Cleveland airshow

So in addition to everything else, we also took the kids to the Cleveland Air Show this summer! It was an easy drive up there, drove right to the Burke airport, but it took us almost as long to find parking as it did to get there! It was worth it, though, and the kids (and Jamie) had a great time! The Blue Angels were scheduled to fly at 4:30 the day we were there, but it was incredibly hot and unbelievably crowded so we left about 3:30. I have no idea exactly which planes these pictures are of, but the boys loved them and Andy is the one that took most of them!

They had a neat thing- a Shockwave Jet Truck- it's a jet engine on a semi, goes something like 300+ MPH in around 6 seconds! With everything else that was there, I really think the boys liked this the best!

They also had the Army's Golden Knights Paratroopers! The last time I saw them was at an airshow in Charleston WV when Andy was a month old, it was very neat to see them again!

Soccer season...

So Alec is playing soccer this fall and Andy is playing football. We've done soccer in our family, Alec played last spring and Andy played several years in SC, but football is new...

Anyway, his first game was a couple of weekends ago and they won 6-2! He played goalie the first half, not my favorite position for my kids at all, and moved to forward the second half. He did great, got a couple of saves in goalie and a couple of great assists!

Take me out to the ballgame........

So for Andy's 11th birthday, we got him tickets to the Cincinatti Reds and Chicago Cubs game. Since he was a tiny boy, he's been a HUGE Cubs fan- we used to have to call Chicago "ORD" (their airport code, J worked for an airline back then) because if Andy heard the word Chicago he'd go NUTS!

Needless to say he was THRILLED! So last Sunday he and Jamie drove to Cincinnati and Andy got to see his beloved Cubbies in person! They lost 4-3, but he loved it anyway!

The next weekend we had his "friends" party- all he wanted to do was play football in the yard!

They all had a great time, even though Andy threw his only football onto the roof and it got stuck and they ended up having to play kickball!

Bad words- Spongebob style!

So Kate is selling candy bars for her school (any buyers? they're only $1!!!) and this morning she notices the box and asks for one. I told her no, that it's too early and she just had breakfast. Her response, "Oh man, barnacles!"

How you can tell we're a military family...

So Kate and I are shopping at the local WalMart yesterday, wandering aisle-to-aisle picking up the few things that were on our list and the many things that weren't. We're going through the dairy aisle and K asked for cheese sticks. I'm all for them eating healthily, but come on- why pay a fortune for pre-sliced cheese sticks when you can buy a block and cut it yourself!? (insert required "cut-the-cheese" boy-joke here) So I'm looking through the section of block cheeses and K is fussing, she wants the "camouflage" cheese. I look and look, then realize she's asking for a block of marbled colby-jack. All the moms around us just laughed....