Weekend 1 In Nor Cal

Now that we had made it safely back to California, it was time for Jake and I to hit the ground running.  We had a little less than two weeks in our home state and we were ready to make the most of it.

Ama had taken that Friday off work so we decided it would be the perfect time to head to the Zoo.  The Sacramento Zoo became Jake and my "place" while Daddy was away at "Soldier School" last year and we would make a visit almost every week.   It was such a special place for us, one that Jake still talks about all the time, so I was anxious to take him back there and relive some of those beautiful memories.  It made it even more special to return with Arthur's mom and two brothers.

 

 Jake had a wonderful time.  It was obvious that time had not faded his memory or love for the animals and even more importantly the family we had to leave behind.  There were very few moments when Jake's feet touched the ground as the loving arms of his Ama and two tios passed him back and forth.  From before he was born they have treated Jacob like a little prince, and this time was no different.  At one point I caught Jacob lovingly touching Tio Lui's face as he was carried from one exhibit to the next.  After watching them all that morning, there was no doubt that Jacob missed them just as much as they had missed him.

After the Zoo we headed to Pancho's, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the world that is actually owned by Apa's sister and husband.  So not only did I get to eat way too much amazing food, but I also got to see several members of the family while we were there.  Unfortunately, Jacob was too worn out to really enjoy it, but I know Ama didn't mind having her grandson snuggle and fall asleep in her arms.

Friday evening was spent surrounded by Arthur's family and Aunt Robyn.  And for those of you who know Jake, he is always happy to be the center of attention.  So he kept us all laughing with his music styling and his sibling like behavior with his Aunt Robyn. What can I say, they did share a room for 5 months. :-)

Saturday was just as busy as Friday.  The day started with a swimming lesson for Jake with Aunt Robyn.   She was teaching her last three year old class, and Jake was the right skill level to join the other little girl in the class.

Robyn, of course, was great with him and true to Jacob style he said all kinds of ridiculous things to her.  But it was the big picture that I couldn't quite get over.  Having my baby take a lesson in the same pool where I taught for so many years, seeing him the same goggles that countless little eyes have looked back at me through, having him wait on those same steps, and hearing his sweet little voice give the same excuses that I have heard so many times I could never count;

it was a surreal moment in which I realized how much my life has changed.  I am now the Mommy sitting and taking pictures at the side of the pool and I love every second of it.

After a fabulous swimming lesson with tons of bubbles, floats, and up and unders, it was time for the three of us to head over to my beautiful friend Fiona's.

She had put together a little lunch in honor of the second Baby J.  To make it even better, Bethany drove from the Bay Area to be there.  Between the cute decorations, delicious food, and time with dear friends, it was a perfect afternoon of talking, laughing and catching up.  Thank you Fiona, Bethany, and Robyn.  You girls made me (and this new little baby) feel so special and loved.

Since it happened to be the weekend of the County Fair, our day was not yet complete.  After leaving Fiona's, it was time for Robyn, Jake and me to check out some live stock and fair food.  Jake, as expected, was captivated by all the animals.  I think we went through each area at least three times.

At first I would have said that his favorite animals were the cows, but that was before it came time to feed the pigs.  They got so loud and worked up that Jake couldn't take his eyes off them as they pushed and wrestled one another for the food. After and little while, Grandpa Dave met us there, and we spent a fun evening together listening to the mediocre live music and eating award winning tacos.

It was a fun filled day, and Jake was asleep before were out of the parking lot.

Of course, no trip home would be complete without going to church with your parents and letting them show off their grandson, so that is just what we did.

 

It was a wonderful weekend where Jake and I were able to reconnect and share so many fun experiences with the family and loved ones that we miss so much while we are in Alabama.  Luckily for us, this was still just the beginning of our trip.  Unfortunately, for Daddy this Sunday also marked his last day of "freedom" or communication with the outside world before the 0400 formation that started his 3 long weeks of SERE-C. The "longest three weeks on earth."

And so our trip began...

Today marks a week since our little family has been all back together.  As I'm sure can be gathered by the theme of this little blog, we kind of like each other and we really enjoy our time together so the three and a half weeks apart were hard on all of us.  Jake and I got the fun part of the separation.  We headed out to California for some quality time with family.  Arthur, on the other hand, was sentenced to a three week SERE training.  While he was one of three who finished the course with honors, I can honestly say that he had very little fun surviving, evading, resisting, or escaping so I will leave you with one quote that I believe summarizes Arthur's  feeling about his experience, "I would evade for one thousand years before I spent one day as a POW."

