Did you know?

Did you know that at McGuire AFB we have our own grocery store and department store right on base? We actually have Burger King, 2 gas stations, a Medical clinic, optometrists, library, post office, thrift store, and vet clinic all right here on base. There are two golf courses, a bowling alley, movie theater, and an indoor pool complex and an outdoor pool. There is even a go-cart race track.

Did you know that our housing area is a separate area from base and we need to show Military ID to get in? There is only one entrance/exit making like a "gated" community. This will change when we move in February and move onto the base. However, no one can get on base without Military ID.

Did you know that trumpets play over a sound system over the entire base at 7am, 5pm and 10pm? At 5pm after the trumpets, they play the National Anthem over the speakers and if you are outside you need to stop what you are doing and face the flagpole. It is a touching sight to look out the window at 5pm and see all the little kids stop in the middle of whatever game they are playing and stand with their hands over their hearts for the National Anthem. How cool is that?

Did you know that the elementary schools on base provide all the school supplies? They do this to relieve some stress for military families. Many are just moving into the area, some are in the process of deploying a parent to a mission overseas, many families have a parent already deployed. What a great way to meet the needs of these families!

Is there anything else you want to know about military life?

(There is a blog coming about Maddie, I promise!)

Ho-hum

Life here seems to have fallen into rhythm. Not much news to report. We did have a brief taste of cold, blustery weather today. Lots of gusty wind mixed with a little snow but nothing stuck. Nick wore shorts to school. Maddie went to a photography class after school today that ended up being cancelled because the instructor got there too late. (Maddie is going to be featured in our next blog. She feels that she has been gypped and the others have had more blog attention than she.) Hannah made slime in school today and Isaiah got to wear pajamas to school because it was pajama day. Like I said, life seems to have fallen into rhythm.

Aunt Barbie comes to Visit!

Hooray! Aunt Barbie came out for a visit! Don't we all look great shivering on the Jersey Shore?
Barb flew out Wednesday night and we zipped down to Washington, D.C. for a two day visit - just Barb and I. We packed a lot in while we were there. We toured the Library of Congress (our favorite!), walked through the Supreme Court building. That's us sitting on each side of the pillar. We toured the White House which we both thought was a little disappointing. However, after we came out of the White House a motorcade came by and we saw Laura Bush!! That was my absolute highlight - she leaned forward in the sedan she was in and waved!! I'm fairly certain she didn't see us but it was awesome none the less. I actually had goosebumps.

This is my favorite picture. We were at the Washington Monument and Barb sat down for a picture of the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial in the background when this throw back from "Chips" drove up and parked so he could be in the picture! After the flash of the camera he drove off. What's with that?
After the Washington Monument, we hiked over to the Lincoln Memorial. We also saw the Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, World War 2 Memorial. We walked by the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot and saw the house across the street where he was carried and later died. Did you know that he had a Confederate 5 dollar bill in his pocket when he died? Learned that at the Library of Congress - they have his pocket contents there.
Barb and figured we logged close to 10 miles on Thursday and limited Friday to a tour of the Capitol which was also fascinating.

Saturday morning Barb, Maddie and I participated in a 6 mile Rucksack March to honor Gold Star Moms. Gold Star moms are women who have lost a son or daughter in combat. There were 19 Gold Star moms present at this event. The military personnel competed in full uniform carrying a 30 lb rucksack. They competed in teams of four and placed according to the time of the last person on the team. Civilians didn't carry packs. 19 teams were chosen to carry an item from each Mom to represent their son or daughter so they would finish the race with us. The event started with a ceremony where we were all seated and then the Gold Star moms and their families were brought in and seated in the front. Everyone stood and clapped until they were all seated. There was a gentleman who played Amazing Grace on his bagpipes, a brief speaker, and then we were sent out to the course. The Gold Star moms were put in humvees and were driven around the course and they cheered us on. It was a very touching event to experience.

Saturday we drove over to the Atlantic and walked the boardwalk. They sell candy cigarettes there. I know, we are horrible parents!

Isaiah was having a hard time at the candy store finding something in the $1 budget. Oh - so sad!
Man, do Barb and I have blisters! We were both exhausted at the end of her visit! I promised not to wear her out like that on her next visit.

Pip, Pip, Pip!

Naughty Pip! He is has been flirting with eliminating a few of his nine lives. Wednesday morning he slipped outside when the kids left for school without anyone noticing. Over an hour later I realized that the cat wasn't pestering me as usual. I made a quick check around the house and then put on my shoes and went outside. I could hear that he was nearby and soon located him up in the tree. I opened a can of cat food and waited him out. He finally half climbed, half fell out of the tree. I scooped him up and took him in. I really don't have time for things like this. On Friday I was busy doing laundry. 2-3 minutes after I started the dryer I went through the laundry room and could hear him meow. It sounded like he was stuck behind the dryer. Didn't see him back there. Then I realized he was IN the dryer. I pulled out the comforter that was drying and he flopped out onto the floor. He laid there and quivered for 10 seconds and then got up and walked away. I am fairly certain he wouldn't have survived another 3-4 minutes. Tell me again why we have a cat in the house?

