Wilmington

On Saturday, I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to go to Wilmington for the day.  They have an old Battleship there that we've always wanted to go and see.  Wilmington is such a beautiful place to visit.  We had fun touring the Battleship and I decided that I would go crazy being on one for months at a time.

Could you imagine having to sleep like this?!  

For all you fans of One Tree Hill, here's the River Court with beautiful Wilmington in the background.  It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it was cool to see it.  The kids and I had a wonderful day and will probably go again soon.

Glasses

So, about a month ago, I finally went to the eye doctor because I knew I needed glasses.  Kayla and I went together, and the doctor confirmed that I needed glasses.  But, thank goodness I only need to wear them at night when I drive.  A week after our appointment, I got a note from the school saying that I needed to take Austin and have him get an eye exam.  Austin was so excited because he was feeling so left out that he didn't have glasses too.  He has a slight astigmatism  in one of his eyes, so he got glasses to wear in class.  I thought it would be cute to take a picture of me, Kayla, and Austin all wearing our glasses.  I told Austin to get them, and he said, "They're not in my case,mommy, where did you put them?"  I'm thinking to myself, "You've got to be kidding.  The boy has had those glasses for two whole days and has already lost them."  

Needless to say, they are still missing, so no picture.  But here's a before and after picture of me with my glasses.

By the way, thanks, Julie, for the gift card.  I got the dress with it and love it!
      

This is at the Martyrs Monument in downtown Baghdad. A bunch of my paratroopers re-enlisted here. It was nice to see a bunch of  my platoon in one place. Its been 3 months since we all have been at one place.  Things are going as good as they can. Its starting to get hot here, which I am dreading. 

Austin's 6th Birthday

Yesterday was Austin's 6th birthday.  He had a great day.  I went to his classroom and dropped off cupcakes and stayed to help with their Dr. Suess birthday celebration.  Then, that evening we had a birthday party at a miniature golf place, and played arcade games, and had pizza and cake.  We all had a fun time.  Happy Birthday Austin!

Here are some pics from Baghdad. The one is of the cross sabers. The other one is of me on the right and my platoon sgt (SSG Hitchcock) and my aid station NCOIC (SSG Rudy). As I have told many of you, things here are a lot better than last time I was here. Last time I was at this same location, we were chasing the bad guys around. It is a wonderful thing to see the Government of Iraq (GOI) take charge of their own country. Thanks to all the family that has sent me packages. You never realize how much mail means to you until you're gone for long periods of time. Love all of you.

Chris