Watch DOGS

David spent the morning at the kids school visiting various classrooms as part of the Watch DOGS program.  He spent about 20 minutes in each classroom and worked on flashcards with the kids, read stories, played games and went out to recess.  It's a really awesome program aimed at getting males into the schools.  He can't wait until his next time and neither can the kids!

Friends

We've gotten a lot of good friend time in this past week. And I am so thankful we have. It's difficult moving to a new place and reestablishing yourself and finding "your" people. But we're well on our way now with brand new friends and friends we've known at other bases.  Our fun included friends coming through town, Food Truck Frenzy at school, a couple dinner/play dates and Make It Monday-we made plastic bags explode and made our own sidewalk paint.

Zoo

Tuesday after school we went to the zoo! What an awesome time to go! We pretty much had the place to ourselves and since we have a season pass it was no big deal to swing in for just a couple of hours! We did the desert dome, creatures of the night and saw the tiger cubs-all impressive! And when it only took 15 minutes to get home in "rush hour" traffic it's a win win!

Oktoberfest

1st Cub Scout Meeting

Thursday night Anderson had his first Lion Meeting! He was so excited to go and did awesome! Turns out I'm the Den Leader but this Lions group is a pilot program for Kindergarteners and all parents are asked to be in attendance and help. So I'll only have to lead a few times and the other times I'll just help the other parents as they need me.  There are 5 boys in the den-2 from one class, 2 from another and only Anderson from his class but he did a great job getting to know the other boys! So proud of him!

Arbor Day Tree Farm

Last Sunday we went out for some after church fun.  We're still trying to find our groove here and the kids are noticing!  In Louisiana we typically went on the boat after church and then had "family dinner" with friends and in California we went wine tasting.  We haven't figured out what our thing will be here but it's going to be a little trickier to find especially since David is on rotating shift work and works every weekend:(  Anyways, we went to go apple picking!  We ate lunch at an orchard I had found.  When we finished and went in to ask how they handled their picking they told us they weren't picking yet:(  So we headed to an orchard a little further down the road that they said was picking.  Well, it turns out this orchard was the Arbor Day Tree Farm, as in where Arbor Day started!  Anyways, we picked apples and had a nice time but I think we had even more fun checking out all the other outdoor/nature things they had!  The kids loved the hammocks (as do we) so maybe we need to get some!  Being outside is just great!

 

Liam's 1st Day of PreSchool

Labor Day Camping

Awhile back we decided that we were settled in enough to go camping for Labor Day.  We checked with base and they had a camper for us to rent and then after a lot of searching we found a campground in Iowa (4ish hours away) that had 1 reservable spot left so we took it!  It was at Lake Darling State Park and it was great!  The site was nice and it had just enough for us to do to stay busy but not so much that we felt overwhelmed.  So we spent our days biking, playing at the play ground, hiking, fishing and just hanging out.  One afternoon we went into the little town that was near by but we found nothing, so we headed to the little store right outside the park and it was great!  We got night crawlers and snacks and 3 chairs for our front porch!  They were selling the store and everything with it.  We weren't sure if it was true but David asked if the chairs we were sitting in were for sale and she said "Yes, how about $30 for all 3 and I'll include the cushions."  SOLD!  I mean what a deal!  So now there on our front porch waiting for some new paint and cushions but are totally functional for now.  It was a great weekend and boy do we just love camping!