Well, we had a great "weekend away" at Oura Wan Beach (Camp Schwab)
There are 10 cabins and our group had 7 of them. They are arranged on a road leading to a cul-de-sac where there is a small park. Between all the families there were 17 kids running around. They had free run of the road. There were scooters and skateboards cruising down the hill... kids on the monkey bars... swings... sand box... etc. We spent the days at the beach. It was a great time.
We arrived Thursday night, spend the day at the beach on Friday. Friday night there was a "scheduled power outage" from 8 AM until 6 PM but it didn't come on until 10 PM. I brought glow-in-the-dark things for the kids and finger lights so everyone had to have something that lit up. That worked out well...At 9 ish we gave up and put our kids to bed in the hot cabins (no A/C). Saturday - all day at the beach again (I know, life's rough). Saturday night we had chili that we all prepared ahead of time and then Sunday - all day at the beach....except I had to take William home early because he pooped in his pants. Not good.
Anyway... yesterday we came home and the kids were EXHAUSTED. William went to bed at 6:00 and Sarah at 7.
Today it's laundry, laundry, laundry!

Click here for pictures...

William is potty trained...FINALLY!
Nothing like a horrible diaper rash to do the trick.

Today he said, out of the blue, "Mommy, the earf spins around the sun and the moon spins around the earf, and I like to go to the beach!" He said his Daddy taught him about the earf.

I added some pictures from my birthdays of years past.
Click HERE to see the album.

The first e-mail I opened on my birthday was from our property manager telling us our renters in San Antonio are moving out Oct 31, so, if you know of anyone looking for a rental house in Schertz (North San Antonio near Randolph AFB) please let them know about our house!

Happy Birthday to Me.... today AND tomorrow
(one of the few benefits of living 1/2 way around the world)

Last weekend was busy with not much of anything.
We broke bread with lots of friends, which is always nice.
Friday night, a small gathering with wine and pasta at Brenda's.
Saturday birthday party at the bowling alley. Saturday night, dinner with the Antedom's.
Sunday, cleaning house, hanging curtains and our light fixture in the dining room.
Looks very nice....
and then dinner with the Novotny's.
This week the guys are night flying which means Daddy's are home in the morning.
Good for everyone!

I've been wanting to plant a garden but have not for many reasons. The biggest being Sully. On Monday I saw THESE at the BX and didn't buy it for $39.99. I've been thinking about it and decided I wanted one so I went back today and they were 50% off! I like it when that happens. I think next week we'll get the garden going.

Today we're going over to my friend Teresa's to celebrate her birthday!
Happy Birthday Teresa!

I've been consumed by the Olympics lately. I love to watch swimming. I was reading about Dana Torres, the 41 year old mother of a 2 year old and found it interesting. Here, I'm thinking, she's a swimmer.... so, she swims. uhhh.... notsomuch....."Torres’s retinue includes a head coach, a sprint coach, a strength coach, two stretchers, two masseuses, a chiropractor and a nanny, at the cost of at least $100,000 per year."
I'd settle for a strength coach and a stretcher/masseuse combo

So, we're only -1 hour from Beijing and the Olympics. We could very easily watch all of the Olympics LIVE! Sadly, that isn't possible. We can watch all things Japanese LIVE, but they show no Americans and we have no idea what they are saying. The Armed Forces Network channels shows (most) everything tape delayed and it's organized around US prime time so that doesn't exactly work for us. They were advertising the Olympics starting on 08.08.08 and I was all excited thinking I would spend a quiet Friday night at home with my kids watching the opening ceremonies. Well, yeah, except we didn't get to see them until the morning of 08.09.08. Bummer.

Sarah had a sleep over at Savannah's last night so she is very tired.
I fired up the Weber and the steaks are almost done.
I'm very proud about that. Not just anyone can "fire up a Weber".
It did take me 2 tries.... I had to re-douse the charcoal with lighter fluid (which I read later is a no-no)
I got the train table all ready to give to Robyn and William started asking questions so, when I told him we were going to give it away he said, "I don't want to get rid of my train table. I want to get rid of my bunk bed so I can keep my train table." Smart one he is.
So, since I don't really want to get rid of the train table either, I'm trying to figure out a way we can invent room for it.
The only solution I've come up with is a loft bed. There are 2 on Japan update (our equivalent to Craig's list) that I'm contemplating. I need to get the dimensions and see if they will work.
I'll keep you posted...

Our first week back was full of lots of getting together with friends and getting adjusted to the time.
Now it's time to find places for our "new" stuff we brought back...
Out with the old, in with the new.
I'll be listing a lot on e-bay this week (time permitting)

I went for a run this morning. It poured down rain.
I saw a rainbow. Good way to start the day...
except I've fallen back into my " I hate exercising" mode