A little R&R

Once Aaron got home and re-signed into the base he was given 17 days off for some family time and vacation. We decided to start off with a little Stay-cation in Rapid City.  I mean, hundreds of thousands of people come here to visit, might as well see what all the fuss is about. 

First Aaron and I got a babysitter for an afternoon and went riding on his motorcycle.  There is a highway called Iron Mountain Road that was built specifically for riding.  Lots of pigtail turns and one-way tunnels cut into the rocks. 

Second we took a day and went to the Badlands. For those of you who are planning a vacation to come and see us, the Badlands are only 50 miles from our home.  Just letting you know.

In between summer thunderstorms Aaron took Alex out for "man camp" on the hill behind our house, trying out the paint ball gun he got for Father's Day.  Aaron and our neighbor played men vs boys.  The boys even pulled out one win.  WOLVERINES!

Another Rapid City area hot spot, actually located in Wyoming, is Devils Tower.  For you Close Encounters fans we did not see Richard Dryfus but we did sing the song.  De, de, de, bo bee....

And finally, we took the kids to Mall of America in Minnesota.  One very cool mall!  We stayed at the Raddison across the street which had a waterpark and then spent a day at the mall riding the rides.  I think more than anything it was just good to be together again!

Aaron's Home!!

So yeah - Aaron's home!  It's been a month now and even though we are once again not together (he's at Fairchild AFB in SERE/Survival School) I figured it was time to throw some pictures up.

Aaron coming home was a bit of a surprise.  For those of you following my blog or emails or whatever, you may know that his come home date kept changing.  A bit frustrating - to say the very least.  But FINALLY we had an official be on the plane date (June 18 for him) and an expected "home" date of about June 22-23 (depending on how long he had to hang out in Manas AFB in Kyrgyzstan).

So Friday night we say our final goodbye via Skype (thank you for existing) not expecting to hear from him for a few days .  But, Saturday morning I wake up to this email (quote): So I wanted to wait to make sure everything went ok and no flights got canceled but right now I am sitting in Germany waiting for a plane to Charleston. 

As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm totally freaking out! And by the time I actually get the email he's already in the air on the way to the US.  Good thing we had Cub Scout Camp, 2 birthday parties and I had a lesson/sharing time for church to do, not to mention that the house needed a little bit of a clean up.  It takes me about 10 minutes to wrap my head around the whole situation and then it's to the phones.  Thanks to everyone who helped with carpooling and the like on that crazy day.  

By 1:00 am Sunday (Father's Day) morning the house is clean top to bottom, clothes are all laid out, posters are made and I lay down for a last sleepless night.

At the airport:  TSA has a policy that if you have a family member leaving or coming home from a deployment you are allowed to accompany them to/from the gate.  Just like the good old days.  Too bad the lady at the Security Line didn't want to follow that rule.  I had called a month in advance to get all the info we would need to get past security.  I had all the birth certificates for the kids and had received all the boarding passes from the downstairs ticket people and the TSA security officers on the main floor.  I was ready.  Then the crabby lady who loves to ruin peoples dreams and hates Father's Day entered my life.  She refused to let us through. 

For those of you who know me I'm sure you realize that I was calm and cool and not sending death to her through my eyes.  FINALLY we get through (via a manager), although Aaron's plane has landed (late luckily) and we get to the gate just in time!!  It was wonderful!  Ainsley went right to him, the kids couldn't get enough of him,  and there were tears all around - and not just us.

 It was pouring rain so I was feeling a little sad that we couldn't really celebrate out in our cul-de-sac with our awesome neighbors.  We pulled into the driveway, opened the garage and all our neighbors were standing in the garage waving flags and cheering.  It was a perfect Homecoming and Father's Day.