New Jersey

So the Billy Joel song "Allentown" is what I always think of for some reason when I head up north to visit friends in PA or Jersey. So I was listening to the song as we made our trek up to Hackettstown, New Jersey to visit my big brother Christian and his sweet wife Jodi and their new home. Christian works in the regional corporate office for Mars Co. (the candy company-makers of M&M's) and we got LOTS of free candy. Perfect for Halloween time. Their home was beautiful, lots of land, and they're expecting their first baby boy in November!


We visited the shoreline and Austin and Ash loved putting their toes into the freezing cold water and running back up. Until they spotted a few jellyfish washed up on shore. Not so fun anymore. The weather was so perfect and so nice to be around the water again.


We walked up and down the boardwalk and ate fun boardwalk food. The next day we visited a pumpkin patch and had so much fun picking out pumpkins with them! Of course since it was my brother, I had many moldy pumpkins thrown at the back of my legs. So some got slung back to him too. My kids were watching and Austin was shocked. I reverted back to brother/sister times and rememberd I couldn't act that way around the kiddos. Austin was so excited to see mom cut loose that he started picking up pumpkins and anything else he could find and started throwing too. Ashley was just squealing in delight. Duane as just shaking his head. That' s the fun of having 3 brothers!!!!

We then made it home Sunday night. The trek takes about 5 hours. It was so great seeing them and where they live. I'm also so thankful for a wonderful tight family.

Quotes of the week:
Austin: "You're the best mom/dad I've ever had. Ever!"
Austin: "I'm not going to be your BFF (Best friend forever) anymore!" When he's upset at something...
Austin's started to tell some "stories". Sometimes he'll just make something up and I have to ask if that really happened, or he imagined that it would happen. Like, at the gym nursery Austin said that "a boy had a magic wand and he turned a toy into a frog!"
Austin: "I want to be a real pirate. Eat meat and sweets and no vegetables. They're lucky."

Ashley: "No way"
Ashley: "Ewwwww" when she spots a bug
Ashley: "Mommy" the word gets louder and louder now when she wants something-a change of radio, to get her up after a nap. Before she would just whine until I would do something. But now she's getting her point across!
Ashley: She's dancing more now than ever. She'll hear a song or see me and she'll boogie and shake her little toosh! It's so fun having a girl! I just went to a dancing store and got her a couple leotards for her class and it was so adorable!!!

Austin's Hospital Stay

First, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported and prayed and thought of us while Austin has been going through all of his testing. This marks the 9th time our little guy has been under general anesthesia in the past 2 years.

Monday and Tuesday we were at Reston Hospital. Austin had an upper endoscopy and a 24 hour ph probe. He did great under the anesthesia and came out confused with a tube that resembled a spaghetti noodle in his nose (the probe). The top of the probe is in a little machine hooked onto him and the botom of the tube was inside him at the top of his stomach.
The results of the endoscopy came out GREAT. The burns/erosions in his esophagus (his throat was 90% burned with erosive esophagitis) were all healed! His esophagus looked great, his stomach looked great, no hiatial hernia, no apparent problems!

However, with all this great news, it still left us stumped as to why he's having such horrible reflux. He's been on high amounts of healing/acid reducers which have healed his conditions. But we still need to get down to the source-as we can't continue such high amts on the little guy for an extended period of time. So that's what the Ph probe was for. To test in a 24 hr span of time when his acids were greatest-he has this chronic cough and does is occur when he lies down, when he runs, etc. So the probe will measure all of this. We get the results back this week. Austin may have a problem aspirating food. That's another reason for the burns, coughs, etc. Instead of food going down foodpipe, it gets launched into the esophagus/trachea instead causing acid/and a lot of the symptoms he's experiencing. With Austin's tracheomalacia, it wouldn't be a surprise. I guess its just another test right? But we feel blessed that we have the best of the best pediatric specialists in the area.

