I'm leaving...on a jet plane. :)

Haha okay cheesy I know. But tomorrow morning at the butt crack of dawn we have to be at the airport for our trip to Chicago. I am so very excited. I have been packing and trying to get all of the last minute things together for us to go away. It is getting increasingly more difficult for me to pack for everyone and remember everything. I wonder what I will have forgotten (and not realized until we get there.)
Oh yeah I needed to do a little grouching, at myself and the stupid airlines. First, somehow I managed to book a different return flight than Misty. How did I do it? I don't really know myself. I just think that I am a doofus so it's pretty expected. Hehe. And second, the stupid airlines are getting more and more stupid. So starting sometime in August, all of the airlines will now charge to check baggage! Are you freaking kidding me?! It is anywhere between $15 and $30 per bag to check it. And then on top of that you can't have any (or not enough to count) liquids in your carry-ons. Arghh! Its so frustrating that there is nothing we can do other than just pay it. I feel the same way about gas prices, but that is vent all of its own and I will spare you all that major temper tantrum. At least for now.
Anyway, I will not be back until June 30th. So updates will come then.

When I grow up...

So as we were driving back from the aquatic center today Kenneth was getting deep on me. I could tell that he was really thinking hard in the back seat. He was telling me what he wanted to be when he grew up. This is how it went.

• "I want to be a helicopter flier"
• "Wow that would be a nice job."
• "No I want to be a submarine driver."
• "You can do that too. Whatever you want to be, you can."
• (thinking really hard) "I want to be a fish."
• (laughing very quietly)"Sorry honey, you can't be a fish. You are a boy, a person so you can't be a fish. You'll always be a person."
• (kind of whining now)"But I really want to. I want to go on someone's fishing rod."

And with that I burst out laughing. I couldn't contain myself. He is just so darn cute sometimes. He seemed to be really thinking hard about all this. So now I am the proud mother of a soon to be hooked fish. :)

Day after duty days suck!

I just needed to say that. Chris had duty yesterday, so when he finally got to come home tonight the poor guy was just so beat. He made it until 8 before going to bed. Yucky days. Oh and I have another one to look forward to in just a couple of days. Thats the great fun of the Navy life I suppose.

Pics from Father's Day

Spiderman, Spiderman...
Feeding the giraffe was amazing!
Daddy got a new fire pit for Father's Day. Lilly is just trying it out. :)
Just my pretty little girl being pretty.

"Goat" thats what I kept telling her. All I got back was Nana. :) I don't think she understood.

I wanna...

I totally forgot to mention in yesterdays post about us going to the zoo. We went on Father's Day and had a really good time. It was super hot and sticky, but nice still. But the part that I liked the very most was the part when I got to touch and feed a stingray! It was the neatest thing I think I have ever done. I was just so into that I wasn't ready to leave that area, even when everyone else was. I really think that I could have stayed there for HOURS. I also got bit by one of them. I was feeding them little fish halves and when they come along to eat it the swim right over your hand since there mouth is on the bottom. I guess I didn't let go soon enough because the little critter bit my pinky! Hard. They don't have teeth but it still hurt. Just imagine a toddler with no teeth chomping down on your little finger. Youch! Even with that though it was the coolest thing ever. Their skin is a really rubbery feeling stuff. I bet a dolphin feels similar. I really want to go and swim with the dophins sometime. I keep dropping the hints about it to Chris. I wonder if he is getting them, so maybe sometime he will take me to do it. There is a place in Orlando (which is only a few hours from here) that does it. Someday...

That kind of has me thinking. I have been coming up with a list of things that I really want to do sometime in the not so distant future. Not saying that it will be this year or next but at some point. I want to:

• swim with the dophins
• go out of the US
• go on a cruise
• scuba diving
• sky diving
• learn to play golf
• camp in a cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere
• ride in a race car
• Sea World and Disney
• ride a horse on the beach

That is a pretty extensive list I see. There are probably more that I just can't think of right now. Boy would I have a lot of fun if we had lots of time and lots of money. :) Someday...

I was trying to add some pictures, but blogger is being goofy now. So maybe later.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads in our lives. We love you all so much. Our lives wouldn't be the same without you!

Chris I couldn't ask for a better man to be the father of my children. I am so glad we got to spend this day with you. We love you so very much!

Dad, I miss you and wish I could be there with you on this day. I hope you day was wonderful though. I love you!

