It's Hammie Time

Shootin' some Zombies

2011-11-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

We had a chance to head up to my good friends, Erin's for the weekend, so of course we took it! It had been a while since we've all been together and besides Erin and I missing each other like crazy, our kids were driving US crazy with constantly asking when they were going to see each other again.

Luckily Erin isn't too far away and only after a 2 hour drive and we made it in plenty of time to enjoy a fun Friday night of Shootin'!

Perry and Erin have been spending some lovely date nights shooting the crap out of some poor targets, so we couldn't wait to jump in on some of that action.

Ok, Jon couldn't wait. I was a little nervous. It has been a few years since I've fired off a few rounds.

But my excitement tripled when I saw the targets we'd be shooting - ZOMBIES!!

If you know us, we have an (unnatural) obsession with zombies. I really don't know when or where it started but hey, at least it's not drugs.

Jon getting ready to blow some caps in that zombie, er...brain.

Ready? Aim! FIRE!

Look at 'em...giggling like a bunch of school girls! Geesh!

Perry showing us silly girls how it's done!

Me rocking it out in my protective eye wear! HAWT! ;)

Taking aim and praying I don't actually shoot myself. I look much cooler in this picture than I actually felt. Ugh!

Erin showing us how real women do it!

I just love the targets and Jon's face, lol!

Jon did some damage to that zombie. I at least hope that it's actually dead-dead now and not the walking dead. Ewwww....

Mmmmm.....brains!

We ended up have a fabulous weekend. AS USUAL! We got some quality time in, drank some wine, ate some delicious food, went to the movies and let the kids run wild! We couldn't wait to do it again in a few weeks during our annual Hammie-Smith Epic Thanksgiving Weekend!

Stay tuned!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:13:00.000-04:00

Halloween came fast for us this year. We've been so busy that before we could say 'Trick or Treat', it was Halloween weekend.
Our fun weekend started off on Friday, where the boys school held their annual 'Trunk or Treat'. Sadly, because of the new school and there not being as many people, there wasn't that many 'trunks'. But the kids still had a fantastic time seeing all the great costumes and the awesome trunks that were decorated.

My friend Jenny and Karen participated again this year. This time it was as a Mad Scientist and Egor. I have to say, they did a FANTASTIC job! As you can see by this picture, everyone was lined up to get a look at their trunk!

These girls cracked me up!

Aren't their costumes AWESOME?!!!!

Although Karen was freaking me out just a little bit....

....but then again, Jenny was too!

Right next to them was this trunk!

They had all sorts of scary music playing and they DARED the kids to go inside to see what could possibly be in there...

It took some convincing but Jack finally found his courage and went inside....

Jason followed....

Obviously it wasn't too tortuous, seeing as he came out smiling! They had to knock on the window in the back and then they got more candy.

Here's just another example of a trunk all deck out....

There was prizes given out that evening for the best decorated trunk and then the 2nd and 3rd place winners. Was it any surprise that Jenny and Karen took home the Grand Prize?! They have some mad skills because this was the 3rd year in a row that they won! Way to go girls!!!!

That next day was Soccer Saturday. They boys have been busy going to practices pretty much every day of the week with games on Saturday. Today was no different. So we were up and at 'em first thing in the morning. After the games, we headed up to Swansboro to let the boys pick out pumpkins. We kinda waited until the last minute to get our pumpkins, so it was slim pickin's in town. But I remembered that we got awesome pumpkins last year at the church in Swansboro, so we headed up there and picked out 3 huge pumpkins to carve the next day.

Sunday night finally rolls around and it's time to carve some pumpkins! Cassie had a couple of girlfriends over to stay the night, but since she had to have a pumpkin this year, I made sure she was the one craving it! This year we took it easy with the carving. I have just gotten tired of spending hours carving out those designs you can buy for them. So we went Old School and let the boys draw faces on their pumpkins and go to town!

I mostly had to help Jack still. He was very excited about carving it, but he wanted NOTHING to do with pulling out the guts inside.

Jason went at his pumpkin like an old pro! He knew exactly what he wanted and only needed our help with the tricky stuff. It's so nice that we're getting to the point where the kids don't need us to carve their pumpkins for them anymore!

Getting ready to pop the top off Jack's pumpkin....

We took a lot of pics of all of us getting down to business...

Jason starting to cut out the eye of his pumpkin...

This was Jack's face when we told him that he needed to reach his hand inside his pumpkin and pull out the guts...

"You want me to put my hand WHERE???"

The smell was grossing him out apparently...

So I dug in a little deeper and got most of the gunk out...

And finally we got Jack to stick his arm in there.

A few more pictures of us working on the pumpkins...

At this point it was time to get Cassie involved...

I just love this girl!

We finally finished up our pumpkins and I started the process of removing all the seeds from the gunk so we could have some roasted pumpkin seeds.

The next day - HALLOWEEN, Cassie and Alyssa decided they needed to make a last ditch effort and get some sort of costume. They wanted to get one more year in of Trick-or-Treating.

Here my girls are, ready to head out. No surprise Alyssa is the devil. I'm just say'n....

But as the time came to get ready to go, the girls came to their senses and realized not only would they be embarressed to go trick or treating, but that they were also too old for it now. So they hung out at the house and handed out candy before a friend came by and took them to the Haunted House here on base.

It was time for the boys to head out! Jason of course was an Angry Bird and Jack went at Skeleton Jack Sparrow! The great thing about Jason's costume is that it's so full of stuffing that after tonight we're turning it into a huge pillow!

Trick-or-Treat!

After a lot of complaining (from Jack) and then the drizzling rain, we decided to call it a night and come home. But we realized that we hadn't gotten pictures of the pumpkins this year. Sadly Cassie's pumpkin had a pumpkin accident when her design didn't work out too well for her and then it really went to the birds after Jack accidentally stepped on it as he was walking out the door. Whoops! But being the good girl she is, she wasn't too upset about it.

Jack's pumpkin...

A pic of Jason's pumpkin all lit up!

And finally Jack's.

I want to take a moment in this blog to thank my friend Jenny (Yup, Egor from earlier) who helped me sew Jason's angry bird costume. She came over one Sunday and after a few mishaps, we were finally able to figure out the best way to go about it! She is my sewing goddess and I can't thank her enough for all the help she gave me. Almost made me want to head out and buy myself a sewing machine.

Almost.

Uncle Cory Comes Home!

2011-10-29T18:09:00.003-04:00

Today was the day my sister has been waiting for! Her husband, my brother-in-law (bil) is coming back home after a 7 month deployment to 'Ass'ganistan! All of us, including my kids and hubby, Cory's brothers and their wives and kids all went down to see him roll in!

We did a little pre-pictures before we headed out to get him.

My sister, Nicole with her boys. From left to right: Justin, Peyton and Cameron.

Once there, that age ol' saying of 'Hurry up and wait' came into play. But at least we were surround by family and there was a hot dog tent. Thank goodness for that!

Nicole with her sister-in-law, Sandra and Cory's brother Danny.

The kids got to hang out under the tent and enjoy free pop and hot dogs while waiting...

Finally, a nervous excitement started building throughout the crowd and we notice a motorcade of police and buses start making their way down the road.

Cory finally steps off the bus and the nephews race up to greet him...

...and of course, so does his wife.

Look at the big ol' cheesy smile my sister has! Someone's glad he's home!!

Jason and then Cassie get a turn getting a long over due hug from Uncle Cory!

And of course, Jon gets in on some of that action!

Everyone is so happy to see him home safe and sound!

Somehow, I think Cameron might be getting the short end of the stick here...lol

Back together again!

Welcome Home Cory! Our family just isn't complete without you!

Inner Princess Tea Luncheon

2011-10-18T13:19:00.004-04:00

One of the best things about living here on Lejeune and being involved in the OWC, is that every month we all get the chance to attend a luncheon. This month's theme was 'Find Your Inner Princess High Tea & Luncheon', during which would be a 'fashionable hat' contest. We were all to come to lunch channeling our inner British sisters and wear some outrageous hat (or a Fascinator, if you will).

Thank goodness it was close to Halloween, since it was easier for me to design and create the hat I had come up with. I had an idea of using a gentleman's top hat and adding peacock feathers and ribbons to create some outrageous design. I ended up finding a miniature costume top hat at a Halloween supply store and then the feathers, ribbons and all the extra's at Michaels.

Jill and I at during the social hour...

Jill was lucky enough to live by a neighbor who is from England and had an endless supply of fascinators to choose from.

My friend Teri and I with our awesome hats!

A beautiful table set up with mimosa's and wine! Yes please!

Social Hour...

I love NC in during the Fall. It was an absolutely beautiful day to enjoy ourselves outside as well. And look how gorgeous everything is!

Soon the luncheon bell was rung and we all headed into the dining room to get started...

The tables were beautifully decorated. Just what you would imagine they would be while enjoying a High Tea...

We were served some delicious tea sandwiches, soups and scones.

During our whole social hour and luncheon, all of our hats were being judged in different categories. Here is the table of goodies the potential winners would get...

I was so surprised! All my hard craftiness paid off and I received the first award for Best Hat! Go me!

I was rewarded with a lovely gift bag of goodies from a local salon full of hair products, creams, jewelery and candles! Score!

Once all the hat awards were given out, each person had to look under their chair and who ever had the sticker won a prize! Jill was the lucky winner at our table.

