Good, bad and cancelled

Well, this weekend was quite different than the one we had planned. We had been planning for weeks to go to Philadelphia to see our peeps and celebrate Andrew's birthday in family birthday party style. Mike requested the day off so we could make the six hour drive. We knew there was a possibility of them not giving him the day off. We've seen that happen many times before. I've had to cancel numerous things (appointments of all kinds) because of the all mighty schedule. Not that I'm not so grateful that my husband has a job that pays all of our bills (because I am). BUT, it's been a while since we had even a small amount of wiggle room as far as the schedule is concerned. Plus, the schedule only comes out one day in advance (about 4 p.m. for the next day). It makes a routine and making plans very difficult.

So, not only did Mike not get the day off but they scheduled him so late there was no way we could make the six hour drive and not get into Philadelphia at an insanely late hour. I was very sad that our weekend plans were cancelled. Emma was very sad our trip was cancelled. She found no solace in the fact that we have rescheduled for a couple of weeks from now.

That was the bad and cancelled.

Now the good (there was quite a bit actually):
The flight which Mike had on Friday was very important. It was his NATOPS check. He did very well and feels a little lighter in his step. I noticed an immediate difference in him and this weekend we saw him in larger than 15 minute intervals! He had his nose out of his NATOPS manual for the first time in about four months and we were all so happy!
We took the kids to play in the helicopters on Saturday morning (this is their all time favorite activity). We then made the dreaded Saturday morning commissary trip. This place is such a madhouse. Darn their cheap prices. If it wasn't SO much cheaper to shop there I wouldn't because it is ALWAYS crowded! But, we got away with our cheap food and diapers. I felt so bad for the grocery loaders that day because it was so cold windy and rainy!
We had a mini anniversary celebration after the kids went to bed Saturday night. Neither of them took a nap on Saturday so they were both in bed asleep before 7 p.m. It was awesome! We celebrated by eating a big pan of fabulous nachos (which is extra nostalgic for us since we ordered room service nachos after our wedding!) and watched Friends. It was a great night to be at home and laugh. Probably when my mom is here next week we'll go out for a real date.
We're all very excited for Grandma to come on Tuesday! I can't wait! I was hoping for a nice day (or two) so we could go to some of our favorite outdoor places, but it looks like it might be cold and dreary so we'll be hanging out inside.
The other fabulous happening on Tuesday is Andrew's birthday! We are very very excited about this! Of course, I will post all my thought about my little guy later but for now here are some fun pictures of the kids playing in a big box. For every kid in the universe boxes equal fun!