Kiera hearts watermelon

With the new season comes new available fruits - hellooooo watermelon. We introduced watermelon to Kiera and now it is a regular staple of Kiera's day. It has even replaced her beloved banana, although she does get sentimental every now and then and will partake in a banana.
The watermelon ends up everywhere and she become quite a mess - so much so that the white t-shirt you see her in below has become "the watermelon shirt" so that she doesn't ruin every shirt she owns.

Eight Years!

What a great journey Paul and I have had over the past eight years. We are excited to see what the future has to hold for us! Yea us!

Great Falls

A new place to call home so new areas to explore! So I did what any other normal person would do - I google'd. There were of course a ton of normal DC stuff (i.e. museums etc) but we wanted to find some outdoorsy wilderness stuff....well, not to wildernessy but you get my drift. I found this place called "Great Falls" and the author of the site said that it "rivaled Niagara Falls beauty" and that it was "DC's Niagara Falls". So - how could we not hit this place. We made the 45 minute trek out there with great expectations and the picture below is what we got. This is the only "falls" on the entire river and I wouldn't exactly call it the Niagara Falls of DC.....It was beautiful just not quite what we expected!

Kiera had a great time climbing all over the rocks and she even found a little buddy! Such a social bug! He was not that into playing with her but she was persistent and tried to get herself in his line of sight as much as possible. Too cute!

Busch Gardens....its a date!

While my mom and dad were in town they took baby k for the day and we got to go to Busch Gardens! We didn't think that we'd be able to go to one of these for a while, so to be able to was quite a delight. Paul and I are roller coaster junkies, Paul more than me but I won't say no to ridin' em.
The one that got me though was the Griffon. It was terrifying to say the least. You start off on this 3 tiered contraption so that no matter where you are sitting you feel like you are in the first row...and boy do you ever. You climb the never ending beginning hill, turn the corner and there you are staring down at your "doom". It wouldn't be so bad if you saw it and just started soaring down all the hills. But noooooo, that would be too kind. They stop your fall right at the dropping point for a good 20 seconds so that you can stare down the 90 degree angle seeing just how far down your drop is (over 200 feet). Let's just say that I was having my normal palpations about this ride but when they did that......I was sure that I was going to have a heartattack. After that, all I can remember was screaming my lungs out. It was one of the best rollercoasters that I have been on for sure.
Later, I told Paul that I would ride that ride again with him since he loved it so much but when we got in that line....I completely chickened out! Paul rode it again, this time in the front row, which he said was even more thrilling. You can see the picture I took of him below as they sat suspended over the crowd. And then came the sceams..... :)
We had quite a bit of fun and would love to have another date like that! Too bad we don't live near family.

We just got "a little" wet when we rode this ride.

Paul is the 5th one from the left.

Don't throw your expired coupons away!

Found this on one of my grocery coupons websites. It is great idea, way better than just throwing them out and it helps all those who serve our country! THANK YOU SOLDIERS!

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Stop tossing those expired grocery coupons in the trash! Our U.S. military families stationed overseas are able to use them on base for up to six months after the manufacturer's expiration date! Help us keep our list of participating bases up to date... if you know one that would like to be added to our list please contact us with their current mailing information today.

Keep in mind the time it takes to mail your coupons internationally--usually many weeks--so do try to get them sent off soon. Some bases even welcome you to send your coupons directly to them even if you do not personally know a military family overseas, and these are the bases we list on our site. They will either distribute the coupon donations to needy families or place them in an area where they can be picked up by families at the PX and Commissary. (Please note: They can only accept regular manufacturer's coupons; no "in store" coupons or internet printed coupons.)

GrocerySavingTips.com maintains our base address list on a monthly basis, unlike other coupon address lists you may find on the Internet that may or may not be current.

Please Note... The USPS may request a person's contact name when mailing your coupons, please explain to them that we cannot maintain a list of personal contact names because they change so often. We are a volunteer group just donating grocery coupons to help our military families stationed overseas. The postal worker can also open and inspect the package if that will help and verify that the contents are just grocery coupons being sent to our U.S. commissaries overseas. Addressing the package directly to the Commissary or "Family Services" will also help.

