"Look, we had a scuba"

While Chey and Abby were enjoying the pool in Colorado over the 4th of July weekend, I was enjoying the Caribbean. A group of us flew out to Roatan, the largest of the Bay Islands, for the long weekend. I finally finished up my scuba certification, after first doing the classroom and pool instruction at the Academy. Disclaimer, these are my buddy's pictures, not mine. I looked into an underwater case for my camera, but unfortunately they dont make one for my ole junker. We were diving on the 2nd largest coral reef in the world, so needless to say, it was awesome. We got in 5 dives over the weekend, and I managed to avoid the bends, so all was good.

Happy 4th of July (only 2 days late)

I hope everyone had a nice holiday, we enjoyed ours. We started the day off at the pool up the street from my mom's house. They usually have a big bash, and this year was no different. They had music, free ice cream, hot dogs, games and contests....plus you could swim in the pool. Abby was a little too young for the games and contests but she splashed, kicked and jumped in the pool and enjoyed her fair share of free ice pops!! After a few hours in the sun we headed home for lunch and a much needed nap. After Abby's nap we headed over to my dad's house for a BBQ. My mom tried to meet us there but unfortunately she didn't make it as she hit the curb on the way over and popped two of her tires! What a bummer!! Anyway, we had a nice BBQ and then we headed over to a family friends house to watch some fireworks, we saw a few but Abby and I had to cut out early because she was exhausted. I am sure all of the excitement for the day and staying up late the night before to see fireworks was overwhelming. I was very surprised and impressed with her though, she wasn't really afraid of the fireworks at. That is a big deal coming from a girl who calls herself a chicken!!! Well, hope eveyone else had a good day! Here are some pics from ours!

Here are a few shots of us at the pool...Abby is enjoying her free popsicles!


"Look Daddy an older boy is teaching me how to play golf"


Mommy and Abby missing Daddy. We love you!


Abby enjoying her 4th of July BBQ!

34 miles of Army fun

A few weeks back I participated in a 34 mile ruck march though the mountains of Honduras. There were ~20 American soldiers and airman, plus ~20 Honduran military members. We did it as a way to build better relations between us and our hosts here. It was truly rewarding completing it, but also quite sucky at the same time. The Army loves there misery, and there was plenty of it over the two days. Lots of rain, lightning, cow crap, washed out trails, bugs, and blisters. Which reminds me, I learned aa new Army word while on this march. They call rain "liquid sunshine." Lovely huh? All in all it was an awesome experience, and one I will do again if given the opportunity.

Our ride out...CH-47 Chinook

The rain put a stop to our support vehicle

Spent the night in a cow field under my poncho

Day two brought some welcomed flat terrain

Huge Fishy

My dad, Jane and I took Abigail to the aquarium in downtown Denver last weekend. I was a little scared it was going to be a disaster because she didn't have a nap. (that is a whole other story). But, she LOVED it and she was a doll the entire time. Abby was afraid of the small exhibits and totally enthralled with the huge exhibits, go figure! She liked the sharks and the jellyfish the best. She called the jellyfish, balloon fish. She wasn't afraid of splashing in the petting exhibit with the stingrays, a bit surprising. After we went through and saw all of the fishies, we went to the gift shop where Grammy and Papi spoiled her rotten and then we had a drink in the lounge where the fish would swim right next to you. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon.

Here is Abby outside of the aquarium

Sitting with the "sharky"

Petting the stingrays

Sitting in the lounge

Congrats!

Congratulations to our very good friends John and Becca! They welcomed their son Wesley Andrew into the world on Wednesday, June 27th in Germany where they are stationed. He came early (37 weeks) he weighed in at 6lbs 13 oz, and 19 inches. Both Mom and baby are home doing well. We are so happy for them! Congrats!!!

Bye, bye Paci!

Well, Abby hasn't had her paci in a week now. I finally got fed up with the thing and bit the bullet and took it away cold turkey. She was down to just using it in the car and at bedtime for a while now, but it was just time to get rid of it once and for all. I hit my limit when she kept throwing it in the car and then whining till she got it back. I finally told her that the paci is all gone and she hasn't had it since. She has asked for it, mostly in the car and nap time has been hard on both of us but we are getting through it! The side effect of no paci is oral diarrhea, she talks non-stop in the car now. For a few days she would talk about her paci the whole time. "Bye, bye paci" "Paci all gone" "I throw paci, paci all gone"! It is actually pretty entertaining hearing what she has to say, but I am sure it will get old eventually! Wish me luck, and with some willpower the paci will be a thing of the past!

Splashing with the hose....

Here is Abby in the "little" pool playing with the hose. She would much rather be in the "big" pool, but the baby pool is much more relaxing for Mommy. The hose kept her busy for a while, but it was back to the big pool right after!





And here is Abby being more brave than I would really like her to be in the BIG pool.