Pumpkins and Parties

Kids in the cornfield

We had a rather uneventful week, and with Halloween coming up, we decided to take the opportunity to go get pumpkins on Saturday.  It's likely that there will be no pumpkins for Halloween next year (which I have to admit I'm sad about), so we made the best of it this year!  We headed down to Earthbound Farms in Carmel Valley, did a pseudo cornfield maze, played in the corn box, and picked out great pumpkins for this year.

Later that night, I had the opportunity to attend a Spouse's Dining In hosted by Josh's Battalion.  For the past few months, some of the wives in the unit have been planning and fundraising for what turned out to be a great event.  Everyone was in costume - our theme was "patriotic" - so I decided to go as a 4th of July firework.  We had great food, and the grog wasn't too bad. 

On Sunday, we headed down to Asilomar State Beach to enjoy the beautifully warm weather we've been having for the past two weeks.  Naturally, the first thing we needed to do was put on jackets.  It seems anytime you get within sight of the water, you need to put on a jacket.  The second thing K needs to do once she gets within sight of the water is find a way to get absolutely soaked.  So she did.  It cut our visit a bit short since she actually managed to submerge herself several times and we had failed to bring a complete change of clothes for her, but it was a nice trip.  We might to try head back later this week if the weather holds.

Yosemite

One of the real joys of being in the military is getting to see things you otherwise wouldn't.  We try to make a point of really exploring the local area as much as we can.  With Josh's study schedule for the past year, we really haven't had as much free time on the weekends to do long trips as we would have liked.  Now that he has graduated, he still has to study to maintain/improve proficiency, but we don't have to worry as much about tests/quizzes/schedules/etc.  About a week ago, we up and decided to try to visit Yosemite National Park for part of our Columbus Day weekend.  Most people schedule a trip like this months in advance.  Not us.  We waited until one week out and then just happened to get reservations at a place in the valley on the night we were looking for.

We had high hopes of leaving "really early" - like 8:00.  Since my guys don't normally roll out of bed until around that time, that's pretty early for us.  We're not die hard or anything (wake the kids at 2 am in their jammies and hit the road), but we don't like "wasting" the day.  As it was, we couldn't actually check in to the hotel until 5:00 pm, so we hoped to arrive around lunchtime.  We weren't too far off schedule, and managed to stop for lunch at the last town on the way in to the park.  The drive in was beautiful, but I was totally unprepared for the breathtaking views as we entered the valley.  Both Josh and I were fortunate enough to visit several national parks when we were growing up and remember them vividly, so while the kids might not really remember this, it was important that we take the opportunity to visit while we're here.  We might not get another chance.

B on our way up to Vernal Falls

The road system in the park took a bit of getting used to.  Luckily, we were able to arrive on Friday, so it was not terribly crowded.  We stopped in at Bridalveil Falls first to stretch our legs before heading further in to the park to start out trek to Vernal Falls.  We parked near Curry Village (not realizing it was still almost a mile to the parking lot we were supposed to park in) and then walked to the trailhead for Vernal Falls.  The description for the hike to the lower falls said something about a "mild" 400 foot gain in elevation, but I swear to you, it was rough.  The second half of the hike - from the lower falls to the upper falls - was mostly stairs, and honestly, I found this much easier to take.  Josh meanwhile felt much more uneasy on the second half as he had the task of corraling the boy and making sure he didn't walk off the edge of the path.  The hike was well-time though as we arrived back at the car (taking the bus this time to get back to our parking lot) just in time to head over to the hotel and check in.  The room was... well, it was a room.  Clearly, you're paying for the view when you stay in the valley.  And what a view we had!  We could see Yosemite Falls just outside the front of our room.  Can't beat that.

The family at Vernal Falls

We had dinner at the food court by our hotel, had showers and baths for everyone, and then tried our best to sleep.  While the shower had nice hot water, the towels were relatively soft, and the sheets were nice and warm, double beds for two fully grown adults (one of them taller than average) just aren't what I call relaxing.  I suppose that's the price you pay to stay somewhere that gorgeous...

After breakfast (again at the food court) we walked from our hotel to Yosemite Falls - the fifth tallest waterfall in the world.  It was truly awe-inspiring.  The kids were totally happy climbing on the rocks - I mean, who really cares about waterfalls when there are cool things like logs, rocks, and dirt.  It was a bit brisk in the morning (when we checked the weather on Thursday morning to help decide what to pack, it was only 21 in the valley - BRRR!).  Lucky for us, the weather on Saturday was not quite that cold.  I think it was probably in the 40s.  Once the sun starting hitting things, it warmed up quickly though to the mid 50s - perfect weather for wandering around.  We got on the free shuttle bus and took a trip around the valley.  The kids were good until we had about 10 minutes left; then they pretty much made everyone miserable.

