Why do children hate Santa?

I was looking at pictures of my nieces and nephews (I do that A LOT. They are all so effing adorable) and found this picture that I took when I was visiting the Binns in Colorado. We took the kids to the North Pole and like all adults, forced them to sit on Santa's lap. This tradition rarely produces the darling photos we are hoping for, so I wonder why we do it. I guess because our parent's forced us? Either way, I'll continue to torture my nieces and nephews and I don't know why.

They all look very hesitant and slightly terrified to be touching this guy, which I am proud of. They have obviously been taught that this is wrong. Hopefully there was no irreparable damage done by the confusion they must have felt when the adults they most trusted, and taught them not to do this thing, made them do this thing. I'm sorry Bradley, Annie and Jackson. I, and your parents, really do love you. I will be in Colorado next month to visit these 3 again and will not be making them do any such thing. My mom (their Grandmother) already suggested another trip... Initially I said "no", but after looking at all the fun we had, maybe :)

Cowans Gap

Last weekend we spent the first 3 hours of essential tanning hours at Cowans Gap in PA. It was a beautiful, sunny day on the fine, imported sand. We were laying out, eating, drinking, people watching. It was a great little beach up in the mountains and the water was crystal clear. The sand was awesome. It felt so good to mold your own spot in the sand to lay out on. Then the park ranger came out over the intercom and told everyone to exit the beach immediately because severe thunderstorms were on their way. I thought he was being a drama queen but in exactly 2 minutes, dark clouds appeared and we got our butts off the beach! 

Fortunately for us, Corey's dad lives close to the park so by the time we got over there the rain had stopped and we could soak up some more rays in his pool. I'm pretty sure that my genetics are predisposed to be at a beach of some kind as much as possible. 

The Best Kind of Weekends

Corey's cousin was getting married in Lynchburg, VA this weekend so we made it a twofer by stopping to see the Morris' in Richmond. It turned out the one of those fun filled summer weekends where you got to eat good food, hang out with good friends, spend a lot of time in the sun and never want to go back to work.
We stopped in Bethesda on our way down to pick up some DC cupcakes. I don't know why I thought 6 would be enough but let's just say that Sarah considered eating her own child's cupcake since Eva was napping when we got there. The cupcakes were good.

As you can see, Sarah made the right choice and Eva got her cupcake :) 

Sarah is my adventure mentor and she set up an awesome river floating trip for Saturday, before we had to leave for the wedding. First of all, it was only $12. Second, the river was PERFECT! The guide said the water was in the eighties and it felt like an angel. Third, I didn't lose my Ray Bans when I flipped over in the class 2 rapids.*

After the river wild, we got dressed and left for Lynchburg. It was so beautiful and it felt like the south. The wedding was gorgeous and we got to see some of Corey's family that lives overseas. I was loving the bride's colors. Plum and peacock green. I would drape myself in peacock feathers if it were socially acceptable. 

I hope this weekend can get me through this jam packed week of unfun activities. I have 3 nights of classes for the next 6 weeks so I think the next few weekends might consist more of reading books and writing papers. 

I cut my hair a few weeks ago. It's really a cute haircut when the stylist does it, but becomes less "adorable" when I attempt to use a round brush with a blow dryer. How do people do their own hair?!

*Class 2 Rapids are super wussy and I was embarrassed that I fell off my tube. Devin really enjoyed it though.

Memorial Day

We had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day and it was so nice. Why must we work? Anyway, Corey marched in a parade in Carlisle and it was really fun. The weather was beautiful, it lasted about 45 minutes and it wasn't very crowded. We spent the rest of the day in the pool and eating brats. Again, why do we have to work?!

Cannoli Hunting

Corey and I were off of work early the other day and he was really jonesing for a cannoli so we googled cannolis and found a bakery downtown. I guess there really wasn't much hunting but we went on an adventure afterwards and found this!

A Tibetan Meditation Center in the middle of the woods. The sign said it was protected by Buddha so we walked around for a few minutes. I heard 2 gunshots so we took off. I think it was someone hunting but I didn't really care. It was so beautiful and I wish I had better pictures because they had the prettiest flowers and some other cool stuff. I also wanted someone to be there so I could brag about my Buddhist prayer cloth pinned to the roof of my car and feel cool, but no one was there. 

We found a lookout point where Corey faced his fear of heights and where I made him make out with me for a few minutes like we were high schoolers. Um, did anybody else just LOOOOVVVVE making out in high school? I told someone that the other day and they told me I was weird. Whatever, I could make out for hours and I was damn good at it!

Orders

January 2012 is a long ways away but I wanted all of my family and friends to have ample time to save their money and come visit me and Corey in Germany! Corey just received official orders to Wiesbaden, Germany reporting in January 2012. He is for sure going and now we are working on getting me over there. Since he is Army and I am Air Force, it can get a little confusing with orders and stuff.
The first thing I have to do is wait for May. Unfortunately I didn't get selected for pilot school during the March boards so my packet automatically gets another try in May. I will say that after seeing the results, I may have gone into this a little optimistic. Basically, it will be a miracle from heaven if I get picked up. With that said, at least I tried and will never have to wonder.
So, once I get the final word on my packet, I will either be going to Alabama for 18 months and Corey will still be going to Germany or I will be trying to accompany him there and we will be there for 3 years. This is your official invitation to come and visit Europe with a free place to stay in centrally located Germany. I love traveling and I love having visitors so come to our home and we will travel with you and all of my dreams will come true. I am so excited and can't wait to see every country over there.

I hope everyone takes me seriously when I say that my home will literally be a free hostel for you to stay at (if I already know you and you're not some wierdo who is just reading this blog) and that I am telling you now so you can prepare for the Eurocation of a lifetime. I have already written down about 50 things I will do when I'm over there and I can help you with your list if you will just come and hang out with me in Germany. Thanks.

Cleveland, Ohio Ohio Ohio

In the last 2 years, Corey and I have been nearly everywhere within a 3 hour drive from our house. Now we are on to the longer drives. We went to Cleveland last weekend for the sole purpose of obtaining a baseball from the Indians stadium. I really liked Cleveland but traveling in the winter always seems bleak so get ready for some semi-depressing photos. Not a lot of people walking around and everything seems gray.

We followed the advice from our fat friend on Man vs Food and went to Melt Bar & Grille. 3 words: Gourmet Grilled Cheese. I know. It was heaven. I tried my first Monte Cristo and I will never be the same. It's turkey, ham and cheese (sounds normal) dipped in some kind of pastry batter and deep fried! Then you dip it in berry preserves and it is a combination of eating a grilled ham and cheese on top of a funnel cake.

There was a 3 hour wait at Melt so we called the other one on the other side of town and ordered to go. That was an hour wait so it was ready when we got there and we ate in our car. No 3 hour wait is going to get in the way of me and gourmet grilled cheese!

The Indians lost to the White Sox but as long as there are some good hecklers sitting nearby, I couldn't be happier. We were right by left field and the White Sox left fielder is Juan Pierre. He recently broke up with his rapper girlfriend and a group of guys next to us were giving him hell the whole game. It was hilarious.

 We went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before we left. No cameras were allowed inside and I was pretty lazy about taking pictures anyway.

I'm slightly offended that there is a child on Michael Jackson's guitar...gross.