Finally as we started wrapping things up, we all wanted to do a few group shots. We all decided to take advantage of the lovely afternoon and head outside.

Here we all all, including our one and only military spouse husband, Frank (King of the castle?) posing for our pictures.

Later that day, I asked to take a few more pictures of me in my hat. I just love the netting covering my face and my cute little blue peacock perched right on the rim. Oh and since it was an OWC High Tea luncheon, you know I had to wear my pearls! Ever the proper lady, this girl is!!!

I am so lucky to be involved in such a fun group! I love these luncheons!

Also, I'd like to give credit to Susannah Volinski, OWC Historian for allowing me use of some of these photos from our luncheon! Thanks Susannah!!!!

Cassie's Homecoming 2011

2011-10-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

What more can you say about these pictures of Cassie's homecoming, except.....

WOW!

She is just beautiful!

This year for homecoming Cassie had arranged to go with a big group of her friends. She had asked if I would come over to her best friends Alyssa's house and do her hair and all her friends hair and makeup as well. Being the good Mommy I am, I said I would. I also then got wrangled into driving them to a nice spot to get pictures done, then to dinner and then to the dance.

Good thing I have a minivan!

Here's the start of her evening....

Love the flower in her hair!

Alyssa and Cassie!

Alyssa and her Mom, Amanda.

Cass and I...

Cassie and Katie...

Getting ready to pile in the van and head to the picture location...

The whole group...

Silly girls!

All the ladies...

Cassie with her 'date' Darian...

Alyssa...sigh...this girl just kills me!

Cassie's Tennis partner Kat, with her boyfriend...

Katie and Cassie again...

Taylor and Alyssa...

After pictures, I took the teenagers to dinner at Marrakesh!

While they had dinner, I made myself scarce and headed to Barnes and Noble to get some quality 'Me' time. Cassie shot me a text when they were done and I met them next door to Marrakesh, at the frozen yogurt place BrrrBerry.

Getting ready to head to the dance and the girls are being silly! Love that!

Everyone had a fun night and they all looked amazing/beautiful! I was glad that I got to be a part of it!

End of August/September Round Up

2011-09-30T13:22:00.000-04:00

The beginning of the school year and that first full month of school are always so busy! So instead of trying to blog about each picture/event one by one, I figured I'd do a nice little compilation of our lives.

Enjoy!

So we start off with the fact that the kids will be starting school. Cassie will be entering 10th grade, Jason 4th and Jack 2nd. It's amazing that we've been lucky enough to be stationed here for this long. We arrived in Camp Lejeune at the end of Cassie's 6th grade year (Jason's kindergarten year). Sucks how fast time goes by once you become an adult. Ugh!

Anyway, to get the kids ready for school, on August 16th, I took them all to the salon to get some new haircuts. Can't have them looking like a bunch of rag-a-muffin's now, can I?

Jack always looks so happy!

Justin Bieber...er...wait...I mean, Jason's new do!

We decided to do one last hurrah at the beach, so we packed up the kids and my sister and I took the munchkins down to the ocean.

Cassie turned into a mermaid!

Cameron turned into....some sort of squid/octopus?

Peyton ended up snatching this swordfish right out of the water with his bare hands! He is all that is (little) man!

It was FINALLY the first day of school!

Cassie looks beautiful as ALWAYS!

Oh Jack! But don't they look hansom regardless of Jack's zombie eyes?

At the 'meet the teacher' a few days later, Jack showed off his painting of his Pelican. This year he switched 'teams'. He went from being a 'shark' to being a 'pelican'.

I'll definitely be framing this one!

Jack's class also does this cute little thing where the teacher sends home "Pelican Pete' and whichever kid takes him home that night writes a cute little story about what they did with Pete. Jack thinks he's adorable!

At Jason's 'Meet the Teacher', we got to read Jason's 'All about Me' poster. What cracked me up was that Jason gave himself curly hair!

This year, Cassie decided that she wanted to participate a bit more in regards to School Spirit, so she tried out for the Tennis Team and made it!

Love her in her uniform! Go Tennis Pups!

The boys also started Fall Soccer. Last year, Jason just stayed with karate, but found that he missed playing soccer, so we let him sign up for both. It's a hectic schedule. Mon/Wed - Karate, Tue/Thur both boys soccer and then throw in Cassie's practices and I don't know how we did it with just one car!

Jason in his Kings uniform.

Jack in his Fire uniform.

While this was all going on, I was in the process of starting up this years Gourmet Club. My board and I had already picked out our theme and we finally had our 'Welcome Coffee' where we signed up everyone who was interested in joining the club. Things went pretty smoothly and we were all anticipating the first luncheon!

I also arranged for all of my girl friends to get together for a 'they're finally back in school' luncheon. We got to catch up with a bunch of us that we haven't seen all summer! And I finally got to see Jackie again. She moved to GTMO, two years ago and finally moved back and yup, I am STILL here!

Jilly and I sharing a free drink we got!

All of us!

From left to right, starting in the back:

Me, Jilly, Karen, Jackie

Front Row: Kim, Megan and Sandy

If you know us, you know we're big Michigan fans! So we were super stoked when the first game was finally upon us!

GO BLUE!

Jon and I wearing our swagger...

And finally, ending September on a good note, as we were heading to my sister's house, there was this huge storm rolling in. Anytime we see creepy clouds, we always automatically think about the Tornado.

Storm clouds coming in...

But thankfully it was just a good thunderstorm, followed by this awesome DOUBLE RAINBOW!

Oh my God! It's sooooo beautiful! What does it mean???!!!??? ;)

Overall, August/September was busy, amazing, fun and finally over! We can't wait to see what October brings us!

Birth place of Pepsi

2011-08-21T12:08:00.000-04:00

I think at some point during this summer, it hit us that we were not going to be here for the next. We'll be moving (not sure where yet) around May of this next year. So, we've decided to get out and do as much as possible and make the most of it.
That includes this fun little get away to New Bern.We've been to New Bern plenty of times. Last year for Halloween, we took a hay ride and explored the haunted houses here. We've attended the Christmas parade and Jon and I have even had a date or two up this way.

This time we wanted to come up and enjoy the birth place of Pepsi. Growing up, we were strickly Coke people and you would be banned from ever entering the home front if you dared to bring a Pepsi home. Luckily, things have mellowed out and times have changed. I honestly don't care which way or another which one is better. All I know is that this is where Pepsi came to be and wouldn't it be fun to see what that was all about?

On our drive into New Bern, they have all these flags up on the light poles. I love this town!

A marker explaining and memorializing the creator of Pepsi...

New Bern is famous for it's bears. There are something like 50 of them scattered throughout the city. Down a little alley way, we came across a few....

Cassie with the Tennis Bear! Cassie has taken up tennis this year in high school and so far, she's loving it!

How about that! Another pirate! I just love the look on Jason's face in these next two pictures. You can tell he's had enough of his brother for the day.....Poor kid!

But then we found Elvis and all was right with the world again!

Finally made it to the little store front where Pepsi was born...

They had a fountain machine that you were able to buy drinks for dirty cheap! It was awesome! But then, they also had the glass bottles of Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Crush. We bought one of each! Right on the cooler, they had a spot to pop off the tops to the bottles. They boys thought that was the coolest thing ever!

Makes ya kinda thirsty, doesn't it?

After, we decide to keep walking along and explore a little more. We came up on to that beautiful church that I've talked about before with the playground in the cemetery. Looks completely different in the daylight! Since it was HOT (it's August people!), we let the kids take a break and play while we finished our Pepsi in the shade of the willow trees, in the cemetery of the church.

I could of stayed there for hours. It is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. And that's saying a lot from me, who's not a big church person.

It turned out to be just a really lovely day. It's always good to get out of the house and spend an easy day just enjoying being a family together. With how busy our lives are, we forget that we need to do that more often.

Argh Matey's!

2011-07-25T11:36:00.000-04:00

Summer is starting to wind down and we wanted to get one more day of family time in before the kids headed off to school. We searched all around us for something to do and decided it would be great to head up to Beaufort (Bo-fort) and check out the Maritime Museum that is dedicated to the pirate ship - The Queens Anne's Revenge' along with it's famous captain - Blackbeard!

What is fantastic about this museum is that it's FREE! The kids get to go in and explore everything that they've recovered from the QAR while working on a Treasure Map that leads them through each exhibit. Not only have they made it educational, they've also made it FUN!! Which is the BEST part!

Before we made it to the museum, we thought it would be fun to eat at this cute pub called Queen Anne's Revenge. The had all sorts of delish food and best of all, it was a coffee and beer/wine lovers paradise!

A picture of Blackbeard, the Pirate!

Jack enjoying his 'rum'...

The beer shelves, complete with a pirate head....

On the way out, I stumbled upon this bottle of wine. Pretty much explains it all!

Making our way to the museum, we found this. A memorial to Astronaut, Michael John Smith who died when the space shuttle Challenger blew up. We all then took a minute to reminisce about that day and where we were.

The town clock...

Finally we find the museum and get ready to head in. Love the flags that were up!

The museum...

Inside they had a statue that was very reminiscent of Jack Sparrow (ie, my Jack's hero!)

A few pictures of what was in the museum...

I mentioned before that as part of the fun, the kids got to go on a treasure hunt throughout the museum. It was a great opportunity to see everything and learn about all the fun things they've found on the Queen Anne's Revenge.

