Good Times in Seattle

7-22-15

Today is the day we left California, which means it is the day we had to say our final goodbyes to the family. There weren’t that many tears shed; I could have started-and almost did, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to stop. There will be many tears shed behind closed doors so at least were all able to get through it in person…I guess. **tear**

The funniest thing is that PRESTON is the one that is stressed out and full of anxiety (This pretty much describes me on a daily basis). He has been nonstop today and on the verge of being unpleasant to say the least. I want to say it is mostly because of his new role in the Marine Corps, I can only imagine the pressure. This next year is probably going to be a tough one on many different levels.

I will have to thank Tiffany for being there for my anxiety/panic attack a few weeks back. She was amazing and I am gratefully to have such a great friend to be there in a time of need. I am thinking that is why I am so, so, so calm. I must have released everything then. Phew-was I a mess!

Today is just the flight to Seattle and the kiddos are doing great! I have Kayden with me and the girls are with Preston. He does seem to be a bit busy…passing out snacks and helping beat levels on the iPads (Thank you bau and papa for these iPads!). Kayden is just playing away with his headphones on. He was a little worried about his ear popping, since I warned him-bad idea. Now the flight is almost over. Thinking about how we are going to collect out 8 suitcases now. Eek

 

7-23-15

Today is “T” day: Travel Day! It was surprisingly easy to wake up at 1:20am. We got everyone dressed and the shuttle was ready at the hotel; that was a much shorter wait time compared to the hour wait yesterday. We took all the check bags and headed to the airport-I forgot the passports! We also needed to weigh our carry-on luggage too. So….Preston headed BACK to the hotel to retrieve the rest of our stuff while we waited in line. We were thinking we could check in and then head back to the room for a few more hours of sleeps before boarding time.

Check-in started at 2:50am. We were there at 2:00am and were still the 20^th in line! So many families from ALL branches of the military. Most had three children too. Also, most had more luggage than us- I don’t feel crazy anymore.

Check-in went smoothly except I didn’t like being asked how much I weighed. I wonder what would happen if the plane reached its weight limit? Heavy people off first?  We decided not to go back to our hotel and just wait at our gate. 4:00am and the kids are wide awake, coloring and playing their iPads. Finally about 6:15am they make the announcement our flight has been delayed due to a typhoon near Okinawa. Chaos begins- phone calls to 8 different hotels and they are ALL booked! Luckily Preston got a room online, but... we can’t check in until 3:00pm. So from 6:30am-2:30pm we wait in the airport lobby. The kids actually fell asleep on the cold tile, I tried to and maybe went in and out, Preston kept watch since again we had to lug around all our 8 suitcases. Now we have to see if we will be delayed yet another day?