First Real Post for the New Blog

I figure I should start learning how to work on the blog while I am still here with the blog expert---Kate. So I will begin the first new series of post with my last event in my old squadron. Here are some pictures of my "fini-flight". But on the new blog instead of a bunch of pictures in the post, my plan is to have one picture and then a link to a gallery of the pictures that the post is about. By clicking the "fini-flight" link or the picture within the post it will take you to the MobileMe gallery of that post. Let me know what you think about the MobileMe galleries and if you would rather just see all the photos within the post...but back to the post. For all the non-Air Force people, a fini-flight is a tradition that after your last flight in a squadron, everyone meets you at the jet and they hose you down with water. If you have kids, they usually let the kids do the spraying. As you can see, Jack really enjoyed it.

Meet Nemo

To say that Jack enjoyed Disney World would be a major understatement. But of all the characters we met, rides we rode and shows we saw one is a clear favorite. The Finding Nemo Musical. How do I know it's his favorite, you ask?

Exhibit 1: This video of Jack, I mean "Nemo", singing "Big Blue World" from the musical and then telling me our names.



In case you missed it, Jack goes by the name "Nemo", Ellie is "Dori", I am "Mr. Ray" and Kevin is "Mr. Shark" - all characters from Finding Nemo.

Exhibit 2: School yesterday. Hysterical. Kevin took Jack to school in the morning. When he was preparing to leave the teacher said, "Jack say goodbye to your dad" (because, as usual, Jack had run off to play with not a care in the world). Jack said, "I'm Nemo!" to his teacher and turned to Kevin and said, "Goodbye Mr. Shark!"

It was more of the same when I picked him up. As all the other children we squealing "Mom!", my son saw me and yelled "Mr. Ray!" as he came bounding toward me for a hug. His teacher must have been corrected enough throughout the morning because she correctly said, "Goodbye Nemo" as we left.

This isn't the first time we all have to go by character names. For a while, I was always "Sally" to Jack's "Lightning" (Cars). And sometimes he is "Alex the Lion," I am "Gloria," Kevin is "Melman," and Ellie is "Moto Moto" (the fat hippo ha ha!) from Madagascar.

Oh, and when we were at Disney there was one day we were all princesses. Jack was "Aurora," my mom was "Cinderella," I was "Belle," and Kevin was "Prince Charming." Who was Ellie? "Princess Castle Sidewalk." I kid you not. I could not make this stuff up if I tried.

In any event, even with all the imaginary play and names we have had over the past couple months none have stuck quite like Nemo.

Phew, this was long. I'm off to make Nemo's breakfast.

Columbia Zoo

This post is way overdue, but I thought I'd add the great photos now. Better late than never, right? We went to the Columbia Zoo several weeks ago and had a great time. We look forward to going back soon.

Elephants! Jack wasn't so sure about the giant turtle.

You know the train ride was a hit.

Our big boy.

Taking This Show on the Road

We're packing, packing, packing and doing all the last minute tings we need to leave tomorrow. Yep, we are actually traveling this circus to South Carolina where we'll be for the next 4.5 months.

The blog is going mobile. We'll update from the road.

Wish us luck!

Seaside

We took a little morning drive to Seaside a town about 40 minutes away that we'd heard a lot about but never visited. It was a little chilly today, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We took lots of pictures. Here are some of the favorites.

There was an awesome green lawn and pretty green Christmas tree in the central square.

Elizabeth was there, too, but she slept the entire time in the Baby Bjorn. Jack was a little more active.The non-demoninational community Chapel.There are lots of sculptures and pieces of art throughout the community. Jack liked this piece because it resembled a tunnel.

The water looked beautiful today.

Christmas Eve, Part II

It's Marsh tradition to open one present on Christmas Eve, and every year that one present is pajamas. Jack was a little disappointed with his gift until Kevin opened his present and it was the same thing.

We didn't get just any pajamas this year... we got matching pajamas! Dorky? Yes, but we looked darn cute!You may have noticed Ellie screaming in our family picture, so here I am "shushing" her in the girls picture.The pictures of the boys turned out much better.

Paint 'n Place

The squadron playgroup took a field trip to Paint 'n Place to paint pottery this week. Jack loves to paint so we thought he'd really enjoy himself. And he did, for awhile. When he'd had enough he said "all done" over and over until we went to the awesome outdoor playground.He still takes his painting very seriously.Ellie was there, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this holiday,
especially our healthy little ones.

We are so lucky to have the love of our family and friends.
We hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Love,
Kevin, Kate Jack and Elizabeth

Four of Us

Things are going well in the Lord house as we adjust to life with TWO kids. Jack is a very sweet big brother. He often asks where baby is and asks to see her, like he just needs to check up on her and see if she's still here. He says "bless you" when she sneezes. He likes to point out her nose and her eyes and thinks it's funny she has no teeth.

Here's Jack putting a sock on Elizabeth.

And here he is showing her his fun size bag of chocolate. He said, "Look, baby, chocit."Sweet Elizabeth Jane continues to be a good baby. She is sleeping and eating very well (as evidenced by her growing cheeks). She is a fairly gassy little thing, so she has many unlady-like moments throughout the day. She is pretty much the cutest thing ever. The family of four!

Special Time with Our Boy

Kevin and I took advantage of having Sasa around to watch Elizabeth and took Jack to the park for some solo play time. We had a blast.

Jack was very excited to see the holiday display.Riding the "dinoshure" with dada.You might be relieved to learn that we trimmed Jack's hair tonight. As cute as the long, crazy locks were I had to come to grips with the fact that the hair was a tad out of control. He still has curls and plenty of hair, but it's a little more manageable now.

Double The Bath, Double the Fun

Tonight while Jack took a bubble bath, we gave Elizabeth her second sponge bath. Jack was very interested in having his sister join him in the big tub. He kept saying "C'mon, baby bath." It was very sweet.

Jack showing Ellie how to pour.

A little face to face time before the torture of cold naked bath time.

We have a cute video, but for some reason can't get it to upload. We'll work on it.

Trunk or Treat

To celebrate Halloween, we went to a "Orangefest" in town with Angela and Caroline and our friends the Morrells. It was recommended to us by several people, but was really a bit much for the little ones. It was very crowded but was perfect for older kids looking to collect a lot of candy. We walked about two aisles of cars to trunk or treat and decided that was enough. (Personally, I could have handled a bit more candy since we all know aside from M&Ms Jack was really trick or treating for me, but that's okay.)
Poor Caroline did not seem so happy in her flower costume, but she looked adorable.Jack and Reagan holding hands and walking to collect goodies.

After a few cars Jack seemed to get the hang of trick or treating. He either said, "Chochit pease" or "Teat" and was good about saying "thank you." He also got a tad possessive of his candy. When people would try to put candy directly into his pumpkin he would grab it from their hand, check it out and then put it in his pumpkin himself.

It's hard to believe next year we'll be trick or treating with two kids. Wonder what Jack's little sister will look like in his hand-me-down Winnie the Pooh costume?