I wanted you all to see the beautiful tree I see everyday out the front door. The colors have been spectacular here this fall.
My sister Barb came to visit this weekend. As soon as she sends her pictures to me I will share our weekend with you. I think we are both still recovering!

It's Official!

Yes, it is official - we are now campers! Thursday afternoon Charles and I found a pop-up camper on craigslist just north of Philadelphia, about an hour from our place. We called and it was still for sale. As soon as everyone was on the bus Friday morning we took off, had a hitch put on our van and ventured over to check out the camper. Obviously, we bought it, pulled it home and loaded it up. When the kids came home from school we took off for our first camping adventure!

We found a campground an hour north of Trenton along the Delaware River and set up camp. It was not the ideal camping experience. I would prefer a little more isolation rather than camping right next to everyone else but the kids thought it was great.

The campground offered activities for the kids such as pumpkin painting and trick-or-treating on Saturday afternoon. We scrounged and came up with some costumes - yes, that is a lamp shade on Nick's head!

That night there was a Halloween Party in the "Pavilion."

The highlight of the party was definitely "DJ Johnny!"

We ended the evening with a friendly, family game of pool in the game room. I think the boys won.

Overall, it was a great weekend. We checked out a State Park in the area and hope to camp there another time. The fall foliage was beautiful and the weather has been gorgeous. We had a little heater in the camper that we used early in the morning to take the chill out but other than that it was very pleasant. We are looking forward to many more adventures with our little camper.

He's almost there!

He did it! After four races where he finished third every time, he finally finished 2nd yesterday. He missed 1st place by four seconds. That's his goal. The same guy on his team has won every meet. Nick is working hard for his turn. He has two races next week. We will keep you posted.

Weekend Away

Last Saturday we took off on a Causey Adventure. We headed out to Cape May, NJ. It was a typical Causey trip with the kids complaining that they are hungry after about a half hour on the road. So we stopped for a delightful lunch at the beautiful Patio Drive In. The food was quite alright. The best part however was when we tried to leave our faithful old van wouldn't start.

The owner himself came out and gave us a jumpstart. That rates right up there with "Minnesota Nice." I sent Nick out with the camera to capture the moment.

After that we made it to our hotel. We were afraid to turn the van off so Charles checked us in and took the kids up to the room while I waited in the running vehicle. Then he came down and took the van in while I took the kids down to the beach. (We needed a new battery.) Here is a shot of our hotel from the beach. Our hotel was in a town called Wildwood Crest, just a few miles north of Cape May.
The kids raced off to find all sorts of beach treasures and swam in the ocean...

...and played in the sand.
On Sunday we went down to Cape May. There is a beautiful light house there. We wandered around Lighthouse State Park for awhile.
Nick hunted little crabs among the rocks.
He did manage to catch one.

Isaiah caught a little sand crab. (by the way, I only grounded him for one day)

We also saw many dolphins swimming along the beach. They were hard to get pictures of because I never knew when they were going to pop out of the water. I did manage to get one fin in this picture! Madison loves dolphins and could have stayed a watched them all day. I bet we saw 30 - 40 dolphins that afternoon.
There is also a quaint historic/shopping district at Cape May. The bell that Maddie is under is from a ship that was called the "Cape May." There are a lot of neat shops and candy stores.

I think it took about four tries for me to catch Hannah in the air on film. I was grateful she made it over each and every time.

Whoo-hoo!

Someone's in Trouble

Got a call from the Principal's office today. Somebody is in trouble. Story goes like this. During lunch, Isaiah and two buddies went to the bathroom. They thought it would be fun to climb over the partitions. And it was fun! In fact, it was so much fun that they made a lot of noise and a lunchroom worker heard a racket and caught them. Oops. After that they were sent to the Principal's office. The principal called me and told me the story and then let me talk to Isaiah. What a sad little voice on the phone! I told him to apolgize to the principal and we would talk more when he got home. When he arrived home I told him he was grounded for the rest of the day, no bike, no friends, no tv, no computer. He needed to understand the difference between "good" fun and "bad" fun. He thought maybe he should be grounded for two weeks since he had been grounded for one week from his bike for riding it without socks, shoes, and his helmet then crashed and cut his foot and he thought this was "badder". What do you think? One day or two weeks?