to add some random shots of Gray from the last several weeks too! For a Gray update, he is wearing mostly 18-24 month clothes. He has also has gotten 6 teeth in the last 6 weeks! He is growing up right in front of us! I can't believe he is already 1.5 years old! 

Gray's house is showing wear. 

Two tired boys.

Helping Dada play guitar!

My two babies napping together. 

I can't believe it's almost September!

Life in San Diego continues to be pretty great. It has been fairly hot for the last few weeks, but the last few days have been heavenly! Gray is growing up right in front of us and has recently added a few words to his vocabulary. One of them is "dog" naturally. I guess he really loves his brother. Fletch isn't always so sure about Gray, but at least he plays well (or tolerates it)!

Gray loves Fletch!

 As soon as Gray hears Josh come in the house in the afternoons after work, he goes to the gate with a huge smile and some very excited screams of "DaDa." Once Josh opens the gate, Gray runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction. Gray thinks it's fabulous when we chase him, so he is pretty excited by this game. Josh 'chases' him and then picks him up for hugs. Gray is occasionally sweet hours after Josh arrives, but it is fairly rare. Gray is generally too busy for hugs. 

Gray loves his DaDa!

Gray really loves Toy Story. He had watched the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 movies, then he recognized Buzz and Woody at the 'daycare' in my gym on a poster. He saw them on that poster and froze. He wouldn't stop looking at them for a few minutes, then showed them to me when I picked him up! 

I decided he must love Toy Story enough to take him to the theater to see Toy Story 3. I know many people would think this was a terrible idea, but Gray was so mesmerized by the characters on the big screen he actually never made a peep (except for the occasional laugh) during the whole movie. I was impressed to say the least. He decided that day that Toy Story is his favorite movie, so as his parents we decided it would be cruel to not get him any Toy Story toys. We got him Buzz and Woody action figures, but Josh then decided Gray needed the huge Buzz (we couldn't find Woody). Buzz is almost a big as Gray is, but Gray loves him and plays with him almost every day. This picture was just a few minutes after we got him out of the package about a month ago. Gray thinks Buzz is awesome! 

Gray and Buzz!

Saturdays when Josh doesn't have to fly/study/etc for the squadron are pretty laid back. Josh likes to surf in the morning, but the beach has been cold so Gray and I just stay home. Josh gets home fairly early, so then the family time begins. This particular Saturday, Josh and Gray decided to watch Peter Pan. They actually laid like this for a long time, which is surprising since Gray rarely sits down unless he is forced. It was too cute not to get a shot of them together (with Fletch) in the middle of the living room floor.

Good times with DaDa!

Gray finally tried some Peeps that he got in his Easter basket. I decided it was now or never, since Easter was about 2 months before this picture was taken and marshmallows can only last so long. Gray thought the Peeps were very tasty and he wanted to know why I didn't give them to him 2 months ago. He actually shared this particular Peep with Fletch, so Fletch was happy too. 

Gray's first Peep!

Gray is a pretty cute kid. I'm not just saying that because he is my perfect, sweet, funny, energetic, silly, crazy, wonderful, awesome, handsome first born son. He really is cute! Sometimes he decides to sit down and play with some toys and if I can catch him (which doesn't happen all that often) I try to take a few pictures of him. I really loved this shot, but it happened to be a little blurry. I'm pretty sad about it, but his face is too sweet not to share. 

Just before bedtime.

I saw some advertisements on base about Sesame Street Live. The USO does things for service members and their families periodically on base. They hosted a Sesame Street Live show for several days that was totally free for us! They even gave all the kids these awesome Elmo toys for FREE! Gray didn't really know how to work it that night, but by the next day he had it figured out (you have to push the button AND keep you hands out of the way so it can spin). We watch Sesame Street at least once a week, so he knew the characters and enjoyed the show!

Gray before the show!

Mommy and Gray after the show!

Josh and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this month! It is wild to think we have been married 3 years already, but it's crazier to think we have moved 4 times (from LA to FL to NC to CA) in those 3 years. Luckily we plan to be here for several years so Gray might actually remember a time when he lived in California once he gets a little older.  We decided to forego traditional gifts and go skydiving instead. We have been talking about it for years and decided the only way it would ever happen was to just do it! I made the appointment and got a sitter for Gray and we were off. I was waiting for my nerves to go into overdrive once we got in the car. Surprisingly I only thought this may have been a bad choice when I saw the first people jump out of the plane. I still wasn't that worried about it, and now that I'm back on the ground I still can't believe I never got scared! Josh and I both thought it was fabulous, but Josh LOVED it and has considered making it a new hobby.  I think I'll stick with sewing, but I wouldn't mind jumping out of a plane again!

Me and Chad (the professional) in free fall toward the Earth!

 The certificate we got before we left said we jumped at 13,000 feet and reached speeds of up to 120 m.p.h. during free fall! 

Just after the jump. Happy Anniversary Josh!

And I know you want to see more of Fletch, so here you go. Fletch chewing on his ball outside while Josh cleans his surfboard, Gray plays in his pool, and I take photographs of it all.

Fletch is such a good doggie. 

This is Josh's dream weekend. Surf in the morning, then spend some time outside in the afternoon with the family. Gray thinks that sounds good too!

My boys love the water. 

Gray loves this pool because it's short enough to get in and out of as often as he choses. He gets in and splashes around. He gets out and walks on Josh's surfboard. He gets back in. He gets back out. You see the pattern?

Gray playing with his scuba toy in the pool. 

Gray has taught himself a new skill. He really enjoys getting a mouthful of milk, juice, or water then spitting it out with a motorboat movement. He thinks is super fun and can spew a large quantity of milk in a short amount of time (notice his shirt) from these tiny lips. He has since done this with enough water to get the front of his shirt, the back of his shirt, his pants, and the seat of the stroller soaking wet. The OCD in me isn't very excited about this new skill. It was only cute/funny once...

Gray 'drinking' milk.

Marine squadrons hold "K-Courts" periodically to chose call signs. For this K-Court, Josh decided to make the theme American Gladiators. Spouses aren't invited, but Gray and I went to the O Club once they were done. Almost everyone went all out costume-wise, so I had to get a group shot. Josh also unexpectedly got a call sign. He is now 1st Lt. Joshua "Booger" Gates. If you are wondering, there is no meaning behind the call sign but when a Major General (2 stars) gives you a call sign, you take it graciously. If you would like to hear the story, give Josh a call. 

On a side note, Josh is in charge of planning and putting this type of thing together for the squadron because of his ground job. I like to tell people he is the party planner, but he is actually in charge of finances, fundraising for the Birthday Ball, planning the Birthday Ball, selling squadron memorabilia, keeping the gedunk (which is two things: 1. An old Navy term for candy, junk food, drinks, etc. 2. The place were snacks can be obtained) stocked with drinks and snacks for the Marines, planning the Hail and Farewell events, ordering cruise books (which are similar to a yearbook for a deployment), etc. I am sure he has other duties, but these are the ones I hear about the most often. 

American Gladiators K-Court

Gates' fam after the K-Court. 

Now for some random shots of Gray...

Gray loves DVD cases. 

Gray is serious about Sesame Street. 

Gray playing with his Bilibo. 

Gray checking out the bunnies in the back yard. 

Gray and the C-130 or 'Herc.'