I have never done the last post that I wanted to do for this blog. I am working on something special - one last Christmas blog. Keep your eyes open for that blog. In the mean time - please check out http://cadenchloecarl.blogspot.com/ I have picked it back up after letting it drop. I have a few things up my sleeve for the last four months of Carl's deployment. 

Mission Accomplished

I will probably do one or two more posts because I would like to do one last interview with the kids but here is how yesterday went. Susan had to work until 6:30 PM and Ryanne was due in at 7:45. Susan gets home, we throw everyone in the car and head towards Otis. We are approaching the bridge when we get a text - They have landed! Susan is yelling at me to hurry up. I can't post my speed that I was driving because it could be used against me in a court of law. (FAST) We pop over the bridge, head to the rotary at the base entrance and Susan is now openly mocking my manhood. ("Come on honey, you say you drive fast? This isn't fast! Come on come on...) Estimated speed around the rotary and average life expectancy of an American Woman were the same. We pull on the base and the guards stop us to check our ID. I hand our ID's to the guard and he asks how we are doing. Susan's response "Yeah, yeah, we're doing great now lets go" We pull into the parking area and Susan drags the poor children across the lot. She is crying now.

We get there in time to see that the plane has begun to disembark. There are Soldiers holding the crush of people back as they wait for their love ones. About twenty soldiers of the 168 on the plane are now off and everyone just says screw it and walks by the Soldiers. The Soldiers just laugh and give up trying to keep us at bay. And then we see Ryanne. we are yelling to her as she comes down the stairs and as soon as she hears us my biggest fear is that she is going to fall because she starts to hurry.

At the bottom of the stairs is a group of Soldiers welcoming the returnees back and like a rocket Chloe goes flying through the middle and runs into her mothers arms. Susan is crying, I may have been crying and Caden is screaming "Mommmmmmmmmy"

It has been 364 days. The light is starting to fade but everyone doesn't seem to notice. There are people crying, hugging and kissing. Congratulations are everywhere. There is a DJ playing Kid Rock's "Born Free". It is an otherworldly moment in time. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced.

Two days to go

Friday night, 7:45 PM Ryanne will be home. My plan is to add maybe one or two more posts and then sign off on this blog. I will continue Caden, Chloe and Carl's blog until he gets home and then sign off on that one as well.

My intention was for this to be somewhere the kids could go back and remember some of the highlights of the year. I am hoping that in the years to come one of the two will look back at this and enjoy the memories.

Nearing an end

We now know that Ryanne has left Kuwait City for good, hopefully never to return. She sent us the following picture from Germany, on her way home. The text message read "The good thing about Germany, Chocolate!"

The good thing about Germany? The good thing about Germany is you are almost home! And as for the chocolate? You've earned your weight in it. I know that I would have paid a king's ransom in chocolate to have you here with your babies.

Yellow Car

To occupy the kids while we are in the car I came up with a game called "Yellow Car". It is a simple game, you just need to find a yellow vehicle and you get 1 point. First person to 10 wins. I chose Yellow because there are not many locally on the road - with one exception, school buses. So the other day - Caden has 4, Chloe has 1 and I saw three school buses together so I had 5. We drop Caden off at school and then Chloe asked "Can I have some of your Yellow Cars?" I say sure you can have all five. For the next five minutes I had to listen to "Ha ha ha haaaa haaaaaaaaa I have 6 and you have none!"

The little twerp would give me back the yellow cars the next morning either!

Quick note: Gas Prices in Kuwait City

Are averaging about 80¢ per gallon. The only thing I want Ryanne to bring home for me is 10,000 gallons in a small tanker.

354 days away... Hopefully 1 more week tops.

I will most likely do the last video for these guys tonight. Keep your eyes open.

Good Night Osama

One of the reasons my child is 6,100 miles from her children is now dead. Strange thing to celebrate on a blog site that is about children missing their Mother.

Oh Barnacles!

Mimi has taught the kids to say "Oh, Barnacles" (from SpongeBob Squarepants) instead of "Oh Crap!" and "Crapballs!" I hate to admit it but they most likely get the "Oh Crap!" from me and "crapballs" came from a kids movie. It is pretty funny to hear them say it. Chloe is saying it everytime I need to speak to her about something she has done. For instance last night, after getting out of bed for the fifth time I say "You are going to bed and you are going to stay in bed or I'll get angry" in my loud voice. (Not quite yelling but getting close)

She replies, "Oh, Barnacles, Gramps, BARNACLES!" yelling the last part.

It works pretty good. I recommend to anyone reading the post that they try it today. It will make you feel better. When someone comes up to you, before they can say anything yell "Barnacles!" at them. People are guaranteed to leave you alone.

