Thursday, March 26, 2009

Where are the Purcell girls now?

It's the 2nd edition of "Where are the Purcell girls" and we have now made our way to Montgomery, Alabama! We flew from Austin to Birmingham on Monday and Jason picked us up and brought us back to Maxwell AFB where he is attending SOS training! He has been here 4 weeks already and we have been spending his last week with him and it's been a lot of fun!

Before we left the lake we got in one more boat ride...and the weather was a little crazy so we didn't even leave the cove but Riley got to drive and we had fun!

Flying on Monday was not so fun...I was not able to bring the carseat on either flight and Riley had a hard time understanding that it was not safe for her to get on the ground and try to crawl under the seat in front of us...so there was quite a bit of screaming! Thankfully our longest flight was spent next to a grandma and she helped me distract Riley with her electronic solitaire game! Whew...I was worn out and ready to be off the plane! The flight from Austin to Dallas was not very fun either because the entire state of Texas was under a wind advisory and the winds were gusting at 30 mph...taking off was not too bad but landing was CRAZY! The nose would pop up and down during the entire descent and we landed WAY to fast and literally bounced down the runway...the flight attendant followed with "That's what we call a yee-haw landing"...not exactly the words running through my head at the time...but we made it...and actually both of our flights got us in early!



Here is a pic of Riley on the plane...post-tantrum! Can you tell it was a little rough?




Jason talked his way through security and was waiting at the gate when we came off the plane...he was SO excited to see his girls...and I was excited to hand Riley off for a few moments to gain my sanity! HeHe!



We loaded up and got on the road...we stopped at Olive Garden for a good meal and then we were back on the road towards the base! We got in about 9:30 and Riley had only catnapped on the drive home so she was tired but she wanted to meet everyone so she ran up and down the hallway and flirted with all of Jason's classmates and their wives!


We are living in very tight quarters...similar to a hotel but we do have a small living room and kitchenette...Riley sleeps in the living room at night but naps in our bedroom during the day so we are moving the pack-n-play quite often! We're just glad to be all together as a family!


Jason bought Riley her own little chair and she has enjoyed getting on and off of it...and of course attempting to stand on it!
Tuesday all of the girls had a spa day...I had a mani and pedi and it was a lot of fun! A spa is not the best place for a toddling 1 year old but I managed with the help of the other wives! The little chairs that the technicians used to give pedicures were just the right height for Riley so she liked climbing on and off of them and she even managed to get Heather to give her a few rides around the spa!
After our spa treatments we went to a fabulous Thai restaurant in downtown Montgomery and sat outside as it was a beautiful day! Riley loved the soup that came with our meal and had fun playing with the spoon!


I was sure Riley would take a nice nap after all this fun but she was not interested so we went to the park and played! She was just taking it all in when we first arrived and was intrigued with watching all of the other kids play...it didn't take long for her to get after it and start playing!


Love this face!

She had so much fun...we swang...slid...and climbed! Some of the play areas had sand all over them and when she got it on her hands she was not exactly happy or sure about it...we'll see how she does at the beach next week!



Monday night we had dinner at Bonefish with the whole gang...gotta love the Bang Bang shrimp...my goodness they are so good!

Tuesday Riley and I took a long walk in the morning because I wanted to get outside before the rain came! After her nap we went to a coffee house that has an indoor play place and met up with some of the other wives. The play place was too big for Riley to play in but there were a bunch of older girls who LOVED Riley! I had to monitor everyone though because they kept wanting to hug her, pick her up, and try to pass her around...it was like she was a piece of meat! Of course Riley wanted to be right in the middle of all the big girls so trying to distract her with other toys was not happening. She was so cute with them...and they all wanted to be mother hens! Tuesday evening we went to dinner at La Zona Rosa...mexican food! It was OK...that's all I have to say about that. Riley loved entertaining the table...

Most of Jason's classmates brought their wives but they don't have children yet so it has been fun to see them with Riley...she's not good birth control though because they are all so intrigued by her and call our room to see if she can come out and play! Perhaps that's because she loves to work a crowd, she does great when we go out to eat, and when we come back and someone is playing dance music in their room Riley is right there dancing...she's really a lot of fun!

Here is some of the fun that has been had in the University Inn (the temporary lodging facility on base)!!!
Luggage cart rides..
The Up and Down game with Bill...

Spinning chair rides with Heather...
and of course Dancing...


Today was Jason's last day of class and he got our early so we spent the afternoon running errands...who knew we could have so much fun with our little one!
First we stopped at Bass Pro Shops...Riley loved seeing all the animals although she was a little scared of the bear!

Jason loved showing her all the fish...

She also loved finding merchandise, wearing it, and running wild through the store!

Then we were off to Best Buy...Riley and Jason played some guitar hero!

After all her singing and dancing she and I sat in the stadium seats and watched Happy Feet with the awesome surround sound...it looks like a really cute movie!

Tonight we went out with everyone for one last dinner...I feel like all we have done is eat on this trip but luckily I have made it to the gym once! I decided to just have dessert since I was still full from our late lunch...it was yummy!

Jason and I spent most of the evening packing up the room that has been his home for the past 5 weeks...he graduates first thing in the morning and then we are off on an all day road trip to Florida...woohoo!

1 comments:

Mom said...

Looks like a fun time. I love the picture of Riley on the "zebra riding thing"--whatever it's called. Ask Jason if he remembers riding the same sort of contraption except it was a yellow duck. He used to ride it so wildly that I would have to firmly hold onto the top of the duck's head while he was rocking back and forth because I was afraid he would smack his teeth on it.