A few more pics

After the reception we stuck around for a little while to hang out. Gus and Janie chilled in a bedroom at the lodge and watched movies while Tim and I hung out. That was so much better than having to go back to the hotel before the reception was over because Gus wouldn't go to sleep and was driving Janie nuts. We paid for it the next day though, oy, our aching heads!

Me and Lucky

Tim caught this huge Silence of the Lambs moth for Gus. The thing was mammoth and Tim smacked it down a number of times before he was able to capture it.

I have another picture I'll post as soon as Tim gets back from LA and can access a scanner.

The wedding

Lucky was nice enough to invite Gus and Janie along to the wedding events- which Gus got totally excited about, he was thrilled that Lucky was getting married even though I don't think he knows what that is (clearly, he does not, heh)- so that we could hang out and visit longer. Tim was in the wedding party and so was our friend Cade. The 3 of them were stationed together at Tim's first assignment in Washington state at Fairchild, AFB.

It was really great to see both Lucky and Cade, the last time we were all together was about 9 years ago when we went to Hawaii together- Cade lived there, that lucky dog! Lucky visited us a couple of times when we were in LA but we hadn't seen him in a couple of years.

Putting M & M's in his pocket. Apparantly, there are multiple places that they do not melt. I think Gus had 4 boxes of them.

Gus and Cade

Requisite family photograph.

Leaving on a jet plane

Last weekend we went to Jackson, Mississippi (actually it was Brandon) for our friend Lucky's wedding. Janie picked us up at the airport so she could help out with Gus so we could spend more time with our friends.

FYI, for anyone going to Brandon, we just wanted to inform you in advance that it's located in a dry county. Lucky should have given us a head's up, but we'll forgive that oversight seeing as how he was about to get hitched and all.

At Dulles airport. Janie hates it when Gus opens stuff with his teeth.

Gus took this picture. If only my boob was this huge in reality!

Picnic + Painting

Backyard picnic- Gus, Megan, and Ryan

Fingerpainting

Ryan's portrait of Gussie. It's the spitting image of him!

DOH!

I finally figured out how to resize pics so they're not HUGE when you click on them (starting with the garden pictures). So click away.

Our Garden

Tomatos, zucchini, more tomatos, cucumbers, bell peppers, 2 blueberry bushes- because according to Ilka I can't have just one, I also need a pollenator- and more tomatos. The plastic container on the railing contains a Venus Flytrap.

We had to plant it on the deck because we get almost no sun in our backyard, a small portion of the deck gets sun almost all day.

This is what it looked like right after we planted it a month or so ago.

A buncha posts in no particular order

I'm going to attempt to get caught up on my picture posting. It's been generally hectic and I've had issues with blogger the last 3x I've tried to post, so I'm going to try yet again to get something up on the blog. These pics are from the last 3 months, I'll just post stuff as I come across it in my pics, it'll all be posted out of order. Hope everybody's having a great summer so far!

Bunnyland

There were 3 big slides. You slid down on a burlap sack.

Hayride through Bunnyland.

I wonder what they're thinking.

The Bunnyland Express

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

Some genius turned this book into a play , and a couple of weekends ago Tim, Gus and I saw it with our friends Ryan and Georgina. It was majorly sold out so they extended it, and we bought the tix months ago. It was really well-acted and directed. The girl that played the Mouse did an amazing job. Gus loved it. At one point he even yelled out "Oh no! You're gonna get in trouble!!!" Thankfully, we were sitting in the back row, so only the entire theater heard him.

Spring is here and the flowers are in bloom. Gus and Ryan before the show.

Me, Gus, Ryan and Georgina before the show started (Tim took the picture). Gus was very, very excited.

Gus is the Mouse - Tim and I are the Boy.

The theater is at Glen Echo Park, it's a pretty cool place.

