The noise level of four kids under five was deafening, and we were so glad to have Alex and Margo there to help us with the numbers - five adults versus four kids definitely helps! It was a really nice, relaxed trip. As shown, we spent a lot of time playing in the back yard, running through sprinklers, going in the wading pool, digging in the sand pit, swinging on the swings. The kids were thrilled to have each other to play with - they all four piled into the bath together at night, Ellie and Logan shared a room to their great delight, and they basically cuddled and fought each other like a big pile of puppies. One of my favorites was hearing the following conversation, on more than one occasion:
Logan: Him (Ellie) not my best friend.
Ellie: I AM NOT A BOY!
We did leave the house though! One morning we went to a local strawberry farm and picked a million delicious strawberries, then walked around their little petting zoo.
On Thursday, Natalie was able to get us a tour of the new hangar on base, and we even got to sit in an osprey, which is what Cory is currently flying.
Hanging around the house, Papa Alex also broke out the guitar and we had some good singing and dancing time:
And of course, plenty of reading stories and just hanging around together:
We also got to see Tim's friend Rocco, his wife Kristin, and nine month old daughter Cecily. They're stationed in Raleigh, which is about an hour and a half away. They came up for dinner on Sunday night, and the kids were nuts for each other. Ellie LOVED baby Cecily, and she loved having her birthday buddy there too.
The kids were AMAZING travelers. Adam was absolutely insistent that he be allowed to push his owl suitcase at all times, and all I had to do to get him in line was say "do you want mommy to take your suitcase away? Well then act right!" A little crying here and there out of exhaustion, but nothing too terrible. We were also fortunate to sit next to very nice people on our longer flights - Tim and Ellie were next to a seaman who was on his way to report for duty, and offered Tim his free military drink tickets, because though he's old enough to die for our country, he's not old enough to have a beer on an airplane. I always tell people when I sit down "sorry that you lost the plane lottery" but both of the gentleman I sat next to were so nice to Adam and me. Also funny - on the flight to Orange County yesterday Adam complained that his diaper hurt, so I took him to the rear to change him. There weren't any drop down tables in the lavatory, so I plopped him on the floor and did a quick diaper change. The flight attendants were like, "oh dear, that's so dirty on the floor there, do you need a blanket for him?" and I was like, "nope. He's been rolling around the on the floor at the airport. I've long since given up." (I did make sure that his actual skin wasn't touching the ground while putting on the new diaper.)
In short, an amazing trip. The only thing that could have made it better was Uncle Cory being home to enjoy it with us! But thankfully, we did get to talk to him briefly on the phone one night. And Tim joked that Dylan looks so much like Cory, that when Tim was getting Dylan out of the tub and toweling him off to pass him to Natalie for pajamas, it was like toweling off his best friend. In a weird, yet "la la la la life goes on" type way.
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