It was a fantastic way to spend the day. It was only an hour away from us and I don't know why we didn't think to go here before now! The whole town is dedicated to the life of a pirate, it's so fun! They also have a pirate weekend in August (which happens to be the first weekend in August), which if we had known, we would of waited to go! In any case, it's an awesome town to visit and we can't wait to go again!!!

Red Carpet Gala

2011-07-16T14:31:00.004-04:00

Another day, another event to get dressed up for. Not that I'm complaining. I'm a typical girl. I like to wear pretty dresses, wear some rockin' red lipstick and get my glamor on.

This time we were headed out to the O'Club's 'Red Carpet Gala' thrown by the Naval Hospital's Wardroom. A movie themed party, that also will serve as a venue for Jon and his groupies to air the movie they made:

It's a hilarious film that's a mix between Star Wars and Star Trek. It's more on the Trekkie side, obviously but I have to say that I laughed my butt off! Who knew my husband was such a thespian?!

Anyway, like I said it, it was a great excuse to get all dolled up. Here's a few shots of us before we headed out......

My beautiful flower that my friend Karen made especially for me! And thanks to my friend Gia who sent me her dress to borrow.

Jon looking all GQ like...

...and then he goes and does something like this.

Us together...

Blowing a kiss to all my adoring fans....

When we arrived at the O'Club, they had a roped up red carpet that we got to walk on and at the end we had our pictures taken. It was pretty fun!

Waiting for our turn to walk the red carpet and have our pics taken...

The also had a champagne fountain...So glamorous!

A few pictures of the decor from our evening...

After our dinner was served and as we were eating it, they showed the film they made. I have to say, everyone was laughing and Jon looked pretty good in his wig of wavy locks....

Of course after it was all said and done, it was time to dance!

All in all, it was a fantastic evening! We had an opportunity to get all gussied up, eat a meal and shake our groove thing on the dance floor. What could be better?

Jack turns 7!

2011-07-06T18:26:00.000-04:00

Today is Jack's 7th Birthday!!! And what better way to start off a birthday then by having Micky Mouse pancakes and getting to open a present!

After birthday pancakes, we all got ourselves cleaned up and headed out to go see Cars2. I had asked Jack numerous times what he'd like to do for his birthday and all he said to me was that he wanted to stay at Grandma's house, go see Cars2 and have hot dogs.

Ok. I can make that happen!

The things we do for our kids! Cars2 was cute but I think Jon fell asleep.

Once we got home, we let Jack start to open his presents. He couldn't take it any longer and we were all suffering for it. So we loaded up the front deck and let him have at it!

Jack getting ticked because we we were taking longer than he liked. Stink'n kid!

And the parade of presents starts!

I just love his goofy face!

I think he liked this one!

Finally it was time to crack into all those Legos he got while we got his cake and ice cream ready!

He wanted a Transformers birthday cake.

Lighting all those candles! I can't believe he's 7!

We ended the evening with some slip-n-slide fun for the kiddies! Which of course ending with a water fight between the 'adults'. Good times!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!

Michigan Vacation Randomness

2011-07-05T18:05:00.004-04:00

Just thought it'd be fun to see what us Hammies, Wilbur's and Smith's do on our downtime here in Michigan....

Most of the pictures are self-explanatory....

Nicole can sure mow a mean lawn!

I sure do know how to toot my own horn.....only, it's my brother trumpet. So....I don't know what that means...AWKWARD.

Not too sure what Alyssa is doing. But that's pretty much par for the course here.

Cameron will be in band this school year and Uncle Kurtiss was kind enough to start giving him lessons.

Nicole taking a snooze on the swing....

....and then she fell off! hahahaha

The best part of Cameron learning how to play was that he scared the crap out of my folks dogs! Nothing like a little payback for all that drool!

We even hit up the movies a few times. On our list of things to see was Pirates! The kids had fun with the display in the theater.

Oh Jack....I can't take you anywhere!

Jon trying to impress us with his mighty muscles!

He tried his best to convince me to let him take this home....I said only if he used it to fix his jeep.

I'll end this with something we always do. A water fight. Kurtiss came prepared this year! Kinda unfair using the kids swimming pool as a shield. I'm just say'n.

Did I mention how much I love Michigan in the summer?

Fenton's 4th of July Celebration!

2011-07-04T16:20:00.001-04:00

This year we were able to be in Michigan again for the 4th of July. The funny thing is, is that as us kids (mostly Nicole and I) have gotten older, it's almost more important for us to be home for the 4th of July here, than Christmas. There's just something about being here for the 4th, that we love. It could be the pancake breakfast that the American Legion holds at the Community and Cultural Center in downtown Fenton, the craft fair, the Freedom Festival parade, or even the Rubber Ducky race. I think what we like the most about it is the feel of community, the celebration of our country (especially since we're Military families) and just all of us being together. I haven't been to one other town yet that goes all out for the 4th like Fenton does. It rocks!

So anyway, today we get up extremely early (we like to get our pancakes before dawn, thank you very much!) and head downtown. We set up our chairs on the sidewalk and head in to eat the heck out of some pancakes and sausage. Afterwards, it's time to split up and wait for the parade to start. My Mom helped coordinate and choreograph the 'Shopping Cart Boogie' that her store, VG's Food Center performs in the parade. This year, since all the grand kids would be visiting, Mom got them all to participate in the parade as well!

My sis, Nicole and I hamming it up after our yummy pancake breakfast!

The kids hanging out at the 'staging' area, waiting for the parade to start....

After we got the kidlets all settled with Grandma, waiting for the parade the start, we headed back to our designated parade watching spot, which just so happens to be right in front of my Aunt Kelly's Framing Studio.

My Dad (on the right) with my Uncle Marty...

...and with my Aunt Kelly.

Jon...being...Jon.

My brother Kurtiss and sis, Nicole.

Finally, the parade had started. By the time the kids made it to where we were at Jack and Peyton were pooped. So us Mama's swooped in and took them back to the lawn chairs.

Nicole and I being all patriotic and stuff....

Peyton so loved handing out candy to everyone along the parade route, he just couldn't stop once he came to sit with us. He took all his candy and started passing it out to complete strangers. Gotta love him!

Here they come!

We also had a few Super Heroes along the parade route. Jack didn't want anything to do with him (he's got issues with people dressed up in costumes), but Peyton definitely wanted in on that!

Once the parade was over, it was time to head on over to the Fenton Gazebo area to wait the start of the Rubber Ducky race.

Here you can see the creek roped off, waiting for the ducks to make their way down the race track.

Justin taking a closer look.

Cassie!

Right above that bridge is where they'll be releasing the 1000's of ducky's. We all bought tickets and prayed we'd be a Winner-Winner-Ducky-Dinner!

This is where we camped out while waiting for the show to get on the road. Isn't it a lovely area?!

And....THEY'RE OFF!

Come on lucky ducky!!!!

The end of the ducky route, where the judges are waiting patiently for the ducks to make their way to the end zone.

We've got a winner! AND it wasn't me. Oh well, maybe next year!

As we were walking back to our cars, we came upon a memorial that Fenton had put up honoring all the fallen members of our community that fought for our freedom in all the wars. My Dad was actually named after a person on this stone. Not gonna lie, it was kinda freaky seeing my Dad's name up there. But the memorial is a fitting tribute to see on the day all us American's celebrate our Freedom.

Cedar Point!

2011-07-02T15:41:00.001-04:00

Ok, so for the most part the teenagers have been bored stiff. They had asked Jon and I few times about heading down to Cedar Point, one of the largest amusement parks in the country to try their best not to completely barf all over each other while zipping through extremely high and monstrously insane rides.

How could Jon and I say no?

My Mom graciously accepted the inhumane task of watching the younger monsters and 6am Saturday morning, we took ANOTHER road trip. This time down to Sandusky, Ohio.

I love the drive leading up to Cedar Point. It's at this moment when you see those huge roller coasters, higher than skyscrapers and you start thinking to yourself if you truly are a sucker for punishment.

Apparently, I am.

When it comes to roller coasters, it's my opinon that you should ride the scariest one (that you're willing to ride, more on that later) first. That way all those other coasters, won't even be a blimp on your radar.

First up - Millennium Force!

This holy terror of a coaster has a first drop of 310 feet. Almost straight down! Best part, there's no over the shoulder harness, holding you in safe and snug. Oh no! You get a lap bar and then a Priest and Rabi throw some Holy Water on you and say a quick prayer. That's it! After that you're on your own.

I've rode this monster before. When I was younger. Stupider. Thinking no harm would come to me. But now? Now I want to throw up before I even ride the stupid thing! I remember all too well the sensation of rising out of your seat as you plumit to your *maybe* death at an 80 degree angle. But whatever...it's been a good life. Right? RIGHT?

Us waiting in line...the girls yucking it up, while Jon looks on using his 'angry eyes' and I'm playing Farkle on my phone so I don't have to think about what I'm about to do.

So this is what happens. We climb into seats that are in the middle of the train. The ride up the hill is torturous and I refuse to look any where but straight ahead. We top the crest of the hill and as I see the first car start their downward plummet to the Earth, I close my eyes and refuse to open them until I know we've made it safely back down to the bottom. Call me a chicken baby! I don't care! We were so high up, flying so fast at 93 mph's, that it was almost impossible to keep my eyes CLOSED with the amount of wind that was peeling the layers of my face away and I REFUSED to acknowledge the fact that this could possible turn out to be the stupidest thing I've ever done!

