Vacation with Dad

Nate and Dad at the aquarium

Nate and Dad sleeping in on vacation The shark tank

Finally a vacation with Dad. Our weekend on Sanibel Island was a blast. Nate loved the beach and the baby pool that was just his size. Today we spent the afternoon at the aquarium, Nate loved the sharks and the turtles.






The baby pool just Nate's size

WELCOME HOME DAD

Yippee Dad is home. We have been having so much fun who has time to post.
We had a nice relaxing weekend with a trip to the beach, Nate and Carl spent had some alone time together while mom worked. This weekend we are off to Sanibel Island for a three day getaway.
Here are a few pics of the homecoming. The ballons were bigger than Nate. An american flag that was life size and yellow ribbon that was a twice as tall as Nate. He was so cute walking around the airport with his ballons and as soon as Carl got off the plane he handed the ballons to dad.

Uncle Jeff Visits!

Uncle Jeff was here for four days. We had a blast, two trips to the beach and Mom and Jeff even went out to a nice dinner while Nate was home sleeping. Nate loved Uncle Jeff, he loved to march when Uncle Jeff played the drum and thought his hairy legs were really fun to pull.
Well not much longer until Dad comes home yipppeeeee!

Hi everyone!

Hi honey, hi everybody! The days are really counting down now, not much longer 'till I get to play with Amy, Nate and the trouble-dog too! It's been a good tour out here but I'm definitely looking forward to being home again, it is tough seeing and hearing Nate develop and not being there for it, but luckily the time has gone by fast. I look forward to hearing from everyone when I get back, hope everyone's well!
Love, Carl

IT'S A..................................

EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD!

Nate was the first to know, I said " Nate you are going to have a baby sister, he pointed to my belly, he knows that is where the baby is. After he got out of his crib he went to his bookshelf and got the book I am a big brother, now that was weird! Everything looked good she is measuring the right size and will be here before we know it. I would post the ultrasound picture but I have been looking at it all day and still can't figure it out. Carl still does not believe me!
CARL SHOULD BE HOME SOON! A few more weeks!

Fun with Grandma

We had so much fun with grandma. Mom got to go swimming and take afternoon naps! Nate had a blast swimming in his pool, going to the park and he loved all the books Grannie read him. We just hope she enjoyed it as much as we did. Even she Nate was high energy! Okay well time for mom to get back to work, Nate wants to read.
we miss you dad and can't wait to see you soon
xoxoxoxo,
amy
P.S. Nates new words include, that-"dat", Thank you- "dank you"

Should I bring back some sand?

Hey honey, looks like it didn't take Nate long to get accustomed to Mr. Crab...now if we can only keep Bimini out of it too! He looks like he's having fun, I really miss you guys and can't wait to come home and play! Life's good here, things wrapping up in a little while and the light at the end of the tunnel, while dim, can now be seen! Other than that, just staying about as busy as always if not a little more so, although I found time to hit the pool today for 1 1/2 hrs - first time in 3 months and it was terrific!

I hope everyone's doing well - Granny sounds like she's also having fun, and I can tell from Nate's shrieks in the background when I call that he's enjoying Granny's visit! Thanks for helping Amy out!

Talk to everyone later,
Love,
Carlos

A CRABBY DAY

Hi Honey,
Check out Nate's new crab sandbox. We had a great day, off to the playground in the morning then spent the afternoon in the sanbox. To bad the day ended with a very bad fall on the driveway. Nate has a big bump on his head, a scratched nose , a nose bleed. It could have been much worse as bad as the fall was I am going to keep a close eye on him tonight.

We miss you and can't wait to see you soon!

Hello Hello

Fun at the beach
More fun at the beach
Nate is dancing to the music














Nate and Grandma at the beach having fun



Hi Honey,
How are you ? We are having a blast with Grandma. It is hot here but we have spent some time at the beach and the pool. Today we will do something inside as soon as I get some work done. Nate loves to have very long conversations with Grandma it is so cute, not exactly sure what he is saying but he is saying alot. We miss you and can't wait to see you soon.
Love ,
Amy , Nate , Grandma

hi carlos!

hey carlos!
how are ya? all is well here...i'm out in sc visiting carolyn & her little girl, reagan. her & carlie are having a blast. carlie's latest...she says tank-youuuuuuuu for everything...& good giwwllll (girl)...too funny! right now she is napping, supposedly. the phone was just ringing & i heard her saying hello from her crib! too funny! july 4th weekend was fun, busy too! we went in the boat sat, sun & mon. by tues, the 4th, we were worn out & hung out at home! floated in the pool & recooped (sp?) from the busy days! i'll post pix when i get home to nc. my digital camera has died since i've been out here, so am hoping to shop around & find a new one, asap! anyway, just wanted to drop you a line & say hi, & let you know we were all thinking about you! looking forward to visiting in october! take care:)
love,
carenos

Oh what a day

Well we have some good and some bad days yesterday was one of those bad days. It all started when I took Nate to work, it was during his nap and my three meetings ran longer than planned. Nate was not happy about it and started screaming it was so embarrasing. Anyway after a missed nap he was not in the best mood. So many things went wrong I can't begin to mention them all but I got my first bloody nose, this is after mom got the bleeding to stop I would not let her touch me so I walked around with face paint until she cornered me. I am saying so much these days. Mom is not sure exactly what I am say but we have long conversations. Here are a few pics, one of me watching the rain. Dad this crib is getting small might be
time for a big boy bed!