After the bus ride, we headed back and had some lunch at the food court, then picked up the car and headed up to Glacier Point.  I will say it again - the views on the way were incredible.  But now for reality.  A short while in to the drive, I had to pee.  Naturally, a portion of the two-lane road was closed on the way to Glacier Point and so traffic was reduced to one lane requiring everyone to stop and wait for an unspecified amount of time...  That's always nice.  So we get past that delay and get on to the road heading up to Glacier Point.  There was snow on the ground, so we started rethinking the wisdom of taking a 2 mile hike with kids and no boots.  Upon arriving at Glacier Point, the traffic has stalled to a standstill, so I get out of the car and head toward the bathroom - only to discover that for all of the people visiting this particular attraction (and there were a lot), there is only 1 single functioning chemical toilet.  After waiting in this line for about 20 minutes, I hear tell of another bathroom a short distance away "that has no line".  Immediately I am suspicious, but curiosity got the better of me - which was good since B (who was stuck in the car with Josh and K - who was sleeping) had decided in the interim that he really had to pee as well.  Luckily, this mythical set of bathrooms did in fact exist and I got B in just in time.  Again - gorgeous views at Glacier Point.  On the way out, however, all traffic was again stopped because someone had managed to drive all the way to the Glacier Point parking lot and promptly run out of gas.  So the tow truck delivering the fuel blocks the road for 15 minutes while he delivers said gas to the stranded motorist.  Meanwhile no new guests can come in, and we can't leave.  Eventually the flow got moving again and we got out and back on our way home. 

View from Glacier Point

I'm not going to lie - the ride home was pretty miserable for all of us.  The kids hadn't napped in 2 days, and none of us really slept well, so the kids were loud and we were DONE.  After the sun went down, they finally started checking out, and silence reigned supreme.  In the words of Tom Chapin - It was a long, long, long, long, long way home.  And if you haven't heard the song, you really need to.  So, check Yosemite off the list.  Now we need to figure out what to do for Veterans Day... 

Expectation

How random of a post is this...

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, but when nothing exciting is happening in the present, I tend to look forward to things I know will happen in the future.  This is all fine and wonderful in the confines of my own head, but when the things I'm thinking pop out and show up here, suddenly I've created a "situation".  I'm trying my best to get into a good blogging mindset where I use this to share things that have already happened - thus limiting the risk of someone knowing our plans ahead of time. 

It seems like a good idea in theory, but now I'm consumed with thoughts of something I'm going to do soon, and I can't say anything about it.  Does it make sense to keep a secret from yourself??? 

Rabies - Take 2

We had a pretty uneventful weekend (which is in most cases good).  After some review of the documentation we got from the Transportation office, it appears that while we're authorized a consumables shipment, we might not actually be authorized to ship "food", just other consumable items (laundry detergent, toiletries, etc).  I haven't actually bought too many food items yet, so I guess this is a good thing, but I'm waiting to hear back from the CLO to get some sort of official confirmation of this as it's a bit strange.

On that note, I finally got around to shooting out a note to the CLO to let them know (officially) that we're inbound.  Up to this point, we've done all of our communication with the embassy through the family we know that's there.  I guess you could say I'm cutting the cord.  With a few months to go, it's time to make direct contact and start the ball rolling on housing, school, etc. 

We looked at dates for scheduling our pack out and realized that we just don't realistically feel like packing everything between Christmas and New Years will happen, so we're considering pushing in to the first week of January (and paying January rent) so we can have a bit more time to sort, organize, pack, and clean.  While the cost definitely factors in, having a real Christmas with the kids is important as well, especially with all the other changes coming soon.  So we'll open presents and then immediately put all of them into boxes on Monday with the movers.  Ideal?  No.  Liveable?  Yes. 

Last, but not least, we had our second round of rabies vaccinations today.  Keeping an eye on K to see if she has a reaction to this one.  The peds clinic has called a few times this week to check up on her after the last one, and we're all kind of hoping it was a one time thing.

Government Travel Card

Although "everyone" is supposed to have one, I somehow survived my time in the Army without a travel card.  In fact, Josh did too - until now.  We finally agreed to get one because he's supposed to use that (as opposed to a personal credit card) when he's conducting his regional travel.  I'm guessing it's all in an aim to prevent people from going into debt while conducting lots of international travel.  But the real reason we got it was to solve a rather simple problem made infinitely more complex by the Army (but... that's probably not very specific).

Because we are not flying out of a local airport when we start our PCS (we're heading east to visit people), the transportation office here cannot - I repeat cannot - just issue us tickets.  We must instead purchase the tickets up front and wait to be reimbursed on the back side.  We "could" do this with our personal credit card.  But with fully-refundable one-way tickets to Dhaka, that will likely get pricey.   So then we hear about this great travel card PCS program whereby they open a PCS "window" and you can rack up expenses on your GTC without having to pay them back until after the government pays you for your moving expenses.  Sounds like a great plan, right?  But, you have to get the card limit raised.  And, oh by the way, you also have to somehow convince them to open your PCS window before you leave POM even though you're not PCSing for another 45 days.  <sigh>  So Josh went to talk to them, and sure enough, even though there's this great PCS program, we were told that they would not approve any card limit increase (so we can't even afford to put one ticket on the card, much less 4) and really, the card office here exists just so that they can open accounts for people - not actually do anything.  I'm not kidding.  That's what they said.  Okay, so I changed the wording a bit.  But only a little.

