Lonely House

We dropped off Emilee yesterday at the shuttle, and shipped her away to OCS.

(Let me just explain her attire. All candidates are required to go to OCS in "appropriate civilian attire", which is why she looks like she's going to play golf in the LPGA)

D attempted to help her with the seabag...

She opted for the carry on instead.

Goodbye hugs!

For the last 2 weeks, I've really enjoyed having her around for the adult conversation more than anything.

I mean, she was a HUGE help with the kids, and with little things around the house, but just having someone to talk to was probably the best part.

I also felt like she became my third adopted child.

Not that she acts like a child or anything, but she's only 21 years old, and there were times when she really made me feel 30. 

I forget that most college students are living off of dorm food, fast food, and ramen, and just hearing her be appreciative of simple home cooked meals (like spaghetti...the easiest thing ever) made me feel like my kid was home from college...lol.

So yesterday morning, as I watched her pack her seabag, I couldn't help but feel jittery and anxious for her!

Seriously, I felt like I was sending my child to boot camp where all these mean people were gonna yell at her.

It made me a little sad....not gonna lie.

It also sucked that Dannika became really close to her (since they shared a room together).

The house feels empty again, and I am going back into "countdown mode".

We officially only have 4 full weeks left, and I just pray that these next few weeks FLY!

I took the kids to the park to kill some time.

I seriously did not realize how much having Emilee around made the days go by so fast!

Oh, and I'm gonna have a freaking 5 year old on Saturday!

FIVE!

What the heck is going on here?!

Also, I was nominated again for Voiceboks Military Blogs!
I'm so honored!
If y'all have a quick minute, please click this link, and vote for me!
I'm #47, and all you have to do is click the little heart in the corner of my picture!

Cancelled Flight and 4th of July

Remember that awesome getaway I had planned for 4th of July weekend in Syracuse?

Guess what?

I'm still here in Natick, and I will not be going to Syracuse this summer. 

To make a long story short...

Neighbor drove us to airport.

Checked in two car seats and luggage.

Got through security with two kids, a stroller, and a carry on.

Ate dinner, went to Starbucks.

Before heading to gate, I receive phone call saying my flight is cancelled.

CANCELLED.

Due to some pesky hurricane name Arthur that was brewing down south on the coast.

It was about as nightmarish as you can imagine at the airport with two kids and a cancelled flight.

There were SO many cancelled flights which meant SO many angry travelers...and crowds...

I had to figure out a way to reclaim our checked bag and car seats.

Once I got my huge suitcase and both car seats, I had to load them up on a Smart Cart (4 freaking dollars, btw).

I entrusted my almost 5 year old daughter to push her brother in the stroller, so that mommy could manage to steer this cart without the car seats and luggage toppling over.

I then had to find a reasonably priced cab to drive us home back to Natick.

Eighty five dollars later, we made it back home.

Then came the task of contacting the airline to rebook my flight.

I sat on hold for almost 2 hours before the airline told me I would have to call back in the morning.

I went to bed exhausted, and woke up at 7am and called the airline like I was told to do.

6 hours and 4 minutes later (on hold), I finally talked to an actual human being.

 Instead of being angry and irate (how I was really feeling), I chose to be cheerful and polite. 

The customer service agent was so appreciative that I wasn't screaming at him and cursing him out that he tried his best to get me on another flight AND push my return date back. 

After I decided it was not worth flying in to Syracuse on Tuesday and coming back Thursday, he gave me a FULL refund on my non refundable ticket because I was so nice. 

It pays to be nice sometimes.

So we spent 4th of July at home, and thanks to Hurricane Arthur, it was rainy all day.

All the parades were cancelled and there were no fireworks.

Instead of mope about how awful 4th of July was this year, we made the best of it...

We played soccer in the rain...

Blew bubbles...

I bought all these adorable 4th of July outfits for my kids for our trip to Syracuse.

I wasn't going to let them go to waste, so I dressed them up, and tried to snap a few photos.

This is the best one I got of BOTH kids together...

And I bribed Dannika to cooperate.

Little man has been running a low grade fever (probably teething), so he wasn't too happy.

We raced...

And I even let Dannika jump in puddles!

Miss Emilee played in the rain too!

Dannika worked on her handstand push ups.

 

Despite our cruddy circumstances, we made the best of it!

I hope everyone had a happy 4th!

Meet "Miss Emilee"!

This is a scheduled post, since I am on "vacay"!

I know y'all are probably wondering who this "Emilee" person (AKA my temporary nanny) is that stayed with us the last 2 weeks.

If you follow my blog, I gave you a brief description of who she was and why she was staying here.

She's a college student at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) who is going through a Marine Officer program called Platoon Leaders' Class (PLC) to commission as a 2ndLt in the USMC when she graduates.

