The past week has been a big blur. Each day nothing shy of an adventure. The days leading up to the movers packing up the last of our things were bitter sweet. There were a lot of good-byes and anxious moments trying to take care of the final details, but there were also many surprising treats in the mix. I started doing yoga every day as a way to give back to myself. It was also a time that little r could enjoy playing at the gym daycare with other kids while mommy got some much needed exercise for her mind and body. This is something I hope to continue from this point forward to keep myself healthy and balanced. I had no idea how much I was going to need this little bit of centering to make it through the next week.
It wasn't all work and no play, in fact, little r and I had many a dance party in our empty living room, and watched the movie "Cars" (the new favorite) a dozen times in just a few days. Little r was also able to embellish his infatuation with tractors at the Children's Museum:
The play had to end (momentarily) when the movers came and we had to get the house ready for our big move. Per usual nothing happens as planned, so it was good that I was ready for anything. The moving company had scheduled to be at the house around 8 a.m., which quickly became 3 p.m. Yes, apparently 7 hours is nothing in the moving and packing world. They did miraculously finish packing and loading our things in only a couple hours, but that left the rest of the chores for me to take care of late into the evening. Little r was the best assistant EVER as he helped me sweep and mop all of the floors after the movers made a huge mess of things. Got him tucked into bed and got everything packed up and tossed out so that we could leave first thing in the morning. My mother-in-law's car is awesome, but it's also "little" so I had to use my creative graces (of which we all know I have none) to pack all of our luggage and things to get them up to D.C. We always miss getting photographic evidence of the most ridiculous things we do in our lives...
Alas, we drove away from the place we called home for three years, and my adventurous weekend continued...
I honestly don't remember all the details from those next two days. Little r has kept me on my toes and is constantly reminding me that he is the center of my universe. He got a nasty cold, learned how to crawl out of his pack-n-play, and went on both an eating and napping strike. This is a fabulous combination for trouble. Hence my lapse in memory. Saturday, my fabulous mother-in-law came down for a final good-bye to pick up her car, and then Sunday my dad and I set out on our silly task of getting me and little r on the first leg of our flight.
We give the Army too much credit for the things that it apparently does for us when all I want to do is punch it square in the nose for all the things it puts us through as an Army spouse and family. I would definitely feel better if I could knock the Army around a little bit. (I'm sure I'm not alone in that either.) The Army made us leave from Richmond and refused to allow us to leave from D.C. (despite having to connect through D.C.). Contracts, really?! We quit asking questions and starting taking orders. So, dad drove me and little r to Richmond so that we could take the first leg of our flight to Germany. Our layover is 8 days long, and honestly the best way for us to have handled this situation - I won't get into all the details, so just trust me on this one. The traffic from DC to Richmond frankly blows, so we left early to avoid any freakish delays, and got to Richmond, well, EARLY. After visiting with my sister for awhile, dad dropped us off at the airport, and the fun began. The 20-minute flight was delayed for over an hour, but I suppose this is typical and no one cared because all of the layovers were at least 4 to 5 hours in D.C. (No clue why United sets things up this way, but it's a big reason we opted for the 8-day layover.)
Little r tried out his new doggie harness, and quickly developed a love-hate relationship with it. It was a seemingly simple way for me to hang onto the kid, but in hindsight, I'm not sure it really helped much this time. Instead we spent most of the 3+ hours in the airport in the stroller walking back and forth in the terminal.
Our plane finally arrived and we worked our way to our seats. Little r was nothing shy of a monster. And I am NOT exaggerating. I love him, but I could not have been more relieved that we only had 20 minutes on the plane. We finally arrived back in D.C. not far from where we had left that morning (my mother-in-law left D.C. at the same time we did that morning and arrived in Connecticut by car before we left Richmond). We were both exhausted. Little r didn't even let us pull away from the terminal before he passed out. This picture literally sums it up.
The next day we headed back to Richmond to get Lucy cat all taken care of for the flight. It's amazing how much easier the international pet travel "stuff" was the second time around. Everything was taken care of and my sister was a Godsend while she watched little r and Lucy cat while I ran around town from one office to another.
After all of the madness, we are slowly trying to settle into something like a routine here at my dad's house. Little r is finally feeling better, and his nap strike is waning. Not sure why he fights it - 20 years from now he'll be dying for an excuse to take a 2 hour nap everyday.
We took a break from all things crazy and decided to go to the zoo this morning. It was amazing. Little r loved every minute of it, especially the tractors. Yes, you heard me right, we went to the zoo, and little r loved the tractor the best. The zookeeper found him adorable and let him sit on one. Made the kid's day.