We had fun though while he was in the hospital. We colored, read, watched movies, took wagon rides, Ashley even visited a lot and the night was topped off with a Daddy-Son campout! Dad stayed with him in the hospital and it was complete with ghost stories and all!
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Ashley has been saying the cutest things this week. She now says her name, "Ash-wee Tolah" and she calls princess things "shay shay". She sees Cinderella and screams, "Shay shay!" She also holds up her cute little fingers and says she's 2. She can count (follows us) and there's nothing cuter than hearing a near-2 year old count with their adorable baby inaudible vowels.
She hangs and climbs on everything. She'll jump up on a bar (grocery cart) and hang there for what seems forever. I'll just start to push the cart and she's still hanging. Finally what seems to be after 2 minutes, I see her sweaty little fingers start to slip. We signed her up for a tot tumbling class. She should love it!

The weather has been phenomenal here. In the eighties and we've been enjoying every second of it! Just wanted to give the udpate of Austin. Thanks again for the prayers. They've worked and we've felt them.
Love,
Angie

Preschool Begins!

Preschool started Monday! Austin goes M-F 12:30-3:30 to his Haymarket Baptist Church Preschool. His teachers Mrs. Burch and Mrs. Davis are so kind. He absolutely loves it! The program includes music time, pee-wee workouts, show and tell every friday and 10 "good" stickers each week deserves a trip to the treasure box. Austin went to the treasure box and school couldn't be cooler.
Ashley has tried different tot tumbling, baby gymnastics, tiny dancers classes this week. We're trying to find the one that's just right for this cute little monkey! She climbs on anything, can hang on anything, and is extremely active. Typical 21 month old baby. So we're narrowing it down so she can have some fun doing a special mommy-and-me class.

On Saturday we went to the Haymarket Day Parade! It was a beautiful day here (its getting much cooler and crisp!) We got there just as the parade started and different floats were throwing out candy and Austin gathered it all up at the curb and would dole it out to others. We then saw his preschool group coming by and Austin made a bee-line for the front to hold the banner.
We then followed him down the main street and he was proudly waving hello side to side as everyone clapped. He loved being in the spotlight up front! We also saw his good buddys Tate and Cameron in the parade as well for their preschool. We then shopped around at the little booths set up after the parade and saw our good friends the Turners, Petersons and Johnsons. I even got a $25 gift certificate to a local spa here! We then went to a little ice cream shop Pickle Bob's. Austin had a Reese's sundae-his favorite. This was the day of all days for Austin: candy, friends, spotlight, ice cream.....(and for mommy too-with a spa gift certificate).
Duane and I ended the night by going out with some of our friends from his work. We went to a restaurant called Chima in Vienna. It's a nice Brazlian steakhouse. Mmmmm.

We then spent spent Sunday evening with our good friends Jean and Greg Allen. We had a wonderful week! The chill is in the air and fall is approaching rapidly into Northern Virginia. Have a beautiful week!

Angie




T

My Hips Don't Lie

As sung by Shakira "Hips Don't Lie", this was my theme this week. After training 7 hard weeks for the Baltimore half marathon, I sustained my first running related injury. I saw my medical doctor and a chiropractor last week and the net net is because of overuse and overexertion I either have a stress fracture in my hip, a torn labrum or hip bursitis. Lovely huh? I haven't gotten my suggested MRI and X-ray yet, because the remedy for all of these things injuries is ice, ibuprofen and staying off of it. So, elipticals and biking are my new thing at the gym. We'll see how things go when I start to run on it again in a couple of weeks. I will not be running the race. I had a hard time with this initially, but today I ran to catch a fleeting Austin and the pain came back in my hip immediatley so sharply and I'm limping again. Nothing is worth injuring yourself further down the road. I'm only 31! I don't want to walk like I'm 50.

Duane was in Australia these past couple weeks. He loves Sydney! It's the only place that he says he would quit the State Dept to get a private sector job there. He got his picture taken with koalas and kangaroos!

Funnies this week:

AUSTIN:
Asked how people got pregnant...oh boy.
He then asked if it cost any money to get pregnant. And said, "you can buy anything in this world with money."
Then he said that if he ever had a brother, he would name him Austin II.
Announced that Jesus was his "favorite man in the whole world."
Smelled a flower and said it smells pretty. Just like you Mom.
Said, "I don't know what love is, but I know Mom, I love you." Can a heart melt anymore?
Found a pirate Halloween costume already and wears it 99% of the time.

