Hawaii Pictures

Since I didn't put any pictures up while we were on vacation, I thought that it was better late than never.  

A view from our guest room at Howard's Aunt Wendy's house.  This is Turtle Bay Golf Course.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the water park!  Jack was a bit more cautious and Luke stayed in the shade with me most of the time, he got his feet wet.

The kids favorite part of the Polynesian Cultural Center was the fishing.  We stayed there for a LONG time.

Howie, Erin, and Jack all fell asleep during the night show, they were all tuckered out for the day.

I forgot to take pictures on Sunday while we were visiting with family and friends, maybe they'll email me copies.  Hint, hint.

Good Bye Howard

Saturday morning came too quickly and it was time to say good-bye to Howard.  Up until the night before I was just fine, but then on Friday evening and all morning Saturday I was a wreck!  Howard got up early and got himself all ready for his little trip, but between 7 and 9am he fed the kids breakfast and spent some last minute quality time with them.  We had lots of hugs, cuddles and kisses to go around before it was time to leave.  To make it a little easier on me, I decided that I would just load the kids up in the car when Howard got in the car (Howard actually buckled the kids up for me) and we left the base together.  I went in the opposite direction to go see a morning showing of "Up" with the kids to keep our minds off of the new separation. Howard started on his way to Mississippi.  He stopped in Louisiana for the night halfway there.  I spoke with him tonight and he's safely at Keesler AFB.

This past week has been CRAZY! We are SO SO SO grateful for our home on base and especially that we could move in right away.  (We arrived in OKC on Thursday night and we got our house keys Friday morning!) What a blessing.  Then for 5 nights straight we painted our walls.  And we also spent a good deal of our time shopping (I hate shopping now) for all kinds of things...food, mattresses, a broom, lawn mower, paint, etc. All of those random things that you need right away before your stuff comes.  Another blessing that we had was that we received 2/3 of our stuff already, it came on Tuesday.  How awesome is that?! We're just waiting on our big shipment from Okinawa, but since we have our furniture from storage we're living fairly comfortably.  I'm just missing my home decor items (notice the bare walls?) and other random items.  Howard is truly the best husband in the world!  I don't know what I would have done without him this week.  Honestly this week has been a miracle in itself, Howard helped me get done so many things that would have literally taken me months to do by myself.  Luke can get pretty fussy at times and Jack is very rowdy, so I don't have a lot of free time to do much beyond the basics of cooking, cleaning, and spending time with the kids.  Unpacking, painting, and decorating would have been a nightmare by myself.  I still have some stuff to do, but nothing very overwhelming.  

THANK YOU HOWARD...I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Once we entered mainland one of the things to do on my "list" was go to Dairy Queen.  And boy did we go, very frequently.  One time we even went for dinner (and we ordered ice cream!) I've actually never ordered any of their real food, I only get the cold stuff, it's to die for.  My first job was DQ and so I'm very familiar with the menu and even some items that are not on the menu.  While in Arizona we went every day except Sunday I think, I lost count.  The kids love it as much as I do!

Here are a few items that I recommend...

Peanut Buster Parfait

Buster Bar

Arctic Freeze (formerly known as Mr. Misty Freeze)

Cookie Dough Blizzard

Raspberry Truffle Blizzard 

Chocolate Cone double dipped in Butterscotch (not all places have the butterscotch dip)

Peach Sundae (when in season)

I haven't seen a DQ here in OKC yet, but I think there's one in the local mall across town.  It's probably a good thing that it's across town so that I won't go every time I drive past it.

We're Still Alive!

Okay, so I just got my Mac and internet set up about 20 minutes ago. Howard leaves tomorrow morning for school, so AFTER he leaves I promise that I will get some pictures up and be better about blogging!  Please keep us in your prayers while he is gone.  If you want our address and home phone, please leave a comment with your email address and I'll email it to you.  

On the Road Again...

We're all settled in our hotel for the night in Albuquerque, NM. Luke was so happy to be out of his car seat, this picture doesn't do him justice. He was so content tonight just being in a position different for that of his car seat. The kids enjoyed a nice swim in the hotel pool to get some energy out of their systems, while Luke and I sat next to the pool and enjoyed the splashing. It was just a little bit too cold for him to enjoy the water...maybe next time.

