Pumpkin Patch

Dan had a three day weekend for Columbus Day, so we took advantage of Military Appreciation Day at the local Pumpkin Patch. I have fond memories of going to the Venetucci Farm on a cool crisp fall day to pick out a pumpkin. Needless to say searching for a pumpkin in 90 degree heat was not too reminiscent of my childhood experiences.

The heat aside, we had a good time getting lost in the HUGE Maize Maze. Jackson was not sure what to make of the maze, but seemed to enjoy his ride on Dad's back.

We headed out on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch to find Jackson a pumpkin. We found one just his size. Of course I couldn't help snapping a couple of pictures while we were out there.

All in all it was a good day despite the blazing heat. Good News! Cooler weather is headed in this week! IT IS ABOUT TIME IT STARTED TO FEEL LIKE FALL!

A Lot Of Catching Up To Do

So I have failed miserably at updating this blog. Things have really picked up here in VA and we have become really busy. Here is a little of what has been going on...

Dan went to the field for a week about two weeks ago. They will go to the field about 4 more times before the end of TBS. During their time in the field the 2nd Lt all take turns executing an attack order they wrote. Dan was first up out of all the 2nd Lt and he did great. His scores came back stating he was above average and executed well. It was a big ego booster for him. It is coming down to the time for to choose his MOS (Military Operational Specialty) or in civilian terms, job. The order changes everyday, but here was the top five as of last I knew: Ground Intelligence, Infantry, Tracks, Tanks, Combat Engineers. Each different possibility could take us to a number of places at the end of TBS. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

I have joined two different Bible studies, one through Women of the Chapel (a base organization) and one through the church we have been attending. Jackson loves spending time with the other kids while I am in class. But along with other kids comes other germs. We have both been fighting off a little cold the past week.

Other than the cold Jackson is growing like a weed. It is fun to watch him learn new things every day. His favorite word is "Yah". In fact, he says it so much the girls in childcare thought he should be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for Halloween. Here are a few pictures I took this morning. He still isn't crawling, however he can get himself where he wants to go by rolling and doing a modified Marine crawl. No teeth yet either.

We have a new addition to our extended family. My cousin Ted and his wife Lara had a little girl on Saturday. Her name is Ellery Trellis Moore. She weighed 8 lbs 9 oz! She has experienced some seizure activity and has been transferred to another hospital in Chicago. After an MRI they discovered she has a small brain bleed. It is unknown at this time what permanent affects this will have on her. Please pray for her! Lara is still at the hospital where she delivered and has been unable to see Ellery in two days. My heart hurts with them as I remember what it is like to have a little one in the NICU.

I know this probably doesn't go into as much depth as you would like about our life here. I am rededicating myself to updating this more often.

Lobster Anyone?

Here are some pictures Marilyn took of Jackson and the Lobster. It is a cape tradition to have a lobster and champagne brunch the morning after the big bake. Jackson wanted in on the fun so we introduced him to one of our lobster friends.

Cape Cod 2007

What an incredible adventure! We had so much fun at Cape Cod this weekend!

Let me first give you a little background on where we were and to the best of my ability the history of the Cape house.

The Cape House is located the the upper cape area of Cape Cod. If you look at the map the house is located just south of the Pocasset. It sits on Handy Point in the Red Brook Harbor. The house was build in 1928 by the Allen Family. How are they related to the Jernigan's you ask? Good question! Here is what I can gather. The house was build by Talbott Allen. Talbot's sister is Jean Jernigan, Dan's paternal grandmother. Talbott passed away last year and his son Langdon and his family are the caretaker's of the property. SO Langdon is Dan's dad's cousin. So there are lots of cousins involved, so many in fact, I cannot keep straight the relationships. So I think I have the lineage right, but please correct me if I am wrong.

The house is located on a large plot of land that faces Red Brook Harbor. There is a large grass area the leads into a sandy beach then right into the harbor. What a beautiful setting.

The house is still in it original 1928 splendor, so with age comes some quirks. The most noticeable is the bathroom flushing habit one must adopt when staying at the cape house. The house has a very small and very old septic system which must be treated with tender love and care. This tenderness includes not over loading the system which translates into not flushing as often. So the saying goes "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down." When staying at the cape house one must also become accustom to showering in the great outdoors and learn to do so with Daddy Long-leg spiders looking on. This makes for a refreshing and QUICK shower. But all the quirks are worth the relaxation and great memories made with family.

The whole weekend is centered on The Bake. The preparations begin several days before and end in LOTS of food! I will take you through the steps of a traditional Calm Bake.

Step One:

Dig a HUGE hole in the beach and line it with rocks

Step Two:

The night before the bake collect garbage bags full of kelp. Dan's Uncle Bruce was the Kelp Master and I do have to say he did a mighty fine job determining exactly how much kelp was needed for the bake. Way to go Bruce! Don't think this sounds like a hard job? It is! Uncle Bruce had to determine exactly how mush kelp would be needed because if it came time to lay the bake and there was not enough kelp the whole bake is ruined! So hats off to Uncle Bruce and his minions who collected the kelp.

Step Three:

The morning of the Bake, light a HUGE, HOT fire. Langdon is the Bake Master and is in charge of the fire and the rest of the actual bake. He piled on wood, charcoal, kindling, and LOTS of lighter fluid into the rock lined pit and lit it up! The fire is kept going for several hours as it heats the rocks in preparation for the bake.