ASHLEY:
Now carries Duane's T-shirts around with her while he's gone. It's like a blankie in her crib.
Sounds like a cat when she says "no". It's a kind of meow...but "nooow".
Is getting very vocal.
Started with the no response to everything.
Aren't the terrific two's great?!!?

Events to remember (or forget):
Austin's preschool orientation. As all parents and preschoolers met in a sanctuary at his Haymarket Baptist Church Preschool, the Headmaster is talking about rules, regulations, etc. Ashley then stands on top of a pew and starts to squeal. I grab her and take her in the back of the church as Austin is laughing hysterically and Ashely is arching backwards, yelling even louder, grabbing my hair and pinching my neck all the way back. Austin then ran down the aisle and was giggling and skipping because of the commotion. All eyes were on me. No other family was acting like this in the entire chapel. I disrupted everything. And then Ashley wouldn't stop yelling. It was horrible. At the end of this spectacle I was sweating, and near tears. Who says its fun taking almost 2 year olds out in quiet places?

The same thing basically happened at my Dr.'s office. Yelling, arching, fits. It was so loud in the examining room, that my Dr. actually said he'd step outside to write the Rx. Austin just laughs and loves someone else getting in trouble.

Should I even admit that the exact same thing happened at the Little Gym while we were waiting for Austin?

However, when she goes to sleep, girls really are made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

Have a great week!
Angie

Hawaii

ALOHA! Last week we went to Hawaii! It was my first time going, Duane's second, and it was phenomenal. We drove down to Charleston, SC to "Camp Grandma's" house and Austin and Ashley stayed with Uncle Ray, Grandpa and Grandma. We stayed one day in Charleston and went downtown to the Market, River Street Sweets, California Dreaming restaurant, and our favorite ice cream parlor-Brusters (many times!) Then the next day, without looking back, we got on a flight for Hawaii. We travelled first class both ways due to his frequent fllyer miles. Ahhhhh.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu. It was absolutely beautiful. Landing in the Honolulu airport I remember just taking the smells in just like my friend Jean told me to do. The air smelled of Gardenia, Plumeria and Jasmine. The air smelled that way the entire time.

We kept up with our morning runs each day there. It was beautiful running there, seeing the sites, breathing the sweet air. That's how we would start our day. Then we would get a smoothie and muffin at a local coffee shop.

The first day we just shopped around the Waikiki area at the little beachy shops (among our favorites were Cinnamon Girl, Billabong, ABC, Rip Tide. We then watched a surf competition at Waikiki Beach and laid out the rest of the afternoon. We then ate at Mariposa restaurant that evening overlooking the city at sunset.

Day 2, we went to Hilo Hattie and it rained a little bit. We then drove on to the Dole Plantation where we ordered 6 pineapples to be shipped to us (we thought we'd share more of them but tasting them, we hoarded them for ourselves!) We then went on to the quaint surf town of Hale'iwa. We had a pad thai lunch there and the famous Matsumoto's shaved ice with ice cream, beans, and sweetened condensed milk on top. We then drove to the North Shore and Duane body boarded the waves at Sunset Beach. Our favorite day!

Day 3: We went to the Aloha Stadium Flea market. We then drove on to the Polynesian Cultural Center all day. We saw the LDS Temple and it was beautiful. We loved seeing the different island cultures, and we had a wonderful luau that night. Sashimi, roast pig and other tropical foods. The show they put on was great.

Day 4 &5: We were excited to sit back and do NOTHING. We laid out at different beaches, body boarded, ate at Wahoo Fish Taco's a few times there and even ate at McDonald's and enjoyed the fresh pineapple they served with each meal! We were addicted to Cold Stone's Macadamia Flavor ice cream. Mmmmm We even went to an Oakley store and were looking at Sunglasses and got a complete "hook-up" on our sunglasses ($50 each instead of $180) Being Fed. law enforcement does help out sometimes.

