Daddy's New Job

Yup, you read that right!

Brad is FINALLY starting his new job Monday morning. He will officially me a member of the...

After about a year and a half it is official. He has taken a written test, done an interview, been placed on a waiting list (#6 out of 30), finally been called up (in April), done more tests (eye, physical, and psych), and finally been approved by the merit board. He begins work at 8am on Monday morning. It feels so unreal because it seems like it has taken forever for this to actually happen. This is also the reason he had to leave vacation early. He needed to train someone at Humana and finish up some things there while doing orientations for the fire department. We were glad that he did get to spend a few days with us at the beach, but sad he had to come home early. He is glad to begin this new phase of his life.

He will be starting out on 40 hour normal work weeks. Once he reads a lot, studies, and passes some tests he will be placed into a crew and start the normal schedule. It goes something like this: 24 hours on, 24 hours off, 24 hours on, 24 hours off, 24 hours on, 4 days off. So that will be QUITE the adjustment.

There have been many changes going on around here lately. I HOPE that I will be able to share more of them soon!

Back from Vacation!

We are back!

We spent a FABULOUS week on the beach. We had a great house, perfect weather, and best of all... Madeline LOVED every aspect of the beach. She tore through the sand, splashed in the waves, and destroyed every sand structure we built for her. I am working on getting all of the pictures organized, we took a ton. But I wanted to share a few of the collages I have made of the trip so far.

Last Saturday we hit the road at 6am in a caravan with my Mom, Dad, and Grandpa. Madeline did wonderful in the car. She slept, we stopped for breakfast, she played and slept some more, we stopped for lunch, she played and slept again, and then we arrived on the Isle of Palms. We hit the beach FIRST thing to get her reaction.

The next morning, we hit the beach again until lunch/nap time. Loved, Loved, Loved it!

That night we had a great dinner and then took a walk along the beach.

 

Monday morning we got up and headed into Charleston to go exploring for the day. Madeline stayed with us for most of it, but did take her nap along the way. The heat and the walking was a lot for my Grandpa so he and my mom sat some of it out. So Madeline, Mom, Dad, and Grandpa Jeff toured the city and saw many sights!

That night Brad and I headed over into Mt. Pleasant to have a date with a putt-putt course. We BOTH got hole-in-one's.

Tuesday morning was Brad's last morning with us (more details on that later). So we got up early to go see the beach when the dogs could roam without being on a leash. Maddie just laughed at all of the silly puppies.

After breakfast we came back for more beach time. Madeline was tired from waking up early and took a nap on the beach while Grandma and Grandpa built her a sand castle entitle "Fort Maddie." When she was finally all rested, she got up and played in her fort and became a sand monster once again.

Wednesday morning was another day at the beach. She had fun in the water and building sand castles with Grandpa, or should I say destroying them... Maddie played and played until she was just worn out. She took a TWO hour nap on the sand and skipped right over lunch. I was shocked but she was having so much fun I can't blame her. We missed Daddy though!

Wednesday night we headed out to eat and stopped at a park on Sullivan's Island to let Madeline play some more. She loved the swings and the slide.

I didn't take any pictures on my camera on Thursday, so I will have to grab them from my Mom's camera.

We decided to leave on Friday, my Grandpa was done, and we missed Brad. So, we got up early Friday morning and headed home. Maddie was once again a rock star in the car. I think she liked having me and Grandma as an audience in the backseat.

When we got home she did this...

I think she is ready to go back!