Earlier today we took a detour that a friend suggested, instead of going north through Flagstaff, we headed north east on some state routes. It was so beautiful! Arizona has some beautiful scenery when you get off of the interstate system. Howard and I purchased walkie-talkies since we are driving 2 cars, we had fun talking back and forth with each other since we don't have cell phones. We had to stop every two hours give or take, so that the kids could go pee or Luke could eat. We were fortunate to be able to stop at a campground to feed Luke in the late morning. It was in the mid 70s, and absolutely beautiful. The kids collected pine cones and we're going to make bird feeders with them when we get to OKC. The kids can put some peanut butter and bird seed on them and we'll hang them in our trees in our yard, we have several.

We'll be getting to OKC on Thursday evening...CAN'T WAIT!

The Temple

We are enjoying our time here in Mesa, AZ. It's about 100 degrees, but since it's a dry heat, it feels way different. Sometimes my skin feels like it's on fire, but I'm not sweating...weird! It just feels like we're in an oven here in the southwest instead of a steamy bathroom in Okinawa.

Howard and I went on a date to the Mesa Temple this afternoon while his sister Edna tended to the children for us. It was a nice break, peace and quiet. We also had a quick lunch in the cafeteria, for some reason I think Temple food is delicious! After we were done in the Temple we went over to the visitors center since Edna was meeting us there. We have been wanting to see the Joseph Smith movie for a long time now, so that's what we wended up doing. Two times during the movie Jack said he had to go pee, so Howard took him, but he failed to produce any results. Finally the third time he said he had to go pee, Howard ignored him. After whining about it for a minute or two, Jack strips down naked (on the bottom half anyway, he left his t-shirt on) and starts yelling that he has to go pee. I try to get his pants back on before we exited the theater to go potty, but he just kept screaming, so he went to the potty half naked. Third times the charm, he finally peed on the toilet for me. I was embarrassed that Jack was having one of his toddler moments, but grateful that we were able to make it to the bathroom without anyone seeing him naked. (I didn't take this picture I have posted, but I had to add something nice for everyone to look at.)

This Week in California

Here's a run down of our "vacation" so far. We call it a vacation, but it seems like work. We're always on the go and never get a chance to really relax. Life had been so hectic and there just never seems to be enough time for everything that we want to do.
Monday - Arrive to California, late night dinner at Denny's (very tasty)
Tuesday/Wednesday -Van shopping, we ended up getting a 2006 Honda Odyssey EX, very nice!
Thursday - Visit with my Mom, do some housekeeping for the BBQ
Friday - Visit with my Dad in the desert, also saw my half brother and 2 aunts. Haven't seen them in about 9 years. The kids had a blast swimming in a converted trough.
Saturday - BBQ at my Mom's house, saw lots of relatives. Ate lots of watermelon (it's so cheap in America!)
Sunday - Went to Church in one of Howard's wards from his missionary days. We saw Elder Daniel Jensen there (I was his Sunday School teacher when he was in high school in Okinawa.)We were really excited to see him, it was just a coincidence, what a small world. After church we went to the Wiley's and saw a good friend and met his wife and new baby. My friend Jeff and I were good friends in high school and he baptized me 10 years ago. It was great to see him and his wife, they are such a fun couple. (And their baby is soooo cute.) Afterward we went to the cemetery to visit my Grandma. She passed away 13 years ago, and I miss her more the longer she's gone. It was a really good experience for the kids, to show them a cemetery and talk about life after death.
Monday - We went back up to my Dad's house and he gaVe me a set of OLD China, so Howard and I packed that up carefully. What a relaxing day.
Tuesday - We spent the afternoon at Chuck E Cheese and met up with a couple friends that we knew in Spokane. All the kids have grown up so much, I remember when they were babies!
Wednesday - Hasn't happened yet, but we plan on packing up the van in the morning and head on over to Mesa. I'm really looking forward to going to the Temple there. Wish us luck on the road trip!

Hawaii

Our Hawaiian vacation is coming to an end. We've had a pleasant time staying with Howard's Aunt Wendy. Her and her husband, Rick, are wonderful people and we truly felt at home while we were here. I'm short on pictures, sorry. We enjoyed the water park, Target, and the Polynesian Cultural Center while we were here. We wanted to do more, but we ran out of time.