Beyond anything else, we reconnected in a way that was giddy. Like before you have kids. We could read on the beach instead of having to sit in the sand and run in the waves because your toddler is making a bee-line for the water. It was the most relaxing 5 days I've had in 7 years. This was considered our 2nd honeymoon since it was the first time for Duane and I without kids in 7 years.

And what's most special about it all? Everyone kept telling us, "You guys must have just gotten married! You both have that glow." We felt great! The kids had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa Toler and Uncle Raymond is our favorite! We were so thankful that our parents could watch the kids so we could enjoy this adventure.

Grandma's Know Everything

This week marks the first week that Ashley has started to sing lullabys with me. Every single nap, and nighttime I'll sing "I Am a Child of God" to her and Monday she started singing along with me. Mostly only getting the last words of phrases, but it was so sweet-it made me half sad to know she's getting that old! She also started saying "I love you" back when we tuck her in at night. Normally we would pat her back and say, "Love you" and she wouldn't respond. But this week she's responding and singing. It's so cute seeing the difference between raising a boy vs a girl. Ash loves to dance and when the radio plays and I'm singing, she always starts to dance and try to sing along too. I love it!

This week there have been many times when I knew what Austin was up to (getting out of bed because I heard him jump out or filling the sink with water....) but I would always surprise him when he got in trouble. He would ask, "How did you know I was out of my bed?" And I responded with, "Mommy's know everything." And he has been retorting with, "You're too young. Only Grandma's know everything!" Very well said.

This week Duane and I were able to attend the LDS Temple together. It was wonderful going back (its been too long since we've been last). But I almost gave Duane a heart attack as we're getting ready to go, we were going through different kids classes/workshops being offered at the local Rec center (Freedom Center) and Austin really wanted to take a cooking class. He didn't want T-ball like Duane wanted him to join. Nor did he want any sport for that matter. Austin just wanted the tot cooking class. Duane told him no and then Austin went on to put my bra on his head. That sent Duane over the edge. I explained that Austin's masculinity will not be determined at 4 because of a cooking class or the fact that he's touched a bra. Needless to say, the temple calmed him down. Duane got Austin really excited about taking Tae-Kwon Do instead of cooking. Kih-Yah!

Tonight we went to the County Fair with some of our buddies and we had a ball. Corndogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes, fried oreo's and cheap fair rides. It's always something fun to go to once a year, but then you're glad that its only once a year.
The kids got their pictures taken this week and it was so fun. They both love to ham it up in front of a camera.

We leave on Monday to drive to Charleston and leave Tuesday for HAWAII!!! We're glad the tropical storm has left.....yikes!
Aloha!
Angie

Oh Snap

"How does that feel!?!?" was the question I heard from Austin. The kids and I were wrestling around the floor when I felt a sudden sharp snap. Only to realize Austin had grabbed the back of my bra and slung it back as if he were Davey fighting Goliath with his slingshot and snapped me. It hurt but I had to start laughing which just added fuel to his fire. The joys of having a boy. He also gets into Ash's dress up clothes and makes a mockery of them when he puts them on his head and dances around Ashley. She's screaming frantically but again, the crying adds fun and then the teasing game becomes ultra-exciting. This week at the Kids World (the nursery at my gym) Austin brought a little backpack which I thought was full of little toys. The leader told me that he couldn't bring in cologne anymore. I guess Austin had found one of daddy's colognes and stuck it in his backpack. Austin had sprayed everything and almost every child with Daddy's Dolce Gabanna. I then talked to him about why we don't do that (allergies, invades privacy, etc) and Austin apologized to the nursery leader the next day and told her, "I promise I won't bring in the manly alcohol anymore. Sorry."

Ashley has "graduated" out of her high chair this week! (She's really not big enough but she thinks she is....probably only because Austin isn't in a high-chair, she doesn't like being put into hers.) But every time I lift her up to her spot at the table now, she just smiles in pure joy!

Austin tried on one of Duane's suit jackets and looked like a wizard. He also painted a picture and painted his name on it because he saw his buddy Cameron had written his name on artwork. A little friendly competition is always healthy!

