20JUN09

For the last 2 months before Travis got home Lex would ask if it was summer yet. She knew daddy would be home around summer time and she also knew that meant we could go to the beach. So every couple days she would ask about Trav coming home and when he got home could we go to the beach. I'm not sure what got the beach idea in her head but lucky for us there is a lake about 30 minutes away with a little beach. Even though the clouds were rolling in it was still a nice day so we decided to go for it.

When we got there it was a little cool but not too bad. The water, however, was COLD. They had some toys and sand and grass though so we just decided we would hang out. After swinging and playing in the sand Alexis decided it was time to get in the water. She didn't get all the way in but she was splashing and having a great time. She kept saying it's not cold at all. Ryan also decided she wanted to join in the fun after eating sand and deciding sand was only fun to play in not eat. So they splashed around and not long before we left the sun actually started to shine. All in all it was a success. We had the whole area to ourselves and Alexis finally got to go to the beach. We will be going back as often as we can this summer. Perfect place for a picnic and playing.

Lex and Ryan (See how NOT cold she was! :) )

Playing on the swing.

YAY we're at the beach!

Ryan playing. I love that she is getting big enough to enjoy things like this more.

Mommy and Ryan.

Playing in the sand.

Ryan thought the sand was fantastic!

I really think she wanted to go all the way in the water. This was right after she splashed herself in the face.

This is classic Lexie! :)

17JUN09

There is this nature park about 20 minutes away from Baumholder that I've always heard is great for kids but in 7 years we've never gone!! We went today and the girls LOVED it!!! Not just Lex either. A lot of the animals were just walking around (mostly goats and pigs.) Ryan thought it was fantastic. She spent most of the time laughing and pointing and trying to get to whatever animal she could. It was fantastic. As we left Alexis said the goats were going to miss her. We will be going back there for sure!!

On her tiptoes trying to get the bunnies.



Looking at the ducks with Anni. They were super odd looking ducks but Ryan got mad if you tried to pick her up. She wanted to be on her own.

Lex and the ferrets.

Our little poser. Seriously she asks you take pictures of her now when she thinks she's being cute. In the back are deer. Also can you tell what a BEAUTIFUL day it was. 70 degrees with a nice breeze!

Lexie loving on a gigantic pig. I love that my girls love animals so much.

The goats.

This was Ryan the mojority of the time. Can you hear her giggling??

Tomorrow we're going to go to Bostalsee. It's a big lake with a beach and paddleboats. Alexis has beeng talking about going to the beach when daddy gets home for months. It's suppossed to rain on Friday so we decided we better get it in while it's nice!! :) We are really enjoying our leave!

09JUN09

Poor Eric. The boy has been surrounded by girls for the last year. Maybe that's lucky Eric b/c you should see the girls he's with! :) Anyways, Nate suggested a James Bond 1st Birthday party since he would be the only boy (and in an ADORABLE suit!) and surrounded by beautiful girls in their party dresses. We all got dressed up and yes, it was for a one year old's birthday party. What a great excuse to take pics!! We had a blast and the party was very classy even Eric thought so as he ate every last lick of chocolate icing on his cake!! Thanks Holtgrewe's for a fun/fantastic party!

The McBride's and Holtgrewe's (seriously SEVEN YEARS and this may be the ONLY picture of all 4 of us together.) Also no we didn't match on purpose we just happened to all have great taste! :)
Me and my very sexy hubby.

Anya and Lex. They are such sweet friends.

Holtgrewe. Eric Holtgrewe.

Eric and all his lady friends!! (Alexis, Anya, Eric, Ryan, Anni, and Alexia)

Me and the girls. These are the girls that got me through this deployment. Aren't they all beautiful!!?? (Cristine, Britteny, Erica, and me.)

07JUN09

They had a big Welcome Home Ceremony/Party for all of post on Thursday and then leave started for everyone the next day. At the Party they had rides for the kids and free food which was pretty cool. They also had a concert later that night which Trav and I didn't go to. It was Hinder and we're not huge fans. I mean it would have been fun but not worth getting a babysitter. Instead, we watched our downstairs neighbors kid so they could go. Alexis had a BLAST. Ryan thought the couple things she could go on were pretty neat but mostly it was just a beautiful day to be outside and it wasn't far from our house so we walked down there.Lexie and daddy. She is so spoiled now that daddy is home. She gets carried on his shoulders EVERYWHERE!! :) Good thing he loves it too.

Daddy and Ryan.

On the train ride. Trav told Lex to put her arm around Ryan and help her and she kept it there the entire ride. She is such a sweet sister.

Daddy and Lex on the bumper cars. This was, by far, her favorite.

The carasoul.

Ryan just hanging out in her stroller.

Alexis LOVES dogs. This dog was huge and she loved it.

02JUN09

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Having Trav home makes my life so much busier and my normal computer time is spent relaxing with Travis! :) We've been having a blast. We've been bbqing, fishing, going on a date, hanging out as a family and with friends. Most of these pictures are pretty random but here is some of what we've been up to! :) I will be posting some great pictures from Eric's one year party soon. He had a James Bond so we all got dressed up. We decided to also use that as an excuse to get some good pictures of all of us together!

The men grillin'! :)

Playing with friends Annika and Branten.

Ryan, Branton, Eric, and Anni

2 of my girls Cristine and Erica. I just like this picture of them! :)

Playing in the grass.

Trav and I.

This time when Trav went fishing I came out for a couple hours with Ryan. We had fun playing in the grass and the sun was shining. Any outdoors makes Ryan and Lex happy. I was happy just shooting pictures of everyone! :)

And just some other randome pictures from this month...

21MAY09

We are so glad Travs is home. I'm not sure who is more excited and happy Travis, Alexis, or me (Ryan is happy but you know she's so young and easygoing she's just happy to get attention from an extra person.) We've been going non-stop. Trav's gear and boxes from Iraq are still sitting all over the house and we don't even care. We've just been spending time together going to the park, the pool and, of course, Trav took Lex on her first fishing trip. Travis had an early morning formation and then was off b/c it was the day for single soldiers to get all their stuff that was in storage. So he decided to take Lexie fishing. They have been talking about it for MONTHS. When daddy gets back Lex and daddy are going to go fishing just the 2 of them. Alexis LOVED it. Travis said she was having a blast! She even caught a fish! She was so proud and they were gone all morning long. I am fairly certain there will be a lot of alone morning for Ryan and I over the next month or so. I'm really not sure who had more fun Alexis or Travis! :)

Doesn't she look like a little fisher.

Her first catch!

So proud!

Some other random pics. Trav put this on her and it didn't even have the plates in it and she kept falling down and couldn't get back up! This is her "mean face."

Playing in the mosquito tent. It's still up in Lexie's room and the girls keep playing in it.

This is a really random picture but I love it so much I had to share. Anya turned 4 this month (wow where has the time gone??) This was Ryan at her birthday party. We had a great time.

One more side note... I just talked to Cristine and Nate is on the plane flying to Germany as I type this!!! I'm so excited for them to be back together too!!! WELCOME HOME NATHAN!!!! Stay tuned for BBQ pics VERY SOON!! :)

19MAY09

Everyone on my facebook page has seen this video but I figured I would post it for those who don't have facebook. This is the video! :)