Day 3

Woohoo!  We officially survived the first Saturday of this deployment!!  Not a huge milestone, but a milestone none the less.

Not much went on today.  I was in a domestic kind of mood this morning, so I started the day by stripping all the beds and washing everyone's sheets.  I also cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, and swept the dining room.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate cleaning, so that was a big accomplishment for me.  Tomorrow I get to tackle laundry; I see myself having a couple teary moments as the clothes Ben wore in the last few days he was home come through the wash.  But, I know that this too shall pass, and I will be all the stronger for having survived it.

We had absolutely beautiful weather today, so the kids spent a lot of the day outside playing with each other and with their friends.  It's supposed to get into the low 60s tomorrow, so that'll be a nice change from all the chilly weather we've been having lately.  I am more than ready for spring to hurry up and get here - though I have to say, I'm not sad at all that we missed all the snow that got dumped on our old stomping grounds in Virginia. 

One of Gabe's friends had a birthday today, so we went over to their house for cake and ice cream.  It turned out to be a homemade ice cream filled cake, and it was delicious!  That's where today's picture was taken; check out these two cutie pies:

I also had a correction to make to the events of day 1.  As it turned out, the families could have stayed to see the buses off.  From the way Ben was talking to me, and the way the powers that be were talking to the Marines, I was under the impression that we weren't allowed to stay.  Ben said we could have stayed; he just wouldn't have been allowed to talk to us.  Apparently some of the other families did stay.  I was kind of disappointed to find that out long after the fact, but what can you do?  At least I know I'm allowed to be there the day the buses pull back in!

Can't wait to see what day 4 brings....