The Commandant of the Marine Corps was the guest of honor, which was a pretty cool. (He’s kind of a big deal.)

I’m glad we took advantage of the opportunity to meet him and have our photo taken by his official photographer.

United States Marine Corps Photo by Cpl Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

(Yeah… he’s tall, huh?)

The ball took place in a gym, but it was one of the coolest ceremony-wise that I have been to. Not only did we get to hear the Commandant speak, but we also got to enjoy the II MarDiv Jazz Band (I think that’s what they’re called) during the cocktail hour:

And then during the ceremony, the regular marching band came out to do a few songs.

Not only did they sound great on the instruments, but they even sang a few bars of one of their songs!

Sitting in a gym and listening to a marching band play military pieces really brought me back to our annual Veteran’s Day assemblies in high school. They were annoying to have to do back then, but now that I’m an old fart, I guess I miss them.

Hey look, we made use of our tripod and took some pictures before we left for the ball! (Since we’re too cheap to ever pay for the professional photographs you can get at the ball.)

And of course John took this one of me all dolled up.

I loved this dress, even if it probably was worn by 16-year-olds at proms across the country last Spring!

First was the installation of new steps for John’s truck.

Here’s the naked truck before the project. It’s a big jump to get in for little people like me.

John was so excited to unpack the steps.

Hey look, it’s me!

The steps were harder to install than expected. Teamwork pays off!

Once they were done, I got to be the guinea pig to make sure they were installed properly. No more leaping to get into the truck! Wheee!

Next up was our low water pressure issue. It has been a problem since we first bought this house, and was just getting worse. We have a well, so they took a look at the water pump, and Dennis knew just what was the issue.

It ended up just being like a $25 fix.

I’m pretty sure Dennis can fix anything you throw at him.

When he’s around, John fills the role that I usually have: supervisor/observer.

Our water is fixed – consistent and much stronger than before!

This calls for a victory cigar.

No cigars for Sharon and I, we just sat in the garage and chatted with the guys.

Oh, and they brought us an early Christmas gift: a portable Holland Grill!

This is John’s newest favorite thing. He is cooking almost every single meal on it. So of course I’m a fan!

Holland Grills are interesting contraptions. The drip pan is between the food and the flame, so the food can’t catch on fire. You’re supposed to keep the cover closed the whole time – it’s more like an oven than a grill. The food doesn’t get those char lines on them like they would with a regular grill, so I don’t think steaks on it would be the best. But it’s great for our favorite food, burgers, and get this: you can cook BACON on it. That was the first thing John had to try, and it was really good!

The grill actually didn’t come with a thermometer, so John and Dennis drilled a hole in the stainless steel and installed one of their own.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating delicious food and just catching up. We don’t get to see them often enough!

(When I was a little kid, I somehow got it in my head that Ann’s first name was Hoehne. So we still, to this day, call them George and Hoehne instead of George and Ann.)

It was their first time meeting little Adrianna!

And Adrianna even had a few firsts there….

Her first Nilla Wafer:

(Which she didn’t feel like finishing, so she just saved it for later.)

Then she decided that the pizza everyone else was having looked too delicious.

So she grabbed for it.

Yum, her first taste of America’s favorite food!

Austin enjoyed his pizza ok…

But his favorite part (and Jillian’s and my favorite part) was the raspberries for dessert!

The Hoehnes have grown raspberries in their backyard for years. We used to love going back there for a snack when we were kids, and every visit since then has involved either fresh or frozen berries!

It was such a fun time catching up. I’m so glad we were able to find time to make it over there!

A great example is Austin’s bedtime routine…

He LOVES playing in the bath.

He would stay there all night if you let him!

But the fun doesn’t end when he gets out of the tub.

Because then he gets to make faces in the mirror with Mommy:

And dry his hair off by himself. Gotsta look good for the ladies!

He continues to have fun making faces at himself while brushing his teeth:

And celebrates his clean teeth!

After getting his jammies on, he loves picking out a bedtime story:

And gathering the pillow and stuffed animals he wants to sleep with:

When he lets me (sometimes he insists on Daddy), I love getting to read the story and tuck him in.

What a fun kid.

Their parents are so stinkin’ lucky!

I still have more from my trip to Ohio to upload from my camera, but it’s all the way outside in my car and I’m lazy. Maybe later this week. :)

Jillian has a season pass (the kids get in free) and she let me use a 1/2 off coupon, so luckily I only had to pay $22.50 for admission. It’s sort of a lot for the 4 or so hours we were there, but I’m so glad we went. It was my first time at The Point with Aussie!