Bob, we can't wait to see you in a week or so. We love you. Happy Father's Day!

Outside fun

I am such a bad blogger here lately. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for it.
We have been going to the Aquatic center in town, to the beach, the zoo, and just hanging out in the back yard. Also Chris and I got to go out on 2 dates this past week. We went out last Sunday and then yesterday as well. It is wonderful to get to spend some time with him. I keep pretty busy most days during the day, but come the evenings all I really want to do is to hang out with Chris since he is home. There seems like there is always something going on. But what fun it is!

Here are a few of the pictures from this past week. Let me know you're reading. :)

Kenneth really wanted to use Daddy's tools so Chris let him use a real drill. He was so very excited. He wants to be just like his daddy.

This is pretty much how Lilly spends her time in our back yard. She is either digging in the dirt with the big kids, or she is just chilling in her baby swing.

Out local aquatic center is awesome. We were there 3 days this past week, and the kids just love it. It's a wonderful way to get them outside and stay cool at the same time.

We love the beach. It was super hot on Saturday, and Chris was day after duty, but we had a wonderful time. The kids (Chris included there) built a sand castle with a river around it. They were trying to get it to fill with water, but Lilly kept stepping in the river and blocking it or caving in the sides. :) She is ever so helpful.

So last Sunday Chris and I went and saw Indiana Jones. It was really good. And then yesterday we went out again. We went to a really yummy Japanese restaurant in Jax and then saw another movie. This time we saw The Hulk. I really liked it. I had such a good time going out with my husband and getting to know him again. It just seems that after he has been gone for so long we needed that.

Me = slacker

I am a total slacker blogger. I know it, yet I can't find the time. It's late now but I will blog tomorrow! I will I will I will! Do you think that chant will help me? Probably not.

I've still got more to see...

So I totally stole this idea from someone else's blog. It just seemed neat. I have seen quite a few states, and would love to see more!

Places I've seen

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Busy weekend

On Friday we did some yard work and just hung out outside for awhile. I got to learn how to drive a riding lawn mower. It was actually alot of fun. How boring am I really? My idea of a good time involves a riding mower. :)

Lilly's birthday party was on Saturday. She had 3 parties in all. What a busy little girl she was. But even after 2 others she still did wonderfully for her party on Saturday. We had a small group of wonderful friends and their children come over. We had cake, and a pinata, and opened all of her presents. This little girl has so much stuff. Thanks to everyone who got our little girl something for her birthday. It will all get a lot of use.

Then on Sunday Chris and I got to go on a date. It was wonderful! I just love being able to go out and spend some time with him. I am so thankful to have him home. We went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, and had a late lunch. Then we went and wandered around Lowe's for awhile and ended up buying some flowers. There just isn't alot to do here in Kingsland, but we at least got to go out and spend some time together. We plan on doing it again this next weekend while my mom is still here.

It has been brought to my attention...

It was brought to my attention by my dear husband that I didn't include any photos with his dad while we were on vacation. So here ya go, Grandpa Bob this one is for you! We didn't want you to feel left out.

We love ya!

By the way did you notice I changed the songs just for you.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

At 2:42 pm one year ago today my baby girl came into this world. It's so hard to believe that a year has passed so quickly. In that year she has grown into such a beautiful little girl full of spirit, personality, and spunk! I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I love her so very much and do so more every day.

Today we had a small at home get together for Lilly. We got her a few presents and I made a cake for her. It was such a wonderful evening. We all enjoyed watching Lilly truly enjoy herself. She wasn't sure what she thought of the cake at first, but she finally tried it and boy oh boy did she like it. We had just finished dinner but she still put away an amazing amount of chocolate cake. Then after cake she proceeded to help her granny with her ice cream. Yummy! What's birthday cake without ice cream?

After cake she opened the few presents we had for her. She was all about tearing the paper off. It was very cute. One of the presents was a Dora the Explorer couch. She just sat right up on that thing and got super comfy. Daddy picked it out and he did a great job with it. :) She just loves it! What a fun and eventful evening. Her birthday is today, but on Saturday comes the actual party. I don't know how many people are going to be here, but I am going to try and make it fun for her anyway.

Wow...the longest post ever!

Wow is all that I can say. It has been a very long and busy few weeks. We are now finally home from our vacation, and boy are we glad to finally be home. My poor babies were so tired of riding in the car. Well we were certainly busy. Where should I start?

Lilly is ever so helpful to mommy. I was trying to get packed.

