Swimming, Adjustments, & Curlers

We got to sleep in today (until 7:45) and went down and had breakfast. They have this Shamu picture on the elevator, and Autumn likes to give it a kiss and pet its tummy.

Dad went and picked Nate up around 9:00 b/c we didn’t know what time he was going to be released and didn’t want to sit around and wait. While he was gone, we cleaned up the hotel room a little bit and then these 4 watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and they were WAY into it…it was funny.

Nate bought this shirt and hat for Mom, which was cute of him to do, and she loved them and they say “Air Force Mom.”

We had the kids get in their swimsuits and then we got ready to go for the day. While we were getting ready, they found a fun way to entertain themselves…they sat in the chair at the desk and pushed themselves around in circles until they got dizzy. They were laughing like crazy and were having a blast.

Nate kept saying he felt so weird a little guilty that he wasn’t wearing his uniform. The only time they are allowed to wear something other than their uniform while off base today is when they are going swimming. Since we were going to the water park we told him to quit feeling bad and that it was ok. He was loving being able to use his laptop to listen to music.

We originally wanted to go to Sea World, but Lex & Jon & Andrew had gone just a few weeks ago and it’s crazy expensive and it would have been way too hot. So, we decided to go to a water park and were going to go to Schlitterbahn, but that’s too far away (Nate has to stay in the San Antonio area). So, we found a place called Splashtown. And Lexie found online that if you buy tickets at HEB (a grocery store), they are $10 less than if you buy them at the park entrance. So, we stopped at HEB and got tickets and went to the water park.

The guys all headed off first thing to go down the slides before the lines got too long. Nate & Dad loved this one big slide that gave them a huge wedgie, but as you can tell from Nick’s expression in this picture, he didn’t like it too much.

We went all over the park and enjoyed the lazy river, wave pool, and the kids especially like the kid part of the water park. They had small slides that Andrew went down over and over and over. Autumn was just content to sit with me in shallow pools and watch Andrew. After riding on all the slides, Nate came and sat with me in the shade to watch our stuff while Dad took Mom to the lazy river and the wave pool so she could enjoy the cool water. Nate wanted some Dippin’ Dots (which they call the ice cream of the future). They’re not the most tasty ice cream ever, but they have a fun texture.

We were just sitting and talking and started laughing at all the random people that were there. For instance, this lady and her little kids were next to us and she could not get this little boy’s diaper off without taking off his swimming suit so she just carried him over to the bathroom (which was on the other side of the kiddie pool) w/ the front of his diaper hanging down outside of his pants!

Then there was this lady who had her entire back tattooed! At first I thought it was a shirt but then I took a closer look and realized it was a tattoo! I love to people watch and just see how different and varied and unique each person is. It’s always interesting.

After about 4 hours of playing and swimming, we had ridden everything we wanted to and were ready to go. Autumn laid out her towel very carefully and made sure to smooth out any wrinkles and then she climbed under it like it was a blanket and Aunt Lexie came and got in with her.

Mom had brought this little white mesh swimsuit cover-up, but didn’t want to wear it so Nate put it on. We were laughing at how silly he looked, but then when I was editing the pictures from today I noticed he looked all GQ and model-esque in this picture.

We got out to the car, loaded all of our stuff, got a drink of water out of the cooler we had brought, got in, and started sweating from the heat. Well, this is why…it’s 114 degrees!!!

We came back to the hotel so we could all get cleaned up and so Nate could get back in his uniform so he could feel comfortable again. He was just about to get in the shower when Lexie & Jon came in w/ a treat for him. They had stopped and gotten him a vanilla bean frappuccino from Starbucks, which is one of Nate’s favorite drinks ever. He was SO EXCITED to drink it and savor every sip.

After Lexie got cleaned up and was getting ready, Autumn wanted to get some “whip stick” and make up put on. She thinks she’s such a little princess.

Lexie put some green eye shadow on to match Autumn’s outfit and you could really see it well. Also, her lips were a pretty red color. She looked like she was getting ready to be in a pageant, especially b/c she kept brushing her hair and swinging it around.

We asked Nate where he wanted to go eat dinner and he picked TGIFridays. I thought this was a fitting sign on the ground, b/c Nate is working to “get more stripes.”

While we waited for our food, they had some good music playing and the kids were getting restless, so Lexie got up and was dancing with them. There was even a disco ball hanging from the ceiling over in the corner, which Andrew pointed out.

I am so thankful that Mom & Dad were able to afford for all of us to come down (it has NOT been cheap). I’m thankful that they think it’s important for us to create memories as a family. It’s been such a wonderful long weekend.

THANKS, MOM & DAD!!!

This was a good picture of Autumn Bottom & I (even though she isn’t looking at the camera she has a cute smile). I need to get more pictures of us together.

Most of us got the 3 course meal for $12.99. We got appetizers, an entree, and then dessert. We just mixed and matched and shared the appetizers and the entrees were good. Then the dessert was super rich and delicious. I love Jon’s hand in this picture looking like he’s going to stab the piece of pie w/ the fork.

After eating, a group of us came back to the hotel and then Nate and another group went to the Cowboy’s store so he could get some NFL hats for his TI’s to thank them. When they got back, Jon gave us all adjustments. It looks like he’s shaving Nate’s head in this picture, but he’s using this deep tissue massager that feels amazing.

After Mom & Nate got adjusted, Mom said I needed to get adjusted just so I could feel how amazing the massager thing feels. Jon checked my back and then got out this little gun type thing and shot it into my shoulder and it hurt like heck (as you can see from the expression on my face). Then he checked my hands b/c I type a lot and used this other thing to loosen up the muscle in my arm and that hurt like heck, too! But, he made up for all of that when he used the massage thing on my back and head. It sends tingles all over your body and just completely relaxes you. I was so relaxed I had to hold onto the bed so I didn’t slide off.

Dad had to take Nate back to the base so he could be back in the dorms before 8:00. The kids just sat on the floor and played w/ their toys, I edited pictures and worked on my blog, and we watched some TV (like the Cowboys football game). Autumn found this swimsuit cover up of Mom’s and tried it on. She put the hoodie part over her face and went over to Mom’s room to scare her since she was pretending to be a ghost.

We went back to our room to get in jammies and get ready for bed. She said she wanted to go back over to Papa’s room, so I let her. I went over a few minutes later to get her so I could put her to bed. She was sitting there getting spoon fed chilled applesauce from Papa. I asked her if she knows that she’s the most spoiled little girl in the world and she just gave me this look and said, “Yep!”

We put curlers in Autumn’s hair before she went to bed so that it would be curly for church tomorrow. She was soaking up all the attention and girly-ness that was going on. We took the curlers out and I put her to bed. Then Lexie said she was going to put her own hair in curlers for church tomorrow. She usually just does them herself, but I told her I would help her get the back of her hair, which is usually hard for her to reach. As you can tell, we were laughing and having a good told time just talking about sisters stuff.

I am so thankful for my family everyday, but I have been especially thankful for my family this weekend b/c we’ve gotten to spend so much time together. And, I’ve tried to make the most of that time and really make it count b/c we won’t get to see Nate for at least another 10 weeks (maybe longer). When I was younger, I used to think everyone was as close to their family as I am to mine. But, I’ve come to learn that that just isn’t the case. I am very lucky and blessed to consider my family more than just people I’m related to…they are truly my friends and I love spending time with them.