This and That

Addie and I went down to Las Vegas to see Charlie over Labor Day weekend. We flew down Thursday evening and came back Tuesday afternoon. We had a great weekend with him. Luckily, he was done with work at 10 Friday morning so we ended up getting a bonus day with him. Here is a run-down on all we did...

Friday: He took us to his room so we could see what "daddy's house" looked like. It was a very good decision for us not to stay in his room - talk about tight quarters! The trip to his room was followed up by at trip to Toys R Us so Addie could pick out a new toy for daddy to buy her. (He is slightly smitten with her!) We also met up with the other guys in his class for dinner. It was fun also because there was another wife in town with a little girl about Addie's age - so Addie got to play while we had some adult conversation! We ate GREAT this day!

Saturday: We went over to Donna and Ethan Waitte's new home for a house warming party. These were people we knew from Langley. It was great to see them - and Donna looked adorable at 37 weeks pregnant! They have a pool so Addie had a hayday swimming and running around. Unfortunatly, she didn't get a nap that day and had a nuclear meltdown right about dinner time and we had to leave. Also, again with the eating - FAB!

Sunday: Family day! We took Addison down to the strip. Family day, you say? Yes. We took her to the aquarium at Mandalay Bay to see the "Nemos" - all fish are Nemos. And daddy bought her presents, again. We than took her on the "coco" - tram from Mandalay Bay to the Excalibur - and walked over to M & M World. It was crowded, but of course, Addison found things for her daddy to buy her. (Again, totally smitten!) The plan for the evening was to take Addie back down to the strip after it got dark for her to see the lights and to take her to the fountains at the Bellagio - but we didn't make it that far. We got down there and the traffic was bumper to bumper - she was tired and was begging for ice cream. So we got off the strip, got her ice cream and headed home. But like all days while we were there, we ate great!

Monday: Charlie had to spend most of the day working. Sad, but true. He went in to the squadron for a few hours and than brought his work home with him. I spent the day much like I always do - cleaning, doing laudry, playing/taking care of Addison. Also packing! After cleaning Claw's apartment - where we were staying - I made a family dinner to include Claw who had just gotten back from seeing him family in Rhode Island. (Claw is the other f-22 guy in Chuck's class and had gone home to see him twin baby boys and wife for the long weekend.) I think, I hope, he appreciated a home cooked meal in a clean house.

Generally speaking, we had a great weekend. It was really nice to have that family time. You really don't know how much you miss it until you get a little taste of it. Leaving Tueday was a lot harder than I thought it would be and Addison cried too, which didn't help! Even Charlie seemed to be a little misty as he left us at security! On the bright side, we did have a great weekend and Charlie decided he didn't want to wait to see us again until the end of November - he booked his ticket that afternoon to come up to Kelso for Columbus Day weekend in October.

In other news, Luci had her surgery while Addie and I were down in Vegas. I felt so bad we weren't around to be with her, but lucky for Luci, my parents are crazy about her and were more than willing to take care of her to for the first few days of her recovery! Two weeks later, she is doing GREAT and we have our first follow up appointment is Friday. I sure hope they think she is doing as great as we do! It has been rough keeping her "quiet" especially with two big black labs running around.

I have been busy, busy learning how to sew. I think mom thinks I am going to become a quilter like her - well, maybe someday. But for now I am content with making aprons, purses, coffee cozies, etc. I feel like I am getting pretty good at sewing but know I have a long way to go. By the way, the goal this year is to MAKE all - or most - of our Christmas gifts. My "sewing to do" list is very long, but I am making headway. I am also making a few things to put in mom's bazaars with the hopes of making some money. Mom says I have been bitten by the bug - I will agree if I make some money from my "craft" this fall.

Amoungst the other crafts I have on my list - scrapbooks, garden stepping stones, jam, etc. - mom and I have also started ripping out the wallpaper in her dinning room to re-decorate it! I am so excitted - for those of you who know me, you know my ultimate goal is to be an interior designer someday so this is like Christmas morning for me. First though, we have to get through the wallpaper! YUCK!!! I will post before and after pictures when we are done. The goal is to have it done for the BIG Thanksgiving dinner mom has planned this year.