Seabee Ball

Ont eh 17th of March we celebrated the Seabee's 70th Birthday at a bodega in Jerez.  We had such a fun time and great laughs with this fun bunch of friends! 

Da Boyzzzz  Jeff and Brad live on our street as well and let's just say it's a hot mess when they're together! So fun!!

My friend Maureen who is married to Jeff (in the above photo)

Maureen &Carolyn (who is married to Brad in the above photo).

Tuscany

This past week we took a week long vacation to Tuscany!  We met up with Andy's uncle Robb and Matt.  It was an amazing week long trip full of adventure, relaxation, and good laughs!

We ended up renting a house out in the country in the cute town of Barga.  The house was in a wonderful location just a few miles of town and had a beautiful view of the Tuscan valley.

Taking a hike in the town of Barga

Drew and Claire were so in love with the food!  Drew asked me, "Mom do you think you can make this exact same meal at home"?  And he would always tell me that I need to get the sauce right!!!

Well I was able to learn Tuscan cooking with a half day cooking class!  The class was AWESOME and we were able to get the recipes!

Matt and I were in class for the day and Andy, Robb, and the kiddos toured the local town.

One of the days we went to Florence, AMAZING!

More of Florence..

A famous walk along the coast of Italy is called Cinque Terre.  The walk is a walk between five beautiful towns and is called the Lovers Walk.

One of the amazing towns

The path you walk on is all along the ocean and you can go into the towns as you pass by

We had such a fun week and it will be a trip we will always remember

Swim Lessons!

Drew is now in level three swim lessons and is doing awesome!!  This summer at the pool will be so much more relaxing as I can now say, Drew can swim on his own! 

Drew has done great in class as he's the smallest child in his class (as he's only four).  He was able to hang though with the older ones and has learned so much!

He is able to make it in the deep end and dive.  I will still be that mom that won't take my eyes off him, however will be more relaxed!

Dining Out

Last Thursday we had our annual Dining Out held at a local hotel on the beach in Rota.  The night is like one big drinking game and rules can't be broken or you will be sent to drink out of the toilet......  Even if one needs to use the restroom you have to fill out a toilet request sheet and everything has to be approved by the president (XO of the base).

And here are the toilets... the toilets are full of jungle juice!

At one point this was the line of people that were called out for something and all had to go to the toilet!

I mean this is just a given... it's wrong to have a mustache!!  Everyone who had one was sent to the toilet!

Our friend Kurt is hilarious and helped plan the night.  In his pocket he had a fake mustache and bucked teeth with braces.  Our XO of the base has a mustache and also didn't have the best of teeth and was sporting braces for the past couple of years!

Kurt acting like the XO!

Albuferia, Portugal

This past holiday weekend Andy had a four day weekend so we headed to Portugal (four hours away).  We found an awesome resort to stay at with apartment condos and is just a walk to the beach! 

Now with two young children we love staying in a condo where we have multiple bedrooms, a kitchen to eat in, and room to play!

From our condo it was only steps out to the pool!

It was perfect timing and was carnival going on. Carnival is a huge celebration with bands, parades, food, and everyone dresses up in costumes!  The kiddos with their beautiful smiles before the parade:)

The floats were really fun!

Here they throw all sorts of paper to dress up in

The resort had six outdoor swimming pools!

We had such an amazing relaxing time that we booked the same resort for Memorial weekend with seven other families!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

I will always remember when I was little when we would wake up Valentines Day morning my mom would have decorated our table.  I started this tradition with our children last year.  It's funny though, as I get such an enjoyment decorating the night before! It almost feels like Christmas Eve to me knowing how excited the kiddos will be when they see it in the morning.

On the table waiting for them was a small gift.  Each child opened a book.

Claire was thrilled with her ballerina book

That morning we went to Drew's class room for a Valentines Day party.  My mom had sent the kiddos some V-Day stickers. Drew opened them also that morning and loaded his shirt up with them!!

Singing their V-Day song for the parents!

Sugar cooking to frost with TONS of candy on top!

Each child made a "mail box" for their V-Day cards to be delivered from their friends.  I thought Drew's was pretty cute and creative;)

We had a wonderful day

Saving Really Works!

Drew has big eyes when we go to the store and loves everything. Something he has loved for a long time though is a skate board. Instead of buying him everything he sees and loves we decided to start an allowance.

Drew earns 25 cents a day if he remembers to take his dishes to the sink after every meal and makes his bed. It’s really a win – win for everyone;) He SAVED $18 and bought a skate board the other week!! We were amazed and told him if he could save his money for a skate board we would buy his safety gear.

Drew is doing awesome on the skate board and is on it every minute! We also have a pretty awesome skate park here on base and have visited the park several times. Pretty proud of his saving and mad skills on the skate board!