Family Fun Day!!!

Have I mentioned that I am in my LAST CLASS for my Masters???  Yes, I am. Yes, I am! And it now feels like the elephant has been removed from my shoulders.  Of course, I have another elephant in its place (the whole husband deployed thing) but we're coping.  Day 166...  *sigh. 

After Girl Scout camp and our Spring Break fun, it seemed like we were having a bit of a drag around here this week. Lucky for me, Emily came up for the weekend and gave me some much needed company Friday night.  But still...  we needed to have a bit of fun. 

Enter family fun day with a twist - I set it up Geocache style.  I arranged my Google calendar to text me coordinates and clues for when and where the girls and I needed to go. 

The first cache - Pedicures!!!!  Did you know Holly owns her own nail salon?  Right here in Lacey?  Yep, she does - Holly's Nails on the corner of Pacific and College.  LOL!

 
The second clue came in as we were finishing up...   it sent us to Panera for lunch.  Have you tried the Spinach Power salad - YUM!!!

Cache 3 sent us back home for trampoline time (and to pick up Emily)....   Cache 4 came in and it was time to pack in the car and head for theater to see The Croods!  Cache 5 sent us for some more food -- this time our favorite Mexican restaurant. 

Last but certainly not least, cache 6 sent us for our favorite fro-yo and toppings place, Limeberry!  YUM!  While it wasn't geocaching in the traditional sense, I think a fun time was had by all! 

An Encamporee Adventure!

We had a fantastic weekend last weekend!   You see, we FINALLY got to go camping with the Girl Scouts!  Our Service Unit held an encamporee as part of some work towards a Silver and Gold Award for the older girls.  Basically, the older girls put on a weekend for the younger girls to teach them different aspects of camping.  And boy was it a fun filled one!

We headed out on a drizzly Friday afternoon, packing as many girls as I could in my car.  Finally, we got to camp, got settled in, and headed for the evening program in the lodge.  Evening program = snacks and a sing-a-long. 

 

Saturday morning brought more drizzle, but we were prepared.  Cause you can't go camping in the PNW without drizzle.  Especially in the spring!   We spent our morning in the lodge making different crafts.  Once we were done, we headed outside for some games and more songs until lunch.  To our surprise, the sun was peeking out.  By the way, Girl Scout camp is all about games and songs.  I even got to dust off my Girl Scout song skills a bit ;)  

After lunch we headed to one of the most anticipated events of the encamporee - the dragon boats!  These boats are so cool.  The girls were not able to take them out on the water (it was too windy), but they did practice getting in and out as well as good rowing form.  And best of all, all that wind was pushing the clouds back and we had full sun while out on the dock.

 

 

The rest of the day we spent at other stations -- we learned to make a box oven, did a service project, and practiced our whittling.  After supper, we headed back to our cabin and the girls had fun telling ghost stories.

Sunday morning brought more sun and games.  All too soon, it was time to head back home.  The girls sang and giggled all the way home.  But the best part was, the girls were asking when we could go camping again. 

Spring Break Refill

This post is going to start off with some whining...  Only because to understand what we did and why, you have to understand what we didn't do. 

Usually when military members are deployed over 250+ days, they get a few weeks break around the halfway point.  That is, unless you are with an Army unit...  then you are subject to their rules.  Meaning, the R&R that we thought we would have with Ronnie would not come to fruition.  Luckily, we found out about this change in policy and dealt with it as a family before he left.  Still, I couldn't hide my disappointment and frustration anytime the halfway point was brought up, knowing that we were being denied something we should have had. I had even planned an AWESOME trip for us. 

Being the ever supportive husband, Ronnie suggested we do something fun, just for us girls.  After the I don't want to do anything fun because it won't be with you temper tantrum I threw, he quietly suggested a trip to see friends.  I listened... and quickly decided on Texas as our destination.  Because if I wasn't going to have my husband home, I needed my "family" around me to help fill the void. 

We spent a full week in Texas visiting our "family."  First up, a visit to the Milks in San Antonio!  Oh, how I love this family!!!   And miss them greatly.  We spent four days with them and went to Sea World for a day, hung around the house, but best of all, we spent Easter Sunday with them.  There is nothing like having family around for a holiday.  And best of all, they helped fill a hole in my heart. 

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the Milks, but it was time to head north.  Next stop, Wichita Falls.   There was just something about landing in Dallas and then driving north on 287 that just felt like home.  I had travelled this road many times when we lived in Wichita Falls, but it still felt like I was getting closer and closer to where I was/am supposed to be.   And we drove straight into the arms of more "family."  

We were so lucky that the Genewicks agreed to host us -- they have grown their family by two since we left the Falls for Korea.  Just spending time with Mike, Tonya, and those boys of theirs filled that hole in my heart too. 

Then we went to Coca-Cola to catch up with my friends there and took Ms. Sue out to lunch.  Oh, how I LOVE that woman!!!!   And it was so good to see the guys at Coke.  It pained me to tell them I was only in town for a quick visit and not moving back to the area.  Again, another fill up. 

We also took a day and drove north to Oklahoma City to see another friend of ours from Korea, the Davises.  Karen is expecting and I just had to pat that belly!  Spending the day with her and Charlotte and seeing Jason quickly over lunch...  I miss this family so much and needed that sweet family to help with my refill.  We even graced the pages of her blog (here) -- take a moment to read and look in her Etsy shop.  She is an absolutely amazing and gifted person! 

We took a lot of time to visit with friends those few days in Wichita Falls.  Fill up after fill up  Looking back now, I still didn't see everyone I initially intended to... guess that means I have even more of a reason to go back again (and again and again).  One day, we'll be able to take that trip I planned for us to take with Ronnie on his R&R... but this was exactly the sort of trip we needed.