Step Four:

The corn must be gathered and set adrift in the water. Brady was the one deemed responsible for the corn. He carefully tied up the burlap bags of corn and drug them out into the water and assured the anchor was secure. Securing the anchor is an important step, one that was forgotten one year and the corn was found floating several hundred feet off shore in the middle of the harbor. Good Job Brady!!

Step Five:

The steamers must now be prepared. They are wrapped in a gauze like material and tied in bundles to be put in the bake. Great Job Dan!

Step Six:

When the fire has reached the peak temperature as determined by the Bake Master and the appropriate gear has been gathered (kelp, lobsters, corn, clams, canvas, & tarps), the bake is ready to be laid.

FIRST LAYER - Kelp - the kelp immediately begins to pop ans sizzle when it is thrown into the hot rocks. The water pockets of the kelp are what heat up to create the steam that steams the lobsters, corn, & steamers.

SECOND LAYER - Lobsters - 65 Lobsters were thrown on the bake. Having never cooked a Lobster before I was a little taken aback when they were STILL MOVING!!!

THIRD LAYER - Kelp - More kelp is thrown down covering the STILL MOVING lobsters.

FOURTH LAYER - Corn & Steamers- The sea water soaked corn is piled onto the bake along with the bundles of steamers

FIFTH LAYER - Kelp - The pile is completely covered with kelp.

SIXTH LAYER - Canvas & Tarp - The whole pile is the sealed with a canvas and a tarp.

Step Seven:

After the appropriate cooking time as passed, again the cook time is determined by the bake master, the layers of kelp are scraped away and the corn, steamers, & lobster are removed. I believe the Bake Master determined an hour and a half was a sufficient cook time for this particular bake. When the lobsters are removed they were passed to the cutters (Dan and his brother Michael) to be sliced from chest to tail then plated for all guest to enjoy.

So there you have it the ingredients to a Cape Cod Clam Bake. We truly enjoyed our time in Cape Cod and look forward to going back. Enjoy the pictures! There will more pictures I am sure once I get the ones from other family. There are some pictures of Jackson with a lobster Marilyn got that she said were adorable. So look for more to follow.

Goin' On A Trip

Today I am helping Mommy pack for our trip to Cape Cod. I finally get to see all my cousins on Daddy's side of the family. Grammy will be there too. YIPPY!

Uncle Michael (that's Daddy's brother) got back from Iraq a few weeks ago and will get promoted to Lieutenant Colonel tomorrow. I am excited to meet him, he sounds cool. Brady & Hunter Grace and Aunt Drew will be there too! More cousins to love!

Uncle Keith is back from flying fighter planes in Iraq and he will be there too! Aunt Julia (Daddy's sister), Aiden, Kendall, and Claire will be there too! We had so much fun playing together last time they were Colorado.

We are going to do something called a Clam Bake. Not sure what it is, but Mommy bought me a new outfit just special for it. It says "little digger" on it, THAT'S ME! Hopefully I will get to help Daddy and his Uncle Bruce do something with kelp and I think there is lobster too. Whatever it is, we should have fun!

I get to see the ocean for the first time too! I am pretty excited to see big water...not sure if I am brave enough to go swimming though.

We leave tomorrow morning and Mommy seems to be a little stressed out. I have promised to be a good boy, but she is still worried I will cry a lot. I am going to try to be good...really I am.

Talk to you after our trip! Have a good holiday weekend!

Parenting Puzzle???

We had our very first official play date...needless to say it was an adventure! Jackson found a girlfriend. Ella is a seven month old little peanut. I am kicking myself for not bring my camera the two of them were adorable. Jackson LOVED his time in the swings! I had a great time chatting with other mommies swapping stories. It is always nice to talk with someone who talks back in a language you can understand.

Along with the good times I have come along my first parenting puzzle. So, all you experienced parents and those who aren't what do you do when someone else's child is OUT OF CONTROL and the parents are doing NOTHING about it. For example, there are two children, wait make that three, who engage in a whole slew of bad behavior, hitting, BITING, and taking toys from the babies all while the parents are looking on. WHAT??? SO, seeing that the parents are not going to do anything to correct their behavior what should I do?? HELP?? Any thoughts??

L.I.N.K.S.

I just spent the last two days attending a L.I.N.K.S class. The class is put on by volunteer Marine spouses for new Marine spouses. The classes introduce you to the history of the Corps, the ends and outs of the base, the low down on military moves, military pay and entitlements, deployment information, and the career of their Marine spouse. Although I am a veteran spouse to the Corp, it was a great refresher and really motivated me to keep persuing my passion of working with military families to make their lives easier. I believe it all starts with education and that is exactly what this program does.

I have signed up to volunteer as one of the mentors/presenters and will go through the mentor training in September. And the best part is at all the events they provide FREE childcare! Jack loved playing with all the other kids and was the best baby! He certainly got his need for a lot of social interaction from his dad.

Guess What?? I was the participant in the class who has been married the longest! I had no idea five years and eight months of marriage could gain me so much senority and make me feel SO OLD! I am just glad to she the youngans get the information now at the beginning of their marriage!