Mom left me alone in my room for 30 seconds and I hurt myself, I am all better now

A lazy day watching the rain!

COME HOME DAD!!!! COME HOME DAD! COME HOME DAD!

WE MISS YOU!

No-longer-so-mini-P

Wow Nate's growing like a weed! I'm glad you had fun on the 4th honey! It was just another long day here, but luckily no fireworks haha!

Pops, thanks for typing a message (and finally figuring it out!)! Glad you're getting out and about so much, I'm sure the girls are looking forward to having you visit. Don't forget to plan in your late-fall Fla trip as well, Oct is perfect (as long as there's no hurricane on the way).

Other than that, not much news here just missing Amy and Nate like crazy (and yes the trouble dog too!) and counting down the days until I get home. I had a great two-week experience here during late June/early Jul - can't type much about it here but will tell you about it when I get back. I hope everyone had a good and safe July 4th and I'll talk to you soon!

Love, Carlos

Chris (Grumpa) Says.....

Carlos, let me try again, this time I'll add a comment!!! I've tried to add to your blog about three times with no sucess, so Caren suggested adding a comment. So much has hapeened including my trip to see George who I am glad to tell you actually played mini-golf for the first time in two years. We went to see Chris and Anna last weekend and had a delightful time on the beach at 100 degrees,it weas just a bit hot. On Monday I'm going to NC to see the girls, should be fun. I decided to stop this time so will have a stolen day, leisurely ride to SC, a nice hotel with a nice swim, a good meal and a good night in a king size bed followed by a lazy drive to pick up Caren who's staying with Caroline in Union SC. A whole day of peace!!!!. How are you doing, working hard I expect and looking forward to home.We are having tiles laid in the kitchen, laundry and breakfast area, easy enough but beyond my knees therefore vast expense!!Love you CarlDad

Another week yeah

Nate has been learning his ABC's on the frig. Nate and Mason had fun playing in the baby pool on the 4th. We had so much fun on the 4th, the picnic was so yummy!






Nate in his 4th of July outfit.













Nate so big!

Counting the days

Hi Honey,
It is a rainy day here. I am at work on a confrence call so I am muti-tasking. I shoudl be done by noon and then I am going to take mini-p to get a hair cut. Speaking of hair do you have any? We are so happy it is finally July we thought it would never get here. I will update the blog later with some pictures I took this week so standby.
we miss you
xoxoxoxooox,
me

Hi Carl!

Hi Love,I feel very mean as have not thanked you for my sweet birthday card it was very much appreciated.I am about to leave work at 11am on Sunday 2nd July and we have been invited out in the boat with Caren & Teddy which will be great fun. Don't get to do that often. I am going to see Amy and Nate in just over a week getting to her on Wed.12 or possibly 11th depending on how far I can drive.Looking forward to it very much going to spend a week with them.Stay safe,Lots of Love, Mum xoxox
10:49 AM

Happy 4th

Nate chasing birds at the beach, He is trying to walk like the seagull. Look Dad I have climbed to new heights I can make it to the second shelf now. Since mom wasn't proud I am proud of myself!

Mom wants the food on the spoon to go in my mouth but thats no fun so I put it on the floor. As for the peaches in the picture on the right, can you see them. Mom put them in front of me but I move them as far away as possible. I do not want them to contaminate my crackers. The lady is crazy if she thinks I will eat them. She put one in my mouth and I almost died I had to scream for ten minutes and even cry tears. Please come home and save me dad!














Mom gave me this nutrigrain bar, is she crazy I am not eating this thing. I will touch it and make a funny face but no way will I eat it!

Hi Honey,

You can see we didn't get very far in the eating department this week. After a promising bite of cheese nothing else in solid form has passed through those lips. We have managed to climb to new heights and even had some really good falls. A few scary ones for mom including falling off the bed and hitting his head on th end table. Don't worry about me dad I am tough! Well we are counting the days now honey. Not exactly sure how many days to count but we are counting them. Grandma O is coming to visit in a week and we are very excitied about that, Nate loves G-ma time and so does mom. She is dreaming about trips to the swimming pool! Be safe , come home now!

xoxoxoox,

Amy , Nate and micro-p

Still no movement from micro-p should be any day now

Hola Carlos!

