Beautiful Day: Our Weekend Adventure

My godson/cousin Blake joined the Marines. He is 18 years old, just graduated from high school, and he's a great kid. His mom, who is my mom's youngest sister, threw him a going away party on Saturday. We got the invitation a few weeks ago and Mom and I hatched a plan. :)

Our plan was to fly down to Birmingham, Alabama, have my cousin Nick pick us up at the airport, and surprise everyone at the party. It got even more fun than that because Nick told everyone he had a big surprise that they would find out on Saturday at the party. They went CRAZY trying to guess what it was. They even called me several times so I would call Nick and see if I could get it out of him and report back! The only clue he gave them was that they would "notice it immediately" when he came. So we got up at 4:30am on Saturday, flew through Charlotte to Birmingham. Madeleine did GREAT on those first two flights. The second flight was a little rough for us though. It was a 50 seater plane and mom and I were sitting across the aisle from each other. Next to mom was an Indian woman with her wild little toddler. She could not hold him on her lap. He was spitting on mom, shaking his juice cup everyone, pounding things on the back of the seat in front of him, pinching and grabbing mom, and getting down on the floor. Also he kept biting a Tic Tac container until it splintered into a million pieces. The flight attendant came over at least 5 times and told her that if she wouldn't hold him on her lap, we were going to turn the plane around. The lady on the other side of me was sobbing the whole time. I asked if she was ok and told her that I'd be happy to listen if she wanted to talk about it, but she didn't because she said that would just make her cry more. So say a prayer for her if you get a chance.

Nick picked us up and drove us straight to the party. It was at an ourdoor park, and the temperature reached 100 degrees. We walked up to the pavilion, and everyone was SHOCKED to see us! Oh it was great. They were so happy we were there. The party was a lot of fun. We spent most of the time sitting in front of a giant fan. Madeleine even took a nap in her stroller in front of it. It was SO hot, but she was a trooper. She never complained once. (Except when "strange" people tried to hold her!)

Grandma, Aunt Christy (Blake's mom) and my mom

We tried to keep cool by playing in the water, but it was just TOO hot in the sun, so we stayed in the shade by the big fan.

Saturday night we went to mass at Sacred Heart, and then went to another cousin's birthday party. Then we stayed in a hotel that night. Madeleine slept with me, because there was no way I was putting her in the "crib" they brought, and she did great.

The next morning almost everyone in the family met for breakfast. We took up most of the room and it was great visiting and catching up. Madeleine was a big hit. She did SO well all weekend.

My Goddaughter Cassie and Madeleine Our table. Can you tell we're Catholic by the number of people?

After breakfast, we all went with Blake to the Marine Corps Center. He had to do sign some papers and then he left on the bus. It was an emotional morning for everyone, especially his mom. When he got his picture with her, he whispered "Mommy" in her ear. We used a whole roll of what we named "Alabama Kleenex" - toilet paper. He's going to 13 weeks of Basic Training, then 10 days of leave (He'll be home on Thanksgiving so we'll get to see him), and then 3 months of job training. We are so proud of him. When he left, I gave him a hug and said, "Love you." He said "I love you too," then gave Madeleine a kiss and said, "Bye Cutie." We will miss him a lot, but we know this will be great for him.