august update

Life is certainly busy here in the Rhinehart family.  We just said goodbye to Brandon's parents after a week long visit here to OK.  Everyone had a great time!

Carter is taking another session of swimming lessons this month and will finish up on Thursday.  I think we are finished with lessons for this year because of his school schedule.  Speaking of,  he begins school on August 21st.  We are going school supply shopping tomorrow and he has an open house next Thursday.

Brandon is getting busier with class right now and studying up for his midterm on Thursday.  He is heading out to 29 Palms towards the end of the month and then my mom is going to come visit  :)

Wesley is talking and making new sentences daily.  He is really getting his own funny personality.  His new favorite thing to do is sing  "scooby doo.. where are you??"

As for me,  I am training for a 5K on Sept. 5th,  and going to deep water aerobics every tues/thurs evening.  We have several birthday parties coming up in the next few weeks.. and a CCC coffee.  We have also been invited to join our neighbors for a weekly game night and we enjoy it so much.  Other than that...  81 days until graduation!

100

100 days to go until Brandon graduates!  (not that I am counting or anything).  It seems as time has totally stopped and the days are just dragging by.  We are trying to keep busy and that seems to be helping.  I know in a few months these long days will be just a distant memory!!

Pool Days

Carter just completed his first two week session of swim lessons at Rinehart gym.  His swim instructor Jason was super patient with him.  Carter started out being afraid of everything especially putting his head under the water and the white bar.  He did not want to jump in or float.  His teacher Jason did not give in to Carter's whining and refusing to do things.. and eventually he did everything  (except jump off the diving board).  We hope to get him into the August class as well... but definitely in September.

Our week has been busy with lots of social events and we are just relaxing this weekend.  We are almost at the half way point of our time here... before we know it Carter will be starting school!

Family Visit

My family arrived on July 3rd and left on the 7th.  We had a wonderful time showing them all things Fort Sill and Lawton.  Brandon and I cooked a grand 4th of July meal complete with red white and blue cupcakes.  The boys thoroughly enjoyed seeing family and countless hours swimming with Sissy in the pool at Laquinta.  We were sad to see them go,  but know we will be living much closer in a few months.

Carter started swim lessons this week.  He is afraid of most of the tasks his teacher gives him,  but is slowly warming up.  Wesley is full of toddler energy and is starting to show promising signs of potty training readiness.  I have been spending time prepping paperwork and making lists for yet another move.  While exercising, taking the kids to the pool, spraypark and playdates with friends.

   Brandon is getting busy very quickly.  He is the PT leader for his small group and is responsible for leading PT every morning usually around 0500-0600.  The most recent news is he has been tagged to fly out to 29Palms California for 11 days next month.  The unit he is supposedly going to will be training there next month and the Marine Corps would like him to go too.  This trip has caught us all off guard,  but he is excited.  We are still trying to get confirmation about him deploying to Afghanistan in November.  We are hearing so many different things from people here and the Regiment in Lejeune.  At this point I am preparing myself that he will deploy so there will be no surprises.  We secretly hope he will deploy to get it over with right up front.  We shall see!!!!

NC

Happy to share that we will be moving back to Camp Lejeune in November.  Brandon graduates 30 October from CCC and we will be getting to Lejeune as quickly as possible afterwards to hopefully get assigned a house.  There are indications that Brandon could potentially deploy to Afghanistan with a month of us getting there,  but we are waiting for further information to confirm this.  

After a lot of debating and seeking counsel of good friends/family,  we have opted to hold out for housing on mainside Lejeune....  and hopefully fulfill our dream to buy property in Cherry Grove Beach sometime next year.  I am thrilled to be closer to my parents.  There are so many activities for the kids to do at the beach and it is exciting to be able to spend our summers and weekends there relaxing away from base.  

As far as what is going on currently,  we are in full prep mode for my families visit this coming weekend.  I am so happy they are coming to visit over the holiday!  We spent much of this past week at the pool and spray parks since temperatures reached over 100 degrees most days.  I also registered Carter for pre-k at Lawton public schools.  He will be attending an elementary school only a few miles away from our home.  School starts August 21st!

We also ventured down to Wichita Falls, TX this weekend to check out things to do there.  We strolled around Target and the mall.  

Medicine Park with Daddy.

We spent Father's Day relaxing in the quaint town of Medicine Park.  Medicine Park is located only 15 minutes from where we live and holds quite a bit of history.  Marked with its cobblestone cottages, shops, restuarants and waterfall's,  it was the perfect background to celebrate Father's Day with Brandon.    www.medicinepark.com  to get a greater idea.

We started our morning walking along the creekside watching the water falls and seeing all the ducks.  Next we ate lunch at the Plantation House followed by a trip to an ice cream parlor,  then into the little shops along the way.  

After all that we headed back home to rest and then headed out to run a few errands.  Later we ended up at the pool with the Loomis family for a few hours.  

Brandon actually is out of the classroom this week and gearing up for hands on time with howitzers.

Father's Day Weekend

We had a fun day today with our favorite daddy at the Oklahoma Railway Museum in Oklahoma City.  We arrived and toured the museum that included several engine's and freight cars.  Next we took a train ride on a real "big" train.  They boys just loved the experience.  After our visit to the museum we took advantage of being in the big city and ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory,  followed by spending time in a huge beautiful mall with all the stores we love.

Last night we enjoyed an evening out with friends while the boys played at First Baptist.  

Happy Father's Day to all those special daddies in our lives.