Wordless Wednesday

Colin's First Soccer Game

Colin started PeeWee soccer right before we left for Germany. He had his first game while we were gone, so the team's second game was really Colin's first. He took his job of defense very seriously and did a fantastic job of following the ball and stopping it. But then instead of kicking it back the other direction he would just stop and run off, like "OK I stopped it, I did my job now!" LOL He'll get the hang of it.

One thing he did have down pat was intimidation! This series of pictures just kills me. He and teammate Lundyn are ready to kick from midfield.

He must be explaining something very serious to her.

Maybe she wasn't getting it, he might need to show her?

Now that they are ready to go it's time to give the other team a little something to fear. 

And then, when I thought it couldn't get any better he gets a meaner look on his face.

Looks must not have been doing the trick, now he's got to show off some muscle! LOL

Oh boy that kid!

Deutschland meine Liebe

Germany in September

Shelby had a medical TDY coming up to go to Germany for a week for his back. I had resolved to just stay home since Colin was in school and had just started. Then I started thinking about Germany in the fall. And I started thinking about the shopping I needed to do for the baby that could be done there. And dreaming up all the food I could eat if I went. Then I found out two of my favorite festivals were going on while Shelby would be there. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I couldn't do it. Exactly one week before he was supposed to leave I went online and booked tickets for Colin and I to tag along. I mean, the kid is not going to Harvard next year, a few days out of kindergarten won't kill him.

Our trip was awesome. Too short, but awesome. I got to see a few colors of fall, it was still early but a few leaves had begun to turn. I didn't realize how much I missed food! I ate, and thoroughly enjoyed, everything from Italian, to McDonald's to Taco Bell, to Greek and plenty of German. We didn't get to see everyone we would have liked to, but we were glad to meet up with those we were able to see. It was so hard going back, we love it there and I pray one day we can back there for good. It's always great to go back and get a taste of home, but at the same time it just makes you that much more homesick when it's time to leave.

22 Weeks

Here I am in all my pregnant glory at 22 weeks. Just over halfway there!

Quatro Ribieras Camping Trip

Quatro Ribieras Camping

Colin and Daddy have been camping in the backyard numerous times, but never a real overnighter away from home. We finally decided to take him. I was back and forth on going because a pregnant camper is kind of a nuisance. Having to get up to pee (in the woods) five times in the middle of the night would rain on anyone's camping parade. Then I was a little concerned about comfort. I find it hard to get comfortable in my pillowtop bed, I can't imagine an air mattress at this stage of the game. However I did not want to miss Colin's first camp out, so off I went! It turned out to not be so bad, we had the place all to ourselves, which was great. The only problem was the brand new air mattress I had just bought an hour prior to leaving on the camping trip did not hold air. Nope, not a bit. I was worried about sleeping on an air mattress, ha! Little did I know that would have been a luxury compared to where I was actually sleeping...which was on the ground! LOL Aside from not getting much sleep it was a success and Colin had a blast.

Deserted Island

Most of the time it feels like we are so isolated out here in the middle of the ocean. Our house has a great ocean view of the eastern edge of the island. But off the western coast there are a few islands that can be seen on a clear day. I've rarely been to the other side of the island when it was clear enough to see them. Today it was perfect. There is life out there!

Island of Sao Jorge.

Another island, Graciosa could be seen as well. I've never seen this island prior to today!

Closer shot of Graciosa.

Pink or Blue???

FINALLY the wait is over and we had an ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I have been convinced all along that the baby is a girl. Only because this pregnancy has been so opposite from my experience with Colin. I've been super sick for months this time, I could count on one hand the times I got sick with Colin. Colin was an IVF baby and this one a natural surprise. I was constantly hungry with Colin and this time I've not wanted to eat much at all. I felt great with Colin and I have all kinds of aches and pains with this one. The heart beat with Colin was always in the 130's and this baby is always in the high 140's -150's. Yep, gotta be a girl!