Another pretty cool tool that the "stats" function allows me to see are all the types of operating systems that looked at the blog. Here are the stats:

Pageviews by Operating Systems

Windows 1,344 (71%) Macintosh 308 (16%) Linux 72 (3%) BlackBerry 48 (2%) iPhone 48 (2%) iPod 29 (1%) iPad 14 (<1%) Other Unix 11 (<1%) Palm 1 (<1%)

Other interesting stats:

Duration calculation results

From and including: Saturday, May 15, 2010
To and including: Tuesday, April 12, 2011

It is 333 days from the start date to the end date, end date included

Or 10 months, 29 days including the end date

Why the Kids aren't allowed at restaurants

We may have forgotten to teach the kids to behave while going out to eat.

2,000th pageview

The amount of people who have viewed the blog is at the bottom of the blog. If you are the 2,000 person to view this blog send me a picture of the number and I will send you a prize!

I am reading the book World War Z and Chloe asked me what it was about. I told her that it was about Zombies. Caden asked what are Zombies? I told him "The Living Dead" and he said he had seen them on TV. He told me that they are scary and he doesn't watch scary movies because it gives him nightmares. Chloe said "I don't watch them because then I will dream Mommy is a Zombie. I don't want Mommy to be dead."

Now I am thinking that this is going to be a sad moment. I say "Don't worry, Mommy is not going to be a Zombie."

She says "Well if she was a Zombie then Daddy would protect me. He kills bad guys and Zombies."

I say, "Well Mommy could kill Zombies too"

Chloe says, "No she can't Mommy just uses computers, she can't kill bad guys"

So Ryanne, I am sorry, I have failed you while you were away. I was not able to teach your daughter that Mommy kills Zombies with the best of them. Guess you are gonna have to step it up in that department. Perhaps you could kill some of them desert Zombies that we always hear about.

When mimi gets home

Just because...

Pizza

We made homemade pizza with the kids today.

Caden was convinced the spaghetti sauce on the pizza was pepperoni and he wasn't going to eat it. What kind of kid doesn't like pepperoni?

Saturday mornings

Someone asked "What was the best thing about having your grandkids around all the time?"

I said "That's easy, I got to pretend that I was watching the kids TV shows when really I was watching them for me!"

I think iCarly, Spongebob and the rest are very funny. They are so much better than nighttime sitcoms.

322 days away - amazing how time flies.

Chloe sings in spanish!

I couldn't resist! She was singing up a storm the whole ride to daycare and I decided to video tape a short amount of the song. I love what she told me afterwards - not speaking fluent spanish like Chloe does I am not sure what it means. I will ask her when she gets home to translate for us.

Caden in bed

From Florida.

Also, some interesting info. The blog allows you to see where the traffic came from. Here is all the different locations people have viewed the blog.

United States 1,304

Kuwait 155

Canada 56

Italy 55

Russia 22

China 10

Hong Kong 10

Brazil 7

United Arab Emirates 4

United Kingdom 4

318 Dodge

Caden - turns out the light and demonstrates his skills with a lightsaber. Beware all Sith Lords.

Anyone need a Doctor?

Chloe attempts to fix what ails Emma.

Just in - another Chloe interview!

Chloe - out by the fire-pit - wanted to give another interview. So here is take two of that interview - she coughed all through the first. And yes, I was nervous that she would fall from the chair.

Another video!

Chloe told me she wanted to go sledding. I said there is no more snow. (Hard to believe that all the snow is indeed gone) She said, "Gramps, you don't need snow". Here is your proof...

314 days

OK, here is the other half of yesterday's video. I like how Chloe just copied Caden - except for the incredible answer about what Killer Whales eat. It is an instant classic.

Video from last summer.

In the video you see Bindi walk by - we miss the girl! I will post some other videos from various times over the last year soon.

313 Days away

Ok, here are a few more pictures from Florida. The first is the picture caption contest!

Title Caption Contest!

How to play: Add a Caption under the comment section - I am going to do another Thursday as well. OK, I want some great ideas here people!

March on!

March 20th marked the end of a vacation that was both awesome and exhausting. I love spending time with the kids in ways that I hope they will never forget. Two days in particular stood out for me, The Tuesday visit that the three of us made to the alligator farm and the Saturday trip to the beach. All the money at Disney and Seaworld make it an event that is hurried and marred by standing in lines, fighting crowds and desperately trying to feel like the day was worth it. The beach has none of those issues and the Alligator Farm is much more laid back.

