Applejack Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 10am McConnell is really fabulous about their morale programs for families with deployed members. This month's event was centered around Applejack Pumpkin Patch just on the east side of Wichita. This was the first time for both Rachel and I at a pumpkin patch and it has set the standards very high. The normal admission price for the pumkin patch is $6, and they have all sorts of games, rides, slides, a corn maze, and of course a pumpkin patch. They also have some food concessions available. The Heart's Apart group got a wristband and voucher ticket which allowed us to get into the patch for free, a pumpkin each for free, adults got a $5 concession voucher and kids a $3 voucher. This was good enough for me to get a cheeseburger and drink and Rachel to get a hotdog and drink while we were there.

I got a stranger to take a picture of us at one of the "kodak moments" set ups. (it turned out good except for being crooked)

Here's a picture of the farm. Across the field they were doing tractor rides, but you had to be at least 2 to ride. They also had a place where you could shoot a pumpkin out of a cannon, shoot paintball shots and pumpkins, and some other fun things. Behind us (outside of the picture) was a big playground for the kids. Rachel ended up standing in this one spot sort of spinning around just looking at everything.


This was our first corn maze...

We made it out, without too many dead ends.

Rachel and the pumpkin patch. Obviously we're getting towards the end of the season, so it was slim picking in the "free pumpkin" lot.

Rachel and her pumpkin. Mine is the green one on the ground. I really like this picture, I just wish she had been looking at me.

Our first hayride - back to the car we go after a fun-filled, and free morning!

McConnell Family Mobility Line

On Saturday, October 15, 2011, we took Rachel (and myself) to our first Family Mobility Line. The purpose is to show families how our heros prepare for deployments, but obviously they tried to make it a little more fun for us.

Isaiah with Rachel when we first got here. Everyone is still happy in this photo, that's how you know we had just got here. Rachel got a camo hat so the deployment could be more realistic.


Rachel and I - we were assigned to Chalk #3. Even though we got here right when they told us to - 10am. We were assigned to the 3rd group to proceed through the mobility line.





Isaiah was impressed that they were true to their word of showing how a mobility line works - having to wait in line for a long time. We ended up waiting outside in our chalks for an hour.



OK, now we're "marching" to the mobility building so we can get our intel briefings and then proceed to the jet. Notice Rachel did no marching.

Rachel was super excited about her dog tags.

Now we're on the bus to head to air plane.

Mom and Rachel outside of the airplane. As you can tell from our hair, it was a typical windy Kansas day. But other than that, I like this photo.

Rachel checking out the cockpit. Apparently there were a couple buttons and flashy lights that caught her attention. I don't believe it though.

All the jets here at McConnell. Since coming from MacDill its still impressive to me how big this 135 wing is and how many jets they have here.

Sep 09, 2011 Trip to the Zoo with Friends

My new Wichita friends, Jen Forness and Meg Massey joined Rachel and I with their babies to the Sedgewick County zoo. It was a beautiful fall morning and the kiddos seemed thrilled!

Baby cow

Right to left: Rachel, Rosalyn, and Wyatt. This part of the zoo is my favorite. It's completely enclosed and mimicks a rain forrest, so it is really humid. You get to walk along this dirt path and there are birds and bats that get to roam around freely. They have a river that runs the through the building that houses large catfish, river rays and other fish. They also have sloths, and caymen in this exhibit.

Right to left: Meg, myself, and Jen with our babies in front of the giraffe exhibit.

September 11, 2011

9/11 Never Forget...
It's hard to believe its been 10 years since 9/11/01. I remember going to Calculus class my freshmen year at Clemson and hearing people talking about some explosion that had gone on. When I returned to my dorm room afterwards it was the most eerie sight. Everyone's doors were wide open with the tv on and they were all on the same channel showing the twin towers on fire. What an omnious day that was. It is so compelling to relive the emotions of that day as if they were yesterday each year. My heart goes out to all those affected by 9/11.
This morning I dressed Rachel in patriotic gear and thought what a cute sight it would be to see if she could hold the American flag but I hope in the future she will understand the full meaning of the piece of cloth we take pride in.