The (Chris) Hales visit

My cousin Chris and his family stayed with us one night on their way back from Spring Break in FL. It was a really great- but way too short- visit and I hope they can come back this summer and stay longer. We ate at a crabcake restaurant in downtown Rockville that we'd never tried before- that ended up being pretty good- then we got ice cream. I forgot to bring my camera but took pics of us getting ice cream with my phone camera....but then last week I dropped my cell phone in a huge cup of coffee, so it's no longer with us (RIP dear phone) and so I don't have many pics of their visit.

Ashley and Corey read bedtime books to Gus. Gus could have played with them for hours, days and weeks. For days after they left, all we heard about were Ashley and Corey and the refrain "I wanted them to stay...."

Sewing- just like Boppie (Janie)

A few days after Kailey left, Gus decided he had to sew a doll for her. I think he saw something like it on Little Bear but I'm not sure. Anyway, I set him up with some fabric and a few threaded needles.

I didn't really have any doll type supplies so the fabric had to suffice for right then- and it seemed to. He sat there and sewed for about an hour.

Cookies

Even though it wasn't all that close to Easter, we made Easter cookies anyway (this was a few weeks ago). Bunnies, tulips, etc. Gus's friend Ryan and his little sister Meghan joined us.

Decorating the cookies.

Eating the cookies.

The Aftermath

Georgina reading the kids a book.

Skeleton and waffles

Michael's has all sorts of cool stuff to build and each things costs only $1 or $2. They have these wooden 3-D puzzles and also little wood models of planes and boats, etc that the kids can put together and then paint. This is the skeleton model that Tim and Gus had started assembling, and K decided she wanted to contribute.

"Hmmm lemme check out the picture..."

We made blueberry waffles in the waffle maker. Those are Gus's "faaaaavorite" (along with ice cream, peanut butter, watermelon, cookies, pistacios, miso soup and rice...the list goes on an on).

K and K visit Part Deux

Katherine and Kailey came for another visit. We're trying really hard to get them to move here for their next PCS. Actually, we have other friends we're also trying to get to PCS here next. Our diabolical plan is to just bring all of our friends with us each time we move. Then, each place we move, we'll meet more people and make more friends, then bring them along with us. Then, when Tim retires, we'll just buy a huge plot of land somewhere and start a commune. Can't wait!

They stayed up until after 1 the night they got here, playing and wrestling around the living room. The next day they started playing the second they woke up, then had to paint.

Ummmm apparantly Gus does that Crawford thing where he sticks his tongue out when he concentrates.

Gus and Sundance work as a team. Gus distracts K with a kiss while Sundance grabs her candy, then he shares it with Gus.

They were sooooo dirty by the time they finished. Gus dumped muddy water on K's head which didn't help matters any.

I guess K remembered that she'd fixed the table leg during her last visit, because she asked me for the tool box and went to work, and Gus assisted.

bug hunting in the backyard

It warmed up a few weeks ago, so Gus went bug hunting in the backyard. I'm teaching him stuff that I'd forgotten I'd ever learned, such as you should always remember to turn over a rock so that a hiding snake will slither away from you instead of toward you. Granted, there are no snakes in our backyard, but one day we'll go camping and then you never can tell.

bug/worm digging stick

Magna Tiles

Gus got Magna Tiles from Santa for Christmas. He really digs them. He wanted us to take this picture of the structure he built. He builds this all the time but really wanted us to take a picture of this particular one.

Over the hump (?)

Gus is feeling somewhat better. Now he just wants to sit on the sofa and stare at the tv. He's still pathetic but at least I don't have to raise my voice and shake him to get him to respond to me. Good times. Not that I don't love worrying, but I'm kinda glad that phase of the illness has passed. I know it'll be a shock to my system when he completely returns to normal. Gus vacillates between "Look Mama, I'm not sick any more (said weakly but with total commitment)" and "I don't feel well (and then lays down with a big exhale)". Per Georgina, this is very similar to how Ryan's illness unfolded. So far, Tim and I are fine and uncontaminated *knock on wood*.

Last night, we finally got the big snow I'd been waiting for all winter (appx 5 inches), and of course we can't really play in it because Gus doesn't feel well. Maybe tomorrow he'll feel better and then we can enjoy it some.