May 2006

Well it was quite a busy month. Tyler completed one of four checkrides and also had his first formation solo. With the constant flying, studying for academics and briefings, it is certainly a fast pace program! He's hanging in there and doing a fabulous job! My master's was on a one month break so I was able to enjoy being outside, either gardening or playing with the little man! Carter got a lot of new outdoor toys as early birthdays present from "Papa and G" (my parents) when they were out visiting last month, so needless to say we stay very busy. He has really taken to the golf game. He lines balls up in a straight row, evenly spaced and then steps up to each one, concentrates real hard and... WHACK!... then steps up to the next ball and starts over. Ty and I can't imagine what our neighbors think of him or us for that matter. We swear we're not training him! He has also enjoyed his new water table. Since it's only high of 90's right now with about 90% humidity, cool water feels so good to play in! He's a very busy kid and we love it!

"Uncle Jew" came to visit us over Mother's Day weekend. Carter loves getting company and had a ball with him. He had him outside swinging the bat, playing golf, throwing the aerobie and running from one end of the yard to the next. It was so good to see him and have him here! Carter was dedicated that weekend also. We had to laugh because there were about 12 kids getting dedicated that morning and Carter was only one of three that went only by his first name. The others were Sally Mae, Katie Sue, Johnny Ray, etc! We're certainly in the south!

Carter and I took an airplane trip to Sioux Falls, SD in the middle of the month. We were able to see Aunt Erin graduate from USF and got to see "Uncle Tompass" and his grandparents and both sets of great-grandparents on the Walsh side. We had such a fun weekend and were so glad that we were able to go out and be there for Aunt Erin. Erin had her senior art show going during the week we were there; it was out of this world! Her talent is a true gift from God! She had a theme for her show "Heads and Wombs" and it was just that. A lot of heads and a lot of wombs. Her focus and detail was undescribable, it brought me to tears! Like I said, it was a great weekend and it was tough saying goodbye.

Once we got back, we had to get ready for our busy Memorial Day/Birthday Weekend. We decided to take a trip with two other couples to Atlanta just to get away and enjoy some civilization. We left early on Saturday morning and got there about noon. We had reservations at the Embassy Suites-Olympic Park, right next to the Olympic Park and Georgia Aqaurium. That weekend the city was hosting a free event themed "Flights and Kites." It was obviously right up our alley so we went and walked around for a little bit. There were only about 4 million wild children running around screaming so really it wasn't that bad! We didn't stay very long; instead we all started walking towards one of the 8 Peachtree Streets that they have. It's Peachtree Blvd, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree South, Peachtree Place... ridiculous! We didn't get very far but saw a lot of interesting people and what we think was suppose to be a parade!?! We did make it to the Underground Altanta (www.underground-atlanta.com) and got something for us all to eat and drink. We walked around for a little bit more and decided to head back to the hotel, get checked in and maybe take a dip in the pool. Our hotel room was to be a 2 bedroom suite that we were going to be sharing with our friends and it ended up being a one bedroom, office/boardroom. No television, one bed and a large boardroom table in the middle of the living room with 6 office chairs and a dry erase board. We had to laugh; we had 6 adults and two children- AND ONE BED! It was only for one night and the Hang-Man games kept us all laughing! The next morning we got up early to go over to the Georgia Aquarium (www.georgiaaquarium.org) It just opened last November and is the largest Aquarium in the world. Since Carter had developed an obsession with Nemo over the previous weeks, we knew he was going to have a ball. It was incredible. We got to see three Whale Sharks, Beluga Whales and most importantly NEMO! Carter couldn't believe his eyes, he kept looking at us then back at Nemo like, "Oh my goodness- he's for real!" Again it was a great weekend and once we got back we had to get ready for our little birthday party on Monday.

THE BIG TWO! We can hardly believe it! Though his actions, words, and attitude all reflect a two year old, he is still just a baby in our minds. It's hard to believe how fast children really do grow up. Since his favorite food is ice cream, we decided to have an ice cream party over at our house with just a couple of our neighbor friends and guys from Ty's class. He was the life of the party, as he should have been! He had everyone in stitches from beginning to end. By the end of the day/weekend, we were all exhausted!