It wasn’t quite as cold as we appear to be in the pictures (we started out more bundled than necessary). Luckily, the sun was shining!

Just after we arrived, we caught the daily parade coming through. Austin liked the halloween costumes, and I liked the Ghostbusters float with a giant Slimer!

When the parade was over, Austin knew right where he wanted to go – to ride the cars!

He’s incognito!

After some fun on the kiddie rides at the front of the park, we stopped in the Snoopy Cafe (that’s what I call it anyway – I think technically it’s got some other name) for dinner. Basically just a Pizza Hut with Peanuts characters painted on the walls.

Austin kept us entertained.

He really loved his new Snoopy I bought him!

They were having a clearance sale at the Snoopy Store… anything you can fit in a bag for 10 bucks. We got all kinds of fun stuff. (I bet they’re giving away that stuff for free this weekend, since it’s the last of the year!)

Adrianna woke up to have some dinner too. No pizza for her quite yet, though!

I just love this kid.

Austin was excited to make his return to his first roller coaster, the Jr. Gemini! So far, he had only ridden it with his Aunt Caitlin. Now both of his Mommy’s sisters have had the privilege of taking him on board!

He loved it at the beginning and the end of the ride… but in the middle started freaking out a bit. I just held him a little tighter, and he was ok. He was even excited when they took us around a second time!

He’s getting so independent. He insists on doing everything himself – including exiting the ride!

I can’t wait for next year, when Adrianna can join in on the fun a little more! (And hopefully John will be able to come with us too.)

That’s one lucky Mama!

And I’m such a lucky Aunt!

Gabe and Halle make such a gorgeous couple!

The reception was as fun as expected, with our traditional family 500 Mile dance…

And this time, we threw in a TWIST! The girls all did a choreographed dance to Jai Ho! (You can barely see me in the back on the right for some of the shots.) It was super fun! Thanks to Heidi for coordinating and making the cool ribbons for our wrists. (And David for taking the video!)

Love burning up the dance floor with my sis Jillian! (Wish Caitlin would have stayed too.)

I managed to nab the tambourine that the Aunts were jamming with!

Jillian and Brit are always having fun! (I wish this photo were in focus. I’m a crappy photographer.)

Jillian and the Rents

Mom and two of her girls

Original 5, minus Caitlin.

I really missed having my Johnny there.

Such a fun night…we were all sad when it was over!

Lots more pictures here.

We stayed at a hotel right on the gorgeous beach. What a view!

The boardwalk was a lot of fun for our run on Saturday morning. There was a charity walk going on too, so we just sort of scooted around them.

On Saturday night, we walked around a bit, stopping in an arcade for some air hockey, football toss, and even a Photobooth!

(I hate that the first two pictures are exactly the same! We missed the fact that it was taking the 2nd photo. Doh!)

We celebrated my birthday dinner at a place our friend A.J. recommended, Catch 31.

It was fantastic.

We ordered a seafood sampler, which was HUGE, and really delicious. I did find that I am NOT a fan of mussels. Blech.

The lady next to us noticed us taking a bunch of pictures of each other and offered to take one of us together. I love when we don’t have to bug someone to do that. :)

The HER & King’s County shows were at a bar (Sharx) just a half a block from our hotel. Unfortunately, there weren’t many people there at all (touristy towns like this really suffer in a crappy economy), but we had a blast. H&KC’s music is so fun, it even gets JOHN out there on the dance floor. I was impressed.

The beer might have helped a bit.

The funny thing is, I only had 1 beer this night!

On both Friday and Saturday, we were there to shut down the bar! Us! John and Jacki, of the 10:00 bedtime fame! We both had such a fun time.

The band was nice enough to hang and chat with us too. Can’t wait to catch them again next time they’re in our area!

Check out more pictures of the weekend here.

PD was obviously VERY happy to make it to graduation day!

The bros

PD and his gorgeous girlfriend, Andrea

John and I, waiting for the ceremony to begin

Some of PD’s friends that made the trip down: Rob, Erin, and Pat

On the back porch of the beach house

Allan + Tanna and family happened to be vacationing for the week nearby (Isle of Palms), so we drove over to visit for a bit!

We walked around downtown Charleston with Dennis and Sharon for a while until it started raining!

Dennis and Sharon before dinner

We had dinner at 82 Queen in Downtown Charleston. This steak was just one of the MANY amazing things there. The She-Crab soup was a.ma.zing.

There are more pictures of the weekend here.

Love,
Your Family

Mom’s 50th Birthday! on Vimeo.