Hello mein bruder!
how are you? not long now, you must be getting excited to see amy & nate! we are too! in october:)) & we sure will be glad to know you are home... do they do anything for you guys for the 4th? special chow at least?? guess no fireworks...

we had a fun day yesterday...(sat)...teddy went fishing in the am w/richie & jason in his boat...offshore a little ways & caught 11 dolphin! that was fun, so fresh mahi for dinner tonight i think:) then they came in at 1 & picked me, carlie, lauren & kristi up (wives, girlfriends, baby!) & we went out until about 6 then came in & swam in the pool! it was fun! cooked out london broil & mahi & donovan & kristine & sam (their little girl) & charlotte, rodney & riley (their little girl) all came over. unfortunately carlie missed seeing her buddies at night b/c she was snoring by the time they got here! but it was fun! mom & michael are coming out w/us today...was hoping claire & gang & lindley & shell, etc might make it out today also, but not sure. depends how her weekend is going w/the tall ships. beaufort has been pretty crazy...saw some of it on tv yesterday...the parade of sail...but missed the big ones..

anyway, just wanted to drop you a line..it is 7 am & i was on my way to get carlie from the crib...she's ready to play!!::)) so sweet! will post pix later:)

love ya, miss ya,
carenos, carlios, teddrico

Hi Carl

Hi Carl,
Sorry not to have posted lately but have been very busy and not much news. Of course my idea of busy is a little different to yours!!! We have spent a few days at the camper, thought we would get it in before the ships come. This week is all checkups so nothing exciting will get the results on Thursday. I am planning to go see Amy and Nate next month, can't wait to see them I love all the pictures, he is so like you were at that age. Well love will post again after the weekend. Take care of yourself and stay safe.Lots of Love Mumxoxoxox
2:28 PM

Travel Plans:)

hola carlos!!
yippee!!
flights are booked! amy called to say southwest had a fare special from raleigh to tampa...so me & teddy & carlie are coming oct 5 early am until the 9th...& mom & michael are coming oct 19-24...hope you meant it about wanting company! i am so excited to come & see ya!! just a quick note...it's past my bedtime but wanted to tell you about our plans! i think i forwarded the itineraries to your email! take care! we miss ya!
olive juice,
caren
ps - be on the lookout for another package, mailed this past tuesday!

BREAKING NEWS

At dinner tonight Nate ate a piece of cheese! To many of you this would not seem amazing for a 14 month old but Nate has never let anything pass through his lips except ritz crackers and cheerios!

Janicki Environmental Beach Weekend

Nate was tired even when he woke up.
Here is Nate playing in the sand after dinner, all dressed up.

We told Nate he looked sexy in his hat he had to go look at himself in the mirror.

Aunt Ali and Nate show off their hats!


Hi Honey,
Here is your blog. Working 20 hour days, that can't be healthy. Are we that under staffed over there that people have to work 20 hour days, thats crazy! Don't sacrifice your health for dumb decisions made by people sitting in D.C. getting sleep every night, its not worth it. Okay enough of that, wow we had a great weekend . Longboat Key is a beautiful place. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny with a nice breeze in the afternoon. Our room was on the first floor so during nap time Ali and I sat by the pool sipping drinks and eating chips and salsa. Perfect. We had an amazing dinner both nights thanks to the Janicki's. It was a great time. Poor Nate we were so busy he is so tired. It is 8:00 am and he is still sleeping. I got him out of bed at 5 am this morning to take Ali to the airport and he was such a trooper.

Okay well Carl hope you like the pics, we miss you so much we are going to start counting the days. It will be more fun when we can count the minutes till you get home. Stay safe and get some sleep.

love amy, nate and micro-p

Quick hello

Hi honey, I hope you are posting tons of great pics from the Janicki beach weekend today while Aunt Ali's still there to entertain the little man! I hope you've had a great weekend, I bet it was a blast and it certainly sounded like it when we spoke. I miss you and the little man!

Hi everyone else, I hope everyone's doing well. Staying busy here, have slightly switched jobs which is keeping me even busier than before, working around 18-20hrs a day and sometimes more. But, it'll only be for a short time and then I'll get some sleep. I'm having a great time, though, and getting some great experiences (and yes, I'm staying safe as well!).

Well that's about it for now, will be in touch later. Post a comment when you get the chance!

Love,
Carlos

hola

Wow, the little guy is growing like a weed SLOW DOWN dad wants to be there to play with you!!! Honey can't you tell him to slow down and not grow so fast so I can be there!