Thankfully (and stop laughing at me) we make it to the bottom of that hill and whip through the rest of the track, safely making it back to the beginning.

Thank God!

After that, all the other rides were pretty easy-peasy. We hit up Gemini, which is a fun, dueling wooden roller coaster, that believe it or not was one of my favorites! We ended up riding this one a few times during the day.

Images courtesy of Google...lol

The Iron Dragon...

The Magnum XL-200...

This used to be one of my favorites when I was a teenage but now that I'm (much?) older, this felt like the most jumpy, bumpy, jerky, slamming your brain around in your cranium -ride EVER! I knew I'd be having a nasty headache after this one.

Sometime during the middle/early part of our visit, the girls decided they wanted to take on the Top Thrill Dragster.

According to Cedar Points web page:

"Named a "Strata Coaster" for it's unprecedented height, first coaster to top 400 feet, tallest and fastest coaster when it opened, hydraulic cable launch system - launches riders from 0-120 mph in less than four seconds."

AND...

"To the left of the track is a "Christmas Tree" light, similar to those employed at the starting line of a drag strip. A brief message is played to the riders to; "keep arms down, head back, and hold on." Once the train is prepared to launch, a motor revving sound effect is played and its magnetic braking fins are lowered from the launch track. It then launches, accelerating to a speed of 120 mph in 3.8 seconds.
Shortly after reaching its maximum velocity, the train begins its ascent up a 90-degree incline, twisting 90 degrees counter-clockwise before climbing over the 420-foot hill. Upon descending, the track twists 270 degrees before leveling out, allowing the train to be stopped by the magnetic brakes."

Knowing all that, taking a good look at the track and having the experience of riding this once before (again-younger and stupider) - all I said when we came up on it was...

Ummm....HELL NO!

But Cassie is my little Thrill Queen, so her and Alyssa set off for the 2 hour wait to ride this insane excuse for a coaster.

After a long wait, Cassie and Alyssa finally make their way to the starting point....

The nervousness and excitement is clear on their face...

You hear the sounds of the light changing from red to green, and before your camera can even take the picture in time, they are good for go and shoot forward, their train screaming up the track!

I couldn't even get a good picture of their launch! lol

And up they go!

Here they are coming off the ride! I love the looks on their faces!

You can tell that adrenalin has kicked in! Alyssa looks like her heart my have stopped a few times.

Shortly thereafter, we all decided that we needed to take a nice relaxing break and headed off to our favorite dive - Johnny Rockets for some heavy, greasy food that will sit nicely in our tummy's....

If you've ever been to Johnny Rockets, you know that the waitstaff likes to get out there and dance to certain songs. Well, Jon and I (to the horror of the teenagers) wanted to get in on that action. Ok, it was more me than Jon and we were still sitting in our booth but it was enough to embarrass the girls and that is all that matters!

After lunch, we wandered around the park a bit, letting the food settle. We decided then it would be a good time to go for some 'easier' rides, so we checked out an 'oldie but a goodie' - The Disaster Transport!

This was a fun, easy ride that was completely in the dark. While you make your way to the actual transport, everything is glow-in-the-dark and neon! I had worn the perfect shirt that day for it! You could see my neon orange tank top a mile away. Not to mention our eerily glowing eyes and teeth. CREEPY!

Also over on that side, we hit up the Wicked Twister and the maXair. Both of which were a dumb choice, since my cheeseburger was looking to make a repeat performance during the rides.

MaXair....

(Photos courtsey of Google)

Yeah, this was a totally dumb decision on my part! At first, it was fun. You started swinging back and forth. But then, the whole circle started to rotate and the swinging back and forth got higher and higher with the rotating. Jon laughed at me when the ride was done because he said he knew "I was in trouble when the screaming stopped!" I came off this ride a little green....

Wicked Twister. Another ride where I kept my eyes closed the whole time. I swear, I'm not cut out for this anymore. I think I might be getting, (dare I say it?) - OLD?!!!

After walking the quesy (and it wasn't just me by the way!) feelings off, we rode a few more rides and then headed over to the newest ride - the Maverick!

Again, according to Cedar Point:

"After speeding up the lift hill, riders are treated to twists, turns, airtime hills, a "Twisted Horseshoe Roll" maneuver and a 400-foot-long speed launch through a dark tunnel."

I really loved this ride. Unfortunately, it kept breaking down. We were ALMOST to the front when it broke down for the 2nd time that day. We decided to wait it out, since we were all still feeling a bit 'off' from some rides and it was hot, so sitting under the cover of this ride with the cooling fans felt nice. We waited about an hour and were able to actually move up further in the line due to people leaving. If you've ever been to Universal Studio's, this ride is kinda like the Hulk. But only smoother, with a lot more twists. LOVED IT!

(Again, because I don't want people thinking I actually took these awesome pictures, I am borrowing them from Google. ;)

As we walked around, we came across these little beauties. I'm thinking I should make some up and stake them out in the front yard. Seems like it'd be the perfect punishment for my crazy kids....

After riding all the rides (some more than once), we finally decided to call it a night around 9pm. At this point, we were all filthy, tired, sore and hungry! But we made the teenagers happy and heaven forbid you have grumpy teenagers! Jon and I had fun too! It was nice to be able to go and spend time at a park like that and not have to ride the bumper boats and kiddie rides while trying to avoid meltdowns from the little kiddies.

But to tell the truth, it may just be a long time before I do that again. My body and mind are not made out for extreme coasters anymore. Sucks getting old....just say'n.

Day trip to Port Huron!

2011-07-01T07:34:00.001-04:00

Today the fam and I planned a day trip to the thumb area of Michigan, better known as Port Huron. I had thought it'd make for a great day of sight seeing and watching the huge boats sail through the harbor. The night before, I made up a bunch of fried chicken and brownies. That morning, we packed up coolers full of food and drinks and started on our journey!

Of course with all things, we were basically flying by the seat of our pants. We didn't really have a clear cut of what to do once we actually got there. But we found ourselves an awesome park, right on the St. Clair river, which also happens to be part of Lake Huron. It also just so happens to separate us Yanks from our Canadian counterparts.

Some signage letting us know we've finally made it after our 2 hour drive...

Our first stop was Lighthouse Beach. Home of the Fort Gratroit Lighthouse. The park ran right along the river and had beautiful, almost clear water and a GREAT view of the bridge to Canada and all the boats as they headed to and from.

Look Ma! There's Canada!

The Lighthouse...

The beautiful Michigan waters...

Cameron took a chance and found out that although our Michigan water is beautiful, it's also FREEZING!! This isn't no North Caroline ocean bath water kiddo!

The boys walking along the shore line...

Nicole popping a squat, enjoying the beautiful weather and beach...

....with Alyssa. She's thrilled.

The Parentals posing with the Lighthouse...

Jon and I with the beautiful Lake Huron behind us....

As luck would have it, we were able to catch a freighter boat come in. From what we could try and make out, it looked like it had Alaska written on it. It was pretty amazing just watching it coast on in.

After enjoying the view from there, we decided to head to another park we had heard about. Where the kids could actually go swimming. The signs around Lighthouse Beach advised not to swim due to the "deep water and strong current" and it will also be a beach where swimmers will swim at "Own Risk with No Lifeguards on Duty." As much as I love my kids, I just didn't feel like trying to rescue them from the icy cold water on this day. So off to a different park we went!

As not to be confused with Lighthouse BEACH, we finally found Lighthouse PARK. Here there was beautiful grounds, homes that face the park/water that I would give my right arm to live in and plenty of beach area for swimming and picnicking!

Cassie and Alyssa chilling at one of the picnic benches...

While we were setting up and moving our picnic tables, the kids all headed to the park to play...

After a little bit of playing around, we had the kids change into their swimsuits and let them swim to their little hearts content in the cold water, while us adults pigged out on chicken, brownies and watermelon. Fortunately for you all, we didn't really take a lot of pictures of that. ;)

Finally with our bellies full and the kids exhausted after a couple hours of beach time, we packed up our goodies and headed out to find another fabulous place to check out. We decided to drive along the rivers edge to wear the bridge to Canada was. We came upon that freighter we saw earlier and we noticed ANOTHER park! Of course we pulled over and watched as the freighter headed back out to sea.

That's when we noticed the water in the canal was blue. I mean seriously, unnatural blue!

The bridge leading to Canada, eh?!

A view down the canal..

Alyssa and Cassie posing with Canada...

What I loved best about this little canal area, was that they had these huge freighters that would travel down them, right along side these little boats and paddle boats as well. I would be petrified that I'd get run over!!

So a little known fact that Port Huron just so happened to be the birthplace of Thomas Edison. Under the Blue Water Bridge (which is the bridge to Canada), they have a cute little museum dedicated to him. And the area that we're walking along is called the Thomas Edison Parkway Riverwalk. That's a mouthful, isn't it?!

All of us, hanging out along the river walk...

They also had fishing areas set up along the fence line (that was a 10ft drop to the river, straight down!) where people could stick their pole in, hop back into their truck and just wait for fish to take the bait. In this picture below, Jack was about one minute from getting yelled at by some crusty old man for being too close to his fishing pole. We also pretty much believe we saw a drug deal go down and we even saw a guy climb the fence and dive into the canal only to climb back up (apparently they have ladders every 1/2 mile or so for the idiots that like to dive in) and then do it again! Life in Michigan is always full of surprises!

Mom and Dad with bridge...