Also, according to the USPS, "Do not include the country or the base camp's city, as it might be routed through the host country's mail system." We include this information in our address list below so you will know where they are located, but when you mail your envelopes you may address them like this...
Family Services (or Information We Have Listed)
Unit Number, Box Number
APO AE 00000

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In addition... we would like to suggest that you contact the base first, especially if you are sending a large amount of coupons as a group, to make sure they are still accepting coupons. Their circumstances are changing on a monthly basis and we are doing the best we can to keep our mailing list current for everyone. Please keep us posted! :o) Also, please read more tips from our readers below our list of addresses.

U.S. Air Force:

This military base address list is managed by www.GrocerySavingTips.com, please check back with us for updates before mailing your expired grocery coupons. We update our list every month. Thank you for your support! :o)

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Fairford, UK

Airman and Family Readiness Center
PSC 36 Unit 4820
abs/sv3
APO AE 09456

(Message included by Fairford... "The coupons are greatly appreciated by our military families!")

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Alconbury, UK

RAF Alconbury
ATTN: Family Services
423 ABS/DPF
APO AE 09470

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Incirlik, Turkey

Airman and Family Readiness Center
39 MSS/DPC
Unit 7075, Box 175
APO AE 09824

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Osan, Korea

Airman and Family Readiness Center
Unit 2097
51 MSS/DPF
Osan AB
APO AP 96278-2097

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Yokota, Japan

Airman and Family Readiness Center
374 FSS/FSFR
Unit 5123
APO AP 96328

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Okinawa, Japan

Airman and Family Readiness Center
Unit 5134 Box 80
18 FSS/FSFR
APO AP 96368-5134

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U.S. Army:

Mannheim, Germany

Army Community Service
Unit 29901 Box 25
Bldg. 253
APO AE 09086-9901

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Stuttgart, Germany

Army Community Service
Unit 30401
APO AE 09107

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Vilseck, Germany

Army Community Service
Unit 28130
Bldg. 244
APO AE 09114

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Bamberg, Germany

USAG Bamberg
IMEU-BAM-MWR-ACS
Army Emergency Relief Manager
CMR 459
APO AE 09139

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Illesheim, Germany

Army Community Service
CMR 416
Bldg. 6510
APO AE 09140

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Lakenheath, UK

Airman and Family Readiness Center
48 FSS/FSFR Bldg 950
Unit 5200, Box 105
APO AE 09461

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Brussels, Belgium

Army Community Service
Unit 8100
Box 08
APO AE 09714

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Okinawa, Japan

Volunteer/Outreach Coordinator
ACS - 10th ASG
Unit 35115
APO AP 96376-5115

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Marine Corp:

Iwakuni, Japan

Marine and Family Services
Bldg. 411
PSC 561 Box 1863
FPO AP 96310-0009

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U.S. Navy:

Rota, Spain

Fleet and Family Support Center
PSC 819 Box 57
FPO AE 09645-5500

3,000 miles, 8 hotels and 3 hospitals later......

We are home! It is crazy to think that we even verntured to take our 14 month old child in the car for the entire trip. I know, I know, smart people would have hopped on the plane and it would have only lasted 8 hours not 8 days. But hey, you don't fill up your diary with boring plane rides! Our last stop was in Pittsburg, PA and we got there a bit later than we thought because the freeway between our last hotel and Pittsburg had a 55 mph speed limit on it - BOOOOO! The only thing that we were able to do before Kiera's bedtime was go on their tram that went all the way up a hill and gave you a great over look of the city. Going up wasn't so bad as I couldn't see where we could fall to but going down....creeeeppppy! All I could think of was how old that puppy was and I hope that they do regular mantenience on it.

That last days drive was WONDERFUL! We enjoyed the trip but to drive up to our home, even though we didn't have any furniture to go with it (a whole other story), was great. So we are settling in and have finally unpacked the final box 2 nights ago - not too shabby, 1 week and all set up! (THANKS MOM & DAD!)

Here are some photos of Pittsburgh and once I am able to find the charger for my camera, I will take some photos of the house. The only reason I have photos of Pittsburgh is because Paul's laptop has a little spot for memory cards.

