The Farewell

Trav left bright and early Wednesday morning. We woke the girls up at 4 am to take them to the airport, Trav’s folks and sister came too. We got to go all the way to the gate to say goodbye to him. We arrived shortly before boarding so we didn’t have a lot of time to say goodbye.

Trav hugged his sister and folks goodbye, and then hugged and talked to each of the girls. Lauren was fine during all of this. Of course then it was my turn and I bawled during my whole farewell.

Travis went to go and line up to get on the plane. At this point Lauren turns to me and just starts crying. I lean down and tell her to go and give him a hug, he’s still right here. She ran over and gave him a hug and cried.
Trav leaned down and hugged her and talked with her a bit. Then he had to get on the plane. Lauren turned around and put her head in her hands and cried. I went over and picked her up and tried to comfort her. I realized, she has done this just as much as I have. I don’t know how anyone in that airport could have had a dry eye. I talked to Trav yesterday and he said that farewell from her broke his heart.

I think we’re doing better. I don’t feel as depressed or devastated as I did when he left in December. We have 4 months until he gets home, we’ve got a busy summer ahead of us, so I’m hoping things go by quickly.

I’m so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. He is such a good man that works really hard to take care of us. I love him very much!

R&R week 2

The next week, my sister, Kim came over, she was watching the girls while Trav and I went away for a few days. We decided to go to the San Juan Islands, it’s a group of islands off the coast of Washington – very close to Canada. We missed the earlier ferry and didn’t get there until 9:45 at night. Here's Trav on the ferry.

Here was sad I wouldn't get out of the car to take a picture with him, but I was FREEZING!

The next day we had a kayaking tour. We did 3 ½ hour kayaking tour. It was a lot of fun, neither Trav or I had been kayaking before. They took us out to the west side of the island because that’s where the pods of Orca whales tend to be.

Here's us in our spiffy kayaking gear.
We got to see lots of sea life, including purple star fish.
Before we left, they gave us a speech on staying 300 yards away from the whales. Don’t get into their path, and if we got near them, to raft up and move back. We got to see a handful of whales, most of them off in the distance. It was amazing to see them in their natural environment.
We were paddling along and I noticed a splash off to our right. I looked over and saw a tail fin. I drew the group’s attention to it, and the whale came up again. It was a lot closer than we realized, and was coming in our direction. At this point, all of us are paddling backwards. The whale came up again and this time it was about 30 feet away from us. Trav kept on saying, “Get out the camera.” I was too worried about paddling backwards to get out the camera. Our hearts were racing a bit. Our guide said that was the closest that she had ever been to a whale. It was a pretty cool experience.

We went and took a nap and then went to discover more of the island. It was a really fun trip.

We left bright and early the next day. This last weekend was going to be busy because we had friends coming in to stay at our house. They are friends from college who live in nearby. They stayed until Monday morning. We had a lot of fun reliving the old days, expect now with kids running around. We spent Monday evening with Trav's folks. On Tuesday, we spent the day as a family. We had Lauren skip school and we went to a movie and then Trav took each of the girls on a date. Both girls said that was their favorite thing they did while Daddy was home. Trav then took me out on a date that night as well. I love our last night out, we usually go out to dinner and just talk about our plans for the future. Its really cathartic.

R&R week one

The next day we spent just being a family. We made a list of the things we wanted to do/accomplish while he was home. We decided instead of doing a vacation, we would do a lot of fun day trips. We went to the Aquarium with Trav's sister, Erin & her kids. I think we all had a great time. Here's Trav & Rachel next to the Octopus, which I found fascinating.

I love these pictures. This fish cracked me up with the open mouth. We were trying to mimic the fish's mouth.

The awesome thing is that it seemed like the fish was posing for the pictures, he didn't move at all in between all the photos.
We also did a day trip to the Science Center. I had a blast there and would enjoy to go back and stay for longer. The girls loved running around and pressing all the buttons.
Here's Allison, Trav's sister, playing with the bulldozer. There is also Lauren in the picture, begging to have a turn. :)
They had a little science show and Lauren got called up to participate. She blew up a balloon and then they stuck it in liquid nitrogen. She loved being up there.
Outside of the butterfly house were some hissing cockroaches. The employee wanted to put it in the palm of Rachel's hand, but Trav suggested the top of her hand. He was afraid she would get scared and squish the cockroach. Smart man.
Lauren held it too. This just grosses me out.
Allison, who hates any kind of bug, actually held it too.
I tried to touch it. No, I'm not pointing to laugh at it, I was trying to gather the courage to touch it. I'm such a wuss!

Family portrait.


The next day Lauren had her kindergarten performance at school. They were suppose to walk in looking like cowboys. Lauren hammed it up by waving her hat around. It was pretty classic.
She was a great performer.
Rachel is wearing Lauren's costume and practicing her wink.

Homecoming!

Trav got home on the Monday the 17th. We found out Saturday morning that he could possible be home Sunday. Saturday night he called with his flight plans and was getting in Monday afternoon. That was 3 days sooner than I expected. I had a ton to do to get ready. Trav's sisters and brother-in-law, along with the girls helped to make these welcome home signs for Daddy. Notice that the "D" in Daddy matches Trav's fatigues.
On Monday, I was running late to the airport, I was sure we were going to miss him walking off the plane. I drove like a mad woman. We all made it there. There were Trav's sisters, Allison, and Erin and her kids, Trav's folks, and my brother and his family. We were a pretty big welcoming party. Here's a picture of Alli & Me. She cut and colored my hair before he came home (I love it!!!).
I saw Trav coming, I put Rachel down and the girls immediately ran to their Daddy.

I had to peel them away so that I could get in there an give him a hug.

Here were the girl's faces for the next few days. They were so excited to have their daddy home.
We immediately went out to dinner with everyone. On the way home Lauren kept repeating, “This is the best day. I’m so excited that Daddy is home. I’m just so excited!” One of the first things she asked Travis was, “Will you play Zelda when we get home?” We returned to the house, got the girls ready for bed and then Trav played about 20 minutes of Zelda for Lauren. Both girls were climbed up on his lap. It was pretty adorable. It was one of the best days in a long time!

The Best Birthday Card EVER!

I was sending a card to my brother-in-law for his birthday. I was setting out to find the funniest card ever, well I found it!! It was so funny I got another one for my brother and went back yesterday to buy another one. Potty humor is the best.