We spent some time checking things out right around the base of the bridge and then decided to walk the Riverwalk to see what we could find!

Alyssa, Cameron and Cassie posing with a brick light house....

There were a few ships parked along the side of the River walk. This was one of them.

The Huron Light Ship...

It also had these little park ways and areas perfect for just lounging around and getting some great photo's taken...

Towards the end of our journey, we came across a Coast Guard ship, the USCG Cutter Bramie.

A couple of views from the Riverwalk...

We were almost a little sad that we discovered this part of the city after the rest of it. I know Jon and I could of spent most of the day just sitting there, watching the boats go by. Behind us (in this picture above) there was more parks filled with tennis courts, playgrounds, picnic benches and tons of other little activities that would make summers spent here extremely enjoyable. Winters on the other hand - I'll pass!

Katy Perry Concert - Take 2!

2011-06-28T21:42:00.000-04:00

Two weeks later and it's off to my second Katy Perry concert. This time with the family and minus the costume. For this concert, I took a page from her 'Last Friday Night' video and rocked the neon colors! I got my sister into the act as well as Cameron! But to tell the truth, this time the concert was more about watching Cassie and Alyssa enjoy it more than anything else. As I'm sure it was like that for Nicole too, since this was Cameron's first concert as well.

Since there were a total of 7 of us going, when I bought the tickets I had to break up the numbers to 3 and 4 per order. So it was Cassie, Alyssa and I for one set of tickets. Mom, Kurt, Nicole and Cameron for the other set.

Anyway, remember when I said it was the summer of the Rock-N-Roll hand sign? Well, it was obviously the case for tonight. There were a ton of pictures where we're all throwing it around like a rag doll!

Case in point....

Since we were all looking FANTASTIC, we grabbed our official photographer of the trip (Jon) and had him snap a few photos of us. Cassie also took a lot on her iphone. So for your viewing pleasure, here are all of our 'before the concert' photos...

Alyssa working her signature pose...

Don't they look awesome?! BEAUTIFUL girls I have here!

Mom working the elbow on the hip pose!

Ugh....I'm a dork!

Cameron throwing around his gang sign...

Wowza!!!

A few group shots of us!

Rock-n-roll baby!

Nothing says Rock-n-Roll like the duck face....geesh....

Enough with the rock-n-roll fingers already!

FAB-rosh!

Nicole and her 'sexy' face! lol

Sisters...sisters...there were never such devoted sisters....

Finally, we jump in my minivan and get rowdy! Headed down to the Palace!

Woot!

As we walk in there's this huge banner of the Bieber. If you know my girls, you know they are seriously IN LOVE with this dweeb. I can't even tell you how many times they've seen the 'Never say never' movie. I honestly wish I could bleach my ears....BUT because they love him so, they had to have their picture with this....

Like I said earlier, this was a concert that I knew the girls would just love! It was great watching their faces and seeing them act all silly! It was almost as good as the concert.

So Mom and them had tickets that were somewhere above us. I had thought that they were more off to the side of us and it while we were waiting for Katy to come on stage, we kept texting back and forth trying to figure out where we were all at. Finally, I picked up the clue phone and looked up and there there were right above us!

LOL! Say 'hi'!!

Gives you an idea on where we were at. But I swear, when we were there it seemed MUCH closer than what this picture depicts.

While we were there, I was on the hunt down for anyone who dressed up like I did the first concert I went to. Sadly, we only really saw this gal here, who just so happened to be lucky enough to get onstage with Katy. Boy was I spitting jealous too! Everyone (especially the girls) told me not to wear my costume but as soon as they realized that we probably would of had a chance to go on stage they told me I should of worn it! Oh well...what I really do regret is not wearing my awesome shoes! It would of totally rocked with my outfit!

And to end, a few pictures Cassie took with her iTouch. Blurry, but you get the idea....

And there ends my Katy Perry experience! I had a GREAT time at both concerts and I can't really say one was better than the other. I loved going both times! It was hilarious and fun getting dressed up with my girls and it was amazing watching my daughter and her friend take in their first concert. I am one lucky gal!

Now...enough of the rock-n-roll hand signs!

A lovely afternoon in Linden...

2011-06-28T13:03:00.001-04:00

After all the craziness from the Anniversary weekend was over, it was time to chill out and take it easy for a day or two.
We decided to spend a lazy afternoon driving into downtown Linden (where I went to school) and show Alyssa my old stomping grounds. But we also wanted to mosey about the Mill Pond and just enjoy the beautiful Michigan weather....and maybe even get a little ice cream!

A few pictures from around the Mill Pond...

After you walk around the back of the building in the picture above, you'll come across these gems...

(I *borrowed* this picture from the web since we never got a good shot of it all.)

On one side of the bridge is a lake, then it's separated by a damn where it then runs down to make a river which also runs the mill wheel, and goes by the gazebo. It was so pretty, Jon set up the camera to take a few pictures. But the best part of it was that all around you, the smell of flowers permeated the air! I loved it!

The gazebo that was right on the water...

Alyssa showing us her moves...

There are a bunch of wooden 'steps' that you can sit, lay, whatever on. Lots of times the city will show movies or have live music playing right there at the gazebo. So while the kids ran around the gazebo area and jumped across a little creek that ran by it, we took a breather...

After, we walked down Broad Street and treat us all to some good ol' fashion ice cream!

My absolute favorite - Superman! I've found one place here in NC that serves it but it just doesn't taste the same as it does in Michigan!

Cass is REALLY enjoying her ice cream...

As we were leaving we noticed one of the sides streets had our name! They must of known we were coming!

It was a nice easy couple of hours spent at the Mill Pond. I then took the family up to my high school and drove around the back to where the band room was at. ***sigh*** Great memories there! But it was also fun showing and telling them all about my teenage years. I'm hoping they appreciated it. I know I sure did!

Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary Party

2011-06-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

The big day has finally arrived. The day that the Siblings and I have been planning since early Spring. A day in which many tears, lots of sweat and many a discussions have occurred in preparation for. Today was Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary Party!

Luckily, because all of us had been prepping for weeks/months before, the morning pretty much went off without a hitch! Most of the food was already prepped, waiting for the final completion. Tables had been set up, decorations placed with loving care and the men had been sent on various errands to complete.

Shortly before noon, we started getting our first arrivals! This was going to turn out to be a fantastic day!

As everyone arrived, people mostly milled about the garage. Here we have from left to right: my cousin Jamie, Aunt Kae, Uncle Don (in the way background there), my cousin Megan, my Dad and then my Uncle Paul.

My Uncle Paul and Mom....Can't you just feel the sibling love going on?

My cousins Steve and Tara...

We had set up tables and tent in the back yard for people to chill out and eat at. Here's my awesome cousin Jamie letting us know how special he really is....

Inside the house, we had set up the cake table that also had a scrap book of Mom and Dad's wedding that I had made for their Anniversary....

Peyton making good use of the ice from the drink bucket...

My beautiful Mama...

Nicole with Cory's Mom and Aunt...

Cameron...

Steven, Tara and Megan chilling on the deck inside the gazebo...

Everyone catching up on good times in the garage...

In the front yard, we had set up some games for everyone to play. Here the little ones are taking a shot at croquet....

Cassie and Alyssa chill'n...

My job for the day was making sure the food was ready, and the tables kept full. So this is where you could find me for most of the day... of course I had some awesome help from my BFF Tara.

My scrapbook was moved to outside where my Uncle Don and Aunt Linda were taking a look...

Kurtiss and Jason...

Finally, it was time to start taking some family pictures. Since Jon had the big fancy camera, he was designated official Photographer for the day.

At this point, pretty much all of my Mom's side of the family were there. So we started with them. This is pretty much all of us.

From left to right, top row first: Nicole, Kurtiss, Uncle Paul, Aunt Kae, Dad, Uncle Don, Aunt Linda, Steven and I.

Bottom Row, left to right: Amanda, Jamie, Mom, Megan, Audrey, and Tara.

Um....not really sure what to say about this one....

My folks with my Mom's brother (Uncle Paul) and his lovely wife (Aunt Kae).

My folks with her other brother, my Uncle Don and his family: Megan, Aunt Linda and Audrey.

Chit chatting in between takes...

Parentals with my Aunt Tammy's (who is no longer with us...) kids, Steven and Tara.

Love them!

Apparently it was us Siblings turn to have some pictures taken...

Then it was time to throw the Parentals in there. Nothing says love like having your Dad pick something out of your hair...

Then Mom declared that she wanted us to act silly. Kurtiss throws his hands up as if he doesn't understand what she's talking about....

That's when Nicole and I take matters into our own hands...

Every time I have a chance to come home, my best friend Tara also tries her best to make a trip to come visit. And every time we see each other, we have to have an official picture taken of us. Here is this visits picture. Which, is actually one of my absolute faves!

Then, it's Tara's turn with her second Parents...

Mom with her brothers...

Parentals with ALL the grandkiddies...

Nicole with her boys...Minus Cory who is currently serving our Country in Ass-ghanistan...

Cory's Mom and Aunt Pam jump in on the action...

Now it was our turn for our family pictures...

Jack is never happy....Heaven forbid I make that kid hold still for a split second and take a picture!

Parentals with Nicole's family...

Parentals with my brother, Kurt...

Strike a pose Nicole!

At this point, more family and friends had started to trickle in. My great-uncle George (my grandpa's brother), and family were able to make the trip! I absolutely adore my Uncle George and Jon and him always have good war stories to tell each other.

