Quick Trip to San Diego

Earlier this month, VT-9, my squadron had another trip out to the carrier in San Diego. I was tired of being away but in my current position, I can't miss "the boat." Soooo, we packed Tracey and Marin up and off we went. It was incredible. Yes, I did have to work (a little), but we had a lot of time to ourselves and with Grandma Mac.
We stayed on the Navy base, but it was in a room right on the beach--a beach with slides and a swingset.
We went to the beach, the new children's museum downtown, SeaWorld, the zoo, St. Brigid's! and Tracey and I hit up one of our favorite downtown stops too. Amazing trip! I can't believe we almost didn't do it!

Working on Her Lower Register

One of Marin's latest tricks is this little ditty she came up with all on her own. Lately she's been delving into deeper notes. We have no idea why.

Easter Photos

Here are some pictures put to music. They are of Marin at the two Easter egg hunts she participated in this weekend. I had some video, but I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. Enjoy the photos.

Meridian Athletes

Just a quick word and photo to show off Tracey and I finishing a 5k sponsored by a local hospital. Tracey was the first female finisher which obligated us to stick around for the awards ceremony that took 2 and half hours to calculate the order in which people finished a 30 minute race. Oh the irony!

No Title is Fitting

Grandma Mac sent a package to Marin today. Among the items was a painted plastic Easter egg that plays the Chicken Dance. Naturally. If you get songs stuck in your head easily, I might suggest avoiding the video post below...but it is pretty funny.

Birthday Girl

Tracey's Birthday was yesterday and we celebrated over the weekend at the beach in Seaside, FL. Aunt Sara stayed in Meridian with Marin, Muzzy and Cal. Thank you again!
The beach was amazing, mostly because it was associated with a little community of vacation homes, with pools and bike/walking trails interspersed among the homes. Everyone rode bikes and it definitely made you feel like a kid again...perfect for a birthday. Here's Tracey riding her bike:

Marin, as Briar Rose from Sleeping Beauty

I have some catching up to do...to say the least. This video is a very quick snippet of Marin "singing." For the longest time, we had no idea that she was imitating anything and it was getting a little awkward.

Snow in Meridian!

It was a chilly start to March here in Mississippi. We had "significant snowfall throughout central Mississippi." As you can tell we had to rush out to get pictures and video of the snow before it was gone. After Mass, the snow was indeed gone as the mercury approached 60 degrees! Enjoy the pictures and short video.

Park City Skiing

It has been a little while since our trip to Park City, but I am just now getting around to making up the video. I'll apologize in advance for the music. We had a blast in our favorite snowy environment. Thank you Joe & Kell for putting up with us and housing us for the week. Thanks also to Grandma C for all of the trinkets and clothes for Marin...and all of the driving back and forth.
The video does not do justice to the fun we had on the mountain. And it really doesn't capture all of the fun we had all week. We hiked some nearby hills, watched a couple Sundance Films, shopped at the outlets, toured Deer Valley, had dinners at the Who's Who of Park City, visited Grandma C's treasure hunting grounds and played Wii. But I didn't have the camera rolling all week. The visit was just what we needed.
Here's us skiing...

Getting Packed Up for the Park City Trip

Disneyland Video

New Year's in New Orleans

It wasn't exactly New Year's Eve, but we had a blast on our brief visit to New Orleans on the eve of the eve. The video is of course from Pat O'Briens. After these drinks, we had an incredible meal at Commander's Palace. Being slightly (read: grossly) underdressed for the restaurant, I felt like the host was going to ask me that all important question, "Sir, would you be more comfortable in a dinner jacket?" He didn't, though we were taken to the "Parlor Room" where the families with young children were eating. Following that, we headed to the House of Blues to see Better Than Ezra, capping an awesome night in New Orleans!
We headed home the next morning, and we're excited to think that there is another relatively easy get-a-way to keep us from total insanity.

Christmas Video

Happy Birthday Dad

In marking Dad's 71st birthday, I will repost last year's birthday post.

Somethings You Inherit are Better than Others

 

Picture of Marin, Courtesy of The Wendt's Blog

Jim Henson's Lost Character

Muzzy got a bath today (that makes one of us!) and while she dried, I
realized that she resembles a muppets character. Also of note, the
First Family-to-be is apparently looking for a Muzzy of their own.
Prediction: Every piece of furniture, article of clothing and pretty
much anything over a $10 value in the White House is ruined. No
shedding though! I kid! Muzzy has not attempted to chew anything
except a roll of masking tape in 3 months. By the way, the tape ended
up as about a thousand little segments of tape in her hair.

Halloween Photos

Great Idea Guy

Here is Marin jumping around in her crib. Any reasonable person can see how much she loved her crib. She made no attempt to get out of it, so it posed no danger which is often cited for the reason to change from a crib to a traditional bed. Despite the wonderful amount of sleep she (and the rest of us) was getting, I thought would be best to get rid of that lousy crib. She now hates going to bed. And after a few hours of sleep, she gets up and wanders around our house at night like John McCain in a town hall meeting. She is so void of rest that she has been running a low grade fever and is having a little trouble keeping things down. I have to take the blame for this one.

Growing Right Up

Marin has been at again. Right before our eyes, she becoming a little girl and learning all kinds of new tricks. My favorite is that she is aware of the presidential campaigns that are going on. "Barack Obama!" is her favorite political figure to point out on the TV. With a little coaching, you can get her to mention John McCain too. I'm saving video evidence until I can get her to do an adequate impersonation of the candidates. As a child, one of my tricks was that I could do an impression of then President (or maybe former President by then) Jimmy Carter. It was simply me smiling as big as possible while saying "Jimmy Carter!" Again, I'm working on impressions (I've got the time), and we'll get back to you. Marin is also trying her best in her new "big girl bed." She is very excited to have this new place to play and read books, but the idea that she has to stay in her bed for the whole night is a little foreign to her. She has been wandering into our room, but she's trying her best and I'm certain she'll be staying there soon. Here are some pictures of Marin showing of her new bed.
She's also been dabbling with her ABCs. Enjoy!

American Idol 2025?