Milk Run

It seems all the military flights into Hawaii are being cancelled with no sign of any in the near future. Today, Ron found a flight from Seattle to Sacramento to Maui to Honolulu for cheap and we grabbed it.
It's late, I've got to be up in a few hours and Ella and I have a long day ahead of us. But we are going home! It's a bit of a milk run way to get home but at least it's in one day.
Will post pictures and blog when I get home.

Keep us in your travel prayers!

Forever, ever??

So, there was a flight going back to Hawaii tomorrow at 6am and I called all day to confirm it was still on. I checked one last time tonight at 10pm to confirm how many seats were available and it's cancelled...or at least no longer listed. What the *^!????

The news is forecasting some storms, well lots of rain really. Does the military know something we don't? Do they cancel flights for heavy rain forecasts? The flight is now on Thursday; doesn't help that I'm all packed and ready to go NOW. I have to finagle my backpack and stretch out our clothes for another couple of days. Grrrrr. I also managed to have the extact amount of food for Ella and diapers to get us home...two extra days and I have to buy a whole pack of diapers. Crap! I'll have to try to smush it in our luggage!
Erin lent me a small duffle bag to take back with me, but being here and shopping has led to borrowing a whole suitcase from Karen.

Karen and Maddison have been great to us, and we've had an awesome visit. I am so glad to have gone to Victoria (though I would have also gone over to Vancouver had I known I had so much time) and it's great to hang out with Karen again. But there is no place like home. Ella has some red shoes, maybe if I put them on her and tap her feet together....chant with me people...there's no place like home.....

Still Here...

It's been a week and a half and Ella has been doing some great things...she now grunts as much as she squeals, which is funny and a lot nicer on the eardrums. She is also almost crawling. She can reach for anything and wiggle or shimmy her way over to it. She has 2 more teeth, well almost. Her two teeth on each side of the front ones (the pointy ones...inscissors?) have cut through and will be full teeth in a few days. That makes 6 teeth all together. Do all teeth come in pairs??

Ella and I are still stuck in Washington state. There have been no flights and so far none up to Monday either. We are going to wait to see what comes up in the week and if there is still nothing we are catching something out of Seattle.

Ella and I are exhausted! I've gotten a cold and am drinking as much orange juice as possible. Maddison hasn't mastered her bedtime so there is a lot of drama and it's hard to keep Ella asleep through it. Other than that, it's been so nice to see everyone and visit. We're just really missing home and want to go back to the nice weather, a full wardrobe and get into the holidays. I love Christmas and want to go do my shopping and wrap presents to put under the tree. I will have to decorate when we get home, so I'm looking forward to that. Ron has been golfing everyday and could care less about Christmas so he is fine with Ella and I waiting for a "free" flight. Ba Humbug to him...Ella and I are so ready to come home!!

p.s. Check out Christin's Blog for some pics of Ella and I from Victoria. We have never been so cold!!!! I wrapped Ella up in a fleece blanket and carried her on me for extra warmth. Burrr.

One It Is

We're in Washington state at Karen's. We made it across the border and through customs no problem and reached Karen's by late afternoon on Tuesday. yesterday we went sightseeing downtown Seattle and walked around Pikes Market. Very trendy and totally Vancouverish. I really love the west coast.

There was a flight at 4 am but there were only 2 seats so we didn't try to make that one. Can you imagine pulling Ella and Maddison, a toddler, out of bed at 3 am to find we can't even make the flight anyway.

Maddison is in her twos and she has so sealed the deal for me. I am so done at one child...at least for a very very long time. Maybe when Ella is 5 I'll want another but I am exhausted after one afternoon. Karen is off at the dentist and Maddison isn't used to having her Mommy away. Maddison is blissfully distracted but so far we have baked bisuits, colored, taught her dolls to go to bed without drama (let's see if she remembers any of this tonight), read books, danced to the Wiggles, had lunch and now we're going to see about going for a walk to tucker her out and get her a nap. Ella, I'm sorry but there won't be any sibblings for you anytime in the near (or far) future. Ella and a toddler in the house have banished any doubt I might have had! :)

Goodbye Canada...

Tonight is our last night in Victoria. We're off to Port Angeles tomorrow and then onto Karen's house. So far there are no flights up to Thursday, I'll phone tomorrow about Friday's schedual. (Ron, you might just make that tee time on Saturday after all).

Sunday we went to Stephanie and Kristi's baby shower and I ran into some old friends from way back in grade school. So fun. And then of course we were so excited to go for family dinner at Sue and Stu's. How I am blessed with all my friends and extended family here. Ella wooed everyone and has a new boyfriend, Zachary who is the cutest little thing and such a cuddly bug. (I'll post pictures of all this when I get back home). If anything in Victoria could feel like home again, it's definately at Erin and Steph's parents.