It's becoming more and more evident that Ashley is Daddy's little princess. Ash will ask for everything and Daddy is there to give it to her. She'll even throw something on the ground and scream, "Daddy!" just to see if he'll retrieve it for her. And guess what? He does. I told him we're creating a complete monster by letting her act like this and giving in to her every whim. But Duane just says, "She's my baby." Wrapped around her little finger....
A bit of exciting news for us....we're going to HAWAII!!! August 20-28. We're so excited! Dropping the kids off in Charleston with their grandparents and we're staying at the Hilton in Oahu. This year was our 7 year anniversary and this will be the first time together without the kids! T minus 8 days in counting!!!!
We ran 10 miles yesterday for our training. The weather was SO nice outside! It wasn't unbearably hot like it has been. Very enjoyable! Only 8 more weeks till the half marathon!
Enjoy the mid-August dog days of summer! (It won't last much longer...school starts right around the corner....)
Angie

Mine Too!

This week marks about the month mark that everything Austin has, Ashley HAS to have as well. If not, then a LOUD scream fills the car, home, church, grocery store, etc. It doesn't even matter what the object is, as long as it's in Austin's hands, Ashley needs it. So poor Austin is always being told to share. Giving Ash whatever prized posession he brings along with him. So now its double everything. Happy meal toys, drinks, treats. There must be two identical objects, or someone's not happy.


Ashley loves her pacifier "binki" but she calls it her "baby". But she'll throw it whenever she gets upset. But then she'll call out "BABY!" And immediately need it. I find that consistency is a great parenting discipline technique but I fail miserably when she throws her binki and I say, "Bye bye binki" and don't give it back to her. But then after 10 minutes of screaming at different locations I find myself frantically searching all over the car/cart, etc for the blasted binki! Just put it in her mouth!
Duane came back from Egypt this week and he said it as so hot there. Like 120 degrees hot. I saw him on the Today show with Condi! The day we were picking him up from the airport Austin wanted to surprise daddy and make cupcakes and put candles in them. Whenever there's a celebration, Austin believes there must be candles. He'll be our little pyromaniac!

Coming home from the gym one day this week, Austin told me he loved the Kids Club there. He said he meets lots of nice friends. Then he asked if he could go to a spend-the-night party. I told him he's a little too young to go to another little boys house to spend the night. He then told me, "Mom, it's not a boy. It's a girl. I've already spent the night at a boys house. It's now a girls turn."

Happy August!
Angie

Bad Hair Week

"YUCK! Is this Ogre chicken?!?!" was the sweet comment that my son made last night after I made him dinner. Austin would eat spicy curry, crocodile, ostrich and all sorts of crazy foods in Africa. But since we've "americanized" his palate in the States again with good old mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, and nuggies...I cant' go out of the norm too often. Although I did make brussel sprouts this week and the kids LOVED them! 1 point for Mom.

Why was it a bad hair week? There was silence upstairs for far too long when I crept up there and saw Ashley smearing a thick white ointment on her head! Not knowing whether to laugh or cry (I was seconds away from getting the kids in the car to take Duane to the airport for an Egypt trip). So Ashley just looked at me and started laughing. Austin loved the comotion and started dancing around Ash, excited at the fact that mom might get upset with her for a change. Austin helped me out by scraping the cream off of her head with one of his plastic swords. It was a good time for all! Ashley wasn't the only one with a bad hair week. I tried cutting Austin's hair this week (to save $15 on a 4 year old's haircut) and no longer did I plug the clippers in, Austin grabbed them and they were they immediately up to the middle of Austin's head. Swoosh! There goes a chunk to the scalp! I just yelled NO!!! Again, I didn't know whether to be mad or laugh, so Austin broke the silence by laughing when he saw himself in the mirror, so I laughed hysterically too! So the cut is a bit shorter than I'd like it. But hey! It's summertime. I guess we'll have to wait on those Target photos for one more month.

Is that my son with a pull-up on over his pajamas? That's a concept that won't quite work!