Today we went to Church and afterwards we went to visit an old friend of mine (she's not old, I've just known her for 12 years). We had lunch with Cara and Ongo, they're such a cute family. I knew her when I was in high school and she has always been such a good example for me and I've always appreciated that. I'm visiting more of her family next week, I'm looking forward to that visit as well. Tonight for our Sunday dinner we had a cousin and her 3 children over at Aunt Wendy's house. Anela and I got to know each other well on my last trip to Hawaii 2 years ago. We both got married in 2000 and have kids the same ages. She's really sweet and we had a nice talk about Twilight. I haven't read the books, but I plan on it when Howard leaves for school in a few weeks.

The kids are FINALLY asleep and we've packed our bags for ANOTHER plane ride tomorrow. We're off to California. We arrive Monday night and then on Tuesday morning first thing I have to go buy a mini-van. I'm excited and dreading it all at the same time. It will be nice to get a new vehicle, but at the same time it's painful to have to spend that much money on a dumb van. Wish us luck and pray that we'll get a nice salesman that will give us a good price on the van.

Sayonnara

Good bye Okinawa! Thursday morning we boarded our bus to Naha and left beautiful Okinawa. Our flights went well. Not easy, but we survived and I think that made it successful. Jack was naughty in the airports, but well behaved on the plane. The other kids were perfect. I was just grateful that our kids were quiet. I hate being the one person on the plane that ruins the trip for everyone else. We had the most kids in tow out of everyone on the flight, but it was the families that only had 1 child that threw the temper tantrums. Ironic.

All of the Japanese people oohed and ahhed over Luke, even business men in their fancy suits. Babies are hard to come by in Japan.

Many tears have been shed over the past few days, but now that we are in Hawaii, it's time to relax and enjoy our vacation. Oh how we LOVE Hawaii. It's now Thursday morning (again), thanks to the magic of time travel and the International dateline.

What a day!

I'm using this post to grip and complain about my day. This was the most recent problem, Erin got gum in her hair. Normally the kids don't chew gum, but I bought some for the plane ride Thursday and the kids found it. Thank goodness I had peanut butter!

Here is our lovely view from the 3rd floor. You would think it would be nicer since we're on an island.

The base recently renovated the lodging for families here. It was closed for over a year and yet, they still failed to install an elevator. I know it's good exercise for me, but this is NOT fun taking a 2 year old, a 3 month old, groceries, and a stroller up and down all by myself. We are on the top floor!

They also failed to put in new refrigerators. Yes, that is rust around the freezer. There are also water drops in the freezer. I have to keep the milk in the freezer to keep it cold enough. The fridge is worse than an ice chest.

This morning when I did laundry, I did not see the purple crayon that Howie left in his pants. There was only one article of clothing that did not get marked up. I used my stain stick liberally and I bought some bleach (notice it in the first picture) and I saved the clothes! Thank goodness!!

Last but not least, Howard was in a car accident today! It wasn't his fault, but it's still a hassle. He's okay, no one got hurt at least. Thank goodness there were witnesses, because the lady that hit him would not take responsibility. Once everything was all said and done and the police report was filed, Howard was cleared of any fault.

I hope tomorrow is a better day!

Friday Night

Here are a few pictures from the Kadena Marina. I'm really going to miss this place, it's awesome! This was Friday night at the restaurant on the patio.

Busy Busy Busy

The past few days have been very busy for us. We've said some good-byes, cleaned our house, and visited a few fun places. Saturday night we went out to a bon fire on the beach. We had a wonderful time with some friends, I'm really going to miss this place. Lots of tears were shed this weekend as well. I had a nice Mother's day. Howard got me flowers on Friday, and I got some more from church. Sorry this post is so scatter brained, I'm in the library and I'm trying to keep Jack and Luke quiet. Very difficult! Other than being really really sad about leaving, I'm super excited to get on with life and move on to new adventures. I wish I could take all of my friends with me and the sun set on the beach as well. (And the Japanese parks, sushi, curry, free dental, cheap cars, etc...the list can go on and on!)

