Lunch with Mary

Over lunch last week Jannette and I were talking about how much we missed visiting with Mary. So we decided to call and invite her to lunch with the girls before Jannette went home to South Carolina. We met at the Boardwalk for lunch and had a great time catching up and sharing fond memories. I hope we can continue to keep in touch and do lunch every once in a while!

John’s Change of Command

I’m proud to say that my brother is the new commanding officer of the VMFA-122 Werewolves! Kenneth, Sarah and I took a trip to Beaufort for the ceremony and celebration. We were originally supposed to fly but when our flight was delayed indefinitely because of a broken plane we decided to drive. Sarah is a real trooper on road trips – what did we ever do without a rear seat entertainment system?

We hit the ground running on Thursday as soon as we arrived. Jannette had goody bags with squadron t-shirts waiting for us and lots of fun family activities planned. Our first task was to pick Darlene up from the airport. She came all the way from Hawaii for the change of command weekend! Jannette, Kelli and I had appetizers while we waited for her flight. Back at home Jennifer arrived from Rhode Island and Leigh came in from North Carolina. We all sat on the back porch after dinner, enjoying the sunset and drinking good wine! We all really enjoyed getting to know Adrienne’s boyfriend Diego from Brazil too.

Friday morning was the change of command ceremony. The ceremony was outside in the 102 degree heat but it turned out really well. We really enjoyed catching up with out of town family and friends. Uncle Bill and Aunt Jackie came in from Georgia; Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve and David drove from Florida; Dave and Gay (John and Jannette’s neighbors from Jacksonville) drove up too; Jannette’s mom and dad came across from Mississippi; and Cindy, Tony and Madeleine (Jannette’s sister and family) flew in from San Diego. We all missed having Papa Pete with us but knew he was there in spirit – we know that he was so proud of John. We got to take some family pictures in front of John’s jet, and the little ones got to climb up and see a jet up close.

Then we went to a lovely reception at the officer’s club. Jannette had planned a great kid’s table with all kinds of neat toys and crafts so the adults could relax and enjoy some brunch. When the reception was nearing its end, we noticed Sarah running off across the room and then reappearing a minute later. We wondered what she was up to, so Kenneth followed her. He watched while Sarah grabbed a muffin, ate the top off and put the rest back on the tray. She then reached for a bagel, took a bite, and put it back. Kenneth couldn’t be mad at her for long since she really didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to be doing that!

That night the whole family came over for low country boil (shrimp, corn and potatoes) for dinner. We convinced David to stay and go out on the town with us. There are only a couple of bars in downtown Beaufort, so we couldn’t get into too much trouble! I don’t think I have ever seen so many pictures of John smiling – he genuinely enjoyed himself that night!

The next morning we had breakfast at Blackstone’s. Madeleine and Lolo taught Sarah how to play her new leapster game while we waited for our food.

That evening all of the officers from John’s squadron and their wives came over to celebrate. We had bar-b-que to eat and lots of cool drinks. The sunset was gorgeous, and John built a fire in the firepit down by the water. We sat around the fire talking until we finally got to bed at 3! John and Jannette are so lucky to have so many wonderful friends that we have had the pleasure of getting to know as well!

Sunday Kenneth took Sarah and Kaitlyn to the movies while Jannette and I drove Adrienne’s boyfriend, Diego, back to Charleston. We made sure to stop at our favorite sushi restaurant for lunch and ate way too much! The weekend went by way too fast – we really missed seeing Jim and Rie, Michael, and Amy. We’re trying to plan a little reunion for the cousins when Jim and Rie come to the States to visit??

*Click on the slideshow to see the picture gallery*

Sea World

Sarah has been begging to go to Sea World so we decided to take a spontaneous trip. We left in the morning and after a stop at Bucee’s arrived in San Antonio! We headed to see the Shamu show right when we got there and on the way stopped to watch the water-skiers and a water roller coaster. All the little kids stood right where the water splashed, and the look on Sarah’s face when she got splashed was priceless. It was hot enough that she was dry in no time. Sarah loved the show but didn’t like when Shamu splashed everyone (we were sitting on the last row of the splash zone and still got wet!).

Before we left for the hotel we looked around for a little while at the gift shop – we promised Sarah a Shamu stuffed animal and of course she walked out with the biggest stuffed animal there was!

The next day was even hotter so we stopped at Academy for some cooler clothing. Sarah got to feed the dolphins and then got her face painted with a dolphin. We saw the sea lion show which was really cute and the dolphin show too.

We stopped for a Shamu ice cream bar on our way to the Lost Lagoon waterpark. Sarah had a blast in the wave pool with Daddy! After a nice afternoon in the water it was time to head home. Our passes are good for the rest of this year, so I’m sure we’ll be back soon! Click on the slideshow and see the rest of the pictures!

Sarah’s version of grace

Gotta love how children interpret words! 

“God is great, God is good, make his lettuce for our food.  By his hand we are fed, thank you God for dilly bread.  Amen.”

Annabel!

We spent our day in the pool on Mother’s Day with some friends who have a little boy about Sarah’s age and a little girl who is 6.  The kids loved jumping into the pool and yelling “Cannonball!”  This was the first time Sarah had heard this and interpreted it as “Annabel!”  So now every time Sarah jumps off the side of the pool she yells “Annabel!”

New Buddies

New Kitty!

We have a new kitten in the Horne household!  Sarah and Daddy went to the League City Animal Shelter to find a kitty for Sarah but didn’t find one they really wanted.  So I went to petfinder.com (great website if you are in the market for adopting a new animal!) and found an orange tabby kitten in Pasadena.  So Sarah and I drove out to the Pasadena Animal Shelter and looked at several of their kitties.  Sarah really wanted the kitten that looked like a baby “TimTim” – what she used to call our greatly missed Simba.  So into the kennel the new kitten (~ 3 months old) goes – off on an adventure to be with the Hornes.  Baby TimTim got a checkup at our vet before we let him meet the other animals and got the thumbs up.  So Sarah and I spend much of the afternoon playing with the new kitten (who is currently snoozing on the stairs – lots of excitement for one day!).