Parentals with Aunt Marge and Uncle George...

My Dad's family had arrived around that time as well and Nicole was entertaining them in the garage. Check out my Dad's bad ass GTO in the background!

Nicole had the brilliant idea to do the whole 'clinking on glasses to get them to kiss' thing and Mom and Dad reluctantly agreed....lol

Our parents neighbor Rose (in the pink shirt) and my Dad's sister, my Aunt Peggy and my cousin Tammy.

Dad's good friends Mark and Barb arrived as well. Mark and Barb had been such a great help in planning this whole weekend (Barb and I had many an email correspondence) and it was such a treat to actually meet them at the baseball game the day before and to finally be able to get to know them better at the party. Jon was also lucky enough to be invited to Mark and my Dad's weekly breakfast meetings every friday, where gallons of coffee was consumed, along with great conversations. Jon didn't want to come back to North Carolina for the simple fact that he'd miss out on those Friday mornings!

After a while, it was time to reveal the Parentals Anniversary present from us Siblings. We had gone back and forth for a few months debating what to get them. We finally decided on getting them a pair of semi-matching bikes! We had actually made it a secret mission a few days before to go buy them and had stored them in the back of Nicole's van for those few days before the party. How Mom and Dad didn't see them, I have no idea! But the absolutely loved them and were so surprised!

Mom was so happy that she got a little teary-eyed! So you know we had done good!

And off they go on their first ride!

After the bikes, they set down to open the rest of their gifts that they had received. But first, it was time for another smooch!

And now the presentation of the cake! We had originally wanted to get a tiered cake but that was WAY over the budget, so we ended up getting a large sheet cake that actually turned out to be very pretty! Plus half of it was chocolate and the other half cherry-chip! My favorite!!!!

Nicole and I carefully bringing the cake out. God help us if we dropped it!

We all gathered around as Mom and Dad cut the first slice with the same cake set they had on their wedding day.

At this point, we still needed to get Dad's side of the family pictures done and now that everyone was here, it was the perfect time to do so.

Here they are from left to right: Aunt Kelly, Uncle Marty (my Dad's brother), the parentals, Aunt Peggy (Dad's sister), my cousin Tammy and Dana and then Dana's two boys-Alex and Logan, are there as well.

Aunt Peggy, Tammy, Dana, Alex and Logan...

Dad, Aunt Peggy and Mom...

Aunt Kelly, Uncle Marty, Dad and Mom...

Dad with his siblings, Uncle Marty and Aunt Peggy. (We're missing Uncle Brian as well, but he was unable to come.)

Finally, Nicole and I took a breather and sat out on the front lawn watching the kids play....

Bree...she's an angel. Really! lol

All the kiddies love Uncle Paul!

Here's some various pictures of everyone as the party starts wrapping up...

The party turned out wonderful! Everyone was so happy to see each other and celebrate Mom and Dad's 40 years of marriage. Thank you to everyone who came out, brought a dish to pass and celebrated with us. We love you all!

Here's to the next 40!

Take me out to the ball game...on my parents 40th Anniversary!

2011-06-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Almost every summer, we like to make a trip home to Michigan to visit the folks, enjoy the weather and generally just be content to spend time with loved ones. But this year, there was another reason all together to be headed to the 'Mitten' state - My parents 40th Wedding Anniversary!

Their Anniversary luckily fell on a Sunday so we had all decided to make a big weekend out of it. The planning for this started way back in February. The siblings and I knew that we wanted to do something big for them and had been tossing around ideas left and right but we just couldn't find something that fit. Finally, after asking the parentals what they'd like to do/see/go to for their big day, Mom gave us a call and said that her and Dad talked it over and they wanted to have a big family picnic to celebrate. Invite everyone they loved and just spend the day with them. But they also suggested that since everyone would be making the trek to come see them, that perhaps going to a ball game would be another fun thing to go do. The siblings and I talked it over and decided that that would be the way to go with things. At that point, I compiled a list of all our family and friends and sent out a mass email asking them if they'd like to celebrate their anniversary with us by heading down to Detroit for a Tiger's Game and then coming to a picnic at their home the next day. I received an overwhelming YES response to it all from everyone and so I set off on finding out how to reserve group tickets at the stadium and setting that all up.

Through the course of the next couple of months, I made arrangements for the Tigers game, collecting money from everyone going, and started planning for the Anniversary Picnic the next day.

In May, I got the final count of the number of people attending the game (29), paid for the tickets and set about finalizing plans with the siblings for the get together for the day after the game (which will be another blog). All that was left was making sure we had our Tiger's shirts, hats and getting out booties to Michigan!

We left on Wednesday, June 22nd to make the all day drive to Michigan. That way we'd have a couple of days before the weekend to do any last minutes errands and finalize anything else that needed done.

Finally Saturday was upon us and it was time for the game and since we were all so super adorable in our Tiger's get up (complete with bows and Tiger ears), we just had to get some pictures taken.

Cassie and her BFF Alyssa...

My sister Nicole and I messing around and being a little...well...inappropriate! But that's how we roll!

While Nicole and I were upstairs acting silly, the boys decided it was a good time to jam-pile on Uncle Kurtiss.

Jack coming in for the kill! Check out Kurt's face!

A few more shots of Nicole and I getting in some sisterly bonding...

I just love my sissy...

So apparently, this was the summer of the 'rock-n-roll' hand sign. Here's Nicole sporting it and I know I have A LOT of pictures of myself doing the same. What can I say? We're gangsta like that...

Finally, we settled down long enough to get some sort of family pictures done. Whether or not we had the whole family in the actual picture didn't really matter, lol!

Nicole with her boys, Cameron and Justin (Peyton is MIA at the moment).

And finally us Hammies!

Now, us siblings! Kurtiss, me and Nicole...

I love this next few pictures! I have no idea what Cassie is doing and Kurtiss's face is priceless!!!

Alyssa was feeling left out so Cassie gave her some extra lovin's...

Pretty much during that whole time, Mom and Dad were entertaining some family that had stopped by to do a quick visit before we all piled into our separate cars and headed down to the Big D. Finally Mom had enough of our nonsense and it was time to go!

We make it to downtown Detroit (Holla), where you DO NOT pass GO and you DO NOT collect $100 because if you stop, you may just get shot. Luckily, we were able to secure a nice parking lot right next to the stadium.

Everyone piling out of our respective vehicles...

Again with the obnoxiousness....

Walking to the entrance of the stadium...

I love all the Tigers! I haven't been to very many stadiums, but I think CoAmerica Park is one of the BEST!

A view of the city from where we were waiting to get in...

That Tiger has a ball in his mouth!

Rawr!

Meow!

A pic of Mom and Dad with Justin photo sniping along with my cousin Jamie, his lovely girlfriend Amanda and their beautiful daughter Bree...

The carousal inside the stadium. It's tradition that we always have the kids take a ride on it.

All of us waiting for the kids to finish up their play time so we can start ours...

Did I mention that it was Country night in the Big D? Of all the nights to pick for a big group of us to go....sigh...But at least, I got to cross something off my bucket list. I rode a bull! That's right big boys! I grabbed that bull by the horns and tried not to get my cookies tossed!

Whoo-hooo! Holding on for dear life!

Ta-Daaah! I did it!

Cassie was too cool but that Alyssa is a girl after my own heart and doesn't mind making a fool of herself!

We finally make our way down to our seats and get a chance to check out the view! We got some pretty decent seats. Score!

Yay...Country Night...Yee-haw!

My country boy Jack!

Another view...

And this is why I LOVE Michigan. It's the end of June and it's only a beautiful 77 degrees outside.

Time to start the game!

A view down my row...by the way, with 29 of us, they had us stacked up in five separate rows so we could all pretty much talk to each other and see each other without screaming at each other down the same row.

Cameron!

Bree!

The Happy Couple, who we were all here for!

It's kinda hard to see on the screen but we had them put up on the scoreboard 'Happy 40th Anniversary Ken and Wendy".

BEAUTIFUL night out!

My Aunt Peggy (Dad's sister) and cousin Tammy...

A group shot of us!

Then the night ended with a fantastic fireworks show! I swear they knew it was my folks anniversary and decided to go all out for it! Plus, the Tiger's won! It turned out to be the perfect pre-celebration for Mom and Dad!

You make me feel like I'm living a Teenage Dream.....

2011-06-14T10:02:00.000-04:00

Way back in February, I learned that Katy Perry would be making a stop in NC as part of her California Dream's Tour. I just knew I had to get us girlfriends together and go! The kicker was that I also found out that she would be appearing in Michigan during the time us Hammie's planned to be visiting. I told my Mom about that and we ended up getting tickets for that as well. So lucky me got to go to TWO of her shows.

The first show was in Raleigh. I'm not sure who of us came up with the idea first to dress up as KP but Gia and I jumped on the bandwagon and spent the next few months scouring the interwebs trying to come up with an idea on what to wear, and then where to buy the costumes from, how to make it and where to buy our blue wigs. Erin and Jill, although not as thrilled with the idea of dressing up took the less obnoxious route and donned wigs and/or candy themed shirts. Both Erin and Jill had ordered wigs too. But sadly, when they got them they were so short and pathetic that they both sent them back. Erin was able to order a second wig which looked adorable on her but Jill decided to go with a peacock (I wanna see your PEACOCK!) inspired clip to wear in her hair instead of a wig. Gia was also having a bit of a time getting her costume together but she was finally able to pull it off as well. I'll let her write all about her costume when she gets around to blogging about this herself -6 months or so from now... ;) (SLACKER!) Her and I were the perfect KP impersonators! Anyway...

