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. 

Josh's Promotion!

Josh was promoted to Captain this month! He was put on the promotion list several months ago, so he knew he would become a Captain soon. Josh was on a DET (a training exercise in the middle of nowhere) when he was officially promoted, but he decided to wait a few weeks until he got back to San Diego so Gray and I could pin on his new bars. Just like with his wings, Gray punched the Captain's bars into his uniform! 

Gray at Josh's promotion ceremony

The CO giving some words of wisdom.

Ceremony

Josh, Me,  Gray, and CO

Gray and I are so proud! We love you Captain Gates!

Cabrillo National Monument and Balboa Park

Josh randomly got a four day weekend for Labor Day, which never happens. We decided to take advantage of his time off and head to Point Loma, which I have been wanting to see for months. 

I've got big plans for Gray and the National Parks system! Mom and I took him to his first National Monument while Josh was at SERE in February. Mom, Gray, and I went to about 4 national parks that long weekend alone! I got him a passport (which is a way for suckers like me to spend money in the park system) so he can get stamps from every national park he visits. He has already been to close to 10, so I'm pretty excited about it! Now that I think about it, maybe I should have gotten my own passport book... Dang. Think Josh would let us travel back across the US so I could get some stamps? I sort of doubt it too. 

I digress. 

Josh and Gray headed to the tide pools. 

We drove down to Point Loma to the Cabrillo National Monument.  The park has some beautiful scenery along the Pacific coast with some tide pools you can walk out to see. We didn't see anything spectacular, but I wonder if we were there at the wrong time of day... Either way, the cliff-y shores were pretty and Gray enjoyed the small caves carved into the side of the cliff. He did not enjoy the sand sticking to his feet. He may be more like his mother than we first realized.

You can see part of one of the tide pools in this shot.

Checking out the mini-caves.

Gray didn't really care for this photo op.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the USA in September of 1542.  The National Monument was established in 1913 to commemorate his discovery. This statue of Cabrillo looks out over the bay that he first sailed into on September 28, 1542. (mostly taken from nps.gov)

Customary shot of Gray with something he cares nothing about. 

After checking out the visitors center and the statue of Cabrillo, we walked up to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. The lighthouse was in use from 1855 until 1891 before the light was extinguished. The lighthouse was often obscured by dense fog, so another lighthouse was built closer to the tip of Point Loma closer to sea level, therefore easier to spot on foggy nights.  

Inside the lighthouse.
Looking for Elliot the dragon at all times (Pete's Dragon, anyone?)

Voices on the other end of the line were telling him all about the lighthouse.
He just kept saying his version of 'Hello?' 

Then we drove to Ocean Beach to have a Five Guys burger. If you haven't had Five Guys before, shame on you! They are totally delish! Google lied to us about where the Five Guys actually was located, so we settled for another burger place nearby. We were in a hurry to make it to Balboa Park to see an IMAX movie, Ultimate Wave Tahiti. It is shockingly about surfing. 

Naturally, we couldn't get our check in enough time to drive to Balboa Park, get a spot, walk in, get a ticket, and make it to the movie. We decided to let Gray check out the huge fountain for a few minutes before going into the Reuben H Fleet Science Center to get tickets for the next showing. 

The fountain at Balboa Park.

After getting part of a leg into the water. 

Josh and Gray inside the Science Center enjoying some of the  experiments. 

Overall, we all had a pretty fab day. Gray and I discussed it and we think Josh should get 4 day weekends more often! 

Temecula and the Birch Aquarium

Josh has been gone almost a week to complete some training in the dessert. Gray and I try to keep busy while Josh is gone, so we decided to take a trip to Temecula to visit a friend and check out the Old Town. They have a fun children's museum, so we had to check it out. Gray thought it was a pretty neat place. Here are a few pics from the museum!

Captain Gray!

A room full of black lights and a highlighter tattoo! 

This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland...

Hello?

Yesterday we finally went to visit the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.  It was pretty fab, but I almost think the aquariums in NC were better. That's weird. 

The small kelp forest in one of the big tanks at the aquarium was pretty neat. 

Gray and the sea cucumber. It was squishy. 

Gray and I terrified because we are being eaten by a HUGE shark. 

Me thinking Gray wasn't terrified anymore.
(He wasn't actually scared. He was unhappy.) 

Gray checking out the fountain in front of the aquarium. 

Promotion!

Josh has been promoted to Captain (O3)! His official promotion was September 1st, but we will have a small ceremony next week to pin on his new bars! I'm so proud of my Marine!

This is what his new insignia looks like:

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.'