Happy Birthday Daddy-O

We just want to take this opportunity to publicly say that we have the best husband and daddy ever.   He makes everything a little more fun!

And, in honor of our current country of residency, we celebrated with an Italian cream cake--which was marvelous, if I do say so myself!

Croatia by Boat

I (Kristi) was able to take a day away from the family (on Ted's and my 17th wedding anniversary, no less) and spend it with girlfriends in Croatia.

We went together on a trip organized by the base tickets and travel office.  We boarded a bus at the ungodly hour of 0430 and drove 4ish hours to Croatia where we were able to take a boat cruise along the shores of Croatia.

Along the way we saw some very beautiful sights...

like the Roman ruins in Porec,

some picture perfect water,

romantic and colorful city scapes...

and some sights that will haunt you...

Yes, the gentleman has on his fannypack with the speedo.  This was a tame sight--there were many nude bathers that I refrained from photgraphing.  It's just a way of life here, I guess.

We also spent a fair amount of time shopping (no surprise), and came home with these awesome hats.

The food delights included our lunch--2 mackerel, whole (yup, heads and tails on each, but they were fantastic!), a cup of coffee at an outdoor cafe, a quiet dinner without having to read the menu for anyone else, and some refreshing lemon gelato in the heat of the afternoon (that was darn cheap, to boot!).

Time to plan another ladies adventure!

Missoula Children's Theater

The girls had a fantastic week.  In just 5 short days they auditioned for, rehearsed and performed in King Arthur's Quest.

Although they had performed in this same show two years earlier, it was surprisingly fun and different.  Since there were more participants this year, it allowed for parts that had to be cut out of their first experience to be included in this one.

As a result, their parts, the Damsels in Distress, were completely new to them.

Riley standing on far right, Mary Beth sitting on far right

They came home saying, "We have to scream like girls!",

making it no surprise that at the end of their performance Riley was complaining that her throat was sore.

Another fun week of summer fun with Missoula.  They always have such a good time!

Sweet Dreams

Apparently this book was a real snoozer.

Happy Birthday America

From our little piece of America hidden away in Italy.  We celebrate the land of the free because of the brave.

May God Bless the USA!

We have a fun day of grilling with friends planned.  Then we are off to the base for some fireworks.

Give Thanks

Sometimes I am reminded of how blessed I am to be married to the most amazing woman! Kristi absolutely rocks. She does so much for the family.

Just look how pretty she is. I just love her.

Consolation Prize

It was a Saturday afternoon.  The kids had already told us that they wanted to go see Kung Fu Panda 2 playing at the base theater.  We had no problems with that.  They spent a lot of the afternoon playing Wii downstairs.  Around 3:50 they come upstairs.  They're ready to go to the movie, which Riley reminds us starts at 4:00 (not 7:00 as we were thinking).

Crying ensues--the reality is we will not be able to make it in time (and later reports confirmed that they were long before that sold out of tickets).

Hmmmm.

Well, we could always drive to the beach and watch the USAF Thunderbirds perform.   They'd been parked for the past couple of days at our base, so it seemed like a good plan.

We found the beach just in time for the Thunderbirds.  They were not the main attraction here, but it was for us.  Luckily, we happened upon stage center for the show.

She spent more time playing in the sand than watching.

Not a bad alternative to the movies. 

We can always Netflix Kung Fu Panda. Thunderbirds on the Adriatic Sea not so much.