To Boston and Back

Nate recently got a new assignment at work that required him to have some extensive training. To get this training, his work set up a two week trip for him to go to their headquarters right outside of Boston in a town called Hopkinton in Massachusetts.  As excited as we were for this little promotion, we also knew this would be really hard for us. You see, Nate has never left me here alone before. He's never had to travel without us. I have gone to see family before, leaving him here, but that's a little different. Since we've been married, we haven't been apart for more than 5 days.  This was something completely unfamiliar to us and I was really nervous about it. I don't do well by myself, especially being in the first trimester and SO SO SO sick.  Aside from my feelings, I knew the girls would have a really hard time with this.

The day came to take him to the airport and it was pretty awful. I cried. Yep, I did.  One of my best friends is an Army Wife and I don't know HOW in the heck she does it. She is a much stronger woman than I am, that's for sure.

We said our goodbyes and I drove away from the curb at the airport trying not to hit another car while staring in the rear view mirror. :-( So sad.

Every night while he was gone, we would Skype while I was getting the girls ready for bed so he could be a part of our nights just like usual. This really helped the girls a lot. They cried every time I had to turn Daddy off. 

While he was there, it was interesting for the first few days, then after that, he got pretty bored and lonely.  His day consist of going to work, going out to a restaurant by himself for dinner, then headed to the hotel where he would hit the hotel gym, then watch sports till he fell asleep. BORING! It got old pretty quick.

Meanwhile, we were here just doing the usual... but without him.

His first weekend there, he headed to Cooperstown, NY which was 3.5 hours away, but he had nothing better to do. The reason for this destination was because of the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you know Nate, you know he has a deep passion for baseball and softball. He absolutely loved it.

The next day, he went to the New England Aquarium in Boston. He gets in free with his work ID Tag, so he figured he might as well. He Skyped us while he was there and showed the girls some of the cool things he got to see. The girls loved it but were also sad they weren't there with him.  

After the aquarium, he went over to Fenway Park to take the tour and again, soak up some baseball knowledge.  Again, he absolutely loved it. Anyone who loves baseball also loves the movie Field of Dreams. This was one of my deciding factors of loving Nate when I found out we both had the same favorite movie. It's true. Nate said the red seat in the picture below is the seat that the longest home run occurred. The guy sitting in it was asleep when it hit. :-)

After another long week at work and boring hotel gym workouts, he was excited to pick up his brother Adam who flew into Boston to spend the weekend with him.  Adam has been to Boston before so he knew some of the 'touristy' things to do. Nate was intrigued by the architecture and the changes over the years.

Check out the size of the book Adam is holding. HOLY COW!

The weekend with Adam came to an end and it was time to head to the airport.  The girls and I were so excited to pick him up that night that we kept looking at the clock all day.  We got to the airport early and while I was thinking of what I was going to do to keep the girls content for 45 minutes before Nate got in, we saw a huge group of people with banners waiting for their military hero to come home.  I was super excited and explained to the girls what was going on, so they were eager to watch as well. It was a sweet homecoming and entertaining for us as well. Next, it was time to wait for Daddy. Luckily his plane landed a bit early. As soon as Hailey saw him, she just burst into a sprint. She jumped in her arms and cautious Addy stayed by my side and yelled "DADDY!" We all hugged A LOT. Hailey would not let go of Nate. She had her monkey arms and legs wrapped around him and there was no chance of prying her from her grip.

The next day was a treat for us. Nate showered us with presents he brought home from his trip and took us out to breakfast. He had the day off since he had been gone for so long. After breakfast we just hung out at home together for a while and the girls played with their new gifts. One thing he brought home was a snow globe for each of the girls. They LOVED them. Hailey was holding hers outside and accidentally dropped it and it shattered. She immediately covered her face and just bawled her little eyes out. She gets very sentimental about those kinds of things. Nate assured her that it was OK and once we got all the glass off, she could still have it. 

That afternoon, we took the girls swimming at Nate's parents and they couldn't get enough of their daddy. Addy was exhausted and zonked out while watching TV with Nate. 

Nate brought us all hoodies and the girls have not stopped wearing them since. They even asked if they could wear them to bed.

We are all so happy to have Nate back. It's been the longest two weeks EVER.

Now, we feel complete again.