Traveling Gypsies

We are back again after 3 weeks of being on the road. It was not our original intention to be gone that long, but it was well worth it as we were able to see friends and family.

To start ~ I head out to NM with the kids to visit my family (that still reside there), while James headed a bit further west to NV on a TDY. The kids had a great time with their grandparents and Uncle Tommy. I can't forget to mention the stars of the visit Phoebe (the dog), Secret (the guinea pig), Petey, Paulie, and the other one (the birds), and last but not least the fish (too many to count). Logan was ready to trade Jedi for Secret(for a moment~although he would have preferred to just bring them both home). He thought it was a "cute little pig". We enjoyed the time in the sun, playing in the sandpile, going for walks, and general laziness (I caught up on my sleep as I enjoyed naptime with the kids). During this time we headed to Los Alamos (northern NM) to visit my grandpa. My grandpa is just the sweetest! I just love him! He loved our visit and enjoyed the great grandkids.

The middle ~ June 8th headed me out to Vegas to meet up with James and more family to celebrate my BIL Mike's graduation from Weapons School. It was a long 5 1/2 months of training. It's a toss up between who had a more difficult time ~ Mike with his 26 hour days or Jesse with 3 kids who were sick with rotovirus for 6 weeks. We all had a great time. All the grandkids had been left behind, so it was just adults. There were 8 of us total. We hung out at the pool, checked out the casinos, did general sightseeing, ate good meals, along with the graduation dinner. We all looked fabulous decked out to the 9's. Once Sunday hit though, everyone was ready to hit the road. James and I had to wait till 11:55 p.m. before we were out of there. That's the way it is if you want the cheap non-stop flight:) We hung out in the sports betting area in a couple of different casinos watching baseball, horse racing, and basketball. I was only to happy to sit there because my feet HURT after 3 days in heels! It's also a good way to get drinks (whatever you chose~from water, sodas, mixed drinks, or whaterver) for free (just tip the waitress $1 per drink) and you don't lose money.

Almost the end ~ It's time to head back to OK, but we make changes to our plans (James is able to request leave en route). We head out to visit my grandpa in Los Alamos again and then head to CO to visit James's grandma. Last minute decision in Albuquerque...we head south to Alamogordo to visit some dear friends of ours (they have known James since he was about three) and also see Las Cruces to check out our college stomping grounds. It was wonderful to see Jack and Peggy. The kids took to them very well. Logan and Aurora also loved all their cats (5 of them ~ Peggy loves her cats!) although we wonder if Logan might have a bit of an allergy...he sneezed quite a bit. Before heading out to Cruces, we stopped in at Holloman AFB (our first station when James was commissioned). It looked pretty much the same, but they are building some new housing. WOW!! Those things were real houses. They looked awesome with 2 car garages, 3 bedrooms, landscaping, etc. We asked a lady how big her house was and she said 1750 sq. feet. That's bigger than our house here. Unfortunately, they had not yet upgraded officer housing...so our first house on base was still there looking a wee bit old. In Cruces, we wandered around campus, stopped in at Det 505 where James did his ROTC program (I also did ROTC for a year~just to get a better understanding of what James did~I'm not cut out for the Air Force), checked out the bookstore, pointed out special places where we met, and the list goes on. We also went to one of my favorite places to eat. It's a sandwhich shop that puts Subway and Quiznos to shame. It's called DG's and I love it! I get the large #20 (bacon, turkey, and avacoda) with their red chile honey mustard...makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
We head back up to Los Alamos now for a quick overnight visit and then head to CO. We had visited last June around this time, so it good to get up there again. We saw both grandmas (as Logan puts it). We had a nice visit having a KFC dinner , heading to the New Belgium and Budweiser brewery (we got to see their newest Clydesdale ~ born May 5th), and then for a drive in the mountains to check out the land. It was a short visit, but very worth it. Logan and Aurora love seeing their grandmas, and unfortunately time gets further between visits.

Home at last~ We arrived home after a long drive from CO. Our kids did so good because the last 5 days of the trip, they were in the car for a minimum of 4 1/2 hours to the maximum of 10 1/2 hours. Of course, I don't much feel like getting in the car for the next few days:)