Wordless Wednesday

Fishy Business

Thomas and I were lucky to have Alan home with us last weekend. A weekend off is just what he needed. Prior to his weekend off, he had worked 20 out of the previous 21 days.

Alan thought fishing sounded like a good Sunday activity. He caught a nice little pan fish.

Thomas caught a "grass bass."
We'll get to enjoy Alan's next days of in another 10 days....

Field Trip

Thomas and I had a super fun afternoon. We joined some of our friends on a fire truck field trip extravaganza. We started at our local fire station - South Haven Area Emergency Services. Fireman Jim took the kids around, showed them the trucks, explained what different devices did, and let them touch lots of stuff. (Take note of the Spencer Manufacturing emblem next to T's left shoulder.)Thomas loves his firetrucks. He didn't miss out on this chance to "drive."

Thomas and I :)
Sadly, our trip was cut short by a serious accident on the freeway. The kids watched in awe as the firemen rushed around, geared up, hopped in trucks, and sped off with lights on and sirens blaring. Thomas explained to all his friends that this was called "running hot." He has learned a lot about firetrucks and emergencies from his favorite fireman - Uncle Mike.

After leaving the firestation, we headed to Spencer Manufacturing. Spencer is a South Haven company that manufactures firetrucks.

Mrs. Spencer took the kids around and showed them numerous trucks in various stages of construction. Spencer is a small company but has manufactured fire trucks for many Michigan and Indiana firestations. In addition, they are working on a couple for the City of Pittsburg and just shipped 2 off to Seward, Alaska. If you are in the market for a fire truck - check them out!

Thanks for setting it all up, Laura! It was fun!

Flashback - Spring Break

This post is only 9 weeks late. Better late than never, eh? We were very lucky to spend Spring Break in Florida this year. It was AMAZING! We stayed a week on Treasure Island with Roger and Mona. They had rented a condo right on the Gulf of Mexico. I've included a few of my favorite pictures from our vacation. It was hard to narrow it down to these. When all was said and done, we had taken over 300 pictures.

This was the view from our balcony. It was so relaxing to sit on the balcony, mojito in hand, and watch the ocean.

Getting ready to head to dinner on one of our first nights there. Fortunately for us, Roger and Mona had already scoped out all the good restaurants. We ate out for dinner most nights. So yummy.

The pool was right below our balcony. Thomas and I loved the pool. We swam for about 3 1/2 hours everyday. The bonuses of that were twofold. First, Thomas is now a great swimmer. He likes to dive down and retrieve things from the bottom, can swim longer distances, and can swim underwater. Second, it tired him right out. All that swimming meant no wiggly boy in restaurants, no tantrums or exclamations of boredom, and (most importantly) a boy that asked to go to bed AND slept in. :)



We spent 2 days in Orlando. While there, we visited Disney's Hollywood Studios and The Animal Kingdom. We stayed at Disney's All Star Movies Resort.



Grandma and Grandpa with Thomas and Eeyore.



Us with 2 of T's favorites - McQueen and Mater.

Alan and Roger after riding the Kali River Rapids (twice). Thomas, Mona, and I went with them once. The lines were super short and they just stayed on for another go around.

My absolute FAVORITE picture from our vacation. This HUGE Buzz Lightyear (along with the other guys from Toy Story) was at our hotel. Thomas loved seeing all these guys up close.

Yep, it rained. It rained hard while we were at the Animal Kingdom. Alan planned ahead and bought the ponchos at the hotel before it started raining. Unfortunately, we still got hosed and had to pay Disney prices ($10 each). The rain was actually a blessing. It was short lived and brought the temp way down. Also, because of the rain, the lines were really short.

We had so much fun making memories on our vacation!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So, the Asiala family has encountered one of the BIGGEST changes possible. What could it be? A new baby? Nope. Moving? Nope. Alan quit his job? Yep. Sure did. I'm sure this will be one of the best moves he's ever made. Hard to believe, eh?

He started his new job yesterday. He's working at Hawkshead Links here in sunny South Haven. He has worked summers there in the past. He maintains, troubleshoots, and operates their irrigation systems along with other odd jobs (like endless mowing). Bonus - free golf :) We'll have some scheduling changes to work out. I'm off in the summer and he's now off in the winter. Being off in the winter will allow him to partake more often in one of his favorite activities - ice fishing.

I am so proud of him for listening to his heart and taking this leap of faith. This change is a GREAT change. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Life Lessons

Thomas continues to learn lessons on his own terms.

Today's lesson: Don't eat a crunchy Nature Valley granola bar while lying shirtless on the couch.

He approached me very distressed because of the crumbs in his belly button. They were itchy and he scratched so much that he gave himself a little road rash. Ahhh, boys.

Playtime

I've been shot in the head.

I've been shot in the bed.

I've been shot in the back.

How did I react?

I got my own gun and had some fun.

I let the boys have it you see.

For they won't get the best of me.