While You Were Out

So, now that the Hubs is back from his trip, I think it is time to recap what the kids and I did to survive while he was gone.

The excitement started the night they arrived in the DR with 18 people but only 17 passports.  One of the kids lost his--probably on the plane during their first flight from Atlanta to Miami.  I had planned to spend some time with this kid's mom S and her two youngest girls while they were gone since her husband and two oldest kids were on the mission trip as well.  So I got to watch first hand a lot of the drama and red tape involved in getting U.S. passport in another country.  FYI the U.S. Embassy in the DR worked with them and this kid was able to fly back with the rest of the group as scheduled.

We did our scheduled swimming lessons on Monday and Wednesday mornings with a local teenager who is wonderful with B.  C and I enjoy the pool while B does some serious swimming.  He has improved leaps and bounds since the beginning of the summer, and I could not be happier with the results.

Monday night the kids and I spent the night with S and her girls.  They have a dog, and while my kids are usually pretty skiddish around dogs (as is their mommy), C really took to Kylo.  She piled up tons of toys in front of the dog and was pretty put out when the dog didn't show any interest in the toys.

On Tuesday morning, we returned all of the VBS decorations we had borrowed from the church next door.  That took quite some time.  Then we headed to the library to catch the tail end of the animal show they were having.  I did not get any pics of this, but we did come home with a stack of books.  :)

Thursday morning we hit up the Summer Kids Series that the Carmike Cinemas are hosting this summer.  S came with her two girls and two of their friends to watch Ice Age:  Continental Drift.  Right as the movie started, she got a call from her husband in the Dominican saying that they still needed one more form from her to get the replacement passport for their son.  So she had to leave me at the theater with all 6 kids.  It was C's first theater experience, and if they had actually started the movie on time (instead of 30-40 minutes late!!) she probably would have been fine.  But considering that she was finished with her popcorn and gummies by the time the movie started, she was pretty antsy by the end.

S made it back about 15 minutes after the movie was over and took her girls for lunch, while the kids and I went to a local Japanese place with JuJu and her bestie and her teenage daughter.  It was fun, but my kids were definitely ready for a nap.  We spent that night with S and her girls again.  C did not sleep as well that night and was up by 4:45 that morning.  ARG!  Fortunately, the kids were going to Pop and JuJu's for their usual Friday fete, so I was able to be completely non-productive and crawl right back into bed.

After a long Saturday waiting for the Hubs, he finally got home around 1:30 Sunday morning!  A delayed flight and lost bags had them at the airport much later than they planned, so he was about an hour and half later getting home than he had planned.  The kids and I were able to stay pretty busy while the Hubs was gone, but I sure was glad to see him back.  B got a little emotional at bedtime the night the Hubs was getting in and said with his sweet, shaky, tearful voice, "I want to see Daddy."  I totally understood and was excited to hear him walk through the door that night.  Welcome home, Hubs!