Moving Update

First things first...I just wanted to share with everyone that we SOLD OUR CAR!  And we got a fair price for it.  We were afraid that we were going to have to end up giving it away. We're SO relieved that we got our money's worth out of it.  Every little penny helps go towards the purchase of our van in the States.  Tomorrow the movers come again to take away the last little bit.  This will probably be my last post for a while.  I'm not sure how often I will have internet access in lodging, and blogging probably won't be high on my list. 

Right now we are in the middle of packing our suitcases.  My bedroom looks like it vomited clothes everywhere.  We're having to decide what to take and what the movers take.  I really want to pack light, but it seems like that is nearly impossible with 6 people.  Friday afternoon we move into lodging.  I'll have a housekeeper for the week, HEAVEN!  

Yesterday was my farewell luncheon.  When my good friend Verenda said goodbye, I just broke down in tears.  I've been so blessed to have been able to have known such wonderful women!  I've learned so much from all of them and will cherish their friendships forever!  It's so hard to say good-bye, especially since I don't think that I'll ever be able to return to Okinawa. It's not like we can just get in the car and take a road trip!  

I need to close, if Howard catches me blogging, I might get in trouble.  He's outside with all the kids keeping them out of my hair so I can pack.  

Dorothy

Jack and Luke had some pictures taken on May 1st.  I can't pick up the disc until Tuesday, but she emailed me this picture of Jack.  He had a fun time with that fish! We named her Dorothy (like from Elmo's World).

House

We just received an email today from Tinker AFB.  They offered us a 4 bedroom house!  It will be ready for us June 4th, a day BEFORE we get there. Howard and I are so excited.  They sent us the floor plans and it said 'renovated' on it and it is 1350 sq ft. We will have a separate living, dining, and family room.  All we currently have is an all-in-one room for everything.  We are so happy to be finally moving up from our 950 sq ft 3 bedroom home that we have been in for the past 4 years.  It is TOO small for our growing family.  We accepted the house, but nothing is final until we get there and sign the lease.  Hopefully it's not a dump, but I'm sure it will be better than what I am currently in!

Look What I Found!

In the mornings after my walk I take a shower, frequently Jack gets in with me and takes his own 'fun' bath when we're all done washing up.  I had stepped away for a little bit, within ear shot.  I could here him playing, laughing and having a grand old time.  I went to check on him with my own eyes and this is what I found.  He loves his blanket so much!  He calls it his wee-wee.

Notice all of the water he splashed out?  It forces me to wash my bathroom rug regularly, so it's not all that bad.  He put his towel on the floor and it was soaked as well.  Sometimes I think that it's his mission in life to give me more work.  Howie and Erin were NOT like this at all when they were 2.  But of course I think I laugh a lot more now than I ever have.  It's just so cute when he does it with his contagious smile and all.

Growing Up

I was in the bathroom tonight cleaning up the water on the floor from Jack's bath.  It was Howie's turn to get in the shower and he was just standing there in the bathroom not doing anything.  I told him to go ahead and get undressed and in the shower.  "What are you waiting for?" I asked.  He politely asked me to leave so that he could get in the shower.  This was a first for me. I knew this day was coming soon, but I didn't expect it tonight.  Of course I respected Howie's privacy and I quickly left the room for him to undress in private.  He's growing up!  

Clean Home

After the movers left at about 2pm, Howard and I set  to work vacuuming, wiping down, and tidying up.  It's  amazing and quite disgusting how much dust and debris can accumulate behind furniture.  All of the furniture here will not be going with us.  The couch is ours that we're selling and everything else is government issue, including our beds upstairs.  Right now I'm VERY grateful for the furniture we have.  It's nice to have something to sit on!  We moved our couch so it faces the computer so that we can watch movies, since our TV is gone.

Howie and our neighbor Isaiah playing the DS together. Notice my very empty kitchen behind them?  I was thrilled today when they told me that they would take whatever food was in a container (most of my food was!)  I was so afraid that we'd have to give it all away when we move.  Some movers take your food and some don't.  I got really lucky today.  They also took my canned goods.

Our baby/toddler area.  These items will be going in our express shipment in a couple weeks.

Erin was so happy when she got home from school today.  She said she was happy that all of her toys were gone and that she could play in her empty closet (almost anyway).  She swings on the bars.  FYI - The homes are build differently here.  Everything is very sturdy and built to withstand a typhoon.  I'm more worried that she'll get hurt than break the house.