Since we moved to KS, almost every morning I put the American flag up outside. Most mornings I take Rachel out there with me and say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing our National Anthem. I hope that one day soon she will be able to recite the words to both with me. It makes me so angry to think that people do not have the pride for our country that most of us grew up to have. We said the Pledge every morning, and I remember being in elementary school and learning to sing the national anthem and play it on the piano. I hope that pride in our country and sentiments towards all that the flag stands for do not get lost in all the Amendment rights and priviledges that young children are beginning to take advantage of today.

For everyone that reads this post, thanks for hearing my thoughts. If you or a loved one is currently serving in the military, thank you!

2011 Wichita Riverfest

You can barely see the banner across the street but this is the entrance to the festival. Isaiah was playing golf, so Rachel and I decided to go and check out what the big deal is.

The Wichita Riverfest is a two week long festival that has lots of parades, music acts, and lots of food vendors.













This is part of the Arkansas (Ar-Kansas as its pronounced here in Wichita) River. It was very pretty and really peaceful. I think it would be nice to go down and walk along the river on another occasion.















Rachel in front of areally cool waterfall type fountain.

I thought this float was funny. Back in Tampa during Gasparilla theres a giant pirate ship that they sail in the harbor and the parades all have ship replicas. I guess Wichita wanted in on the fun by creating this Wagon ship float to display.

Our First Camping Trip

Yay! Our first camping trip as a family...We went to Winfield City Lake near the small town of Winfield, KS. We rented an RV from Outdoor Rec and it was fabulous! We stayed from Friday through Monday and got to enjoy some family time and Isaiah and I got some individual time. He got to do some fishing and I got to put some puzzles together.

Isaiah caught lots of fish, including this really huge bass. It was so big we couldn't keep it in the bucket, so Isaiah set it free.

It was really hot, so we let her run around before bathtime with just a diaper on. She's a super funny girl!

Rachel and Polie enjoying some outdoor time. We bought Rachel her first camping chair and she likes it alot!

Below are some photos from Lake Winfield Resevoir swimming area. Rachel likes her float, it relaxes her alot and she enjoys watching all the other people swimming and having fun.

Happy 1st Birthday to Rachel

It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since Rachel was born. I remember last April 16th like it was yesterday.


Here's her big birthday cake that Rachel shared with everyone else.

For your enjoyment, here's the video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Rachel.

Here's Rachel thoroughly enjoying her first birthday cake!

Swan Lake

One of my favorite places back home is Swan Lake. This is the same gardens where Isaiah and I got married. We took Rachel there for the first time during our trip for her first birthday.

Rachel's birthday present

We will be leaving for SC in the next few days to celebrate Rachel's first birthday with the family. We decided to go ahead and get her birthday present this weekend to try out.

We picked out the Mickey Mouse 4-N-1 Ride Along. While she is little, it has a safety bar to keep her contained, and I can push it down the street. When she gets a little bigger, she can push it herself.

She really seemed to like the new toy. If you listen closely at the end of the video she is going "weeee".

Rachel "talking"

Rachel was talking up a storm this morning, so Isaiah decided to video it. Please excuse her hair - it got washed the night before, she had just woke up and we had been outside first thing and the Kansas wind had blown it everywhere.

Rachel eating spaghetti

Rachel loved her first bowl of spaghetti! If you listen closely you can hear her slurping the noodles down.

Sedgwick County Zoo - March 12, 2011

On March 12, 2011 we decided to check out the Sedgwick County zoo for the first time. We got annual passes so we didn't have to rush through any of the exhibits and can come back whenever we want. The zoo was really nice, alot of their exhibits are in large enclosed building, but nonetheless extrememly large and spectacular.

We didn't see everything the first trip, but here are the pics we got so far:

Flamingos Rachel checking out the flamingos.

Giant tortoise: these guys stood so still and moved so slowly they almost looked like statues.Rachel wasn't really interested in them.

The Jungle building was really neat, because they had the birds, mammals and other animals mingling amongst each other and us. There was a walking path for us, but the animals would come right up to you.

I don't remember what this bird was called but it was right next to us and kept making weird noises.

Rachel was checking out the weird bird.

The swan wanted Rachel to feed it.One of the grizzly bears was sleeping, but this one put on a show for us. He kept playing in the water, grabbing his feet, chewing on his paws and playing with a ball in the water.

Turkeys...

Bald eagles

Mexican wolves

Rachel and the buffalo

Mountain lion right in front of us

Rachel thought the geese were funny!