He also learned how to say Llama and he pet a kangaroo, but those are just minor details.
I know there is more to tell, but I'm tired of writing and I have no doubt you are tired of reading my ramblings. We have a fully-packed several days ahead before our flight to Germany.
Five days and counting...
It wasn't all work and no play, in fact, little r and I had many a dance party in our empty living room, and watched the movie "Cars" (the new favorite) a dozen times in just a few days. Little r was also able to embellish his infatuation with tractors at the Children's Museum:
The play had to end (momentarily) when the movers came and we had to get the house ready for our big move. Per usual nothing happens as planned, so it was good that I was ready for anything. The moving company had scheduled to be at the house around 8 a.m., which quickly became 3 p.m. Yes, apparently 7 hours is nothing in the moving and packing world. They did miraculously finish packing and loading our things in only a couple hours, but that left the rest of the chores for me to take care of late into the evening. Little r was the best assistant EVER as he helped me sweep and mop all of the floors after the movers made a huge mess of things. Got him tucked into bed and got everything packed up and tossed out so that we could leave first thing in the morning. My mother-in-law's car is awesome, but it's also "little" so I had to use my creative graces (of which we all know I have none) to pack all of our luggage and things to get them up to D.C. We always miss getting photographic evidence of the most ridiculous things we do in our lives...
Alas, we drove away from the place we called home for three years, and my adventurous weekend continued...
I honestly don't remember all the details from those next two days. Little r has kept me on my toes and is constantly reminding me that he is the center of my universe. He got a nasty cold, learned how to crawl out of his pack-n-play, and went on both an eating and napping strike. This is a fabulous combination for trouble. Hence my lapse in memory. Saturday, my fabulous mother-in-law came down for a final good-bye to pick up her car, and then Sunday my dad and I set out on our silly task of getting me and little r on the first leg of our flight.
We give the Army too much credit for the things that it apparently does for us when all I want to do is punch it square in the nose for all the things it puts us through as an Army spouse and family. I would definitely feel better if I could knock the Army around a little bit. (I'm sure I'm not alone in that either.) The Army made us leave from Richmond and refused to allow us to leave from D.C. (despite having to connect through D.C.). Contracts, really?! We quit asking questions and starting taking orders. So, dad drove me and little r to Richmond so that we could take the first leg of our flight to Germany. Our layover is 8 days long, and honestly the best way for us to have handled this situation - I won't get into all the details, so just trust me on this one. The traffic from DC to Richmond frankly blows, so we left early to avoid any freakish delays, and got to Richmond, well, EARLY. After visiting with my sister for awhile, dad dropped us off at the airport, and the fun began. The 20-minute flight was delayed for over an hour, but I suppose this is typical and no one cared because all of the layovers were at least 4 to 5 hours in D.C. (No clue why United sets things up this way, but it's a big reason we opted for the 8-day layover.)
Little r tried out his new doggie harness, and quickly developed a love-hate relationship with it. It was a seemingly simple way for me to hang onto the kid, but in hindsight, I'm not sure it really helped much this time. Instead we spent most of the 3+ hours in the airport in the stroller walking back and forth in the terminal.
Our plane finally arrived and we worked our way to our seats. Little r was nothing shy of a monster. And I am NOT exaggerating. I love him, but I could not have been more relieved that we only had 20 minutes on the plane. We finally arrived back in D.C. not far from where we had left that morning (my mother-in-law left D.C. at the same time we did that morning and arrived in Connecticut by car before we left Richmond). We were both exhausted. Little r didn't even let us pull away from the terminal before he passed out. This picture literally sums it up.
The next day we headed back to Richmond to get Lucy cat all taken care of for the flight. It's amazing how much easier the international pet travel "stuff" was the second time around. Everything was taken care of and my sister was a Godsend while she watched little r and Lucy cat while I ran around town from one office to another.
After all of the madness, we are slowly trying to settle into something like a routine here at my dad's house. Little r is finally feeling better, and his nap strike is waning. Not sure why he fights it - 20 years from now he'll be dying for an excuse to take a 2 hour nap everyday.
We took a break from all things crazy and decided to go to the zoo this morning. It was amazing. Little r loved every minute of it, especially the tractors. Yes, you heard me right, we went to the zoo, and little r loved the tractor the best. The zookeeper found him adorable and let him sit on one. Made the kid's day.
He also learned how to say Llama and he pet a kangaroo, but those are just minor details.
I know there is more to tell, but I'm tired of writing and I have no doubt you are tired of reading my ramblings. We have a fully-packed several days ahead before our flight to Germany.
Five days and counting...
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