About a month before the concert, I started collecting items for my get up, which was going to be KP's Candy Button's dress from the California Gurls video.

It took me a while to decide on what I would be making the dots out of. But then I read on the interwebs about some girl using Easter Eggs and figured that'd be the best route. Only it was May and who knew if I'd ever find any eggs now! Luckily both my friends Kristy and Jill saved the day and gave me their left over eggs. I ended up using Jill's because they were more of a neon color and just perfect for the dress!

Next on the list for my costume was SHOES. I had thought to find a pair of really neon colored heels to wear but then I saw someone who had actually glued a bunch of the candy buttons to white shoes and then I also noticed that KP was wearing those types of shoes in her video. So off to find a bunch of candy buttons and inexpensive white shoes to glue them to.

Candy Buttons!

I found the buttons at Cracker Barrel (Thanks Jayme for the idea!) and then took the next 2 days gluing the buttons on. It took me two hours each shoe and I can't tell you the number of times I accidentally glued my own fingers together before getting hip to the fact that perhaps I should use tweezers. It helped but me, being me, still ended up with super glued fingers a few more times.

But I have to say, they turned out AWESOME!!!

It was finally the big day! Jill and I had arranged it so that we would drop the kids off at school, then go directly up to Erin's (who lives about an hour or so away from the venue). Gia would be leaving from Beaufort, SC around then as well (although it takes her a couple hours more to get there). Jill and I met Erin in Fayetteville at Panera and enjoyed a nice lunch then hit up Ulta for some fake lashes (Jill's were AWESOME - basically they were pink feathers! So cool!) and then it was home to meet up with G and start getting ready! Gia surprised us all with lollipops and cherry chap stick tied to a string so we could all wear it as a necklace (and if you don't know what the importance of cherry chap stick is, go listen to 'I kissed a girl'...lol)

Here we are, in all our KP awesomeness getting ready to head out the door...

Don't we look AMAZING!! Love Gia's Cupcake Boobies, Jill's cupcake shirt and Erin's rock-abilly purple wig!

Of course, then we all started acting goofy and hamming it up....

Finally it was time to hit the road and head on up to Raleigh. Of course we couldn't help but take a ton more pictures of ourselves (especially those cupcakes!) and there were more than a couple of motorist that did a double take driving down the freeway when they spotted all of us in our wigs and outfits!

Just so you all can appreciate the awesomeness that are Gia's 'cupcakes'...

Once we got there, we were pretty nervous about exiting our vehicle. Jill and Gia had told us how many people had dressed up in costume to go see Lady Gaga, so we just assumed it would be much of the same here. We were wrong! We didn't see one person as we were driving in, wearing any sort of costume. Eventually we braved it and got out of the car and we were almost immediately asked to have our pictures taken! It was AMAZING!

Our first fan asking to get a picture of us girls. I asked her to email me the pic and she kindly did!

Once we were inside, it didn't stop there. ANYWHERE we went, we were stopped and asked to have a picture taken or have a picture taken with someone. I was eating it up! We definitely got our 15 minutes (or more) of fame that night and I can only imagine the amount of pictures that were taken of us that are now floating around the interwebs.

We were able to get a few pictures with a couple of other people that also happened to dress up (although Gia and I were the BEST ones there!)

This one is a little blurry but at least you can see my whole outfit, including my shoes that I got a million compliments on!

One of my favorite picture of the night!

I just had to get a picture with my husband, Russell....

We make it to our seats, which are not bad at all and finally sit down and wait for the show to start. At this point we had missed the two opening acts since Gia and I didn't want to stop the amazing paparazzi from taking our pictures. But now it was time to get this party started!

All of us getting a few shots in before the show starts...

Love Jilly's eyelashes!

A couple of shots from the show...

The concert was AMAZING! Probably one of the best I've gone to and that's including Madonna, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani.... KP is so adorable and the concert was cute, funny, hilarious and totally rocked!

But, I'm not gonna lie when I say that when the evening ended and we all headed back to Erin's house around 1am to eat bean dip and chit chat, I was a little sad it was ending. With everyone going their separate ways (Erin and Gia are both so far away it seems like and I'll be leaving in May 2012), I'm not sure when we'll be able to all be together again like this. Makes me kinda sad...

And on that HAPPY note, I'm gonna leave you with one of the best pics of the night.....Gia in the ladies room where they so happened to have urinals (must be for those drag queens!)

"Us girls we are so magical, soft skin, red lips so kissable

Hard to resist, so touchable, too good to deny it

Ain't no big deal it's innocent..."

Author's Celebration for Jack

2011-06-13T15:20:00.001-04:00

A few days before school let out, Jack's class had an 'Author's Celebration'. The kids have been working pretty much all year on creating, editing, designing pictures and writing their very own book. After the books were done, Mrs. Eve had them shipped off to be printing into actual books. Love this idea! Jason also has done this before as well. I just think it's a great way for the kids to express themselves and to see where they're at in their little lives. Love it!!

The celebration was to be held in the library for the distributing and reading of the books, followed by a party afterwards in the class room.

Here Jack is, in the library waiting for the festivities to begin...

Jack's name was finally called to come get his book and he's showing it off with pride!

After all the books were passed out to the kids, we all broke into separate groups and the kids got to read their books to the parents in that group. I was amazed at how detailed some of these books were and I absolutely loved the pictures they drew describing each event in their books.

Jack had a case of the 'wiggles' while reading his book and you could tell he was slightly embarrassed to be put on the spot but he did a great job reading it and showing us his pictures. The title of Jack's book was The Big Bad Sharks and he dedicated his book to his Dad 'because he likes blue'. Cracks me up!

Once the kids were all finished reading their books, we headed back to the classroom to enjoy some yummies and conversation. There were cookies, pretzels, chocolate covered strawberries, iced tea and juice. It was VERY delish!

It was a great way to wrap up the year for the kids and the parents! I can't wait to see what Jack will write about next year!

An evening at the beach...

2011-06-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

This evening after dinner, we had all decided it was the perfect day to take a drive down to the ocean and just sit and watch the sun set and maybe see if we can find a crab or two.

It was a rare night that we were all home, so I knew we had to take advantage of it. We put our suits on, loaded up the Wonder Van and headed off!

When we got there around 7:30pm, it was almost deserted. The air had cooled down a little bit and we almost had the whole beach to our selves. It was NICE!

We all wandered the shore, looking for sea glass, shells, shark teeth....basically whatever caught our eye.

Jon and I laid out some beach blankets and sat down to relax as we watched the kids play in the surf...

Cassie took this time to draw words and pictures in the sand...

Jon and I having some kid free bonding...

The sun was starting to set and it was beautiful!

The view to the right of us...

Playing around...

It's hard to tell from the size of this picture, but I'm basically giving Cassie the 'You are insane' look, lol!

Then it was time to test out the water...

Jason's work of art in the sand...

Since Cassie and Jason were drawing in the sand, Jon decided to start getting into the action as well...

A few people have asked me what 'SeaShells' are when I talk about being at the beach. This is them here....

Can you guess what he's drawing?

Jack wants in on the sand art as well...

Yup, big surprise....it's a jeep!

I love Jack's picture!

We stayed until around 9pm, just hoping and waiting for those crabs to get out. But before they had a chance to come out, a few crabs of a different type showed up - MY KIDS! Obviously it was past their bedtime at this point because they all got a major case of the WAAAAAH-bulance! So Jon and I packed everyone up and we headed back home. But it made for a wonderful night and one that we hope to repeat again very soon! I seriously wanna find those crabs!!

Beach Field Day for Jack

2011-05-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

Today was Jack's Field Day for his Shark Team. They decided to have it at the beach, which would of been a great idea if it hadn't decided to be the HOTTEST day of the year. Then on top of that, there was absolutely NO WIND at the beach! Which is odd...there's always a breeze..... But anyway, we got there around 9 in the morning and while we waited for the buses to arrive, Jon and I walked along the beach, took in some pictures and enjoyed the calm before the storm.

Once the buses arrived, we all met at the seashells (the little rental shacks on the beach) to arrange our game plans and wait for the teachers to set up the relay stations. Each kid was given a water bottle to keep on them at all times because of the heat and Mrs. Eve, (Jack's Teacher) was super glad Jon was there in case any of the kids ended up with heat exhaustion.

Jacks first station was the Sand Castle station. Here all the kids got to use various buckets, shovels and such to try and build their castles. It was an excellent station to start with.

While wandering down to the surf and back, we came across this poor crab. Rest in Peace little buddy!

Jack working on his mounds of sand...

Next it was time to line up the kids for their chance at the relay races....

I wish you could see this picture better, his face is priceless!

Run Jack Run!!

There was also kite flying, shark teeth hunting and lunch all piled into the day. But unfortunately, our camera died on us so we weren't able to get those pictures! Although the day was extremely hot, the kids had a great time and we kept them all well hydrated! Jack loved having us there and especially because we bought him a lunchable to have as his lunch! He over the moon about that! The kids loaded back up onto the buses around 1:30 and as soon as Jon and I got home, I hit the shower! I can't believe how hot, grimy, sweaty and dirty you can get from just one afternoon at the beach!