Anyone who knew me when I was in the Army will tell you that I'm a bit of a stickler about making people do their jobs.  I mean, I have to do mine, why don't they have to do theirs??  I'm also a bit of a pain about making systems work the way they're supposed to.  It's the logistician in me.  If there's a system, and it's broken, someone needs to fix it.  We don't all need to reorganize our lives and put our personal financial well-being in jeopardy just because someone else is too lazy to do some paperwork (that they're getting paid to do I might add).  So while I'm gearing up for battle, Josh is totally willing to just let it go and charge this on our personal card.  Could we do that?  Sure.  Does it go against everything I believe in?  Absolutely.

 So I guess we'll see what happens.

Rabies

K appeared to have a reaction to the rabies vaccine about a day afterward.  She had splotchy hives on her face.  After several phone calls to track down someone at the clinic, I found out that another young child (also under the age of 2) had the exact same reaction a couple days before K to the same lot of rabies vaccine.  Coincidence?  Maybe...

So now we'll need to be a bit more careful with our shots as she could be sensitive to that one.  Good thing she only needs 2 more rabies shots :)

And on a completely unrelated note, I stopped by REI this morning and think I have found the travel purse I'm going to try out for the next year.  It's made by a company called pacsafe and they specialize in "security" bags.  There's wire mesh built into the fabric of the purse to prevent someone from slashing the purse and stealing the contents.  There are other safety features too, but they've got a video to watch on their website if you're really interested.  The downside of this is that the reviews I've seen indicate that the purse doesn't wear terribly well and some of the wire can start poking out after 8 months of use or so.  For the average traveler, this might not be a problem, but for someone who plans to use this regularly, .... well, I don't know.  Maybe I just save this for when I "really" need it.  It has room to securely store 6 passports and sippy cups, and as a mom, I can't ask for more :)

The Preparation continues

Josh is back at work as of this morning and will likely be actively engaged for the next few months as we continue preparations for the move.  I think he set up our appointments with transportation this morning - one each for consumables, unaccompanied baggaged (UAB), household goods (HHG), and storage.  We're hoping to split them up a bit so we have time (and space) to separate out the important things that need to go into each shipment.  Not sure if Transpo is going to give us the go-ahead for that or not.



B and K on the fire truck

We went in this morning and got our first round of shots which conveniently means that I'll be getting my last shot on my birthday.  Super...  But the kids were okay with the shots.  K didn't even cry for the first one.  Can't get much better than that.  Somehow I managed to forget just how much Typhoid hurts.  You'd think by the third time you do something, you'd develop some sort of memory.  Then again, maybe it's just better to forget that kind of thing.

While he was on leave last week, Josh was able to come with us on a mom's outing to the Monterey Fire Station where the kids had lots of fun climbing all over the engines and learning about all the special tools on board.  Even he had to admit that the kids were fairly well behaved - for about the first half hour.  Then they (and by they, I specifically mean the boy) hit overload and got a bit ridiculous.  But overall, it was a good outing with great friends.  Sadly, two of the ladies will be leaving soon to start their overseas adventures - and then... it will be our turn.

"I think this one's good, Dad."

On Saturday, we headed up to Watsonville to Gizdich Farms to do some apple picking.  One of my favorite childhood memories (right up there with strawberry picking and going to the pumpkin patch) was going to the apple orchard each fall.  We'd drive what seemed like forever (which probably just meant it was over an hour) to get to the orchard, and then pick (and eat) to our heart's content.  Then we'd come home and make more applesauce than we knew what to do with and store it in the freezer in the hopes it would last until next year's great adventure.  While we don't have the luxury of making applesauce to last the next year, I did make an apple cake for breakfast on Sunday morning that the kids seemed to enjoy.  B asked me to take the onions out of his - he thought the baked pieces of apple were onions.  Little did he know that was the best part!

I spent that evening updating my Master Matrix.  Yes, with capital M's.  If it's not on the matrix, it's not happening between now and the move.  It somehow makes me feel more in control to have a spreadsheet that lists each and every item I plan to pack, and the purchase status of said items, as well as a future location for every piece of furniture we own.  Do I fully expect that things won't go according to plan?  Yes.  But it won't be for lack of trying. 

And on the note of hoping for the best, but planning for the worst, Josh took photos of all of the kids' larger birthmarks/moles after bathtime.  Do I really, really, really hope we never need to have those?  Yes.