Amy, mini-P, and Aunt Ali are all having a great Janicki Environmental beach weekend this weekend at Longboat Key, what fun! I'm at the beach too, but it's just not quite the same here I must admit.

Big congratulations to Teddy for such a great finish in the Big Rock - I'm sure it only whets the appetite for next year! Definitely sounds like he's fishing with the right crew!

Okay, time for a shower and some sleep, will talk with everyone later,
Love,
Carlos

Another week

Hi Dad ,
I was a good boy this week, I didn't have a single tantrum since Sunday. Okay well no major ones just the usual. I even stopped climbing on the table. I made moms day yesterday I said MA MA MA . I didn't really say it to her but the words came out of my mouth. Don't worry the next thing I said was DADDDDY , I say that all the time. Okay well I really miss you and can't wait for you to come home. Mini-p.




Hi Honey,
It is getting closer but not close enough. The week seemed to go by fast. A few sleepless night so I am hoping for some sleep tonight. Nate has had a cold the past two nights and the congestion has made it hard for us to have a good nights sleep. Aunt Ali flys in tomorrow at noon for the Janicki Beach Weekend . I can't wait. I wish you could be here. We will take lots of pics and video. We miss you lots.
love,
Amy and Nate and micro-p

hola carlos

hiya!
just wanted to send a quick note to say hi! have been busy this week...worked mon-thurs (woe is me:)) & just seem to have been on the go! have checked in on the blog, but hadn't had a chance to send ya a note! have been thinking about ya though! hope you are well...stay on that base boy, & stay safe! no more baghdad outings please (if you have a choice!). anyway, teddy finished up w/a good week for the big rock! won 1st place tuna & 2nd place wahoo for the tournament...about $20k for the boat...about $4500 for him...not a bad week! maybe this fishing hobby is okay after all! we got to go to the awards banquet...never done that before! so a great tournament anyway! now beaufort is gearing up for the pepsi sail tall ships...expecting 100,000 people here for it in beaufort! should be interesting! june 28-july 5... okay, gotta run for now, but will post again soon w/new pix!
miss & love ya! stay safe! not long til you come home now::)))
olive juice,
carenos

hey everyone

Hi honey, hi everyone, what's new in the real world? Things remain surprisingly busy here - you'd think they would've slowed down a little after the events of the last few weeks, but they've probably only sped up instead. But, it makes the time go by quickly, and I am definitely counting down the days until I am home with my family again.

Speaking of family...Happy Birthday Pops! Ole Grumpa turns...holy moly, it's 66 this year! I'd like to say that I hope my card's on time...but I know it's a fair certainty that instead it's pretty late...but, at least it's already on its way! Oh well, better luck next year...or maybe Christmas!

I hope this finds everyone well. I'm pretty tired and am going to hit the bed now, but will try to type more in a day or two.

Love,
Carlos

hi from dad

Hi everyone, thanks for the father's day wishes. Honey my pancakes were yummy....except you didn't save me any haha! Wow nate gave you a good one the other day, he even had to lay down it was so serious! Looks like we have a little climber on our hands, I could hear him laughing at how much fun it was to make mom nervous by standing on the ottoman! Funny - at least from here, maybe not so funny when you're trying to keep him safe.

I hope everyone else is doing well. I checked the big-rock web page every day, hope it was as fun there as it looked from here. Not too long now, the days are counting down and I look forward to being home soon. Will talk to everyone later, time for bed as it's almost 6 and the sun is coming up...

Love,
Carlos

Cathie Opava said...

Hi Love,Have been thinking about you so thought I would send a quick note. Happy Father's day for tomorrow, hopefully you will be home for it next year but at least you know we are thinking of you. Not a lot of news my end. We went to the camper Thursday after work and had wine on the dock it was a beautiful evening. Mike is enjoying working in the campground. I went home to feed the cat after work yesterday afternoon but no sign, usually he comes when I call him so will check again today. We are trying to spend weekends there as the evenings are lovely on the dock. I haven't told Charlie about Spunky because he would just tell me that a car made him go splat!!!.Love you, stay safe.Mum xoxoxox
1:49 PM

Happy Fathers's Day

Lets hope we don't have any more of these today!
I love to put cheerios in my wrench and then look to see where they went!

I can climb and stand on the ottoman it makes mom very nervous and then I have a temper tantrum when she makes me get down, its lots of fun!

Hi Honey,
We wish you were here. We got up this morning and made you pancakes and sausage they were yummy. Claire and Blythe walked over and had breakfast with us. Well another week whew this one was tough. The AC broke, I hurt my knee, and this morning Nate was horrible he had 10 tantrums before 8 am. I hope the afternoon is better. We miss you. I just got done making you a cute DVD of nate clips it will be in the mail tomorrow so be on the lookout. Okay here are a few pics of the little guy I even took one of his not so nice moments!