We were very pleasantly surprised to see it was a boy! We had been hoping for another boy, but I honestly did not think it would be. Well it was ALL boy, he was very proud of his boy parts and was excited to show them off throughout the entire ultrasound. There was no doubt about it being a boy! Let the shopping begin!

We Have a Kindergartener!

Today was Colin's first day of Kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN! Where does the time go? He was over the moon to go to big kid school. He'd been asking to go since we moved to the island and have to drive past it every day to take him to preschool. Today's your day little man, have fun!

On our walk to school we met up with friend and classmate Isaac. 

Listening to the principal talk in the cafeteria. 

Off to the classroom now!

Standing in front of his cubby shelf. 

The Never Ending Birthday

Having a summer birthday Colin has a real knack for stringing them out as long as possible. This year he managed to have even more birthday celebrations than ever before. He was honored at dinner our last night on the boat (Aug 18th) by the stewards. They sang him happy birthday in Javanese, as the majority of the staff in the dining room were from Java.



Then he had to pose for a few pictures, since they totally spoiled him every night at dinner.

Then on his actual birthday, in Venice, he had his gondola ride and day of fun. When we got home we had some presents waiting for us that had come in the mail while we were gone. So we got our traditional Carvel ice cream cake and celebrated with the next door neighbors to open those gifts. Then, the next day, Sunday, was mail day (the one day a week that a plane comes in and brings us mail) and there were some more gifts for him to open. The following Saturday he had a birthday party to celebrate with all his friends. He lives for the birthday party and even on his actual birthday in Venice he kept asking when he was going to have his "real birthday" meaning the one with friends, cake and bouncy castles. Of course after Saturday comes Sunday, mail day, and more presents! LOL It seriously was the birthday that never ended. The poor kid is going to be so confused when it becomes a one day celebration! Here are the pictures of all the celebrations post cruise. 

Colin turns 5!

Welcome (back) to Venice!

Venice Post Cruise

It is always a sad day when you have to get off the cruise ship. We've experienced this before and knew better than to attempt to fly home that day. Compounding the depression from leaving the lap of luxury with the depression that vacation is now over and you are on your way home is just too much. So we decided to book a few days in Venice on the back end of our trip too to allow us some time to emotionally wind down from our vacation.

The second time around Venice was better, we were better acclimated to the heat and humidity. The day after we got off the boat was Colin's 5th birthday. We took him to the Natural History Museum where we saw all kinds of awesome things. He enjoyed looking at all the fossils, taxidermy animals and other artifacts from various cultures around the world. When we asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted to ride in a gondola. So we waited for the evening time after dinner to go on our gondola ride. Colin loved it and our gondolier was very nice, he had a young son just shy of Colin's age so he was chatting Colin up and at the end of the ride he let Colin wear his hat and help steer the boat. Colin thought that was fantastic!

Another thing we wanted to do during our stay was visit the other islands, specifically Murano and Burano. We took the ferry boat and wandered the cemetery, which is a small island off the main island of Venice, between there and Murano. The only thing on the island is the cemetery. It is of course very old and was huge. It was quite interesting to walk around and several famous people are laid to rest there, including the famous poet Ezra Pound and composer Igor Stravinsky. Next stop was Murano, the island famous for their glass. We watched a man make several glass figurines in the shape of a cat, unicorn, and more. It was incredible how he took a blob of melted glass and in a matter of two minutes had shaped it into a perfect animal! When we were done wandering the streets of Murano we boarded the water bus to take us to the island of Burano. A little further out, it is famous for it's brightly colored houses and high quality lace. The houses there definitely had a different style to them and it was gorgeous to walk around and look at them all.

Finally it was time to pack it up and early in the morning, just before sunrise we caught a water taxi to the airport. On our ride from the island to the mainland we watched a beautiful sunrise which was a perfect end to our trip. Our flight home had us land and change planes in Zurich, Switzerland. Just an hour in the airport there where I could speak and understand the language (German) and seeing the countryside from the air made me homesick for Germany. We passed over the Swiss Alps which were covered in snow even in August! Beautiful! While we were not thrilled to have to head back to the island and get back to reality I was ready to get home to my Cooper dog.