DC Natiopnal Memorial Day Parade 2014

The DC National Memorial Day Parade went really well! The horses did great! It was crazy but fun crazy!!!

The day started with getting the horses out into the pen and warming them up. The guys put them thru their paces and got all their wiggles out.

Next it was grooming time....I think the horses like this....

Ryan loves horses! He was always found close to the horses. As they were loaded up into the trailer he climbed up and petted them and chit chatted with them until we left. The horses love him.

Than it was time to follow them to the staging area for the parade.

Next stage of grooming...getting their hoofs all shiny black, brushing out their tails....good thing The Dude On A Horse had practice doing Vicki's hair!!! Than saddling up and having a little chit chat.

Once the guys were changed into their blues and the horses were all saddled people just appeared out of nowhere! Everyone wanted to take pictures with them and with the horses and ask a ton of questions. Ty and Ryan held the flags while the guys were getting everything ready.

I followed the Gunny to go park my car and the trailer. I ran a TON of red lights but I wasn't loosing him for anything!!!

And than I was in the back of a golf cart bouncing along by the White House and State Capitol, and the National Monument heading to our spot on the parade route.

Before the parade started I looked over and saw this going on...The Dude On A Horse said it is called Honor To Colors. In the midst of the chaos the Marines stopped to do this before starting. So much respect for our countries flag....made my eyes water to see this happening in the middle of the hustle and bustle and see that nobody even knew it was happening. The Marines called out the commands quietly and were quick and efficient as they followed flag protocol.

I got a couple quick pictures before the parade started....

Our waiting spot for the parade was at this museum and so we were able to go and look around in here and use the restrooms! There were some beautiful paintings and art work!

This was also on the parade route. The White House was too but with all the people it was hard to get a good picture with that behind the horses.

It was a beautiful parade route!!! It was HOT too!!!

But it was a gorgeous day for a parade and a perfect place for a Memorial Day parade!

8th Grade Formal

Ty had his 8th Grade Formal tonight. Vicki and i had better clothes picked out for him, but he was set on what he had picked out. He is a simple guy and knows how he likes to dress. He isn't one to dress to impress, just to be comfortable and simple. That is Ty. He didn't even want to go to begin with. There was much drama leading up to this big night. First there were girls speculating on who he was going to ask to the dance. Than there were crushed hearts when he said he wasn't going to ask anyone because he thought that was ridiculous for Middle School kids and he wasn't going to be doing things like that until he could atleast drive. Soooo, than the drama shifted to arguments over which girl was going to ask Ty. This ended with Ty announcing that he was not going to go because the behavior of everyone arguing and being so hostile was just ruining it for everyone. Well, this resulted in tears. Yes, girls were saddened that he was not going to be there. He finally said he would go on the condition that he was not going with anyone but as everyones friend. He did not want a girldfriend until he was atleast old enough to drive, until than girls are friends, all equal friends to just talk and be nice and have fun. No drama and being ridiculous....he had an alright time and even danced some. He said it was fun just hanging out but the dancing was not fun and slow dancing was horrible and he never wants to do that again!!!!! When i picked him up he said, "lets get out of here, NOW!!!"  I laughed and told him that I'm sure he will change his mind down the road. He laughed and said to shoot him if he did. But than Vicki has never wanted to go to any dances here in NC so maybe he won't change his mind...or maybe it is just here....When we got home Ryan wanted to know all about the dance. It was so cute listening to them talking about 'the dance'.  I will miss these days.....

 

It's a Milkshake Kinda Day!

It was a gorgeous day today! I got a yummy milkshake on my way home from work today! I am LOVING this warm weather!!!!

Reading After School

The boys know that their free time after school is from when they get off the bus until i get home from work. That is when they have their after school snack and than just do whatever they want. Once i get home from work than we dive into homework. for ryan that means we start with his 30 minutes of reading everyday. We read together so i make sure he reads and help him along the way. He used to get all his numbers and letters all backwards and upside down. It's been a long and painful journey but we have been working on this everyday for YEARS and he has improved in leaps and bounds! He didn't want to be in todays after school picture to The Dude in Cammies, so he hid behind his book. We are reading the sequel to A Boy No More that we finished reading about a week ago. This book will be the last one he reads for 7th grade and he will use this book for his project for the Literacy Fair.

The Dude in Baseball Pants

The Dude in Cammies seems to be wearing more than cammies these these days!!! today he wears a Marine baseball jersey and plays ball! He loves baseball so he is VERY happy today. His team won, so he is extra happy!

April 25th, The Perfect Date

I LOVE this movie and since today is April 25th and a Friday it would be the perfect Date Night! But my Date Night guy isn't here, so i will just post this funny picture for my Friday night instead.....

Roller Coaster Fun!

Ryan after Shock Wave and Ed, Vicki, and I on Volcano

We rode just about every roller coaster at Kings Dominion today! We have had our adrenalin rush!!! We started the day on The Dominator, well, all of us but Ty. Ty HATES roller coasters!!! We only got him to ride one ride the entire day, The Drop Tower. He got off that and gave me the biggest hug and told me that now he is officially scared of heights. It was just tooo cute! Ed and Ryan rode Shockwave and said it was pretty fun. Ryan and I were the only ones to ride The Intimidator though, the scariest ride at the park! Hmmmmm, the youngest and oldest were the only ones to ride….Ryan almost bailed on me but I kept talking him into staying in line with me by pointing out the younger kids, especially the girls that were in line!!! The Volcano was too fun and the blast off outta there was totally unexpected! The Anaconda was just way tooooooo shaky and banged my head all over the place, will never ride that one again, bleh! Ryan’s head was still hurting when we were in line for Volcano and that was why he bailed on that ride, his head was still hurting from Anaconda! I have no idea what the indoor space ride was, but that was pretty fun and it blasted off really fast before hitting the tracks in the dark. Kinda like Space Mountain at Disneyland. We had a total blast! Vicki’s boyfriend, Drew was there and they rode The Dominator together, that was all she wanted, to ride one roller coaster with him………….ahhhhhhh true love……hahahahaha But, it was a totally fun day on Spring Break getting our adrenaline rush on riding roller coasters……we hadn’t done that for awhile…..well, The Dude in Cammies gets adrenaline rushes all the time with his job the rest of us have to pay money to get them!