Enjoy and see ya soon! :)

All unpacked....but I still can't find my stuff

Okay, so I really wanted to upload the remaining pictures that I have rollin' around on my camera but, alas, I cannot find the cord that connects my camera to my laptop. It is on my list of things to do tomorrow so hopefully I will have an actual blog post.

But don't worry - here is a really cute story of Kiera that happened at my sister's house 3 or so weeks ago.

Kiera enjoys walking around with her sippy cup. (I mean, you never know when the thirst can hit you, right?) She enjoys water in her cup but sometimes she prefers milk. This was one of those days.

The sippy cup she loves is a closed cup with a little plastic straw that has a piece in the straw to keep the liquid from draining out but sometimes, a little liquid gets caught on the top above the contraption.

Kiera had just taken a sip of her milk and let her hand drop down to her side with the cup in her hand. When she did, the cup went sideways and the little bit of milk on top fell onto my sisters hardwood floors. This is where is gets really cute! Kiera looked down at the spilled milk and sighed. She went over to the coffee table, set down her sippy cup, picked up a slightly used wipe (used earlier for her dirty face), walked over and started to clean up the milk. She wiped up the floor until there was not a speck of milk left on the floor. She then stood up, admired her work, smiled and went back to the coffee table and took a celebratory drink of milk for all her hard work.

What a cutie!? She is going to be my little clean-freak and organizing junkie. *Sigh* I am such a proud mommy.

Busy, Busy

Okay, so I am so mega busy right now trying to get my house in order while my mom is here....because once she is gone, it is just me and Kiera puttin' stuff away. And Kiera is MUCH better at taking things out of cabinets rather than putting things away. Kinda kills my progress. :)

So, here are some cute photos and video of baby k, just for giggles to keep all those who miss the "K" from threatening me through text messages - you know who you are! ;)

I will put up the remaining tidbit of our trip and how our house is set up as soon as it is all done.

No personal internet

Okay, my devoted Kiera followers!  Unfortunately, we do not have internet until Wednesday (I am writing this from the free internet in our downstairs lobby).  So, I will have to put a pause until Wed when I will do some serious blogging.  See ya Wednesday night! 

Da Bears.

**Disclaimer: I am a bit tired and I read this blog over a couple of times - I think that it sounds coherent and logical. If not, I apologize. I think that all this driving and staring at a road all day will eventually drive a person to the brink of madness.....Bwaaaahaa haa haa, haaa haa haa....wait, what was I talking about?**

Yeah! Today was a fun day. We woke up 3 this morning just so we could make the extra stop to Chicago along our way to DC. We are so thankful we did. Chicago is a beautiful city. We can see why so many people call it their home. The architecture and parks were so beautiful I couldn't help but take a TON of photos, of which you are only seeing a teeny-tiny fraction of.

The first photo is for my baby sis....she is such a huge fan of Oprah I just had to stop by and take this photo for her! Sorry Aims, no Oprah. Although, if you give me an extra day I could always photoshop you and Oprah standing together in front of the sign. *wink*

I hope at one point to return so that I can ride the L train. We just didn't get the time to do it....sigh.

Here are the pictures of the Millennium Park. It was a great park with a huge bubble in the middle (fun!) - it was like a giganto sized droplet of mercury.

Okay, it is at this point I let my father down. There were THREE different Triple D's in this town and I didn't hit a single one of them! Sorry dad.....will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me? Instead, we hit one of the Food Networks suggestions for great pizza. We went to Giordano's for their famous stuffed pizza. We hit it at lunch so they had what they called mini-pizzas (aka personal pan sized). Paul had the spinach and I had the sausage. It was a simple pizza but pretty tasty. Paul and I gave it 3.5 out of 5 which would equal out to a "I'd make sure to hit this place at least every other month."

And poor Kiera, she didn't stand a chance on finishing her meal. Her meal is the pasta to the left of my pizza. They promised that this was the kid's sized pasta plate. It made me a little scared to see the size of that kid........

Sears Tower:

See ya tomorrow!