Masterpiece

We finished our masterpiece, The Painting of our Seattle Apartment. I'm not sure if it looks a lot of work or not, but it was. It was a joint effort from planning to completion that evolved throughout the five-day ordeal. I say ordeal because if we could do it over again, we would have left it white. We are pleased with the finished product, but it was just so painstaking because we are amateurs and didn't really know what we were doing. I spent about three hours yesterday alone with an artist paintbrush doing touch-ups.

As you may have noticed, there isn't any furniture. There still isn't any sign of our shipment from Japan which was supposed to be here August 25th. We bought an air mattress and are surviving on the few things we sent in five boxes from Japan.

World Traveller

World Traveller
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

She already has a passport, she was born in Japan, she was in the womb in China, and she's logged more miles in the air than most adults. AND, she is the cutest baby in the world. It's only the beginning.

Cruise backblog

Cruise backblog
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

Our whole time in the Navy we never went on a ship. Hard to believe, but true. On August 5th, the same day we officially separated from the Navy, we went on a ship, a cruise ship. We took a three day cruise to the Bahamas.

We spent one day in Nassau and one day on Coco Cay, an island owned by Royal Caribbean, our cruise line. We soaked up the rays on the beach, snorkeled and saw a couple large string rays, ate lots of delicious food, broke even after quite some time in the casino, and stopped in on some shows on the ship.

It was our first cruise and definitely not our last. Oh yea, if you were wondering about Roxy, we let my mom keep her all by herself.

Souvenir

Souvenir
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We didn't have time to shop so the only souvenirs we got from the cruise were two plastic cups and Trish's hair dew, braids.

Two-Headed Turtle

Two-Headed Turtle
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

This is not a joke. I saw this live turtle in it's aqaurium with my own eyes and took the picture myself at the Vistor's Center at Homasassa Springs.

5 Months

5 Months
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

I've been posting a picture and a update on Roxy's month bday, but in my business I didn't get around to it. This picture is from Aug 9th.

I am so glad that I have been able to spend so much time witnessing her amazing growth. Her vocab, coordination, attention, and responsiveness increase daily.

Home

We�re home, in Seattle that is, so back to the blog. Sorry, it has been so long, but I think you can understand since we have been traveling so much. Our trip to Florida was great, but we�ve been living out of a suitcase since June 30th so we�re ready to get settled in and have somewhere to put all of our stuff.

Home
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We spent most of our time visiting family and introducing Roxy. Everyone loved her. We took a little time to enjoy the sunshine and took a couple trips.

Home
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We went to St. Augustine beach with my mom and enjoyed some deliciuos local food.

Home
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We took a day trip to a state park, Homasassa Springs, with my dad and step mom where you can see rescued manatees and other native Florida animals.

Home
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We took another day trip with my mom, sister-in-law, and nephew to Juniper Springs for a day of swimming. One of my favorite things about Florida are the springs which are 72 degrees year round and provide an incrediblally enjoyable place to swim and explore.

It's been a long time

This is the longest I've been without posting to my blog. I'm having withdraws. All my family has dial-up so I haven't been able to get my laptop connected and post pictures. I will do that ASAP. In the meantime, I wanted to say our cruise was fun and other than the cruise we've just been enjoying visiting with my family and friends the last week.

Sunburn Fun

Sunburn Fun
Originally uploaded by Dinkins - Made in Japan.

We thought it would be a good idea to get a little tan so we wouldn't burn on our cruise. So we spent a mere ten minutes in the tanning bed to muster a good base. I'm not too familiar with tanning beds, but I thought that would be a good session. Wrong! We burnt and we're still feeling it today. I guess they were new bulbs or something? So much for avioding the burn. The picture is a palm tree shape colored with what used to be my pale skin.

This weekend we drove to Springfield (3.5 hr drive) and spent the weekend with the three Bundy sisters (Trish, Sheila, Jen), their husbands (me, Joe, Jason), and the babies (Roxy and Michael) at Joe and Sheila's house. We just had some good ole wholesome hang out time.