The Worst Part of Being a Military Family

The absolute worst part of being a military family...

Can you guess?

Saying goodbye. 

Our first and hardest goodbye came when our neighbors, the Grants, headed to their next assignment at Fort Leavenworth, KS.  The tears started flowing 2 weeks prior.  When my kids cry, I have to cry along.  It was not pretty.  But there were a few days of non-stop fun before they left.

 

We were so grateful to have such amazing neighbors this year.  We were so blessed.  Thank you for always just being there.  Thank you for your amazing children that you shared with us.  Thank you for including us in Tuesday night Bible study.  Thanks for letting us be a part of your lives.  We love you, Grant Family.  And we miss you.  Good luck at Ft. Leavenworth and we will be in touch.

Love,
Mark, Sarah, Julia & Hope

Spring Break: Destination Williamsburg, VA

We have never been to Williamsburg and we were so excited to take a week and relax in history.  We had a super day at Busch Gardens.  Hope got to go on her first upside down roller coaster and I think we rode that thing at least 4 times.  Julia and I went on a hanging coaster...the first time she has been on one like that.  It was so fun to hear her scream with delight!!  The animals were fun to watch and we even got to pet the 3 month old Clydesdale foal.

This would be the skin of the above python!

The girls hatching!!!

Bumper cars:  Kids vs. Daddy

Our favorite ride of the day!!

I'm am sure that Hope took this pic.  The coaster in the background is the upside down one she went on.

Julia and the new baby Clydesdale

Cuties!

 We took a day and headed to Norfolk, VA.  There are 4 air craft carriers docked here.  What an amazing site!  They are ginormous!  I was trying to take pics incognito.  Here are a few.  Pretty impressive! 

This is from a distance and you can see them lined up there along with many other kinds of ships.

We also were able to spend a few days at Colonial Williamsburg.  It was so much fun to interact with the characters who were in period costume and acted as if they actually lived in Colonial Williamsburg in 1770's-1780's.  The kids were able to participate in RevQuest, a spy like mission that took us all over Colonial Williamsburg collecting clues and information.  The girls and I are going to do a Colonial Period unit study at the end of our school year this year and going to Williamburg was the perfect way to get us excited for it!

Thomas Jefferson rallying the crowd with talk of Independence!

Hope found sticks and dirt more fun that Mr. Jefferson's speech

The weapons cache

How adorable is this child in that mob cap?  I think I might take her home with me!

Enjoying the day

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The State House

Julia got a colonial fan

I love this guy!

Gathering of the troops.  These are Patriots, don't let their red coats fool you into thinking they are British.

My Lincoln lover found his name

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Learning calligraphy

What a great vacation.  Looking at the calendar, our time in Carlisle is drawing to a quick close.