Anniversary and the Flu

That sounds like a bad combination doesn't it. Well the flu was horrible but my anniversary was pretty good, even though Ben was miles and miles away. In what seems like a never ending road trip since we left VA, we took off last week to go visit a friend for a night. Aya and her kiddos were our regular Friday playdate in VA and as she was out here for a visit to in-laws we managed one more play date. The boys had a great time seeing their friends and getting spoiled rotten by my friend's in-laws. They had their first slumber party or lack-of-slumber party. They went to bed at 10 and were up at 5:30.

We continued on from this visit to Northern CA to cabin camp with my two sisters. The view of Mt. Shasta was amazing and the lake water felt great BUT... I managed to catch a stomach flu on the drive up. By noon our first day up there I was out of commission. Lucky for me my mom had decided last minute to come with us and she was there to help my sister with the boys. I don't know what I would have done with out my sister and Mom. I don't remember being that sick in a long time. Thanks to Nana and Auntie Meg and all their cousins, the boys had a great time. They got all sorts of treats and adventures. I was just thankful to be left in a dark, quiet cabin by myself.

Kayaking with their cousin.

Yared learning to Kayak by himself.
Taking his little brother on a ride.
Nati with his cousin who is SO good with him and he likes her A LOT.

My sister and her husband are moving overseas this week so we were glad to get time with them before they left. This was taken on their Anniversary, one day before my Anniversary.

The whole group of cousins watching movies at our cabin.
Yared covered himself in mud and then started giving hugs.

Reason 1005 why I love my mom is she took the hug and then grabbed him and wrestled him into the water.

Plus she is classy:).
My sister and little niece, again she was a massive help through the flu and then managed to catch it herself the next week.
Relax time.

Mom helped me drive back to her place and I am planning to sit still here for a few weeks. On the way home Nati started complaining that his stomach hurt. We had stopped for dinner and he ate two bites. As we walked out the restaurant everything he had eaten all day came exploding out of him. I was so thankful to be out the restaurant and with my mom. I was still feeling lousy as I think I managed to get seriously dehydrated. We stocked up at the store on all sorts of things we might need for a sick kid. But he sat back in the van looking 100% better, in fact he was better. That was the extent of his flu. Yared's lasted about 10 minutes and he was better.

One night that week I gave the boys a bubble bath and was doing something while they played. I heard hysterical giggling and thought they were up to mischief. I walked in and found that my mom in swimsuit had jumped too. They loved this. Reason 1006 why I love her.

Tuesday of this week was our 8th Wedding Anniversary. It could have been a sad day as we were far apart. But Ben did a great job of remembering it and had a present here waiting for me and we got to talk on the phone. Also we were married at my parent's place, so I was able to walk down to the wedding tree and just be thankful for that fun day and the great 8 years we have had. We took a picture under the Wedding tree. The boys wanted some of themselves too.

First week without Daddy

Ben has been gone almost two weeks now and I wanted to capture a few of our adventures since he has left.

Many of you are probably wondering how the boys are doing. I would say overall they are doing super well. But there are still tears and many "I miss Daddy" 's. There are sleeping issues withNati, but I still think both boys are handling this well. Ben has been great at calling, skypingand emailing. Both Ben and I are rather amazed with how much things have changed since he last deployed. It is definitely easier to stay in touch this time. He works a lot but that is to be expected. But in usual Ben fashion he is enjoying the work and doing his best to make this a positive experience for himself as well as us.

We are having a great time visiting with lots of family. We literally unpacked for one day and then came straight up to my parents. By the time we get back to our house it will have been almost six weeks since left. We thought about waiting and moving in later in the summer but this way much of the big stuff is situated and Ben was able to help us "move in". Also we weren't sure of housing availability at the end of the summer so we took the first house they offered us. We also happened to get a house on base right next door to our good friends from grad school so who could turn that down right?

Here are a few pictures from our first week without Daddy. We miss you every day Ben!!

This one was taken this morning when both boys got to talk to Daddy on the phone.

Hugging his cousin.
My big sister and my Mom. Yes they are related:).
We had my cousin from England come to visit us with his four kids, all teenagers... but nice ones:). They spoiled the boys rotten and carried them around everywhere. The boys loved them and were very sad to see their big playmates leave.

Here is one teen being Nati's horsie.

The first cousins hanging by the pool.
Yared did VBS at my Mom's church our first week here and loved it. Nati kept telling us he would go, "me go VBS...maybe me not." but he never did. He got his own shirt and got to dance with the mascot at the closing program, so he was happy.
This is for Daddy. Yared volunteered to read a Bible verse but freaked out when he got to the microphone. He didn't tell me about this at all so I was super surprised to see him going up front. That should explain my terrible shot.
Yared singing in the VBS performance. He loved it but he looks pained here:).
Second cousin spoiling him rotten but it made a nice shot. We went to visit our friend Bob's gold mine property. It is just outside Yosemite and beautiful.
With Bob and Babu(my dad) down by the river. (if you are an 80's child you'll hear Chris Farely saying that)
artsy shot
sweetness..this was right before I managed to flick a wasp with the towel and really tick it off. I had a rather embarrassing time of running madly in my swimsuit and flipflops clambering over rocks up and down screaming all the time. Finally realized this thing could smell me and jumped under water. It did the trick but it freaked the boys out who somehow thought I had died by going under water. I am sure my hysterical antics did not reassure them. I came out of the water all pleased with myself not getting stung. Then I looked up and saw my two teenage 2nd cousins each holding one boy. Both boys were wailing their heads off.
My second cousins swimming in the waterfall.

