D Day

"D" day came- deployment day, departure day, the dreaded day- whatever you want to call it. There was no putting it off. 

The night before we had a party.  I had arranged for a friend to make a jumbo cupcake for the holidays Ben was missing. This way the kids would have a chance to celebrate with their dad. We had presents and a few decorations. We each gave Ben a special thing to take with him and Ben had some special gifts for the kids too. He picked things he thought they would really love. He also got us (especially Rhone) an iPad mini. Ben set up Rhone his own account so they could send messages to each other. The night before Ben and I stayed up late recording Ben reading some of their favorite books too. It was a fun night and so glad we were actually able to surprise Ben with our little celebration. 

The airport was such a whirl. We didn't have much time to spare. I dropped Ben and all his gear off. Then, I parked and headed in with the kids. The airport has a train to the terminal. Rhone gave Ben his special gift (one of his toy airplanes), gave everyone a hug and got on the train. There was no time for tears and words. Rhone was confused, it was so hard to watch him. He wanted to get on that train with Ben so bad. But he didn't. Miss Sylvie just waved her little heart out the whole walk back out of the airport.

I didn't particularly want to drive the truck into downtown Sacramento, but the thought of heading to an empty (and still very messy house from our trip) was not welcoming either. So the kids and I headed to Fairy Tale Land. It was a gorgeous day. They played and dressed up and danced on the stage. It was so fun to watch them play and explore. Just because it was a bad day doesn't mean that there isn't something good in it. I am so blessed to be their momma and we are so blessed to have Ben in our family. 

These are out of order from my phone and once again I don't have the photos from my camera.