Thursday, July 7, 2011

Retirement, Balloon Crashes, and the Wild West

There's never a dull moment in this household.

First, I got the teaching job I applied for in Texas!  I'll be teaching 4th grade, and although I have never taught that level, I am sure someone out there can give me lots of advice on everything under the sun.  I really stress about lesson plans.

Me getting a job, means that we had to figure out how to move to Texas quickly!  We did some calculations, and we had to stay until Gunner finished his VA appointments....all 500 of them.  I think everyone in the VA system has evaluated his injuries and documented his aches and pains.  At 40, with 22 years in the Army, that means he has a lot.

So once we decided on a date, it meant that we had to use all my groupons that I had been collecting.  Last Saturday we biked down Pikes Peak.

Talk about incredible!

I even got in a few pictures.
My husband is so photogenic.  Me, not so much.  Anyway, I highly recommend this trip if you come to the Springs!  It wasn't a hard ride, just a few uphills, but most of the 20 miles downhill was fast, and the switchbacks made it exciting!

Since that wasn't enough excitement for me, we used our rock climbing in Garden of the Gods groupon, on Sunday!  I was terrified, since I don't like heights at all, and I just didn't see how I could scale up the side of a gigantic rock.

Well I can!


Yes, that would be me climbing up!
One more for good measure!
It was absolutely amazing, and I was good at it!  I can't wait to go again, and I am trying to figure out how I can fit in one more trip before we leave!

After rock climbing, we had to try and locate "the mothers" (my mom and his mom traveled together to the Springs for his retirement ceremony).  After locating them, it was off to the park to have a BBQ for Junior's birthday.  I can't believe he is 5.  More importantly I can't believe he is potty trained! (Oh, his surgery on those parts went well, and he is healed and has no more problems!)

He's gotten so big!
So has his cowlick.  We just got it cut because it was GIGANTIC.

A rare picture of my children not fighting.
After cake and Blue Bell, my mom and I headed to bed because we had to get up at 3:30 AM to head off on our balloon trip.  I had purchased the groupon as a Mother's Day present for her.

Next time I think we will get a trip that keeps us on the ground.  I thought that since this was on my mom's bucket list, that it would be a great adventure.....what I didn't account for is that our balloon would crash.  The flight itself was great after it got off the ground....

 The flight was beautiful....The landing, not so much.

This was how many times the balloon hit.....hard.  We were lodged into our section of the 
This is my mom trying to get out of the basket after we crashed.  She spent the next day in the emergency room and had injured her knee (which will require surgery) and also her ankle, which they said was not broken.  Of course that's what they said about Emily's, and it was.  I think she needs to stay off it and get it xrayed again, but if you think I don't stop, meet the most stubborn woman in America.

The next day we relaxed, and then my mom and I headed off for a little target practice!  I had never held a real gun, shot it, or even wanted to be near it.

I was told I was a natural, and the instructor called me Annie Oakley.  Not to mention, I LOVED it!  The class was great, and I can apply for my concealed permit, which I want to do.  I am not buying a gun though, that's just too much stress with three kids in the house!  I can't say that I am over my fear, but I do have a new appreciation for guns.  

Just to keep things even more interesting, On Wednesday, June 30th, Gunner had his retirement ceremony.  

Hard to believe that we were standing up there and seeing the end to something that has been a part of our entire marriage.  

A "high-five" for making it!  After almost 17 years of marriage, 5 year year long deployments.....we made it!!!

More to come, stay tuned for a last second move, a vacation that I decided we had to have, and the start of something new! 

2 comments:

McMGrad89 said...

Congratulations! Happy to hear you survived your adventures. Best wishes on the new job. Wish I was going to be here to support you. I am only an email/phone call away. Just go to as many of the "after school specials" you can. As the years went on, I neglected them, but you will be glad they have them.

Coupons said...

Now that's what you call an adventure-packed post! Congrats on the new job!