Lower 48

Molly and I have made the trip to the lower 48 to visit family while we wait for the phone call from Jon saying he is one his way for our mini-vacation. The Army lets you come home for 2 weeks if you are deployed for a year and so we decided to meet in Texas where it is warm, there is good food, you can easily drive to fun places and Jon can run outside without getting frostbite.
While we wait Molly and I are visiting family and friends. We have seen all the grandparents/aunts/uncles and cousins who live in the US (sorry Brian) and will be going to see my grandparents, aunts and uncles this week in Tennessee. My mom and her sister are meeting to sell the Key family farm.
Molly will get to go on many flights in the next few weeks and I am thankful to know that if I put her on the ground below my feet she will close her eyes and go to sleep. Let's hope she continues to be a good traveler - she hates her car seat but she loves going places - oh boy!
Here are some picture highlights from the past week.
Aunt Jenn feeding the goats at the Reston Zoo. Molly wanted some of that tasty looking food but Grandma McP won't let her.

Just monkeying around.

Grandpa McP, Grandma McP (with Molly in her arms) and Aunt Jenn. Molly isn't getting spoiled or anything during this trip (note sarcasm)

Molly's first sheep encounter - not so sure about these animals she is much more used to moose, bears and whales.

Molly, Aunt Jenn and I went to the Baltimore Aquarium. This is them in front of the shark teeth. Word to the wise - the 4-d movie experience means they blow water and air on you. Please note when bringing a small child who is tired it is best not to put them in front of the water blower - the surprise water on their face makes them a little unhappy. Also when the air blows on the moms feet (making you think a snake and rats are getting you) and she jumps and almost drops the child that also upsets them. Aunt Jenn was nice enough to let us leave the experience early b/c I kept jumping and Molly kept waking up crying.

The dolphin show - much more our speed. Nothing crazy coming at you.

Molly and I in the water fountain at the Inner Harbor.

A week with Carey

This past week my friend Carey flew up for a jam packed week of fun! We went to the state fair, had a crab bake, she few to Denali, we went up the tram at Aleyska and then hiked the hand-tram hike, rode the train to Seward and hung out all day and of course saw moose, bear and whales in the wild.
Here are a few picture highlights of the week.

Carey with Molly - notice Molly's hairdo has wore off on Carey by the end of a week together.
Momma Beluga whale at Beluga Point no less. Her baby would come up after her so no picture of them together.
Carey and I testing out the 10 pounds of crab for our Labor Day grill out. I actually like seafood now.
Molly roasting her first marshmallow. Don't worry she didn't get to eat it just play in the fire while roasting it.
A nice kayak ride around Mirror Lake to finish off our Labor Day party.
Molly with the Sea Lion at the Seward Sea Life Center.
Molly touching Nemo's home (I don't know how to spell that). It was a lot more sticky than I thought it would be but she didn't seem to mind it.
Molly taking a cat nap on one of our many walks.
Molly's first railroad trip. This is actually a posed picture the day we rode the train we got up at 5am so I wasn't thinking too clearly - we had to go back and buy the hat and take the picture a few days later.

Molly after the hand-tram hike - she really likes that hike.
Molly kissing a moose in Talkeetna. This is one of the towns that the TV show Northern Exposure was based on. We drove here so Carey could get in a plane a fly to Denali.
Carey getting ready to fly. Molly and I walked around town and soaked up the sun while Carey landed on part of Mt. McKinley.
Carey, Molly and I with a perfect view of Mount McKinley behind us. Only about 30% of visitors to the state actually get to see the mountain because the weather is usually bad and there are lots of clouds. All my guests have been able to see it so far though.
The state fair!
It was miner's day so we got hats - oh boy.

A fun little walk along the Tony Knowles.

Food Glorious Food

Molly had her 6 month appointment and is still in the 25% for her height and weight and 50% for her head. The doctor recommended that we start her on rice cereal for the iron. Our original plan was to wait until she saw Jon to eat but I want to make sure she is nourished more than saving milestones for daddy. So the other day we started on cereal - the fun stuff we will save for Jon.

Molly's last day of a liquid diet
My little helper - if she had to eat she at least wanted to help. This was her first time ever to eat food!
The pictures below are her second time to eat. Tina was around to take pictures so there are a few more fun ones.

"Not so bad mom"
"Wait I hate this" - followed by a whole body shiver. She tolerates the rice cereal I wouldn't say it is her favorite but it is worth it for the nourishment.
Molly cleaned up after her meal
The fun thing about food is I manage to find it everywhere. The first night we had a lot of cereal snot, moose in our hair and under our multiple chins.

Pictures from Jon

Jon took some pictures of his day to day life downrange (Army for in the war zone) so here they are for your viewing pleasure - with commentary by Ashley.
This is Jon's FOB (Army for base where he sleeps and does services when he is not out on the road)


My guess is this is his office building by the sign - all the buildings look alike.

What a warm and inviting office - I guess when you work with mostly guys and are in a war situation warm and inviting is not top on the list. At least he has plenty of water to give out!I was surprised to see the stained glass - this is actually a very nice chapel in my opinion. After seeing his office I didn't expect to see this one.


Working hard - does anyone else notice the big screen TV? Hope he doesn't get too used to that because when he gets back home it is back to old faithful our 32inch.The man that keeps Jon alive! What a fun job following Jon around watching out for people trying to get you both. The only thing I am jealous of is the fact that he and Jon get to spend so much time together this year - no offense Bolling but I think Jon will gladly dump you for me when he gets back to Alaska.After a long hard day at work who wouldn't want to come home to that cozy bed? I guess that is why the Army works you non-stop 24/7 while you are deployed so that when they finally let you sleep it won't matter on what.
Inside his office - at least he doesn't have to wear his body armor in there.
A tribute to Molly with a little bit of Ashley thrown in for good measure:)
Two computers so he can look extra busy.Ah the days of the Journey! A reminder of the goofy days so that hopefully he won't take himself to seriously.

I was thankful to get the pictures from Jon and I hope you enjoyed them too. Only 50 more days until we get to be together as a family and Jon doubles his time spent with Molly.

Jennie and Jessica

This week I had two friends in town and we had a blast. We did touristy things all day and then sat around at night talking and vegging. It was so fun. While they were here Molly has started to roll over on a regular basis and she started to babble more. I think with others around talking and laughing she realized that talking does not have to be limited to when we are out of the house around others. We went one a whale watching cruise (note to self remember to tell friends if they get motion sick to take meds before going out on the open waters), went to see scenic views on a bunch of hikes and blueberry picking. I think I ate more this week than the past month and enjoyed every minute of it. We celebrated our birthdays together and then had "chocolate covered donuts" (birthday cake) for breakfast most mornings. You can't waste a good cake now. We all have birthdays within two weeks of each other. We have some other friends from high school that we used to joke about going on a birthday bash b/c our birthday's all fell within two weeks of each other but Darcy just got married and Shannon had a baby (tonight!) so it was just the three of us but we made the most of it! With over 500 pictures to choose from it was quite difficult to narrow it down but here are few highlights!
At an abandoned gold mine
Whale watching
After our homemade hand picked blueberry pie - notice the blue tongues!
Riding up the tram
Cake and "chocolate donuts"
Jennie screaming about whitewater, open grates and a unstable hand tram.
Jessica screaming (in her head) we are over the weight limit here are we sure about this??
Molly and I enjoying the view and seeing them squirm.
Molly is starting to notice food more and likes to whine when you eat without sharing with her.
Right before our whale watching cruise.

Blueberry picking day 1 - we went twice and were much more successful the second day!