We have spent the last week in South Carolina with Tom for his graduation from basic training. We had decided to fly since it was faster and we could all go together in relative comfort (unlike a car where we have a smoker that would want to stop at every rest area!) So we got up at 5:30AM (yes that’s in the morning just barely after the sun came up) and Bill took us to the airport. For a while the kids were very excited…
But then the reality of the early morning hour set in……
Our plane was on time and we boarded and headed off into the sunrise toward Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta we had about an hour and a half scheduled layover waiting for our plane to Columbia SC. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting for over 3 hours for our flight – most of it in the airport but about 45 minutes in the plane at the gate and another 30 on the runway waiting to take off! It was frustrating to say the least. Once we got to Columbia (about 6:00 local time) we found somewhere to eat dinner and then to bed – it really wasn’t any faster to fly but we did get to walk around more than we would have in a car so it was worth flying.
Wednesday morning we got up about 6:45 to eat, dress, and fight traffic out to the base. We arrived about 30 minutes before the presentation which stated at 9:00. We finally got to see our soldier and then to actually spend some time with him on base.
Unfortunately, Tom had a cold and was feeling pretty lousy all day so we spent a lot of time looking for somewhere cool to sit – which ended up being the car most of the time. We went to the museum on base …..
We attended the dinner for his company that afternoon. The food was ok but really not much to write home about. I can say that the army had taught Tom to eat vegetables though so that alone may be worth it! J We spent the last few hours in the rec center where they had games set up. Aubri liked the shooting games best...
We had to drop him off at his barracks at 8:45 so he could be ready for formation at 9:00.
Next morning we got up early again so that we could be at graduation at 9:00. The ceremony lasted about 35 minutes then we had to try to find him at the far end of the field in the chaos that was 600 soldiers all looking for their families! We found him and were able to take him off base then for the day.
We celebrated his birthday (which was actually Saturday) at TGI Fridays and then took in a movie – Harry Potter since he had not seen it yet. Then we chilled out at the hotel and ordered pizza then he packed his laundry that I had done for him the night before.
We had to have him back at 8:45 again but we stayed for formation this time and I think the drill sergeant cleaned up the language a bit for us. J Then back to the hotel where the kids went swimming for a while before we went to bed. Austen was in a good mood and I caught him being silly…
Next morning we were going to get up early to go to the ocean which was only 2 hours away but it was supposed to rain all day and the kids decided they would rather sleep in. So about 10:00 I woke them up and said we needed to get packed up and eat. Then we say Cowboys and Aliens before catching our plane back to Atlanta. I’ve decided I don’t ever want to go through Atlanta again- they are always delayed! We were only delayed 30 minutes this time but still – when you want to get home it’s very frustrating to keep getting delayed!
Bill picked us up at the airport in St. Louis about 9:30pm. Home!
While we were in SC, Bill put tile down on the floor of my bathroom….
We will have to repaint as soon as we can but the old paint will need to be sanded down first because the guy who did it just glopped it on and there are big drops that need to be knocked down and smoothed out first. That will probably be a fall project when it cools down a bit.
Aubri goes back to school on Monday (and Tom starts his training on Monday at Ft. Lee Virginia) but Erik doesn’t leave for school until August 25th. This weekend is tax free weekend so we went shopping for school clothes and supplies. Between the tax free weekend and the discount I had at Kohls, we did really well for Aubri. Erik is out shopping right now so we’ll see how well he did when he gets home.
Later this afternoon I need to sit down and make out my menu for next week – I am not looking forward to getting on the scale this Tuesday – I didn’t do well on the diet while we were in SC – it’s hard to plan ahead when you don’t know what you will have available. I did the best I could but I did splurge a bit once or twice – I looked at it as being on vacation, you are supposed to splurge a little on vacation! J
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