My nephew Cameron's 11th Birthday

2011-05-20T11:34:00.001-04:00

All things considered, I think that my sister and I (given the lifestyle that we lead) are pretty lucky to have an opportunity to be able to live by each other. Given the fact that each of our husbands are in the service and even more so, each a different branch (Navy and Marines), we just never thought we'd have the chance to ever really live by family again. Much less each other. So I feel very lucky that we get to be a part of each other's ever day life and that we're able to be there for fun celebrations like Cameron's birthday.

This year, with my brother in law Cory being deployed, my sister wanted to do something a little more low key. So instead of having this huge birthday party, they decided to do a movie/dinner birthday.

But it all started off with all of us Hammies headed over to their house bright and early so I could make Cameron's FAVORITE breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes! Every time he stays the night, he always asks me if I'll make them the next morning and 9 times out of 10, I do. So how could I say no when he asked if I would make him pancakes for his birthday?

Slaving away (sans makeup, eeeek!) for my nephew....

For his birthday, Cameron mostly wanted cash from people. He was going to save up and get himself a Kinect or an iTouch. Which is why he had decided to do something small. That way the money that Nicole would of spent on a huge party, he could use towards getting his BIG gift.

Here he is opening some gifts sent by his family...

His last gift and it's from his Mom and Dad....

Wait! What is this?!!

It's a note telling him that if he wants his present he's gonna have to go on a scavenger hunt! Each clue he finds direct him to the next clue, until he reaches the end!

Cassie and Nicole had come up with a bunch of clues leading him to various places in and out of the house where he'd find his next clue. At each station, he'd have to either find the clue or perform a task to receive his next hint.

Jon and I had held a clue that was in the garage. In order for me to give it to him, I required a little song and dance....

You want me to do WHAT?

She's jokin' right?

Oh no! The embarrassment!

So I torture the kid by making him sing for me and shake his booty. He did a somewhat decent job and then I felt sorry for his lack of skillz so I gave him his clue.

One of his other clues lead him outside where his Uncle Danny was waiting for him. Another opportunity to embarrass him....

He finally makes it back inside where he finds his last clues...

His scavenger hunt is complete and the kid ends up rolling in dough!

Cash Money dawg!

Afterwards, we celebrated by digging into some ice cream cake from Schwans...

Then it was a mad rush out the door to make it to the 1 o'clock movie of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a great movie and the kids loved it. But we made sure not to fill up on snacks and popcorn because Cameron wanted to go to ShoGuns for his birthday dinner.

We all pile into the restaurant and I'm unlucky enough to be stuck with all the kids AGAIN! But it was actually a good thing. We had an awesome chef who teased the kids, bantered with them and showed us all a good time. Unlike the dud they had at the Adult table next to us! Suckers!!

Love the Onion Fire Volcano!

All in all, I'd say Cameron had a GREAT 11th Birthday! He ended up using his money to go by a kinect for his xbox and he even had enough left over to buy some more games for his DS. That kid was rolling in it! What a lucky guy!

Happy Birthday Cam! We love you!!

Check out the new grill - ie, Cassie gets her braces off!

2011-05-19T16:32:00.002-04:00

Two years ago, I signed away my life savings and Cassie had her braces put on. Today, after many appointments, head gear, rubber bands and Advil, she finally gets to get them off!

Here she is, 2 years ago before her appointment to get them on...

Right afterwords...

I have to hand it to her, she was very responsible with her braces. I think she knew that the better she followed directions, the quicker she could get them off. And we absolutely loved her Orthodontist - Coastal Carolina Orthodontics, otherwise known as Smile Makers. In fact, Jon and I both very much looked foward to taking Cassie to her appointments. Not only do they have the coolest offices, with huge flat screen tv hanging above the chair so the patients can watch TV while the dentists do their work but they have a game room full of Wii's, Xbox's, Playstations so that the little kids can be occupied. But the BEST was that they put a cafe inside the dental offices. They had little table and chairs, with a Keurig so you could brew yourself a delish cup of coffee and they provided HOMEMADE chocolate chip cookies! FRESH!! I loved Ortho mornings. I'd drop the boys off at school and take Cassie to her appointment, where I got quiet 'ME TIME", drinking coffee, eating a cookie and reading trashy magazines. I'm actually going to miss that....

Sadly (for me), it was one of the last times I'd be able to enjoy this little luxury. Cassie on the other hand could barely sleep she was so excited! The appointment itself took a little over an hour. They needed to remove her braces and fit her for her retainer that is permanently tucked behind her upper and lower front teeth. It's like a little wire that you really don't even notice. Nothing like the massive, awkward, disgusting retainers I had to wear as a kid.

Here she is before the big reveal....

And AFTER!

Doesn't she look BEAUTIFUL?! But truth be told, I'm going to miss all those nasty little mulitcolored rubber bands that she would leave all around the house. Ha! Totally lying! Sooooo glad I no longer have to look at them on the bathroom sink, floor or tub or laying around the coffee table where she decided to pop them out while eating a bedtime snack. JOY!!!!

Anyway, what cracked me up the most was that when we were checking out, the receptionist returned with this HUGE bag of candy and treats to give her. Inside was all the stuff (gum, popcorn, sticky candy....) she wasn't allowed to eat since she was wearing the braces. She also got this groovy tshirt that ROCKS!

A few days later, I got a letter in the mail thanking us for being patients and saying how they hope we're happy with Cassie's outcome. On the letter they had a picture of her teeth before and after...

It might be hard to see in this picture but man, that girl had an overbite from HELL didn't she?

And finally, what really got to me was when I saw these pictures she posted on her Tumblr site...

Before

After

What a difference 2 years makes and I'm not just talking about the braces. The change in her is just amazing. Sadly (for this Mama here) she looks about 2 years older now, almost 17 (She'll be 16 in November).

They grow up too fast.

So for all my friends with little ones, REALLY cherish this time with them. It really does fly by and before you know it you're looking for chasity belts on the internet.

I'm not even joking.

103rd Navy Nurse Corp Birthday Ball

2011-05-13T12:02:00.001-04:00

On Friday Jon and I got to get all gussied up for a celebratory night at the O'Club. It was the 103rd Navy Nurse Corp Birthday and seeing as my man is the most awesomest MURSE that ever lived, we only thought it appropriate that we go! Plus that, we hardly ever turn down an opportunity to get dolled up!

It was a super bright sunny day so we're both a little squinty here...

Kissy-kissy....

As much as I love my husband, like most guys he's not always hip to the details. Which is why we arrived about 45 mins BEFORE the festivities actually started.

Here we are killing some time in the Wonder Van before heading inside...

Once we decided to head inside, Jon thought it perfect time to get a full length picture of me in my $20 dress....

An idea on what our tables looked like...

Nice, simple table scape....

The cake...(which BTW was DELICIOUS!)

The cake table with the sword to cut it with...silly Navy folk and their traditions....

Our good friend Clint was our waiter for the evening. He suggested a nice red to go with our meal...

Haha, Just kidding! He wasn't our waiter. That's what ALL the guys looked like. Only in the Navy can you confuse an Officers Dress uniform with that of waiters or a Love Boat Captains.

A sweet picture of Jon and I...

The boys goofing off...Bless their hearts!

Ok, so we all know I like to take pictures of my food. But this one really does take the cake! I ordered the 'meat'. You had choice of meat, seafood or vegetable and since I'm not so keen on seafood and I wanted something more to eat than vegetables, I went with the meat plate. BAD choice! Which to me, is a little surprising! I've eaten at the O'Club plenty of times and most times I'm pretty pleased with the food. But this had to be the most disgusting thing I've ever tried there! It was a slab of pasty mystery meat and a chicken breast? (I'm guessing here...) Covered in a BBQ sauce reduction with CAPERS! Who does that?! I mean, LOOK at the meat here! Does it not look rubbery and just NASTY to you?! Oh and apparently they tried to jazz up the mystery beef by wrapping it in bacon. Undercooked bacon, mind you. BARF! I'm all about a good Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon but this was NO WHERE close! Suffice to say, I didn't eat my $35 plate of crap.

Gross...Really, capers?! I'm just dumbfounded. Capers with bbq sauce. OY VEY!

Of course like all branches of the military, us Navy fools have our own traditions as well. (Which I'm sure other branches do similar things). When it came time for the cake cutting, we had the officer with the most time in and the officer with the least amount of time in do the honors of slicing and dicing it up.

We had a wonderful time! Even though I really didn't know anyone there, I made it a point to go up to people I thought I'd have fun with and make them do the Cha Cha Slide with me. Jon even got up there with me and danced out a few songs. Us, along with a few others ending up closing the place down with a few tequila shots and lots of laughs!
A few days later, we saw that the ball made semi-headline news in the local military paper - The Globe.

A much better picture of the cake cutting that was in the paper... (look I'm in the back!)

Photo by Cpl. Jonathan G. Wright

Also in actual paper itself (not the online version though) they featured a picture of Jon....

I actually had a few more pictures that were taken that night but as the evening wore on and the sillier (read: more drunk) we became, the pictures kept turning out blurrier and blurrier. Oh well! We're very much looking forward to the next hospital function - A Night at the Movies! Jon is helping plan out the festivities for this and it'll be kinda like an Oscar's Night Event. Everyone is invited! We're both so excited for another chanced to get our 'fancy' on!
BTW - They're gonna have a Raspberry-Champagne fountain with edible glasses! You DO NOT want to miss it!