USS Alabama

Last Saturday we went to Mobile Alabama to visit the USS Alabama battleship. On the way, Aaron was reading his Lego magazine and one of the comics took place in the swamps of Louisiana. So we were talking about that. I told him we drive through Louisiana on the way to Texas and did he want me to look for Lego Agents there. He got excited and said, "Yes!" Then a bit sad, "no". Then he explained, "I thought you meant look and buy Lego's there, and I was thinking certainly, you can buy me Lego's where ever you want!" Too funny!

Here are the kids in the car. Doesn't Aaron look like a teenager?

The Entrance of the Gift shop/ticket booth.

Once we got there (it took almost 3 hours) we parked and paid for our tickets. Fortunately Andy and Kara were free cause it was rather expensive. There were three different self guided tours through the different areas of the ship.

Here are the kids below deck:

We made it through the first tour and decided we needed to see the guns, so we spent most of the time on deck looking at the guns. Kara liked to stand at the edge where the easy to hop over ropes were. She kept telling us, "I want to splash. Can we swim? I want to climb over." Uggh. Andy and I were a bit stressed. But we took a lot of pictures of the guns.

We also toured the aviation museum which was sad because most of it was destroyed in the hurricane. Then we went to look at the sub. I did not like that part. It was really cramped and there was a gaggle of unsupervised kids that were hanging on me (not my kids mind you but strangers). Hm..not fun. Here are the kids on the sub.

Afterwards we had a yummy lunch at Whataburger. Tasty. When they brought out our order to the table Kara was so excited, she was gushing. She told the guy, "Thank you. Thank you so much!" It was funny.

Then when we got home Kara did not want to go on the potty. Andy was in the bathroom with her trying to help and talk with her. She got frustrated and yelled, "NO, let ME handle this!"

Kara's update

I've been typing a lot about Aaron so here is some Kara news. She knows all of her alphabet (although she sometimes confuses n and m). I don't know how long she has known it because when I tested her she got them all right, but when Andy tested her she told him, "I don't know, daddy." So I'm not sure how long she has been playing us on that. Hm.. the potty training is about the same. Sometimes she remembers to go and sometimes I ask and sometimes she just doesn't care, so we are still in diapers. I am sure she will eventually learn and her incentive is if she uses the potty all the time she can go to Sunday school next year with the 3 year olds. She really wants to go to Sunday school so I am sure she will be trained by then. hopefully :D

She is still hilarious and tries to make us laugh all the time.

She is picking up a lot of fun phrases too. We told her to do something and she said, "That's not gonna happen." Another time we told her to do something and she said, "That's not fair." And yet another time we were walking to the playground and she hollers out, "Hurry, hurry, before the sun goes down!" (not sure where she heard that one)

Andy was asking her something and said, "Did you hear my question. Do you have any more potty." To which Kara replied, "No, did you hear MY question. I want THAT book!"

She frustrates her brother too. He asked her, "Are you done?" She told him, "No, I'm finished."

She was drawing a person and she said, "here are the tickle parts."

Aaron said, "tickle parts." Kara looked at him and said, "Arms!"

Another time Kara got in trouble and we made her sit and count to twenty. So she started counting, "1...2...3...4...5...6...and......a little more." Then she laughed and smiled. Andy told her no and start again. So she said, "1...2...3... what do I count to again?" She said it with the sweetest little smile, I had to leave the room.

Something Uncle Michael would be proud of: Kara was running around the house making gun noises saying, "I'm a storm trooper." Then she would shoot at us. My sweet little girl!

