Sunshine!!!

Work has been super crazy for me the last few weeks and I've been itching to sneak away. I decided at the last minute to take Friday off and hang out with Kevin all weekend.  

Prior to leaving town on Thursday, Kj decided she was ready to give up her binky!! Such an exciting and sad day. We mailed them to the binky fairy and she got a magical horse in exchange. 

Friday Kevin had to work, so the kids and I cleaned up the trailer for him. Well, I cleaned and the kids "decorated." 

Then, it was into adventuring! We headed up toward Little Goose Dam and explored Texas Rapids and the dam, then onto the Tucannon River Wildlife Refuge. 

A windy drive with the windows down!! 

We hung out along the Tucannon River and watched them stack a tower from afar. 

Then back to the trailer to wait for Kevin to get home. 

So far, the weekend has been great. It's been so sunny and warm and beautiful. We're having fun exploring an entirely new area and landscape. Kevin has class tomorrow and then we're headed back to the trailer. Or onto an adventure first. We'll see!!! 

Easter

We survived another week!!!! Kevin is still down by Dayton on the same job. It's been terrrrrrrific having him so close to home. He had Saturday school, so he drove home and then Saturday morning we loaded the kids up at 5 a.m. and headed to Pasco. This way we get to see Kevin for four hours on the drive and keep him company, then while we're down there the kids have my undivided attention. We've gotten pretty comfortable driving around and I can easily find my way from Kevin's school to the mall and Target, and the park. :) 

This week's trip was a little more....what's the word??? Adventurous than most. I realized half way down that I forgot my purse at home which meant no drivers license and no money for me. But, not to fret, Kevin gave me some cash and his debit card and PIN number. Carrying on, just as we exited to go to Kevin's school, he got pulled over. Oops. Speeding. Because we were late. Because we dragged the kids along <and also because I couldn't drag my butt out of bed at 4:30 on a Saturday....>. Thankfully, the state trooper was very nice and quick and we got off with a warning and made it to class on time. 

Onto Target I went. You know how Target goes with children....I found some close, the kids found some clothes, we found some toys, and of course we found the dollar bins. After successfully wasting an hour and a half and $141, we went to pay. And then the PIN number wouldn't work. And again. And again. Until the transaction was cancelled. So I had the poor checker lady take off all the toys and clothes so I could spend the cash I had on the other random "essentials" I had-bubbles, Chapstick, glittery clothespins, miniature clothespins- you get the idea. I text Kevin. Oops, he gave me the wrong PIN number. Problem solved. Go back to the losing her patience checker lady because that's where my clothes/toys are and she rings them up. Denied. Boom. Debit card is locked. I try an ATM, no go. Too many pin attempts. Crap!!! 

Thankfully, Kevin's instructer was super nice and let him run a different debit card out to me. I promptly went to an ATM and withdrew more money than I'd need. 

By then it was 10:30 and we'd all been up since 5 and hadn't eaten. Before returning to Target (and to the lovely thoroughly annoyed checker lady), we went to Magill's and had a lovely breakfast. Complete with huge syrup spill and chocolate milk spill. Of course.....

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful! Back to Target, I went on a wild goose chase trying to hunt down the pajama pants I wanted and of course the ones I my size weren't out on the shelf. Finally tracked them down. (I may not be welcome back to the Target in Kennewick after Saturday....) Drake changed his mind twice on the toy he wanted but settled with a jacked up truck with a motorcycle in the back. Of course. We paid with our CASH, much to the lady's pleasure. Then we went back to the school to wait for Kevin to get done. The kids picked dandelions and Drake played with his new toy as Kj and I basked in the glorious sunshine. 

When Kevin got done we went to the park to play on the toys and ride bikes. A super cool boat cruised by. We even let Drake play at the "big kid" playground. 

Then, back to home to get ready for Easter!!! 

We did the usual holiday rounds. One grandparents house in the morning and the other in the afternoon. And Easter egg hunt and the kids his the eggs for the grandparents to find too. 

It was a nice family weekend and I'm looking forward to a little more downtime this coming weekend!! 

Kevin starts on 5-12s this week, so I'm sure he'll be wiped out this weekend too. He only has two more Saturday classes this spring so it'll be nice to not have to worry about that for a while! Especially since I can't go to Target anymore......

Settling

Settling into a routine feels weird. It seems like as soon as something feels "normal", almost like a routine, then something unexpected happens. 

Kevin had camp Rilea and had a great time. His group of guys were all cool. They worked hard and he learned a ton. 

After camp, he came home Wednesday and was home for a couple days before Saturday school. I think in five days he drove i90 between Ritzville and Spokane at least four times. 

He's now back on the same crew at the Dayton job. They've been working 5-10s but might start on 5-12s. They've been battling the spring like weather the last couple weeks and have had to call off a few days of work. 

My work has been crazy so the kids have been staying at their grandparents a lot. We have a good system down at the moment and I'm getting very used to Kevin being home Friday for dinner and staying home through Sunday night. We'll be making more trips down to visit after my work slows down. 

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While Kevin was home on a day they cancelled, Drake learned how to ride his motorcycle!!! 

The kids spend so much time swinging and constantly want pushed. 

My attempt at running and a bike ride turned into this. 

We're settling into Kevin being gone part of the week and home part of the week. My anxiety I felt when he was in Southern Oregon is definitely getting less and less. At the moment, October of 2017 doesn't seem all that far away!!!