First day of 1st Grade for Abigail and Preschool for Adrianna

Great Wolf Lodge...

This was the girls last weekend before school starts so we took them to Great Wolf Lodge.



Adrianna got her first wand to do Magic Quest.





Ponytail puller...













Abby was big enough to ride the "Wave" and she did great!

No longer a stay at home father...

Last week Q accepted a position as the Family Services and Transportation Coordinator for the Early Head Start Program. He will have about twenty staff and oversee family services for 1100 children in the program. He will have five offices in three cities. His main office is ten minutes down the road where he will spend the majority of his days. To make things even better he is going to be able to bring Adrianna with him to work. His organization also runs a private preschool program and staff get a 40% discount. The furthest that he will have to drive is about 28 miles from the house. Abigail will be in the before and after school program down the street.

Q stayed at home with Abigail until she was about 2.5 years old and now Adrianna is a little over 2.5 and he is re-entering the workforce again. This was the only job that he applied for and they were truly impressed. Q told me right when he walked into the room he knew that he had the job. They wanted to have him start immediately but he told them that he wanted to spend the last week of summer with the girls and I. He won't start until the week after the girls start school. He wanted to make sure Adrianna had time to transition from being at home with him to being in preschool.

I really want to thank him for always putting the girls and I first. He has sacrificed so much to make sure that we are all happy. He has never complained about my work schedule, having to take care of the girls, or taking leave from a career that he truly enjoyed. He is my best friend and the greatest father our girls could ever have.

I can't wait to see him in his suits again!

The girls...

It was so nice outside tonight we decided to take the girls on a walk around the golf course. They always have fun running and playing on the course.

Yummy Burrito

Today we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant Abuelos. We tried the "Grande Burrito" and it was sooooo gooood!

Sleepy baby

Today Q took the girls to Sam's Club and Adrianna fell asleep right before they got out of the car. He found a little mattress from a display case and made a little cot for her to sleep on.

Antoine Dodson

This was a clip we saw on Youtube. We don't want to be insensitive but this was so funny we had to post it. You have to watch the first video which is the news clip footage and the second is a remix. This was an attempted attack the lady was not hurt.

The Norfolk Zoo

Today we took the girls to the zoo to see the new tortoise exhibit. It is no San Diego Zoo but the girls enjoy going and if the weather is nice we like to take them there.

Special Visit...

Today the girls had a chance to meet my very first Captain. I worked for him nearly nine years ago when I was an Ensign
(0-1) onboard USS Comstock. Now here it is nine years later and I am a LT. Commander (0-4, Select).

My first Captain was also the first Commanding Officer of the ship that I am currently stationed onboard. He asked me when I was an Ensign to come up with the motto for the ship. The motto is "Never Retreat, Never Surrender." That is my little claim to fame which will last significantly longer then most people's 15 minutes of fame. Next is to have a ship named after me but that is later down the road:).

The girls were not able to go onboard because the ship is still in the shipyards. We took pictures in the parking lot and the girls were excited to have met him.

What a cute welcome home!!

I came home from work to find that Quintin and the girls had drawn a little note for me on the sidewalk- a super-cute heart that said "We love you Mom!" They are so sweet!

Beating the heat!!

Fun at my command picnic

Today my ship had a command picnic. It was a lot of fun for the girls- they had bouncers, pony rides, snow cones, cotton candy and free bowling!
Doesn't Abby look natural on that horse?

Adrianna didn't want to ride because she didn't want to put on the helmet!

Promoted to Lieutenant Commander

Today I found out that I was selected for Lieutenant Commander (0-4)!

Abigail's big jump......

Abigail started her swim lessons this week and she is having a blast.

Getting a kiss

If the girls aren't awake when I head to work (which they usually aren't) I leave them a Hershey kiss.

It just lets them know that I am always thinking about them.

Q was on the local news tonight....

Changes

Yesturday we said goodbye to the Enclave and replaced her with a Mercedes Benz E Class Coupe. We felt that we really didn't need to have two SUV's. She provided us with many fond memories and moments.

Q said he wanted to drive the civic because he doesn't go that far from the house and the civic is great for city driving. The Benz gets almost the same mpgs as the civic so it worked out well.



My first day going to work.





This is the video I saw that made me want this car. I showed it to Q and he told me don't go getting any ideas of trying that in real life.

I would never do anything like that but it is still a cool video.

Happy 4th of July

Twinkie eater.....




The girls are great with technology.

They got the HP Touchsmart computer last Christmas and they love it. The computer is very similar to an Ipad. You use your finger to open things and move them around on the screen. They enjoy playing games on their favorite websites and taking silly pictures of each other.



Adrianna will just walk over to the computer turn it on and start playing her computer games.

Abigail's first soccer game of the season.


Abigail had a chance to be the goalie for a while and she did fantastic. She kept the other team from scoring.




Q and Adrianna went for a walk around the field.




Look at those soccer moves.




Abigail's first goal of the season and we didn't get a picture of it:(

A is for Adrianna