Moments after being released from SERE

Now on to California...

Arthur and I decided several months ago, that it would probably easier on Jake if Jake and I left Daddy rather than Daddy leaving us.  While it left Arthur home alone for a few extra days, we definitely made the right decision.  Jake did make it clear that he missed Daddy.  Whenever I caught him in a game of make believe the theme was always centered on some animal, car or tractor "looking for his Daddy."  And there were several nights (generally ones where he was up way too late after a full day of playing) where he would have a small melt down and start crying, "I just want to go home."  Other than that we had a great time and Jake was well distracted by all the love and attention he received during our trip. 

Of course no trip (that involves me) can begin without some sort of dramatic event, and this trip was no different.  Since we live very close to the middle of nowhere, we have to drive a few hours to get to an airport. So after getting up super early for our 10 o'clock flight, I was greatly disturbed to find the airport abandoned and hand written signs stating that the "Airport was Closed."  Immediately I burst into tears saying, "But I bought tickets."  Luckily, Arthur is a little more level headed than I am and calmly suggested that this must not be the correct airport.  Of course he was right and within minutes we were at our desired location saying our goodbyes and Jake and I were on our way.

 I would like to say that this was the end of the drama but that would be much too easy.  Our first layover was in Nashville.  Since we had a long wait we were excited to be in a place with live music.  It kept Jake and I entertained for nearly the entire time.  One musician loved Jake's enthusiasm for music so much that he dedicated a song to him and gave him a CD...a CD that was promptly thrown away after a few minutes of listening.  (The lesson learned: just because someone can do decent covers does not mean that have any talent for original songwriting).

We headed to our gate with plenty of time to spare.  Jake did get a little restless waiting and after taking off his shoes and socks, ran around a little and attempted to get everyone's attention and smiles.  He was pretty successful and I was only mildly embarrassed.

By the time we lined up to board, I was feeling very good about how our travels were going.  That is until I heard, "Jillian Orr, Jacob Orr this is your last call for boarding at gate C20."  C20 was of course the opposite side of the terminal.  Somehow in my rush to get Jake fed I hadn't noticed that Southwest had two flights heading to California within minutes of one another and I obviously had seen the wrong one.  Seriously, after a 3 hour layover we were going to miss our flight?  I grabbed Jacob and threw him on one hip and attempted to evenly disburse the weight of our three carry-ons around my body.  I had no choice but to make a run for it if we were going to have any chance of getting to the gate in time.  "Baby, I need you to hold on tight to Mommy," and with that we were off.  Somewhere in this decision making I had forgotten that I was 20 some odd weeks pregnant and that I haven't run in months, but there was no way we were missing this flight and hearing our names once again over the load speaker made me run even harder.  Like a scene from a movie just as our gate is coming into view, I saw a flight attendant closing the door.  Without thinking I start yelling from 50 yards away, "Wait!!! Wait!!  Jillian Orr and Jacob Orr are here!"  My throat was on fire, my legs were like lead, and I could feel my eyes begin to brim with tears.  I should have been embarrassed by the scene I was causing, but the thought of missing our flights and having to explain myself in order to board the next one was more than I could bare.  Then out of nowhere the pilot showed up.  "It's okay," he assured me as he unloaded me of my baggage, "We haven't even started the safety speech."  We found our seat and the rest of the trip went smoothly.  Better than smoothly actually.  Exausted from a late night (he was too excited to sleep), an early morning (he did not go back to sleep after being put in the car at 5am), and a day of traveling, Jake was asleep 10 minutes into the flight

...and he stayed asleep when the plane landed in Colorado...when people got off the plane...when new people got on the plane...when the plane took off again...

and through all but the last 30 minutes of our flight.  I think the people around us thought that I had drugged him.  My only real mistake, however, was that while I had bags of things to keep Jake entertained, I brought nothing for myself.
Without any other craziness we landed in Sacramento and were met by a very excited Ama and Tio Frankie.  They were a little taken aback by what a big boy Jake has become over the last 5 and half months, but he didn't hesitate running to them and giving them both long tight squeezes.  And so our trip began...