Wide Open Spaces

Everything’s bigger in… North Carolina?!? I thought the saying ended with Texas… Of course, one of the first things we noticed in America was how big all the cars are. And we really enjoyed the big parking spaces, especially since we were driving that huge van! And speaking of big, it was several days before I went into a Target and let me tell ya, HUGE! It was very nice to be able to get everything we needed from one store. In Wiesbaden our shoe store is nowhere near our furniture store, or toys, or sports equipment… We have different places we have to go for each specific item. It was very convenient to be in one store and able to get everything we needed in one stop.

After we left Charleston with Nana and Papa we went straight to visit Nana’s dad, a man we lovingly call “Gramjack.” As the story goes, my cousin, Jason, called him Jack. Trying to get him to say “Grandpa” didn’t work and Gramjack was the result. It stuck. Anyway, Gramjack has recently moved into a new home called Willow Grove and we were so excited to go see his new place. There was recently an article in Matthews Living Magazine featuring Willow Grove with three pictures of Gramjack included! Fun stuff! While there we also saw my aunt and uncle, Janice and David. Janice took Parker out to see the water fountain and he about leapt out of her arms trying to get it. She came back to get us and I followed mom and Parker with my camera ready. I had so much fun capturing his expressions!

David told me a great joke… he’s an Air Force dad: The pilot of a stunt plane came up beside a C-17 and said, “Hey, watch what I can do!” And off he went, doing loops, twists, dives, and twirls. As he finished his exciting demo he came back up beside the C-17. Unimpressed, the pilot of the C-17 said, “Okay, now watch what I can do.” After about 5 minutes of flying straight ahead, steady and smooth, the C-17’s pilot said, “How’d you like that?!?” Confused, the stunt pilot said, “What did you do?” The pilot of the large aircraft said, “I went to the bathroom and got a cup of coffee.”

This is the plane we rode home in.

We had a great visit with Gramjack before heading toward Locust. Mom, Parker and I stopped at the Tomberlin’s house to let me feed Parker while Mom ran to the grocery store. It was a sweet time for Brooke to meet Parker and me to see a side of Brooke I’ve never seen… Usually she’s being entertained by my big boys. This time she was working her hardest at entertaining Parker! She’s such a little momma!

By the time we got to Mom’s house, Hayden was already on the 4-wheeler! We had packed our motorcycle helmet for this very reason. I have to say, boys were made for the outdoors and Nana’s and Papa’s house is a great place for them to explore. Woods, fields, dry creek beds, galore. It is great to be able to send them outside to see what they can get into!

Over the course of our time in NC, we rode 4-wheelers at three different houses. Carson learned to ride Papa’s and Hayden actually learned to ride 4-wheelers that require him to change gears! Bailey was happy riding with either brother who was willing to drive him around. Such a fun experience! These pictures came out totally black and I had to edit them quite a bit in order to see the boys at all.

The next two weeks were followed by amazing fun-ness!

Space-A ... the A is for ADVENTURE!

I sit here writing this with the hopes of getting our first flight out of here. We woke up and got the boys loaded in the car by 0730. Our flight time was changed sometime during the night from 13:25 to 15:55, but I was eager to get here and get everything squared away.

We had an uneventful drive to Ramstein and parked in the 4-hr parking lot. Our first stop was at the Check-in counter. Matt took the big guys to the play-place while I waited for the customer service rep to punch in the passport numbers for my family. His words to me: "That's a big stack of passports." At least he had a good sense of humor, as it took him 30 minutes to do this!

After we were told, "You are officially signed in and marked as present," the family and I headed over to Little America, I mean, the BX/PX of Ramstein. We shopped for a while, smelling every scent of Yankee Candle... some of them are GROSS! There's one titled BeThankful (no space... that's not at typo) and I can tell you, I am thankful it's not in my house. There were plenty of fall scents and I really enjoyed them, but part of me was wishing for the Christmas scents!!! I love that season!

While we let the boys play the Wii a while I decided to check the movie schedules, and wouldn't you know it, there was a movie coming up in 30 minutes. (Love my iPhone!) We ate a quick lunch at Subway before heading to the theater. Parker and I passed on the movie as there is a room at the terminal with a small crib room. He and I left the big boys to their fun and I fed him his first jar of non-homemade baby food. He couldn't tell the difference. (I prefer to make it myself but Gerber is coming in handy right now.) After his lunch I put him in the crib room and sat back down on the big, leather couch.

Before 2 minutes had passed, and just after he had stopped fussing, I heard the scariest words I've ever heard: "Would Passenger Hamrick please make your way to the flight control." Oh DEAR LORD, I freaked out. I thought, "NO! My family is in the movie, the luggage is in the car, the car is in short term parking, and Parker is asleep! If they've moved the flight earlier, we'll never make it." I grabbed Parker, who was not yet asleep, and my wallet, and proceeded downstairs to flight control. The guy was so nice and calmed me down very quickly. This was the flight to Dover!! We had signed up for Dover, Baltimore, Charleston, and McGuire. We had decided to wait until the Charleston flight for obvious reasons (in case it's not obvious to you, it's closer to home, which is NC) so we were "passing" on the Dover flight. He wisely alerted me to the fact that I'll probably hear my name again when the next flight to Dover is called, but to ignore it or come down and let them know we're waiting on the Charleston flight.

I didn't run this morning, mainly because I got up at 0430 to get ready for our trip, but also because my knee is messed up. (Another story for another day.) Well, my heart got a workout regardless with that scare. Our flight is still set for 15:25 and we're still marked as preset. I've been checking my email and reading the last minute tips from more seasoned Space-Aers and really do appreciate all the help. This is fun, but nerve-wracking. I like it.

So, I brought Parker back up, fed him a few minutes, and then put him back in the crib. Less than 2 minutes later he was quiet and has been for the last hour. I decided to see if my computer would get wi-fi here and, thanks to the AMAZING USO, it does!

Just got a call from Matt. The movie is over and the boys are heading this way. Time to unload the car, move it to long-term parking, and begin the real part of the adventure... entertaining 3 big boys while waiting on our flight.