Sunday, May 16, 2010

Wild, wacky, Waukee

Well we have been here in Waukee almost two months now. I have thought a lot about posting, but haven't really wanted to. I thought if someone else did the thinking for me it would be a lot easier, so I am enlisting the kids help. Here are some of their thoughts on the move and living in Waukee, IA.

Anna: I like living by a park because then we can go there anytime (mother's note: we lived across from a park where we used to live, but the road between us and the park served as some mental barrier between us. it's nice the house backs right up to one here, one foot in the yard, one foot in the park). I miss the wildlife we used to see in our old backyard. We used to see wild turkeys and deer on the way to school everyday, and black squirrels everywhere( Mother's note: yes, black. I had never seen them before living in Iowa either). I miss the Mississippi river. It was a good view. I have made a lot of friends here, and one good friend, Jessica. The school is way different than our old school and the teachers are usually strict, except for the boy teachers. Our house is really big and I like that Lizzy and I have our own bathroom.

Lizzy: I like how me and Anna have such a great view out our window. I like that we get to walk to school because we live so close. I also like how there is a trail behind our house and a park. I like how our house has a little space under the basement stairs with carpet because me and Ben like to have clubs there. We had a dance club today. I miss the Mississippi River because I miss seeing that alot because it was so beautiful. I miss the wildlife and our friends. I don't like how noisy it can be because we have baseball fields behind our house. It seems like the school is like one year behind because they teach you about penguins in second grade instead of first. I like how most of the teachers are nice at school, except for Anna's. She has the meanest teacher in the school. I really like church because there are bigger classes and there are more kids with birthdays close to mine. I really like gymnastics here too because they have something called Parent's Week where we get to do a routine for our parents.

Ben: I don't really like soccer that much here because they don't do that many games (Mother's note: For young kids here they mostly run skills clinics. It isn't until about 4th grade that they have tryouts for all of these different soccer academies. Different than what we are used to). I like that the baseball games are so close behind our house. I hope we get to go watch some with Papa. I miss the Garners and the Jensens and all our other friends. I miss the McGraths too. I miss my old preschool too. This preschool is good though. I miss the old basement at our other house. I miss our old church because I miss my class.

Adam: I like it here in Waukee. Although I miss our old neighborhood, (the McGraths mostly), here is really good too. There are multiple kids that go to my school that live right across the park behind our house. I really like the school here, even better than pleasant view. In church, there are boys in my class that are actually turning 11 this year, and I have made friends with kids in 11yr. old scouts. We went on our first campout last Friday, and it was really fun. I miss Bettendorf, but Waukee is even better!!!
Sincerely, adam the beast (Mother's note: Adam the beast typed this all by himself. He is also the one who was most opposed to us moving.)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Made it

We finally found a little window to escape yesterday. The flight was about 3 hours longer than normal because we had to fly way up and around the problem areas, but I did finally reach home around midnight last night. Tired today, but happy to be home!

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Stuck - day 2

Groundhog day. I feel like I've lived this before. Same as yesterday, checkin, do security thing, get ready to board plane, minutes before ... delayed. I fully expect after our 2 hour delay that they will cancel the flight again. At least today we're in a real gate not stuck on that hallway!

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Stuck!

Remind me to not fly American Airlines to Frankfurt again. I've been in Germany this week for work and flying home today. I should be on an airplane right now, not writing a blog. Unfortunately, I'm writing a blog post.

Everything was normal this morning as I arrived at the airport ... got checked in and went to find my gate. The gate was in the most inconvenient spot - just past the passport control (can't go backwards) just before the main terminal security checkpoint (can't go forwards - our gate had separate security check). Since we were in this odd gate assignment not in the main terminal, everyone on my flight was trapped in this little hallway. There were a few chairs, but not nearly enough for everyone. Luckily there was a small bathroom and a hot dog stand.

That's when we heard the flight was delayed by a few hours. The volcano was causing flights into Europe to have to take a longer route and causing late arrivals. Other than being trapped in that little hallway for a few extra hours, I figured things could be worse. An hour or so later, things got worse. An AA worker came into the little hallway and said, "Is anyone here waiting for the Chicago flight?" Of course! We all were! "I'm sorry, but your flight has been cancelled." She then went on to explain that they were closing the airport due to the ash cloud. People, of course, were not very happy.

After another two hours waiting in the line to get rescheduled for tomorrow, I made my way to a hotel for the night. After getting settled in, I started reading more about what was going on. That's when I discovered the airport was never closed, the AA flight was the only one that was cancelled. I have no idea why ... the plane was there and all other flights were finding their way, just not mine. Ughhh...

So here I am ... wish me luck tomorrow. Forecast's show the cloud moving more inland, so it may be an interesting (and very long) week coming up. Happy Mother's Day Tammy!