Strong Bonds Retreat

So to continue on our busy schedule, David's unit was holding a Strong Bonds marriage retreat.  It was in a new place that we hadn't been to yet, so that was good.  It was only about 3 1/2 hours away in a town called Willengen. We started off with a little bit of talking and dinner, but then the boys were so hyper even though it was late we decided we needed to get some energy out of them.

 

So to start with they decided that wrestling with Daddy in the hotel room would be a lot of fun!!!

 

And let me tell you, it sure sounded like they were having too much fun!!

 

Then we headed down to the pool.  Michael jumped right in and AJ decided to test it first.

 

But after that they were both like fish!!!  They were having a great time!

 

I am not  sure what they were discussing down there, but it seemed like it was a good conversation.

 

There was some sort of jet that the boys were having fun floating in and playing around in!!

 

Gotta love the smiles!!!!  After swimming it was time for bed, at least David and I were ready.  :-)  The boys were too finally and were able to settle down and go to sleep.

Heading home and orginizational day

After we traveled up to Sea-Tac and had lunch with my mom and Brian and Kathy we headed into the hotel.

 

 

The boys were soooo excited to have internet again.  It was like I kept them from it forever!!  I was just glad to have a hot shower and be able to stay in it as long as I wanted!!!

 

After that we had some time to kill and we were right across the road from the mall and decided to go catch a movie.  The boys were super excited about seeing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie!!!  Then back to the hotel for some sleep before we left the country

 

The boys were playing a bit of war while waiting for the plane.

 

The boys did awesome on the plane!!!!  They were so well behaved.  I also made them sleep the last couple of hours to try and get them switched over to Germany time more quickly.

 

We finally got our baggage and were ready to head out to where Daddy was waiting.

 

The boys were sooooo excited to see Daddy!!!  I didn't quite have my phone ready to catch the moment.  After that the boys did really well and stayed awake all day.  I was impressed.  But it still took a few days to get back on Germany time.  David didn't let us rest though.

 

His unit had an organizational day on Thursday, two days after we arrived back.  The boys were excited!!!  AJ on the bouncy castle getting some good air!!

 

They had a lot of fun on the bouncy castles and it also ran some energy out of them.  Though AJ had us both up at 2 am that morning and I was exhausted.

 

They had all sorts of activities there, one of them was to paint their own piggy bank.

 

AJ answered a question and won the boys these bug eye creatures.  I love Michael's face here!

 

 Nothing better than the dunk tank.  I was very proud of the boys, they waited in line patiently even after three adults cut in front of them.  AJ hit the target and down went the guy.

 

Michael didn't quite get it, so they told him he could push the button.  :-)

 

The boys love their balloon swords!

 

We went over and say the bomb suit.  It looked big and heavy!

 

The boys were able to drive the robot that they send in for bombs!!  They thought it was really cool and the did a pretty good job of directing it.  But they did find out how hard it was to do.

 

They had some airborne soldiers there with their parachutes.  They were pretty heavy but Michael said it was nothing.  We had a great day!!!  Though I was so ready for bed when we got home.

Last few days of Ocean fun

As we were coming to the end of our time at the ocean we still had plenty of time to have some more fun!!!

 

This was one of our big dinners - this was half the crew enjoying some yummy food!!  We didn't have a bad meal the whole week!

 

The ones eating around the fire and enjoying the last of the sun rays.

 

The boys wanted to break out their moustache straws.  The whole camp thought they were great!!!

 

Michael was in deep conversation with Barb.  I am still not sure exactly what about but it sure was animated!

 

So every year we play the horse races.  My grandma made horse heads on sticks and a track, but we didn't have quit enough room to bring them this year, so the kids drew on rocks and they were our horses.  Then we drew the race track out  of chalk.

 

 

My dad is normally the caller, but he couldn't make it this year so Al took over the job.  He did a good job of calling it out.  For those who are wondering he rolls three dice and each horse has a number and which ever number comes up that horse moves that many spaces.

 

 We had the kids be the "jockeys."  They had so much fun and so did the rest of us!!  I am sure people that were passing by were wondering what the heck we were doing.

 

 

Another great campfire!!!  I sure do love sitting around the campfire and chatting with others!

 

AJ enjoying some more smores!!!  There can never be enough smores while camping!

 

The next morning we woke up early, early to go crabbing.  AJ got up with me to go crabbing.  We did pretty well and caught over 15 the first day.

 

We tried a new way of cleaning them.  Al chopped them in half and then brought it over to the table.

 

That is where the rest of us gutted them and cleaned them.

 

It was fast and it worked really well.  Here were the clean crab ready to cook.

I heard them scream as the crab went into the water.  Just joking.

 

I am not sure how I was roped into it but I caught the crab, cleaned the crab and helped cook the crab and I am allergic to the crab.  But it is fun catching them, we don't use pots we use sticks and rakes.

 

Uncle Craig had promised to play cribbage with them before he left.  He always keeps his promise even if it was the night before he left.

 

The last night we were all together, Craig, Al and the girls were leaving on Saturday.  We were all sad that they had to go home.

 

Another beautiful sunset!!!

 

So on Saturday the boys wanted to get their two badges that they worked for.  So we took off on their bikes and Mom and I on foot to the ranger's station.

 

They had to take two oaths here, the junior ranger and the new ocean one.  They earned a badge and a patch!!  I was very proud of them for completing everything they had to in order to get them.

 

After that we had a little game of tether ball.  The boys had never played, but we had a great time!!!  I might have accidentally bonked the boys in the head.  But luckily AJ was still wearing his helmet at the time.  :-)  They were both ok and we had a fantastic time playing tether ball!!

 

And of course after a strenuous game of tether ball we had to have ice cream!!!!! 

 

A look from Kalaloch lodge at the river there into the ocean.  I  sure do love this area for its beauty, the calm and the family time we have there!!

 

The boys heading back to camp after a fun afternoon!!!  We broke down main camp and then started packing up everything.  The boys were sad and so was I.  The next day we were heading up to Sea-Tac to spend the night and fly out the next day back to Germany.  It was sad seeing everything being put away and the end of another wonderful year at the ocean!