This is all that is left in the bedrooms, our beds.  We also have a couple gov't dressers that we share.

Moving Day

The movers showed up at 8am exactly and went right to work.  They were very quick and efficient.

This was my living area at about 10am.

Our soon to be very empty backyard.

Howard upstairs monitoring their progress.  

He's in grubby clothes because he was responsible for disassembling the outside play equipment. In all the movers were wonderful!  I was very nervous because we have a few irreplaceable furniture items from the Orient and I didn't want them broke.  I'm pretty confident that I'll see everything in one piece.  It's such a relief that today is nearing an end and that my house is back in order (just with a lot less stuff).

Potty Training Update

This is how Jack has spent the past couple days...bare bottom.  Less laundry for me.  I just have to clean up the floor when he misses.  Overall, he peed in the potty more than a diaper yesterday.

Potty Training

So Jack has decided to take it upon himself to potty train.  I was going to start this summer, AFTER the move. Three days ago he started telling me every time he went pee in his diaper, then he would take it off and throw it away (all by himself).  Since we're trying to get everything organized for the move, we were cleaning out the hall closet and pulled out the potty chair.  We stuck it in the bathroom to get it out of the way, but we didn't tell Jack about it.  We weren't even thinking about getting Jack to go in it.  Honestly...I think diapers are easier, ESPECIALLY on an airplane!  So yesterday he started taking his diaper off before he peed in it and he went potty in the potty chair, 4 times I think (he would go in there without me knowing sometimes).  Of course I changed a few dirty diapers yesterday, but I think we might be on to something here.  This morning after I got him dressed, he stripped down (diaper still dry).  We'll see how the next few days go.

Reality Check

So the movers called this morning.  They are coming tomorrow afternoon to look over our stuff to see how much we have.  I think it hit home today that our stuff is getting packed up on FRIDAY!!! Crazy!!!  It's starting to really sink in that we're moving soon.  Erin was 20 months when we moved here and Howie was 3.  Wish me luck over the next few days getting everything ready.

Cinnamon Roll Enrichment Activity

On Thursday I hosted an Enrichment activity in my home.  I was able to teach the ladies how to make cinnamon rolls.  Here is the recipe for everyone to enjoy. 

Click here to see a picture.

 

Tina's  Cinnamon Rolls

This is my own recipe that I made by modifying 2 other recipes that were given to me years ago.  Thank you Becky Stutzman and MaryAnn Phipps for the inspiration!

Ingredients

6 cups flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 pkg active dry yeast 

12oz can evaporated milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 butter

1 egg

Pre-heat oven to 375 F. In small saucepan heat water, milk, and butter until warm.  In a large bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Pour liquids and egg into the flour mixture, mix well.  Add 3 more cups of flour, mixing until doughy.  Knead in 1 cup of flour (or more if needed, but not too much) on pastry mat.  Stick into large greased bowl, cover loosely and let rise in warm place for 1 hour.  Punch down and knead dough until the air bubbles are out.  Roll out into a large rectangle and spread on filling.

Filling ideas (use more or less to taste)

1/2 cup butter

3 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar 

Roll it up, cut, and stick into a greased pan. (This generally fills my 9x13 and 8x8 pans.) Cover, let rise 30-45 minutes. Bake for about 20 minutes or until edges are barely light brown.  Top with your favorite frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

6oz cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

Blend until smooth.  

These are best eaten warm with a tall glass of milk.  Also, they will be stale in 2 days, so eat up!

Where's the Milk?

Howard was snuggled up to Luke tonight while we watched a movie.  Luke was asleep most of the time, but when he woke up he went looking for food.

He tried for quite a while 

He even got a little upset 

Notice the wet spot on Howard's "breast"? 

Shuri Castle

Howard took the day off on Friday and the kids had a half day at school, so we ventured out to Shuri Castle.  The kids had already been there with some friends, but it was a first for Howard and I.  It reminded me a lot of the temples Howard and I saw in Kyoto, Japan on our trip last year.  It was nice to go, but is was crumby that it rained ALL day on Friday.  We didn't know if we'd ever get the chance again, so we just went in the rain.  Everyone stayed cheerful and had a nice time (until the car ride home...more about that in a minute).