Today we had lunch with Uncle Andrew, Stephanie and Erin. Our waitress was an old friend from elementary school. So bizarrre, I've been home for 4 days and I have run into so many old friends. More people at Superstore. 13 years out of high school and everyone looks the same! Funny I think. We visited Grandma's resting spot and I told Ella all about her Grandma, who shares part of her name. It was really pretty with all the snow and pink flowers. I know if they could have met, she would have been so in love with Ella. I know I wouldn't be half the mom I am to Ella if I hadn't such a role model. The hardest about coming back to Victoria is missing my mom. I can't wait to tell Ella all about her.

It's been an exciting 4 days, I'm sad to leave but really I am so tired of the cold. I have a perma-kink in my neck from being so tense. The boat leaves at 10:30 in the morning and we should be at Karen's by late afternoon. Ella and I will be going through immigration...happy thoughts, happy thoughts....see you on the other side!!

Friends

Just a quick note because we've been so busy visiting today. We had a wonderful visit with Barry and Diane and Jack and Phyl (and some of the family) and it was so nice to see them with Ella. Ella was a perfect lady! THen it was off to meet Uncle Andrew for a quick visit and hopefully we'll see him again Monday. Dinner with Christin, Stephanie and Erin and to Butchart Gardens to see the pretty lights in the snow. Ella once again didn't get any napping in as I kept taking her out of her carseat not long after she had fallen asleep to meet more people who couldn't wait to dote on her.
Butchart Gardens are gorgeous and Ella and I walked through all bundled up with a fleeced blanket and lots of layers of clothes. Burrrrrr! But oh so pretty. Ella is out, I'm exhausted. I can't wait to post some pictures when I get home. Ella is missing her Daddy, and will "dadadada dada dadada" and look around. I know, Ella. I miss him too :)

Tuckered Out

We are in Victoria and Ella finally got to meet her Auntie Erin! Ella and I left this morning at 7am to catch the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. We made the boat in plenty of time and walked around Port Angeles and had a nice lunch. With all this new and exciting stuff to see, Ella hasn't napped much in the past couple of days and it seems everytime she falls asleep in the car, I wake her right back up. Ella slept through customs and immigration but it was only about 15 minutes to Erin's so when we woke her up when we arrived she had a little moment. Here I am telling people how wonderfully behaved this kid is and she takes one look at Erin and breaks down! (Though I did wake her up and thrust her into Erin's arms...I guess waking up and seeing a stranger would freak anyone out!)

The weather has warmed up to a balmy 42, but there is still lots of snow on the ground. Hopefully tomorrow we can get a picture with Ella and the white stuff. Erin's at a Chrismas party, Ella's zonked out and I am on my way to bed (I'm glad the party was tonight...Ella and I aren't much company, we are so tuckered out from the excitment and traveling.

Funny news...sort of...I asked about flights back to Hawaii to get on the registration list and apparently, although flights arrive from Hawaii almost daily, they sporatically fly back to Hawaii. "Not often", I was told means maybe 1 or 2 a month. ONE OR TWO????? So, what are y'all doing for Christmas this year??? :)

Burrrrrrr!

I made it to the west coast!!!! I left on Wednesday morning and took a military flight (free, but we were on a cargo plane and sat in canvas seats along the side of the wide open cargo hold...just like skydivers!) which was long and cold but Ella was wonderful and they give you really warm wool blankets. It is freezing here! We landed at 6pm to cold and snow. Ella was a bit fussy with all the warm clothes I put her in but as soon as they opened up the cargo door and all that cold air came in she went completely still and only her eyebals moved around in wonder at the new place.
Karen picked us up and it's been so nice to visit with her again. Tomorrow morning Ella and I will be off to Victoria for the weekend. Can't wait to see everyone!!! It's apparently going to warm up to 40 so that will be a treat! :)

West Coast

Snow here we come!!!! I'm leaving tomorrow to try to catch a flight to Seattle at 6:55am. I should arrive in Seattle about 3 or 4 local time and can't wait to see Karen and Maddison! I'll be heading over to Victoria on Friday and staying with Erin. I'm so excited to see everyone and have Ella meet all her extended Aunties.
Freakishly, the west coast has been hit with snow. What the ????? I guess Ella and I are in for a treat and shouldn't complain about the cold, it's not like we'll ever have to worry about that kind of weather for a long time!! Hee Hee.

See you west coasters soon!!!!!

Potty Training...sort of...

Out of shear boredom, I have been playing around on my blog. I took the clock idea from a friend of a friend's blog. I think it's great! We are 5 hours behind Atlanta, and two hours behind the west coast...just to insure we don't get any "early" wake up calls. There may be some kinks in the layout but I'll fix them up in the next day or so.

Ella had a long day today, she didn't nap very much and I gave her some Tylenol before she went to bed tonight. Hopefully her teeth stop bothering her soon. The past couple of days I've been putting her on her potty when she looks like she's doing her business. So far, she's used her own potty twice and tonight she went to the bathroom as soon as I put her on it. I have no idea about potty training but I figure if I can see her trying to poop, I might as well let her use her own toilet. She is so proud of herself and not at all intimidated by the potty. It's been out of the box and in the bathroom since we moved in. ("They" say you should put it out early and then the child gets used to seeing it around so it doesn't scare them when it's actually time to train them). I know, I know, it's really early for this but it's so easy with her right now.