Our Bags Are Packed

I'm sitting in my living room with my feet propped up. My laundry is done and my house is clean. I spent most of the past two days getting ready for vacation. I don't ever remember actually being ready to go this far in advance.

We depart Corpus Christi tomorrow morning. Our first destination is Burleson where we will spend the night with Danny and Jeanne. On Thursday afternoon, we fly out of DFW to Anchorage, Alaska where we will spend the night. Very early on Friday morning we will board the Coastal Classic Railroad for a scenic trip to Seward. In Seward we will board the Celebrity Millennium for a seven night cruise.

Ports of call are Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and Vancouver. Our cruise route will include Icy Strait Point and the Hubbard Glacier. We have also booked an excursion on the White Mountain Pass and Yukon Railroad.

As long as I can remember I've dreamed of going to Alaska. This is a bucket-list trip for us. We'll be gone a total of 12 days. By the time we return we will have traveled in cars, planes, taxis, buses, trains, cable cars, an inclinator, and a cruise ship.

I will take my computer along so I can keep a daily travel journal, but I won't be publishing a blog while we are gone. While the cruise line does offer an internet package, it is expensive, and other travelers report that it is spotty at best. So, other than an occasional picture from my phone when we're on shore, I will be unplugged for the next two weeks.

We Blinked

Wasn't this just yesterday?

All of a sudden this happened.

Lookout world, here comes June! She's definitely ready for kindergarten. Is kindergarten ready for her? She does everything with gusto and enthusiasm. There is no doubt that she thinks she can do anything her big sister can do. Most of the time she can. I'm pretty sure she's going to be running the world some day.

Hello Again

I know it's been months since I posted. So let's start with a little bit of catch up.

Since I was here last Ezra turned 7 years old in February. This was the first year we didn't go for her birthday party. She had a roller skating party. We did, however, go for her actual birthday. That day was just a family celebration. She has now lost several teeth and is finishing up first grade. She is the spitting image of her mother in looks and temperment.

June turned 5 in April and had a cowgirl-themed birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. She's about to graduate from Pre-K at her private school to kindergarten at the same public school that Ezra attends. She is a firecracker. She thinks she can do everything her big sister can do ... and she usually can.

We did go to San Antonio for June's birthday party which was followed by their school's spring carnival. The weather was perfect and we spent the entire afternoon on the playground.

Ezra and June, along with their friend, Arabella, made their karaoke debut. They actually did very well. I really thought they might have stage fright, but they didn't. They stood in front of the crowd and sang the entire song.

Last weekend both girls learned to ride their bicycles without training wheels. Katy reports that they used a "balance bike" and it took less than 24 hours for both of them learn.

The twins are four months old. They now weigh in at more than 15 pounds each. They are hitting the usual milestones, sleeping well, and laughing a lot. I have finally learned how to tell them apart, most of the time. But I have to see both of them.

No matter where they start out, they end up sleeping close together.

Marie has returned to work in the past two weeks. The twins are cared for at home by a nanny. Nick gets about an hour of Daddy time with them in the afternoons before Marie arrives home. We face-time with them a couple of times a week and we try to see them in real life at least once every 4-6 weeks. We want them to know us and be comfortable with us.

Last weekend we celebrated with family when our niece Camey graduated from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with a BS in Environmental Science. She has worked hard for this accomplishment and we are all so proud of her. Graduation was held at our local convention center which, for security reasons, doesn't allow bags inside. Therefore, I arrived without my glasses and without my camera. This is the best picture I could get with my phone. We were seated in the top tier of the arena.

TAMUCC is known as "The Island University." Their team mascot is Islanders. The leis worn at graduation  are part of that Islander tradition. Camey graduated Cum Laude and has now moved on to job hunting. We are confident that she'll find a great job and her future will be bright.

Patrick and I are still doing great. This weekend we will meet Danny and Jeanne and some of the Valenta cousins in central Texas to visit a couple of wineries and enjoy some down time. Nick and Marie will come over to Moulton on Saturday afternoon to join us for dinner and bring the twins for a visit. We're looking forward to that.

I'm seven working days from the end of another school year. We'll finish up at noon next Friday. On June 1, Patrick and I will leave Corpus Christi for a vacation trip to Alaska. It's a long way, about 4,500 miles each direction. We'll be gone twelve days. The trip will include planes, trains, cruise ships, cable cars, and automobiles. This is the trip we gave each other in celebration of our 40th wedding anniversary last November. We are so excited. Don't worry, you'll be getting a day-by-day recap at some point. This is one of my "bucket-list" items.

I am committing to resurrecting this blog as much as possible. So look for more entries soon.