We finally convinced him to jump. I had to hold Yared back from jumping.

The water is snow run off so rather cold.

These last two are for Daddy. I took them in Norfolk but never put them up. It just shows our mischievous boys up close.

Road Trip Part Two - the Wild West

Sorry to leave you hanging. We did finish our road trip across country with the cats, the kids and the occasionally crabby parents and overall it was loads of FUN. We loved it. But at the end of the week we were glad to get to CA and see Ben's family for the weekend. We then had a few busy days in Pt Hueneme moving into our new house and getting Ben ready to deploy. We are very excited to live on base and everyone was so welcoming. He is now in Afghanistan and we are resting at my parent's house. The last half of the trip I managed to summon the energy for the big camera so here are those shots and a brief summary of our days in the West.

These pictures our of the cool Carousal we found in CO. Yared is making Mickey Mouse ears for me.

I often get presented with dandelion flower bouquets. They are some of the best flowers I have ever received. Who knew that weeds accompanied with sweet smiles can be beautiful.
How we ate lunch on our trip in the heat with the kids and the cats.

I thought this horses's face was hilarious. It would be exhausting carrying kids in circles for years and years.

Day Five - Denver CO to Grand Junction CO 244 miles

This was a fun day as we planned to make it short and see a few of the local sites. We got up to the Grand Mesa and also to the Colorado National Monument. The highlight of this day was wandering through downtown Grand Junction in the cool of the evening. It felt like a small western town you would see in a movie. There were awesome statues through the town and we had a great dinner at the local pub. We spent sunset at Colorado National Monument playing on rocks. I love this part of the US and we spent dreamed about moving somewhere like this.

Here we are looking at the amazing Rocky Mountains. We met some German men who had shipped their motorcycles to Seattle. They were driving across the USA and then shipping their bikes back to Germany from NY. What a trip. They let the boys have a picture on their bikes.

Grand Mesa - the valley below is all desert but you drive 45 minutes up to the top of the mesa and you are in a different world of lakes and forests.

The fun statues we saw as we wandered through Grand Junction CO.

Colorado National Monument. One word - BEAUTIFUL.

Climbing rocks with Daddy.

Climbing smaller rocks by himself.

It was so cool watching the rain move across the sky.

Catch a rainbow and putting in your hand lately?

We even managed a small hike. With the elevation and my cold, I was going the same speed as Nati. We weren't fast but we made it.

Day Six - Grand Junction CO to St. George UT 391 miles

This was amazing scenery but no gas stations or food for miles in between. I have some great shots that I took on the small camera as we drove. However, Ben had to take that camera with him so I can't show you those pics. We did have one adventure this day. We were going about 80 through the dessert and Yared says, "Mom I'm bleeding." I looked in the rear view mirror and he had blood all over his face. He was having his first bloody nose. It freaked him out and it rather freaked me out to see all that blood and be on a highway going so fast and not be able to help him right away. He was crying and trying to stop the bleeding. Nati was fascinated and was saying over and over in his sweet squeaky high pitched voice, "How Ya ya get owie in his nose? How Ya Ya get owie in his nose?" I radioed Ben we needed to stop pronto. We got is sorted out and explained to Yared that a nose bleed was no big deal. I am not sure we convinced him. He had another later at the hotel so I think it was just the hot, dry weather. We stayed in a great hotel in St. George. The pool was perfect for Nati and he really was swimming on his own this day. It is always so amazing to see your kids learn something new like that. I was so glad Ben was here for that event. I feel like both the boys are on the brink of learning so many new things this year and I don't want Ben to miss it all.

Day Seven - St George UT to Banning CA 375 miles
It felt so good to be on the home stretch. We were excited to be back in CA and celebrated by going to In-N-Out. Of course a million other people love CA and In-N-Out so it was super busy. I went inside to let Nati go to the bathroom and missed the excitement. Our silly cat escaped the harness and Ben spent 5 crazy minutes chasing the cat under cars and through a ridiculously busy parking lot. I would have died of embarrassment but when I asked him if people were watching he gave his typical answer, "Who cares if they are." He is right I shouldn't care but I do:). This is the same cat who tried to escape earlier in the trip. I am beginning to think she didn't like our road trip!! We got to Ben's sister's house in the early afternoon and the boys were so thrilled to meet their cousins and play with their Auntie and Uncle.

The last three days had the most incredible views. It changed all the time and often took your breath away. Ben and I loved it. I had managed to catch Yared's cold so the elevation changes were a challenge. My ears were plugged for nearly the whole three days and I found myself telling the boys to be loud rather than to be quiet:).

I am not sure the cat liked being a car plllow/table but I thought it was funny.
Poor Woody and Man getting held up in the hotel room.

We took this picture the night before Ben left. Yared had just been in tears about Daddy leaving and napless Nati was beyond tired but with Grandma making them laugh we managed to get one last family shot in front of our new home.