The marine Corp Recruit Depot newspaper link

Believe it or not, the MCRD where jack is doing all his training has a weekly newspaper, and here is the link

http://www.mcrdsd.marines.mil/News/ChevronNewspaper.aspx

it is fun to see what is going on there and you get to see pictures of what the recruits are going through.

I thought this might be interesting for some of you.

Sky Diving in Iowa July 3rd 2012

These are  ideas you have one day and action them the next..Stacy and I decided this was on our bucket list..so lets do it. Allan was not having anything to do with jumping out of serviceable aircraft but he did come up with me, I landed before him :-)

allan practicing~

A and b practicing

we are ready to fly

Stacy and our tandem parachuter

In the plane and all excited

Stacy and i practicing

make sure it is tight!!!

How worried do they look..they did run out and watch us take off and land..

I am coming into land

Oklahoma City final stop

We went to Jann and Max for a barbeque on July 4th, with other friends, they had invited another family I knew from Stampin'Up which was wonderful. We then went to the University and watched a spectacular fireworks show, while sitting in chairs and drinking bubbly..a lovely day all round.

I can no photo's of that day..hmmm

but had not shared these of the boys at the farm..in the corn trailer, on the combine harvester and the barn..so more photo's of my wonderful boys

smashing Geocashes stones

thee ntrance to Iowa state capitol in Des Moines

in the Combine harvester

Alex in the wheel

This is the barn we stayed in..lots of fun

Iowa and staying at English Valley B and B

My friends Stacy runs a B and B, it is mainly used by hunters, and is very charming, they have done up the barn, and the main room have a king size bed, and then two smaller rooms with two sets of bunk beds in each, so the room actually sleeps 10..the boys loved it..

Doug found a snake and Alex was intrigued enough to hold it and put it around his neck..not me!!

The gator with Doug driving my boys..not long until they were off on there own

Inside the Senate

we went all the way to the top..I decided that was part of my marathon training

Stacy with her son Shane in the dome of the capitol

outside the Capitol, A, B and Shane

we tried an Iowa brew pub for lunch after the capitol building tour

Ben went riding..Alex was not so sure

the boys new favourite thing..a Gator by John Deere..they drove Allan all over the place.

On to Iowa, with a stop in Nebraska

We left early on the Sunday morning and drove all through Nebraska on our way to Iowa. We stopped at Lincoln to see the capitol building..a long day in the car for the boys, about 14 hours but they were great.

A and B posing for you all

Alex and Lincoln

The Governors residence

Still the road trip

We crossed the continental divide to go between Susan's home and Lisa's. We had to stay on the main highways as the wild  fires were causing havoc in Colorado this summer. When we were at Lisa's home we ahd ash dropping down on us as we sat on the decking in the evenings...so sad. it is a small community as well, so the fires hit home and hard.

Lisa nd I had girl time and the boys all went off and explored the miners museum and other museums..unfortunately they could not go on to the Air Force academy, as it was evacuated by the fires..but Alex wants to go to a summer camp there next year..as he is thinking of going to college there..he ( at the moment) wants to be in the Air Force

Yoda was a German shepherd puppy who Ben adored..Ben and animals..I expect him to be a vet..

our road trip, 3000 miles and 8 States

We went to stay with friends, Bill and Susan in pagosa Springs, CO, Lisa and Rik in Colorado Springs CO , Stacy and Doug in Montezuma , IO and Jan and max in Oklahoma city, OK

Such a great time, we went toobing, hiking in the Rockies, sky diving, visited 3 State capitols, saw the Oklahoma memorial and enjoyed so many great family meals and conversations.

This was us hiking in the Rockies, we went up Fourmile trail, it follows Fourmile creek and ends at Fourmile waterfall..very spectacular. It starts at an altitude of 8000 feet and ends at 10000 feet. We were all having to stop to catch our breath. the trail is only 4.5 miles long but there and back took us 5 hours just because of the terrain and altitude..in some places it was crazy climbing, and on the Colorado trail description this was a medium..heaven help a difficult!!!

people make parties

we had a great day, over 100 guests came and fun was had by all. We had a dunk tank, ice cream van, a water bouncy slide and lots of food for all. A candy floss machine ( cotton candy to the Americans) and I cooked beingets and Jo Hunter operated the popcorn machine..the pool was constantly full of people and i had a rotation of life guards so parents did not need to worry.