All Good Things...

... Must come to an end.  So, Pat is on his journey back... God only knows how long it will take him this time to get all the way back to his base.  I have included many photos for everyone's enjoyment.  I still have more pictures to upload from my camera, but there are plenty for this post.  A trip to the NJ shore, Dutch Wonderland, and parties for his return were all a part of the last week.  We had a very full 2 weeks, but also managed to relax along the way.  It went fast, but at a decent pace.  

On the other hand, on my trip home from saying goodbye to him, I experienced a car fire (not my car) in the right-hand lane (causing for a longer ride home with tired kids)... they fell asleep shortly after moving again and THEN there was a flat tire!  Oh my God, not now!  Thankfully I was very near a service station on the Turnpike and pulled in there to ask for help.  Actually, I decided that I would try and change the tire myself, but couldn't even get the stupid jack out of the area it was contained in.  After trying that for 10 minutes I took the kids out of the car and headed into the service area building to find some man/men to help me out.  I went up to one of the service station workers (a woman) and asked if there was someone who worked for them who could help me change a tire.  She said yes and went to look for someone (or so I thought).  She came back and said she would help me as long as I promised I wouldn't sue them if something happened after she helped me.  I looked at her and said forget about it, that I would ask someone else cause I didn't want her to get in trouble.  She tried to insist on helping me when 2 guys started to walk by and I asked, "Do you have time to help change a tire."  The one looked at me strangely and stated in confusion, "Do I have the time?"  I immediately told them nevermind and they continued out the door to their car.  I then left with the worker to go and figure this out.  As we started to try and loosen the jack out of it's containment, the 2 guys came back over (actually, they were parked 2 cars away from me) and stated they would help me out.  It was then discovered that they thought I had been asking them for the time, not for help with changing the tire.  They were more than helpful and refused money that I offered them at then end for their assistance.  As I was about to get back in my car, they backed up and stated, "Tell your husband thanks for his service to our country."  They knew of Pat's return to Afghanistan because this whole situation had really set me off in tears and I apologized to them explaining I had just said goodbye to my husband who was returning to Afghanistan.  Yeah, I know, I sound (and probably looked like) the typical helpless woman.  Man I hate that!  It was just too much in too short a timeframe... a goodbye, traffic from a car fire, and then a flat tire... nevermind the overtired, cranky kids in the car that were also my reponsiblity.   Given any other day, a flat tire would have been doable, just not this day.  Oh, and the full irony here was that this particular tire had been driven on for at least 4 weeks with a screw in it.  Pat, the day before the goodbye, went to an autoshop to have it taken out and the tire patched so it wouldn't go flat on me after he left!  Ha... so much for that!  I will update you on what happens after I go back to the shop to rectify this flat tire situation.

Well, enjoy the pictures below.

 
 
 All of us at the beach in Ocean City, NJ.  Good times and Sloane's first time to the beach.  She did really well, but couldn't go in the ocean due to it being VERY cold.

 Pat and Shannon took a spin in the go-carts while at the shore.

  Friends of MK's parents also have a home down in Ocean City and took us out on a "boat ride" (a 40ft boat, I think)... Shannon really did drive the boat with Uncle Marty, who she continually called Uncle "Rusty." 

 This does need an explanation.  While having the Finney side of the family up to Mountain Top, the boys decided to have a competition on how many brownie bites they could fit in their mouths at once... I think the total was 6 1/2 bites.

 I actually made a point of trying to get some pictures of Pat and I together without the kids... it can prove difficult sometimes to do that (and nevermind the fact that I am completely unhappy about the way I look).

Below are some pics of the infamous Dutch Wonderland... Shannon finally got to see Duke the Dragon again (she talks of him a lot throughout the year) and the Princess.  She also got to ride all the rides I was unable to go on with her last year due to the pregnancy, especially a roller coaster.  Beware of the Turtle Whirl ride... nausea abounded in all adults coming off that thing.

 
 
 
 

 A cute picture of Pat playing with Sloane.