She's managed to stay active in NROTC though, which is how I know her (since Nick works with the NROTC program for all the Boston colleges).

Besides that, I think she's one of the coolest people I know, and y'all should get to know her, so I forced her asked her to do answer some questions about her for me on my blog!

Where are you from?

O'Fallon, MO

What made you decide to apply to MIT, and what's your major?

My major is mechanical engineering. Honestly, I applied to MIT because they sent me a brochure after I took my ACT's. I didn't even know about the institute until I Googled them and found out that "apparently" it was a good school. 

What made you decide to pursue a career as a Marine Corps Officer?

I was looking for more than just a career, I wanted a lifestyle.

What's your favorite sport to watch?

Soccer, because I understand the game best.

(She played soccer her entire life, and she played for the MIT women's soccer team for 3 years!)

What's one of your favorite past times?

I like reading...not just books, but interesting articles, etc...anything really.

(She also enjoys riding her motorcycle)

What is your favorite thing about Boston?

The people I've met through college....

(She's like me...she's not a New England person)

If you won the lottery, what's the first thing you would do with the money?

I'd buy my mom her dream house, and put my 3 younger sisters through college myself.

If you didn't want to be a Marine, you'd be...

A sports medicine doctor

If you're on death row, what would your last meal be?
Grilled NY strip...rare, grilled corn on the cob, grilled bell peppers, baked potato with everything on it....and for dessert "spaghettieis" (google it...it's a german dessert).

LAST...

What are you most looking forward to after college (she graduates in the Spring of 2015)?

Traveling to Germany and seeing my family again.

So there y'all have it!

Just a glimpse into this "Emilee" person that stayed with us for two weeks.

Everyone wish her luck at OCS this Summer!

Btw...she's also amazing with kids...

"Pool" Day

Yesterday was a scorcher! 

Ok, Ok...scorcher for New England.

I know all my Texas friends are rolling their eyes at me, but it was 94 degrees at one point today, and for New England, that's pretty hot.

We filled up Dannika's giant blow up kiddie pool (it seriously takes like an hour to fill), and Emilee and I sat "pool side" with our feet in the water while D played.

This is actually Mattis' little kiddie pool, that D thought worked better as a boat.

Dannika had fun spraying Miss Emilee with water.

 Emilee was such a great sport.

I eventually jumped in the "pool" with the kiddos.

Since it's our last evening together with Emilee, we took her out to eat at our favorite burger joint, Smash Burger.
Of course Mattis was thrilled cause he got to mooch some sweet potato fries and french fries from us.

We're sad to say goodbye to Miss Emilee when we go to Syracuse because we had so much fun with her this last week and a half!
I know the kids are gonna miss her!

Whoa!

My last post on "jogging stroller" rules was satirical in nature.

I wrote some "rules" on my blog, that me (as a jogging stroller running mama) thought EVERYONE should follow, because quite frankly...I'm always right....(sarcasm).

I guess some people didn't quite get it that way.

I totally understand, since it's hard to convey sarcasm over the internet in writing.

Either way...

I do believe that when you see a woman coming towards you with 2 kids in a gigantic jogging stroller, it's a lot easier for someone who doesn't have that sort of "baggage" with them to move out of the way. 

If you've never ran with a double jogger or even a single jogger at that, pushing that much weight and maneuvering it around tight sidewalks is a challenge in itself.

All I really wanted to convey was for everyone to be courteous to the poor mama out there running while pushing 100lbs of stroller and kids.

On my run a few days ago, I encountered some people who were taking a walk, and did not move out of the way for me.

I had to finagle my giant stroller off road to the side of the sidewalk (where there was no room for a double jogger), where I almost lost control, and tipped my stroller over, simply because two people didn't want to step aside in the grass for me to pass.

So...

That sucks that some of y'all didn't quite get my sense of humor in that post.

On a totally random note,

It's JULY!

That means this is the last full month we will be without Nick until he's home next month!!

We are officially on Week 5 of 10, and it feels so awesome to say we're halfway done with this separation!

For completing Week 4, Dannika got to go to Crumbs Bakery in the Natick Mall to get a cupcake!

She picked out a red velvet cupcake as her treat!

The other morning, I was making breakfast, and when I looked over, this little guy had climbed onto Dannika's couch all by himself.

He was sitting there just as happy as a clam...hilarious.

Went to my favorite store Target, and let Miss Emilee push the cart and watch the kids while I did some shopping, and this is what happens...lol.

Crazy kids.

With the weather warming up, during the day it's too hot to take the kids to the park.

We've done a few Jam Time days (indoor playground) to wear the kids out...specifically Mattis.

So, here we go onto Week 5!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I hope that some of y'all at least understood some of the humor in my last blog post. 

It wasn't meant to offend or upset anyone, and it was written with a light hearted sense.