We had our going away dinner at Arni's Wednesday night with my Mom's family. It's weird how the human body works because I have known for quite awhile that we were going to be moving far, far away. I'm a pretty emotional person and I've been able to control my emotions while saying goodbyes......until Monday night it somehow kicked in that we only had a few days left. Needless to say, I was emotional from then on out.
TRAVELS
We've arrived in San Antonio! We left Lafayette, Indiana around 4:45 am Thursday morning. Our thoughts were that if we left early while it was still dark out the girls would sleep for awhile. They usually wake up as soon as our vehicle stops so we wanted to get as far as we could with some peace and quiet. Allie went right to sleep, Avery stayed up for about an hour before falling asleep but she didn't make a peep the whole time she was awake. We decided we weren't going to drive straight through. That way the girls wouldn't be too miserable and we'd get some rest too. The half way point was Little Rock, AR. There just happens to be a base there so that's where we stayed. It took us roughly 12 hours with all of our stops. The girls were actually really good. They didn't sleep a whole lot, but they kept themselves entertained for the most part. We saved some lacing farm animals (thank you TAKK!) for the trip so it was something new to them and they (especially Allie) LOVED them! They also watched Toy Story 1 & 2 for the first time so that was a nice treat for them. Although we were in the truck so they had to watch it on the laptop.....not quite as nice as it would have been if we had been in the van.
We arrived in Little Rock, unloaded what we needed and went and grabbed a bite to eat. Hurried back so Derek could get some sleep. (he drove the entire way!) I took the girls to a playground to run around. They had a blast, met a new little friend, and ran around until they were all sweaty and exhausted. Then we headed inside since it was getting dark and went to a little Mommy & Me play area that was in the TLF (temporary living facilities) building. Avery was extremely quiet inside so I knew she was ready for bed so as soon as we got back to the room she went straight to bed. Allie stayed up a little while longer playing with her lacing animals. It was lights out for everyone around 10pm.
Our plan was to wake up at 3 to head out. I heard the alarm go off, but said to myself I was going to sleep just a little bit longer. I finally rolled out of bed at 4:20 - woke Derek up and we took showers to help wake us up, loaded the car and then grabbed the girls and were on our way by about 5:20.
This drive was supposed to be around 9 hours....it felt so LONG! It did end up being around 11 hours with all of our stops and the crazy traffic in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. Avery slept most of the way. I knew that she probably wasn't feeling good because she was sleeping so much and she wasn't eating anything either. Every time I looked back at her and heard her whimpering in her sleep I just wanted to reach back and grab her and hold her the rest of the way. Allie didn't sleep at all really. Just maybe a couple hours at the beginning and an hour or so at the end. We had a very close call once....we were driving and came over a hill and the traffic was stopped. We saw burning rubber, heard tires squealling, saw cars vearing this way and that. We slammed on our brakes (remember we have a huge boat behind us) Derek controls the swerving as best as he can and thankfully the car right in front of us thought fast and pulled off on the median and we swerved the truck in the little space left between them and the car that would have been in front of them. The car behind us stopped within inches of hitting us.....everyone was very blessed. There wasn't a single accident.
Anyway, we got to Lackland AFB - unloaded things we thought we might need and then Derek took the rest to our storage unit while I gave the girls a much needed bath. Avery was ready for bed right away. She definitely wasn't feeling good. Derek brought dinner home, we ate and Allie was in bed right after she was done. We're all crammed in a tiny one bedroom TLF. Derek and I were joking around - we've downgraded with each TLF we've stayed in. First, we were in TLF @ Wright Patt in a 3 bedroom that was HUGE, then we were in a very nice (we think practically brand new) 2 bedroom TLF in Little Rock, and now we're in an old super tiny one bedroom here in San Antonio and we're going to be here for at least 6 days.
So, anyway, with Avery's pack n play set up and Allie's mattress in the bedroom we only have one little spot to climb into our bed. Plus, when I was giving the girls a bath last night we found a huge cockroach on Allie's towel! GROSS!
Avery woke up around 2am and she was burning up. I tried to get her to go back asleep but she wouldn't. I finally took her out to the living room and got her a drink and somehow managed to find some medicine to give her. I figured she was hungry so I warmed up some mashed potatoes and she scarfed them down....as well as half a banana. She seems to be doing better this morning.
Well, I just wanted to get the documented. Probably won't be blogging again until we have our house and get a little bit settled. Oh, and it's HOT here!!
