My Ecuador pics

I forgot I never posted these pictures so here they are.
There are pictures of us at home, well, mostly Bailey playing and dancing with my family. It was a really fun month. I was able to go see Gloria Estefan in concert with my parents. I guess I'm old enough to like the music they like =) We were there for lots of birthdays, mother's day and even the wedding of one of my good High School friends.



I need to explain a couple things in the slideshow. The night of Mother's Day lots of people including my family go to sing to their moms, grandmas and special friends as a Mother's Day gift. We call it "serenata". My parents do it every year and it's a lot of fun. We go with lots friends, bring my dad's big speakers, a microphone and the music. This year my little sister Belen and my cousin sang and they did really well. We were out until 6am this year so it was funny to see everyone getting more and more tired. It sounds really silly but we love it and it's become a crazy family tradition =)

Anyways, we had a good time and it was cool to see Bailey hanging out with my cousin's kids. I miss them all so much already.

Side notes:
1. I don't know why the slideshow has a Faith Hill song. Just click on the little speaker on the upper left side of the slideshow to stop it. But if you like the song there it is =)
2. Some captions are too long so they don't show everything I wrote. There is this funny one that says "My family is pretty" but it didn't show "crazy". So it looks like I wrote that they are pretty but I meant pretty crazy =)

Happy Birthday USA!

We had a fun Fourth of July weekend. Dave was home for which I'm grateful. He got back from a trip last Thursday and I was very relieved and happy he made it home right before the holidays- considering the very frequent Air Force delays.

There were several activities on base starting Thursday afternoon. Bailey and I met some friends that day to go to a huge BBQ at the McGuire club. They had games for the kids and music which Bailey enjoyed very much. She danced the whole time while she was eating. Friday morning we did some work in the backyard and in the evening we went to one of the free concerts on base. Have you heard the "Hey there Delilah" song? That was he only song I had heard from the "Plain White T's" and since we like the song, we thought it'd be fun to go see them. We had a blast! They are pretty good and Bailey was rocking on the whole time. She danced and jumped for two hours straight. She made me so proud!

Bailey making sure she didn't miss any details =)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On the Fourth we had a pancake breakfast at our church and after that, we decorated Bailey's little bike so she can be in the traditional primary parade. She wasn't sure about what was going on but I think she still had fun. We had a nice restful afternoon and in the evening we had a fun bike ride. We rode to a park close by and then to the huge field on base to watch the fireworks. This was the first time Bailey had seen fireworks and she seemed to enjoy it.




Besides all the fun we had this weekend, we are incredibly grateful to live in this great country. I personally feel very humble and blessed to be able to enjoy a lot of the things here that I can't enjoy in my own country. I'm also grateful for Dave and for all our wonderful military friends, for their service and hard work. Thank you!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

She did it!

We've mentioned before that Bailey was not a big fan of the sand. I could tell this was getting frustrating for her because she really wanted to play but she just couldn't make herself stand on it. Well, not anymore! Last Saturday Bailey finally dared to walk on the sand at the beach and she loved it! It was really cool to see her actually enjoying being at the beach and playing around with her friend Josie.

Since this was a big step for Bailey, I took a million pictures but here are just a few of them =)

That was the closest she'd get to the sand

Yay!

This was earlier in the day. We left to the beach at 7am so these guys could surf. It was cool being there early and play all day.

So sweet.

More family!

This time we had visitors. Bonnie, Bruce and Kendra drove to Jersey to spend a couple days with us and it was really fun to have them here. There were a hundred things we wanted to do but there wasn't enough time and Dave had to work. We still had a great time just spending being with them. We went to the Popcorn zoo one day (didn't bring cameras, so no pictures of this) and to the beach the next day.

Great weekend!

We spent last weekend in Ohio visiting family and we had a blast! Tara and her family just moved to Columbus to continue school so Bruce, Bonnie and Kendra went to help with the move. Heather and Ryan already live there so we couldn't stay away with so much family in one place only a few hours away from us! We found out Dave didn't have to work on Friday so we left that morning and got back Sunday evening after a fun Father's Day morning celebration.
As you have noticed, I'm obsessed with collages so here are a few more for everyone to enjoy =)

Our AC in the car broke, so this is Bailey after 8 hours. She was so great.