Ash is starting to put more words into sentences including "I'm Mama's girl" (she has always said I'm dada's baby...so any attention towards mom I'm savoring) . She also loves to mimic anything Austin does. Good and bad. She also has to have whatever he's eating and play with the same toys he plays with. So poor Austin always has to share everything. Her favorite items are her binkis (at night must have 2 in her hands at all times). And she still adores dogs. So we bought her a remote control puppy and she just walks around and hugs it all the time.

Ashley got strep throat this week! First time and odd for a 19 month old. Poor thing.
Duane is in Sharm el Shiek Egypt (we all went snorkeling there in the Red Sea a couple of years ago with my brother Chris and I'm jealous he gets to go again!)
Can you belive this week starts August?!?
Much love,
Angie

Allowance Begins

We found out Jonathan's assignment this year (since he's not going to Afghanistan) will be.....to stay on Condoleezza's detail for one more year! We are thrilled he's back on the detail, as he would not have enjoyed a desk job in the Washington field office for a year. Yeah! So continue to look for him on TV with her. He just got back from Lisbon, Portugal (where he served his mission). He told me he wanted me to cook the pastries and meats that they cook over there. I told him I wanted the househelp that lots of people have over there....the debate quickly stopped.


How is eggnog made? What's on Mars? How are books made? Why? How? Why? How? Austin is constantly pondering things. He also is enjoying CTR 5 class at church as he's been doing great and getting all three stickers (sharing time, singing time and class). He loves his new teacher and shows us the correct way to pray and remembers scripture stories quite well. We also went to a new pediatric Gastroenterologist this week and are thrilled with the new doctor. In September Austin will be admitted for a 24 ph probe in his belly through his nose and will have another upper endoscopy performed. We are very thankful for the time and care this doctor has put into our little buddy. Austin has also enjoyed sending letters and phone calls with his cousin Ryan who's been visiting Chris and Jodi for the past month. It's cute to hear a 4 year old engaged in a phone conversation. We just started an allowance this week for Ausitn. He now loves to do chores. He gets $2/week with 10% going to tithing and 10% to missionary fund. He loves having "money". He puts it in a special bag that's hidden from Ashley. He also has a special lucky penny that he puts in his special agent wallet that holds his credentials as well (badge, id, etc. just like Daddy)!



Ashley is so CRAZY. She is a real dare-devil! She gets on the edge of the bed and you'd better be right there to catch her, because she's jumping! She also jumps off the bottom two stairs and wants to go higher like her brother. She handles playgrounds with no fear, which instills a lot of fear in me as I'm running around after her. I went to take the kids to see Ratatouille this past week and Ash was out of control. No matter how much food I brought, she wanted to get down and walk up the stairs in the theatre and if not, she shrieked like a teradactyl. I was in out and of that theatre over 12 times. Never again will we go to the movies until she's over 3 years old. Yikes. We've started time-outs for Ash. She likes to hit her brother (and mom). Daddy is okay in her book. But the time-outs are working well. She's so funny though-she has started sticking her tongue out and now she's dancing more than ever. She loves to mimic sounds/songs on the radio. And still loves to have her toenails painted, and gets into mommy's makeup bag. Bare Escentuals powder covered our bathroom rug last week along with a large spill of fingernail polish...the rug was dunzo.

I just signed up for the Baltimore Half-marathon on October 13th. Duane is going to run it too! It's fun training again.

Have a great week!
Angie

July 8-15

This week's highlights:
Austin:
1. Austin's in a pirate stage right now and at the end of a long sword battle, he gave me a kiss and said do you want to have a tongue fight? I put this in this journal because I know he'll laugh about this when he's 18...or maybe not.
2. He's asked many questions this week. How is plastic made? How do waves form? How does the grocery store get all their fruits and vegetables? What kinds of people/things don't go to heaven? How many teeth does a crocodile have? Sometimes I had to just pause and let him think about things.
Ashley:
1. She's saying, "I'm Dada's baby" all the time now. Her vocabulary grows by the day. She likes to say thank you and please and screams extremely loud still when Austin takes something from her that she wants.
2. Its really fun to see the difference between boys and girls. Ashley tries to sing along with the radio now and loves to dance and follow the moves when people dance on the preschool shows. Austin never danced with Barney. She also still loves trying on different people's shoes and tries to put her bows in her fine sparse hair.



