The past few days...

 

For starters, we went to the National Air Force Museum. It's located here in Dayton. I had no idea that the Wright Brothers were from here or that the air force base was so huge! If you haven't visited this museum, you need to! It was one of those times (that are becoming more frequent as I get older) when I say to myself, "I wish I would've paid more attention in history class. The planes and the history were breathtaking, and it almost brought tears to my eyes (doesn't take much lately--thank you, pregnancy hormones! ;)

 

We saw the EXACT bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in WWII. They found it and repaired it, and here it is. It's called the "Little Boy."

 

Here is the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the "Fat Man" bomb on Nagasaki to end WWII.

 

We also got to see the Wright Brothers airplane! Those men were brave to fly on that thing. No way you could've gotten me on there.

 

Last night, I snapped this sweet picture of M and C playing games on the iPad before bedtime. Be still my heart!

 

This morning, we got to spend some time with our new friends at the pool. Madilyn loves playing with her new friend, Olivia! And, she misses her friend Olivia from Erie, too ;) Madilyn is becoming quite the water bug, and she is getting so brave! I'm proud of her!
All in all, we are so blessed. God is so faithful and good to lead us and direct our footsteps. What an exciting year ahead!

Weekend Fun!

This weekend, we had a great time! Cameron was off, and we had some amazing family time. Did I mention our hotel serves a hot breakfast every morning? So, we start everyday off with that. It's been so nice for this momma to not have to make breakfast (and I have a dishwasher and garbage disposal here!--What! What!). Although I miss making breakfast (I think mine tastes better than theirs), it's been a nice break to only worry about providing two meals a day for our family.
Back to this weekend. Saturday morning, we just spent time together as a family. Poor Cameron needed a little notebook (he's been writing notes on NAPKINS this week at the hospital!), so we went to Walmart and explored. We ate lunch in our room, took a family nap (my favorite!) and visited a new church that evening. The church is: Apex Community Church in Kettering, OH. It's about a 25 minute drive from our hotel. We absolutely LOVED it! A friend who is from Dayton recommended it (thanks, Bethany!), so we tried it out and immediately felt at "home." Plus, HELLO! It was a SATURDAY night service. You don't have to tell Cameron and me twice. We're there. We love Saturday night church and haven't been able to do that since we moved from Texas. The people, the sermon, the worship, the atmosphere were all great. I think we'll be going back this weekend. Madilyn loved her class, too. When we got there, she had on purple sunglasses and was sitting with 5 little girls, talking and playing. Warms this momma's heart, for sure.
After church, we got on our PJ's and headed to the drive-in movies!!! We saw Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. The movie started at 9:30, so we were thinking Miss M might fall asleep while we were there (we didn't get home unitl 2 am!), but she stayed awake and giggled and ate popcorn and candy the entire time. It was SO MUCH FUN.

Sunday we found a nearby park with a playground and a hiking trail. We spent the morning there as a family, including the two little white fur babies. We had an amazing weekend. Today marks the beginning of a new week for us, and it marks the final week of Cameron's Internal Medicine rotation. Next week will be what we've been waiting for--Cameron to rotate in Radiology. Only 18 days left in Dayton.
A scripture that jumped off the page this morning for me was:
"My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." Psalm 62:5-8
Happy Monday from the Smiths!

Dayton Days

Here we are, living up our days in Dayton, OH. Cameron is rotating at Grandview Hospital, and we are "living" in an extended stay suite. It's not too bad :) The best part is, we get to see Cameron every evening!!! That totally makes it worth it. Also, we have the "Church Channel," and Robert Morris was on the other day, so Madilyn played on the computer while I went to church. Nice :)

 

We've been swimming a couple of times. There's an outdoor pool that's pretty warm, so as long as it isn't raining (which it has been the majority of our stay thus far), we've gone swimming. Madilyn is turning into a little water bug and getting more confident each time, which is saying a LOT seeing where she started last summer. Yay for progress!
We visited the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery this week while Cameron was working, and it was SO MUCH FUN! While I love the children's museum in Erie, the Boonshoft museum DEFINITELY puts ours to shame. It was Ah-may-zing! We spent almost 3 hours there, and we were busy the entire time.

 

 And here is our little veterinarian. She's telling me the prognosis of my stuffed animals I brought in. The x-rays don't look too promising. Loving x-rays just like her daddy :)

This exhibit was BY FAR Madilyn's favorite. She was the judge, and she threw me in jail no less than 3 times. We had to keep coming back. And, let me tell you, she's a tough judge. Can't you see the look of disgust on her face?

We are off to explore some more today. We'll see what the day brings. Blessings, my friends :)