Helmets, we don't need no stinkin' helmets!

Guess who got to hold the sign for her class?

So we were driving back to the hotel and saw this guy holding some big round thingy under his arm while driving his motorcycle, with no helmet! Of course he could take time to smile and wave also!

We went to the Aquarium, the kids had fun, it was pretty much the same as every other one we've been too!

Proof that every once in a while, a great while, they actually get along.....

Rumor has it Josh can get his own sign in. We will have to work on that.

Tomorrow we move into our new house, however we won't have internet until next week!

That's a hard floor!

From Josh...

No, we won't be sleeping on the floor. They will provide us with loaner furniture (lovingly referred to as "Boonie Furniture") until our stuff arrives. From what I hear, the stuff's not all that bad. Better than sleeping on the floor, anyway! (It's tile throughout!)

We're getting a house!

Yipee! As of Thursday we will have a house! We won't have anything to put in it for about two months but it's better then living in a hotel! First they told us it was going to end up being a couple months but thankfully someone decided to live off base and we were first on the list! Worked out nicely for us. They are brand new houses and everything is super nice inside. I've never seen navy housing with granite counter tops!

Here are some pictures from our hotel:

So for whatever reason they posted on top? Oh well!

Tomorrow is Grace's first day of school so more pictures to come!

We had to get out!

Through a company called "Tour of Duty", a service provided to inbound military members and their families, we were provided with a courtesy loaner car that we acquired this morning. So we ventured. We found that base, went to McDonald's and drove through the housing areas. We found Grace's new school, then went to the Navy Exchange and the Commissary to buy things that we can use and eat at the hotel without spending our life savings on room service. Then, whild Brianna was "supposed" to be napping, Grace and I headed for the pool. IT FELT GREAT!!! It was nice and cool. We also ventured into the ocean a bit by way of the beach access from the pool area. Upon our return, we discovered (with no surprise) that Brianna had not been napping, and Jeni's sinus problems have not yet subsided. We then decided to go on the hunt for a park. The "Express Services" counter informed us that if we get on the shopping trolley, it would take us to Ipon Beach (or whatever it was called) and there was a park with a playground there. So why not? Nice trolley, open air seating, full of Japanese tourists with a tour stop at K-mart which, by the way, is open 24 hours a day! (Apparently, the Japanese tourists are fascinated by this and ALL the tour busses stop there.) We get to our stop and were directed how to get to the park and where the bus picks us back up. HUGE park, small-ish playground, partly under renovation, or so it would seem. After the kids burned off some of the "Cabin Fever" they've been bulding up, we headed back for showers and a short walk to McDonald's for dinner, then back for bed. We put a movie on for them and they, and Jeni, were out in less than 15 minutes. I think I set a new record for wearing out the kids! Tommorrow, weather depending, looks like a day at the beach of snorkeling, paddle boats and floatie toys. Maybe I'll pull a Michael Phelps and break my own record again!

You have got to be kidding me

There is no Starbucks in Guam.

Not one.

It's just not right.

Humidity

Did you know humidity has a smell? I had no idea! I called it mildew but Grace calls it sweat. :)

Also it fogs up my sunglasses.

Sleepless in Tumon…

From Josh:


After arriving safe and sound, we headed to our first meal in Guam, Outback Steakhouse. We then settled down for the night since, well, it was bedtime…locally, not biologically! After 19 hours or so of flying, I don’t think any of us had trouble sleeping, however, my boss who met us at the airport called it, I was up at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I went for a walk to check out the hotel, which is very nice (as Westin resorts tend to be). I even went to the closed pool and down to the beach access and put my feet in the water! Now that I’ve checked out everything that I can (and everything but the front desk is closed at 3am) I’m back in our room on the 6th floor not sleeping and typing out a blog. I’ve never blogged before and now that we have one, I figure you’ve got to start somewhere! I can’t wait for places to open so I can get some coffee!

We made it!

Just a quick post. We made here with all our luggage and children! We almost didn't get on our first flight so we were wondering if the luggage would get here!

The girls did GREAT on all three flights! They could not have been any better so that was a relief .

The beaches look great and the water is clear but yikes they weren't kidding about the humidity!

Leavin' on a jet plane....

Well in a few short hours we will be on the first of our three flights that will get us to Guam. Wish us luck on the flight with the girls and prayers that all goes smoothly.

Thanks to family and friends we are loaded with fun new things for the girls!

It was nice getting to see everyone tonight but also hard to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. How about we change it to "see you later" since we will be back.

Maybe I can pretend it's an extended vacation? Sure that works for me, I'm going to call it a vacation and just say see you later...

Homeless...

Well it's official we are homeless. Josh turned in our keys tonight and everything not in this hotel room is on it's way to Guam. We have been spending the last couple of days making the rounds and saying goodbye's. Brianna seems to go along her usual chatty self but Grace is having a hard time. She is feeling unsettled and scared and is starting to not let me out of her sight. It will be nice when we get there and can get into a new routine.

Tomorrow night (wednesday) we are going to have our last dinner in Cali (for a while) at the food court at the mall if anyone wants to come feel free! We're meeting at 6pm.

Let the fun begin...

Ok I did it! Here we are with a blog. We will try to keep it updated with the happenings of our life on Guam. Right now I'm sitting in my living room while the movers are packing up my house around me. It's a bit surreal that we are really moving. I'm guessing it's because of the short notice, I like to think I'm more of a planner and this was not in my plan. All told though it is better to all be moving to Guam as a family then to have Josh have to deploy. I had told Josh before that I would be willing to move anywhere as long as he didn't have to deploy to a combat zone but I think I really meant I would live anywhere in Port Hueneme, or maybe I'd even go as far as saying we could live anywhere on the West Coast.

We are going to be staying in a hotel for the next three nights then on Thursday morning we will be heading out to Guam.

More to come on our new adventure...