There were several precious moments as well. I was getting ready one of the mornings we stayed in a hotel in Orlando and I noticed Chloe dancing. I watched her for a bit and then realized that I should be video taping the dance. She was shimmying in one spot, stepping forward and doing it again. I wish I had caught a longer moment but here it is.

I like my relationship with Caden, he quietly has started to really mature. He has his moody minutes still but they are fewer and further between. He did something very special at a restaurant that we went to called "Buffalo Wild Wings" He copied the logo by eye - and I forgot to keep it. He drew a near perfect Buffalo. Then we played several video games. He was stoked by the time we left making us all quickly forget how bad the service was.

Here are a couple of pictures I took with my cell phone:

Lunch with a T-Rex

We ate at the T-Rex Cafe in Orlando yesterday. Here are a couple of pictures of the Restaurant and Caden. He has a Triceratop looking over his shoulder.

Last Day of Vacation with the Kids

A quick recap of the week: Monday, beach; Tuesday, Alligator Farm; Weds, Seaworld; Thursday, Disney's Magic Kingdom; Friday, Downtown Disney and lunch at T-Rex; Saturaday - we are going to the beach.

Highlights so far, The kids holding an alligator and patting a Boa Constrictor at the Alligator Farm; Seaworld's Shamoo show, Space Mountain with Caden, Seeing a bald eagle fight an osprey over downtown disney.

I will post some pictures later today time allowing. I really think the kids have had a great time.

Another day not at the beach

Florida is in the midst of some cold weather. We only had 75 for a high today. (Just kidding - it is not really a cold snap) Perfect day to walk around. Caden, Chloe and I chased lizads in the morning but didn't catch any. We saw otters on the canal behind Cheryl's house. Lots of birds as well.

Went to the fish festival, the kids were able to run around and wear themselves down a bit. Caden climbed a rock wall and Chloe did a bungy cord bouncy thing. They both went on a few other kids rides. They came back to B & C's house and played in the hottub that was set to about 75.

Great start to what we hope is a great week.

Florida Sun

We made it to Florida and within 20 minutes of being on the road Caden asked to move here. Smart kid after the winter we have had. We made it to Ben & Cheryl's without a hitch. Carl drove us to the airport squeezing out a few more moments with his kids before he goes away to Afghanistan.

Weather looks very promising and the trip was smooth and easy. Rented a big Ford Explorer with a third seat for the kids and their booster seats. I'll post some pictures and maybe a video ater this week.

Chloe & Daddy

Chloe is part Spider Monkey - she loves to climb on her dad. They all went to Bertucci's tonight, I had to work. We are heading to Florida in the morning.

Boss 302

Carl has been back. It is his turn to say goodbye to his kids before he heads off to war. He has a scary job to do and we all want to see him come back in one piece. He took Caden & Chloe out for Caden's birthday and ate at Caden's favorite restaurant, Friendly's. (Lets hope he grows some taste buds as he gets older.) Susan also made me snap two blackmail pictures that I will not put up here of Caden sitting on the throne. Someday his Mother is going to show some girlfriend the pictures and Caden will not be happy.

Nice to see Carl on the floor, playing with the kids. Chloe tends to jump all over him and Caden likes to just keep him near.

They also were able to talk to Grampa Ted and for the first time both kids had a prolonged talk with their grandfather that they so rarely see.

297 seems like heaven!

Great day - heard from Ryanne to wish me a happy b-day, Chloe made me several drawings and Caden did a great job with tying his own shoes. Mimi gave him a book, which he struggled with, and then she swapped the book for a real shoe and he kept up until he finally did it. Stubborn kid really tried hard.

Chloe's Ladybug picture

If you look in the middle you can sort of make out a 6 on top of a 5 in pink. (red) It is tough to see but it is there. She told me that the picture meant that I could buy a lady bug for 56 dollars.

Time keeps on slippin, slippin into the future.

Ryanne called from Kuwait, Chloe got to tell her a story about how mean Mimi is. Chloe said I washed my Nintendo DS in soapy water and now Mimi won't buy me a new one.

Gonna take the kids this weekend hopefully to Plymouth to see the seals on the beach.

293 days away!

Caden had a project at school and needed a 3 ring binder. Caden & I custom made jets to go on the covers. Classic cotton ball cloud on the back!

Chloe and Caden sledding - Chloe running over Caden's fingers

286

Nearly three hundred days! Chloe was violently ill yesterday - never feed Chocolate ice cream to someone who may be sick. Caden is going to spend the week at Kalia kids because school is out.

282 Days

OK, it has been awhile since my last post. 146 days exactly! I want to finish the blog strong so keep an eye out for new posts in the next few days.