On Friday after Chris got home on Thursday we left. It took us about 10 hours to make it to Tennessee. We had crap weather to drive in and the traffic in Atlanta was horrendous! I HATE Atlanta. I have never been able to make it through that stinking city in less than an hour and a half. Its not that big either. But we made in to Murfreesboro just in time to have dinner with my family at a neat little Italian place. My grandparents, mom and dad, brother and his family, sister and her baby were all there. It was a big to-do let me tell ya. :) We had a lot of fun just hanging out and having some yummy food and catching up a bit. It was nice.This is the newest to the O'Neal clan. This is nephew Cannon. So little!Dinner with family.

Kenneth needed to make sure Lilly's bed was acceptable. It's crazy to me that he was once able to fit in these things quite well.

We stayed in a hotel that night in Murfreesboro then left first thing in the morning on Saturday to head to Michigan. It was about 9 hours to Chris's family's house. We did make a little stop on the way though. We stopped in Indianapolis to visit with a friend who lived near us in SC, but now they live in Washington, DC. It was nice to see Jamison again. I wish Jayme could have been there too. Oh well. We finally made it to Michigan just in time for me to break the new car. Haha well thats what Chris wants to think. I had taken the car to Chris's grandma's house and when I can back out to leave the car wouldn't start. What kind of crap is that. It's a fairly new car and I know I didn't do anything to it. Well it turns out that when Chris set off the alarm at a rest area somewhere in Indiana it screwed up the car. So long story short we just had to reset the alarm in order for it to work. It was some kind of extra security. If someone steals my car and sets off the alarm and then is able to get it turned off the car will only drive so far before it won't go any more. Good to know huh? All snoozing except Adrianna. They look so cramped! Poor babies.

Lilly is checking out Great-Grandma's swing set.

On Sunday Chris went to his brother's and cousin's graduation. The graduation time was right at nap time so I opted to stay home with the two little ones so they wouldn't be grumpy during the ceremony. Chris with his cousin Sarah, his grandma, mom and uncle Al.

Chris and his younger brother Steven.

Monday was Steven (chris's brother) graduation party. Now that was a busy day. There was so much food and lots of friends and family hanging out. We played games and talked. I even got to go for a ride on Chris's uncle's Harley. It was alot of fun. Chris really wants to get a motorcycle, but I am just not convinced yet. They scare the mess out of me and I wouldn't want to ride the thing for more than a few minutes. I survived though. :)

He's cool. That's all there is so say!

Tuesday we had a "small" party for Lilly's birthday so everyone up there could celebrate her birithday with us. It turned out really well. Lilly got a few presents which she really enjoyed unwrapping and we had cupcakes. She is so big!Lilly is helping Great-grandma set up for the party. :)

Lilly and her aunt Diana.

She loves to squish the cupcake!

Wednesday we said goodbye to everyone up in MI and headed South once again. This time though we took a detour to the West. We have some wonderful friends in Memphis from when Chris was in school there a few years ago. We stopped to spend some time with them on Thursday. It was great to see everyone again. We miss you guys so very much! Mike and Phyllis invited us to go to the lake with them on Friday to go out on their new boat. Boy oh Boy was that some fun! I had a blast swimming and going 'tubing. I want a boat now, because I would love to be able to spend the weekends on the water.

Riley, Corinne, Adrianna, and kenneth.

Vanessa and Kenneth sharing an apple.Riley and Lilly just checking each other out. Riley is about 4 months (I think) younger than Lilly, but she is just as big. :)
Lilly loved the life jacket.

Kenneth wasn't really sure in the beginning if he liked being on the boat, but after a little while he decided he loved it!

Lilly and mommy swimming.We went on the tube together! How fun!Best of friends!

Saturday morning we left. We were headed back to my dad's house. We were only able to spend on night with them which wasn't so good but it was better than nothing. We went to dinner on Saturday and really enjoyed visiting. Kenneth and his Pa and Nana just hanging out.

Lilly and her Pa. She loves him so much!

Sunday morning came way too soon. At 5am the alarm went off for us to head back home. We again, hit awful weather and horrible traffic in Atlanta. Did I mention I hate that place? But we finally made it home in about 10 hours.


So now over 2500 miles and 10 days later we are home! Yay! Not much time to settle in though because tonight I am headed to the airport to get my mom for a 9 day visit. Wow. We are nonstop fun this summer, and there is only more to come.