Lake Alum

We've had some progress with Bailey. She played with sand and loved playing in the water (well, as long as she was in dad's shoulders)

Heather and Ryan know how to host a party! Thank you guys!

Princess Bailey

Since Dave wasn't home for Bailey's birthday, we decided to have a birthday party for her last Saturday. She loves anything related to the Disney Princesses so that was the "theme" of her party. We had four of her little friends and they got to decorate their own cupcakes and got some princesses stuff to dress up. I think they all had fun and I know Bailey felt special. She was definitely happy to blow her candle and have her friends over.

The little girl refused to wear her pretty tutu skirt that Josie gave her and her crown. Oh well, she still looked like a pretty princess.

A royal party can wear out any princess... and her dad

Summer Concert Season

As a late Anniversary treat, Angela is taking me to the Jason Mraz/Dave Matthews Band concert in Hershey, PA on July 24 (any interest from our Ohio siblings?). We bought the tickets and started looking at hotels in the area. Angela, my wonderfully frugal wife (frugal as long as the actual concert tickets are already paid for) thought we should just stay at the cheapest place. Hotels.com shows the local Super 8 charging only $49/night. Check out this review from a former guest (the first line is classic):

Stay away from this one

I should have know by the smell of urine that my stay was not going to be pleasant. The rooms are terribly small and not clean, I hung my shirt on the rack and it tore out of the plaster (the hook on the bathroom door was also torn out) I confirmed my reservation for 4 people and yet there were only 2 towels and wash cloths. And to top it all off there was hair in the bathtub. I requested 2 queen sized beds, unfortuanatly they were for the queen of munchkin land (very small). Also no clock of any kind. I would recommend you stay in your car and shower at the YMCA before you book a night at this place. And I am not exaggerating.

Here are a couple other shining reviews:

Pass this one up

Checked in - key didn't work we had to leave until they fixed it. The room was dirty, toilet was not even cleaned before we arrived bed was like sleeping on rocks, we woke in the middle of the night to bugs crawling on us. I plan on contacting Super 8 and demand a full refund but don't expect to get it!!!!!

Needs major improvement!!

We rented the room for a two night stay and ended up coming home early. The beds were absolutely horrible and the rooms were not as expected. The bathroom sink wasn't evenin the bathroom and one of the headboards on the bed fell off of the wall! The only thing that was good was the low rate,but now I know why it was so low!! Also, the cleaning staff was very good, but the hotel itself was unsatisfactory.

Thank goodness for the internet - I think we'll be staying elseswhere.

A new hobbie?

We went to the beach last Friday with our friends the Clarks, who recently became a surfing family. They brought extra surfing gear for Dave and he was so excited to try it. He had a really good time and I was impressed with how well he did! On the way home I asked him joking if he was going to get a surf board and he said with a smile "wouldn't that be fun?!" I think he is hooked =) You can never have enough hobbies, right? =)

Watch out, here they come!

Bailey and I didn't mind letting dad go play because we always have fun hanging out with Jojo and Linds.

Notice the beautiful rainbow in the back. It's hard to see but there is one back there.

It's been raining almost everyday lately so there are paddles of water everywhere. Josie was having a blast jumping in the water. Bailey on the other hand was concerned about getting dirty with the sand or wet. Aaaahhh. We need to change that this summer.

But she still managed to smile for the picture =)

Together is our favorite place to be

Welcome home honey/daddy!!

Beach birthday party!

Last Saturday I had planned to make Bailey a birthday cake, get some balloons and invite a couple of her friends to sing happy birthday. But our friends Lindsey, Ben and Josie invited us to go to the beach with them and I thought that was a much better idea. So we headed to the shore that morning and spent the day with them, playing and eating yummy treats. Bailey had a great time and I cannot thank our friends enough for being so thoughtful. Thank you guys!

Little Ms Attitude

We went to a fun beach shop after lunch and Bailey loved this little decorative surfing boards. Can you tell? =)

She is holding her candle but the sun was too bright so it's hard to see the number.