Tyler is working a temporary position from January to May of this year down in College Station. We decided it would be smarter for the girls and I to stay put with my parents while Abby finished school than to all move again in the middle of the school year, so Tyler lives in a tiny studio apartment and drives home every weekend to be with us. The girls count down the days that Daddy is away by putting a sticker on a calendar every night. We added up all the weekdays that Dad would be gone and it came out to 100 days. Here are the girls after we completed one month.
I thought it was interesting that his 50 day mark was the beginning of Abby's spring break, which we decided to spend down in College Station with Tyler in his tiny apartment while he worked. It was an awesome vacation, something different, yet really fun. Here are the highlights:
1. Traveling to Houston. Being only a little over an hour away from our friends in the Houston area, we spent our first weekend down with them, playing games, going to church, touring, and just hanging out. The kids kept busy playing and entertaining themselves. Here's Abby with Shayla and the sunset painting they created together. Squeezing on the air mattress all together was also part of the weekend fun.
We toured the Blue Bell Factory in Brenham and saw how they made all their scrumptious treats, topped off with free ice cream at the end. The most interesting thing I learned was their workers' motto: Eat as much as you can and sell the rest. Sounds good to me!
2. Hanging out in the apartment. While Tyler worked during the days, the girls and I hung out in the apartment a lot. Luckily with the wii and the computer, the girls stayed entertained. We also saw all the sights of the apartment complex like the pools, the laundry, the tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, the main office, etc. We took most of those walks while trying to give Taryn time to fall asleep in the apartment. Having no separate rooms made it very difficult for her to fall asleep since she could see everyone and everything from where her bed was. Half way through the week, I began putting her to sleep in a make-shift bed in the walk-in closet because it was the only place with a door to close. The closet was about as big as the kitchen area. Tyler uses a futon couch for sleeping and we brought an air mattress for the girls. Here's a picture of all the girls on the futon when they bombarded Taryn one morning. We were laughing so hard at everyone's faces - all different, all funny!
3. Going fishing. Tyler has spent many a nights fishing since he needed a hobby being on his own most nights. Abby made him promise to take her fishing while we were there visiting, so we spent one evening at his usual fishing pond. Taryn stayed in her carseat next to Tyler the whole time and I really wanted a picture because I would have labeled it as Taryn's first daddy/daughter date, but just as I was about to take the picture, my phone battery was too low. Bummer! The pond was located in a park which included a playground. The older girls and I spent most of the time there. Abby spent a long time trying to get up the nerve to do a fireman's pole. While staring so long up at her from the ground, I finally took a picture because I thought the trees above her looked really cool as a background. After watching Tessa multiple times and other kids as well, she finally did it, but only once.
We also spent some time walking around the pond and stopping for some pictures at a little gazebo. Aubrey didn't want her picture taken unfortunately. We had a couple pictures with her looking just like this, the little stinker.
4. Playing at the park. There was a little park/playground just down the road from Tyler's apartment. We went there almost every day while Tyler worked. Taryn got to see everything from the stroller. Here's a picture of her on her 5-month birthday. After a couple pictures of Aubrey around the playground, I finally caught one of her showing her face.
5. Eating out. We spent many meals eating at all the fun restaurants that they don't have near us right now including places like Fazoli's, a BBQ place, and BJ's. At BJ's, Aubrey ordered apple juice but then didn't want to drink it. We talked Abby into sharing her lemonade and I caught this really cute picture. One of our favorites of the week! We also spent one evening at Chuck E. Cheese for the girls to play. We used our tickets that we'd been saving over the past year and got a package of tiny play-dohs, and a stained glass type painting project, which turned out to be perfect because it gave the girls more things to do while we hung out in the apartment while Tyler was at work.
6. Going to the mall. Tyler's apartment was also right across the street from the mall. We spent an evening there checking out their puppy shop and their play area. We only stayed there for a little while because Tyler thought it smelled too nasty. Abby and Tyler had already made an earlier trip to the mall the first night we got into town because I totally forgot to pack Abby's pajamas, so she got new ones at the mall.
7. Going to a Children's Museum. On our last day in town, we visited a children's museum in Bryan. It was a lot smaller than we were expecting, but the girls still had fun. They each got a picture in the duck face hole. The healthy body section had an eye chart, so Abby practiced doing what daddy does every day. They also enjoyed the grocery store section and the rocket ship section. I finally got Aubrey to stop long enough for her own picture.
We had so much fun, and made some great family memories. We especially loved being able to spend all that time with Daddy. Hopefully the final 50 days without him will pass by quickly.
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