♪ Reunited and It Feels So Good ♪

E's daddy got home late last night. She took a long nap yesterday so I let her stay up to say hi to daddy and talk to him for a bit.  She gave him his Welcome Home letter containing a picture she colored for him from her Handy Manny coloring book.  Lots of hugs and kisses were exchanged and then we had some snuggle time on the bed before E drifted off to sleep around 10:30pm.  

I hoped E would sleep in today after staying up so late, but nope, she was up bright and early.  Grandma Marilyn sent home a few things for E to play with so we left them in her bedroom for her to find this morning.

Two things she loves....puzzles and jewelry.

Big thanks to Grandma Marilyn from The Princess!

♫Anticipation. An-ti-ci-pa-a-tion is making her wait♫

Tonight E's daddy comes home from WA.  He has been there to visit with family and attend his dad's memorial service and internment.  Although he has been gone for short periods of time before, this time when he left, E was inconsolable.  She cried and screamed and cried and did I mention scream?  I finally got her to calm down after an hour.  He left Tuesday afternoon and she has not cried since, but has said several times how she misses her daddy.  They have talked a few times a day on the phone which has really helped. 

First thing this morning, E got up and colored a picture for her daddy.  We put it in an envelope and on one side, she decorated it with stamps and flowers.  On the back she wanted me to spell out for her to write "Welcome Home Daddy.  I Missed You Very Much." 

 

He won't be home until she is already in bed but I told her I would wake her up so she could see him.  She asked me "So I can tell him how much I love him and missed him?"  Yes E....and I know he will tell you the same.

Two Thumbs Up . . .

followed by " I love it. I Love It. I LOVE IT!" That's what E said when I showed her the new blog layout.

The background/header is a shot of E in the pool....her favorite place to be next to the beach. We don't have solar heating in the pool so it will be a few more months before we get to use it again.

Wait, what is that sound I hear? Oh, yes, our friends from the North are never jealous moaning and gnashing their teeth while playing their little violins for us because we can't use our pool. LOL

That's ok. When it's 5° and snow is 10" deep, and your car won't start and you feel like you will never thaw out, just stop by here and look at my blog and you should get jealous warmed up rather quickly. I'll make sure to post lots more pictures of us enjoying the beach over the next few months to help with your cabin fever. Yeah, I'm real helpful like that!

Our New Thanksgiving Tradition?

Nick is working today.  He pretty much works all holidays as his company is open 365 days a year.  This generally means we don't celebrate holidays with other people like most do.  Today, we packed a few things in the car and drove to a place we have not been to in quite a while.  It is a place we love very much, so we decided to go today before Nick had to work. We'll have our Thanksgiving dinner tonight when he gets his dinner break around 5pm.  

Can you guess where we went? I'll give you a hint. There's lots of white stuff on the ground.

No.....we were NOT in the snow.  BRRRRRRRRRR.

Here's another hint. You could hear loud crashing noises.

No, we did NOT go to the speedway although it sometimes sounds like it on the main street here.

How about a photo hint.  Here's E and her daddy on a walkway to where we went.

Did you guess the beach?  You'd be right.  We LOVE the beach.  We only live a little over a mile from the ocean yet we have only been here a few times this past year.  We used to live here...well not RIGHT on the beach, but just a block away.  We really, really miss being close enough to just walk here anytime.

Yippee...we're here!

Taking a walk on the beach

E and an old rowboat on the beach

All that walking wore me out

Writing my big brother Ben's name in the sand

E braving the cold water

We had fun.  I think we'll do this again next year!