April 2008

What a long month... honestly, I thought it would never end! We were all very busy too... it just didn't make sense why I wasn't turning pages on the calendar every other day! Ty had to leave the first week of the month for some work down in Nevada. He was to be gone for about 17 days. I started the countdown for my Master's test which was to take place on the 26th out in Connecticut. I knew it was going to be a long month of being a "single" parent and trying to prepare for my final exam. Thankfully, Ty's Mom came out for a week or so to help with the kids and the house allowing me some free time to escape to my room or the library to cram, cram, cram. On the 19th we were able to go and pick Ty up at the airport and finally bring our Daddy home. Carter had gone over two weeks without wrestling (being stuck at home with girls is such the pits sometimes!) so he was very ready for some male bonding! Whitleigh didn't know what to think of Ty when she saw him. That was the longest time she had ever been without her Daddy and if you know anything about Whitleigh, Ty is pretty close to a lifeline with her. She immediately hugged him and then just starred at him with this look of, "It's really you... Daddy... Wow... Where have you been?" She wouldn't come to me for hours and anytime I ever got near the two of them she would just cling to him for dear life as if I was coming to take her away from him. Needless to say, it was great homecoming!

The next week Ty had to work a few days and then took the rest off to help get ready for our whirlwind trip out to NY/CT. It was Ty's first time traveling with two kids (I somehow always get the privilege of doing it alone... go figure). I finished cramming as much into my head as possible and we all boarded the plane early on the morning of the 24th. The flights went great. Both kids slept the entire plane rides from the minute we started taxiing until we landed on the ground. It gave Ty time to start and finish "Dawn over Kitty Hawk" by Walter J. Boyne and me time to squeeze in some more studying. After a long day of traveling we arrived in NYC that evening and then drove up to Bridgeport, CT where my test was being held. Friday the 25th was reserved for sleep, studying and relaxing before Saturday morning. We did just that! Ty's brother Drew and his girlfriend Laura drove over that afternoon since he is based only a few hours away. We literally just sat around the hotel that afternoon, watched a movie, talked and then all went out and enjoyed a really nice dinner that evening at a nice restaurant (probably a little too nice to take two little kids to but... they behaved well and aside from Carter falling off his chair 3 times- we enjoyed our time and food!) The next morning I woke up very nervous, very tired and very anxious to be done! The test started at 9am and consisted of 175 multiple choice questions. I was done by about 12:00. The relief I felt after handing in my second book was incredible. This test was all I had been thinking and worrying about since we received our study guides/prep books on 6 March. It was finally over... I could think about something other than, "Where are my note cards, I need to be studying... what is the difference of atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis... what does is Vitamin A's role... what is molybdenum?" Ugh. Ty, the kids, Drew and Laura came and got me soon after that and we all headed back down to NYC for a fun afternoon.

A fun and busy afternoon it was! Once we all got checked into our hotel we quick went to catch the bus to the subway. We rode the "7" down to Time Square and got off to experience that. And wow! It just incredible to see it in real life. After walking up and down the streets a few times running into the famous NYC Naked Cowboy playing his guitar (honestly, not an easy thing to explain to an almost 4 year old) and of course trying one of the street vendor's pretzels and hot dogs, we jumped on the "2,3" and rode it down to the WTC site/Ellis Island. It was so different getting off the train at the WTC site because there was still a million people everywhere but, it was quiet. People (many being tourist like ourselves) just gazed at the holes in awe, realizing the reality of it all standing there. We looked up at the buildings that surrounded the site and couldn't believe how tall they were. Someone handed us a picture of this one particular building just so that we could visually compare it to what the Trade Centers were... we were speechless. One of the taller ones didn't even come up to half way to what the WTC were at one time. We proceeded down lower Manhattan to Ellis Island and Battery Park. We were able to see the Statue of Liberty from the island and chose not to take the ferry out to see her up close. Carter was amazed with everything and Whitleigh slept through most in the back of the stroller. It was just as we were leaving Battery Park when we saw him... there he was. Spider Man! Carter jumped out of the stroller and walked right up to him. He shook his hand and talked to him for awhile. Then we got our photo op and continued on our way back to the station to catch the "7" all the way back to the hotel. The encounter was all of about 30 seconds but was so monumental it erased all other memories of the day. Here Ty and I were so excited to expose our children to such culture, who would have thought one sight of a man dressed in Spidey Spandex would have been all our almost 4 year old needed!

It was a fast and furious afternoon but we loved every minute of it. We got to see so many things (good, bad, sad and weird) and that evening even got to try some authentic NYC "pie." It was delicious! On Sunday morning were we back in Boise, Idaho by 11:30am and extremely jet-lagged. The whole experience seemed so unreal because it all happened in a matter of a few days. As quick as it was though, we were ready to leave and come home. Ty had taken leave for the rest of the next week which was just this past week so we have enjoyed our family time together. We got lots of outside work done, all of our TV shows caught up with and I finally was able to finish a quilt that I have just been staring at since March.

We expect a very busy May with Ty leaving again for work down in Utah, Carter's 4th birthday and of course Memorial Day weekend! We will keep you posted!