The highlight for both the kids this week was when Duane brought home his police/govt car and the kids got to sit inside and Austin pressed the buttons and horns and Ash pretended she was driving!

Other highlights:
This week was also our friend Roman Delzcruz's first birthday!
We had a baby shower for Brooke
I had BUNKO
I made Entrees Made Easy (love it!)
We had a BBQ for Duane's work
Austin had a follow up appt with the Gastroenterologist and we found out some good info. We'll be doing more testing including a 24 ph probe (tube that goes down his nose and into his stomach for 24 hours to find out where and when his acid is going) and a swallowing/aspiration testing done in the next month or so. (Fun fun.)

Keep enjoying the summertime and the pool!
Love,
Angie

4th of July '07

Happy 4th! And Happy Birthday Mom! This year for the 4th, my brother Christian and his son Ryan and wife Jodi came to DC! The week started with a fun trip with Austins buddies Cameron and Tate to a trip to Burke Lake Park. The train wasn't working, but they picked up sticks, ran around, presented a skit on the stage, climbed railroad tracks, rode the carousel and played on the playground. What more could boys want?

We also spent some great time with the Delacruz family who is moving soon. We are so sad! Austin and Madeleine have gotten so close! We will miss you guys!
Then my brother came into town. Christian is definitely into fireworks, so the 4th started with firecrackers mid-afternoon. Austin and Ryan loved them! Chris ended the week with what I'm sure were illegal fireworks, and Chris hit the "cool Uncle" status.

We then had a 4th of July parade to gear up for the festivities that evening! We BBQ'ed at home, then braved the masses and went downtown for the fireworks display. They were unbelievable as usual.

We spent a half day at Great Country Farms in beautiful Bluemont, VA. It was so much for the kiddos-hay ride, petting zoo, feeding the animals, rope swings, tire slides/mountains. They even got to feed a baby pig some milk!

We ended the week with a trip downtown DC to tour all the great things the city has. White House, Capitol, the memorials, monuments, statues, etc.

We hope you had a great 4th of July!
Love,
Angie
ps-Thanks for all the thoughts on Duane not going to Afghanistan. We feel its best for our family right now.

S.E. Vacation 2007

No blog in awhile, as we were on an extended vacation from June 7-June 28th. What a wonderful time we had bouncing around the Southeast! First, we spent a week with Duane's family in Myrtle Beach, SC and had a great time! We then spent time with his wonderful parents downtown Charleston shopping in the the market, museums, beloved restaurants and having BBQ's (and don't forget Brusters ice cream!)

We then flew to Ft. Lauderdale FL to spend a week with the loco LaBarbera's! We spent time at the beach, shopping, imax theatre, joking/poking/fighting in fun with my brothers and deep sea fishing was definitely the highlight of the week where we each caught 2 kingfish and quite a few baracuda's. Everyone caught something and it was a great time. Each night we had family night where one family had to cook and another family had to do the entertainment for the evening. It was a wonderful time.

Then we spent just a few days in Orlando with just our kids and did Magic Kingdom at Disney World. We closed the park down including the fireworks at 10pm, and catching the ferry out at 11pm with the rest of the mobs and tired kids. Austin really got into it this year. He loved the Pirates ride, Snow White (because it was scary) and the kiddie roller coasters. What a great time-I don't know if he had more fun or if Duane and I did as we're eating funnel cakes and doubling up on the rides-wanting to go more than he did. And Ashely was a trooper. She enjoyed everything amid the 99 degree temperatures in Orlando, FL. What a great time!

We have a bit of good news! No, I'm not pregnant. But, Duane WILL NOT BE GOING TO AFGHANISTAN!!! It was a decision made only about a month ago, after Austin's last bronchoscopy. Since Austin will be undergoing more surgery's this year, Duane just didn't feel right about leaving us for a year with all the problems our little guy is having. So, State Dept Medical understood and his assignment has been broken. Family comes first.

We're not exactly sure what he'll be doing, but we do know we'll be in DC for one year. Then we bid again. We'll keep you posted!