Look at the root system, INCREDIBLE!  I love the unique vegetation here in Okinawa.

A soggy view of Shuri Castle.  Click here for more info about it.

Howard had to watch his head through a few doorways.

Interesting staircase, VERY steep.  We couldn't go up it, but I still thought it was pretty cool.

A model in the visitor center of Shuri Castle.

About the car ride home.  We hit traffic really bad and the 45 minute trip took about 1 1/2 hours.  Luke cried for about 1 hour of driving and among the 3 older kids we had someone pee their pants and another one vomit in the car.  I'm not naming names so not to embarrass anyone.  

Luke-2 Month Stats

Luke had his 2 month well baby check-up on Friday.  He is...

9 pounds 14 ounces

21 3/4 inches

15 inch head circumference

Overall he's in the 10th percentile for everything, so he's very proportionate.  He's my little shrimp though.  Howie was 21 inches long when he was born and Howard was a whopping 

10 lbs 10oz and 22 inches long when he was born!!

Lucas Dillon Parkes' Blessing

Happy Easter! 

Today was a special day for our family, we blessed Lucas at church.  He cried during most of it, but it wasn't too bad (not the horrible scream that comes out sometimes, just a medium unhappy cry).  I could still hear the blessing, and he calmed down as soon as Howard was finished.  I really like the outfit that I was able to get for him.  This evening he had a HUGE blowout in his white pants, but I worked quickly to get all the poo out.  It's still white after a good rinse, stain stick, bleach, and detergent!  Luke even got an emergency bath in the kitchen sink.

He's our stoic one, this was about the most happy he was all day.  

Luke & Mommy

 I had to hold down his hands, he kept covering his face. I also think my smile looks fake. Ever since my last surgery I have to be careful not to smile too big, otherwise my smile would be overwhelming.  I'm still working on getting it just right.  

Here's another interesting piece of info - I wore this dress when Howie and Jack had their blessings as well.  Yeah yeah, I know I need to get a new dress, it's getting rather old.  BUT it's a great nursing dress and it seems like it's the only thing that fits well after my kids are born. I do have other dresses, just none that I can currently wear.  I'm actually looking forward to the day when this dress is too big for me and I can donate it!  

Some more thoughts that I just wanted to share...

I had a very interesting talk with my sister today about being a mother and being honest with yourself and others.  I wanted to take the time to be honest with everyone (not that I lied in the first place, I'm just laying everything out on the table right now).  Weight loss is not easy for me.  I have to work REALLY hard and keep at it. I am the type of person that would rather post the most flattering photo of myself or nothing at all.  So when most people see me in pictures, they generally only see the "thin Tina".  I'm not naturally thin, in fact I think I'm the opposite.  I love food so much and I would rather sit around the house and read a book than exercise.  BUT I know that's not the way it should be.  I have to eat right and exercise daily to stay fit.  Since we're in the military, we've moved around and I have many friends all over the world.  Some have only known me as "thin Tina", and others have only known the "heavy Tina".  Either way, I'm old enough now that I can accept the way my body is after I have a baby (for a little while anyway...I do expect to loose the baby weight!) But I know it takes time.  It took me 9 months to gain the weight, and it will take about 9 to loose it.  

Saturday

On Saturday our family checked 2 more items off of our "places to see before we leave Okinawa" list.  First thing in the morning we ventured up north to the aquarium.  At the entrance there is a really fun play area for the children.  Normally when we come it's always too hot to play or we're too tired, but not this time. The weather was absolutely PERFECT!!  The kids had a blast playing...the pictures speak for themselves.

After playing for about 30 minutes we went into the aquarium and got to look at all kinds of fish.  We've been here a few times before, so there was nothing new for us to see, but still fun nonetheless.  At about 2:30pm we headed over to the Nago Pineapple Park.  It's one of our favorite places to go (we LOVE pineapple!) and we never miss the chance.  Once we were done there it was time to go home.  The kids were being SO good all day, I decided to stop by a furniture store that we had not been to yet.  It was a really cool store, but VERY expensive.  I'll wait a month and get what I need in  the states for a fraction of the cost, thank you very much!  

I don't have pictures of inside the aquarium or the pineapple park because the battery died in the camera while the kids were playing at the park.  Oh well.