Aaron's first soccer game

Yesterday was Aaron's first soccer game. We got there early because they were supposed to have an opening ceremony. I apparently heard the wrong place so we missed that. Oh well, we did get to eat dinner in the truck so the kids liked that. Then the teams had a pre-game practice. It was so adorable. They were actually pretty good so that was nice. During the game Kara wanted to play with Aaron. She even tried to throw the ball to him, but fortunately I caught it before it got on the field. Hm..Andy watched the first part of the game and Kara and I kicked the soccer ball around behind the bleachers. Luke's parents had brought their own chairs so Kara hopped in one while they were gone. So we have to bring a chair for her now so she won't steal everyone else's. They didn't mind though so that was good. When I was watching the game Aaron waved and smiled at me. Too cute. Later he ran up and yelled, "we're not losing yet!" very excitedly. The other parents laughed. Kara was a little cheerleader for part of it. She would repeat what everyone said. So we heard, "Go Luke!" Then Kara, "Go Luke." Fortunately everyone was positive so she was a positive echo! It was a neat game. I really enjoyed it. After the game the parents make an arch for the kids to run through. I thought that was really neat.

Getting ready:

Pre-game practice:

Talking before the game:

Corner kick!

Aaron got up right as I was taking the shot but both he and Luke were lounging in the coach's chairs.

Taking a break:


Aaron and Linea in action:

Soccer Practice

Last Monday was Aaron's first soccer practice. It was adorable. Some of the kids were really fired up and some were just happy to talk with their friends. Aaron has two friends from school on his team so he was really excited. Luke and Aaron were talking for one of the drills and the whole crew left for a run and those two were standing there talking. So cute.

It was really cold so that is Aaron below wearing his jacket with the hood up!



Again Aaron with the hood up.



The team and the coach doing some drills.

Their team color is Jade so they were thinking of names. They couldn't decide between one or the other. The coach said both choices together and everyone liked it. So the team name is THE GIANT FROG FORREST! I kid you not, that is what they came up with. It's a good thing we can't put letters on the jerseys because the team name alone would cost a fortune.

Aaron throwing the ball to Linea (a friend from school)

The second practice on Tuesday was a bit warmer. So Aaron decided to take off his jacket and swing it around. The coach asked if he wanted to kick the ball. He replied, "No, I'm just gonna swing my jacket around." So the coach offered to hold his jacket so he could run. This story was relayed to me after practice when I asked Andy why the coach had Aaron's jacket. Aaron is too cute. At least he isn't picking flowers. (YET :)

Snow in Alabama

Well, last Sunday we had snow in Alabama. It was too warm to stick to the ground but it snowed for about an hour so that was neat. The kids enjoyed being out in the snow. Here are a few pictures and remember they were taken at 7:30 on Sunday morning.

Aaron's Blue and Gold ceremony

Last Saturday Aaron had his blue and Gold banquet. This is when the scouts get the badge they have been working towards all year. The older scouts served the food as part of a project for them. It was interesting. We had a salad, fried chicken, Green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls. It was actually very tasty. (don't worry the scouts didn't actually make the food, just served it)

We were as far away from the speaker as you could be, which annoyed Aaron at times.

Here is our table:

Aaron being cool before the ceremony:

Daddy & Kara keeping busy:

After we ate they presented the badges to the scouts. They did it by groups and the tiger cubs were first!

The tiger cubs about to receive their badges:

Part of the ceremony was using some face paint.

The black stripes represented happiness along the tiger trail:

The yellow on the chin is for sunlight on the wolf trail (which is the badge they will start working for in the next year)

The red on the forehead is for bravery when they attempt the Bear trail (which they will attempt after the wolf badge)

Aaron being silly:

Aaron and his Akela (good leader)


Aaron's awards and belt loops:

For every badge they receive they also get a mom's pin, so the mom's can be rewarded too!

Look at the paint!

If you meet certain requirements for sports or academics a scout can learn belt loops.

Aaron received one for bowling, computers, music, language, swimming and chess.

Aaron belt loops:

Proud Mama!


The new tiger Cub:

It was a fun evening. Very chaotic, which is usual for this group, so if you expect it, it really isn't bad.

I was very proud of Aaron. We were also supposed to pick up bumper stickers but we got distracted with the cleaning up and Kara's diaper so we forgot. We will have to try to get one next time.