I hate to be the one to say it, but I'm going to...California Adventure park is SO MUCH MORE FUN than Disneyland.  Really, I'm not joking.  To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed in good ol' Disneyland.  Is that because we have been to Disney World?  Maybe.  I don't know.  It just wasn't impressive. California Adventure on the other hand was full of fun!  Our first stop was......

And all six of us rode it.....

The bellhop waiting to escort us to the elevator...

And here we are on the elevator.....

Boy 3, you know our tough guy?  He was so tough this entire ride, didn't cry once, but was absolutely scared to death - a side of him I have NEVER seen.  When the elevator door opened and we saw ghost, he said with HUGE eyes, "Mom that is my nightmare"!   Boy 2 was on the other side of me hanging on for dear life.  I have never felt another person shake so much in fear as that boy was shaking.  I'm surprised he didn't break his little hands he was holding onto the bars so tight!

After getting off the ride Boy 3 told me again that was his nightmare and he was certain he would not ride The Tower of Terror ever again.   Everyone else ran around and got in line again. 

Another thing I LOVED about CA is the 'little' parades that kept coming around!

A bugs life, so much FUN!!  And maybe I'm biased, but I have some pretty cute bugs!

The 'kids' had lots of fun running around in Tarzan's Tree House!

About to hang with the Muppets!!

I can't believe I forgot to show you this!!  The candy is a jaw breaker.  This is the BEST deal at Disney.  We bought them on day 1 for $2.99, the biggest jawbreaker we could find!  It comes in a closeable package and hangs around the neck.  The kids all had one (well except Boy 1) and they licked and licked on these things....this one is about 1/3 of the way complete.

The cutest box of toys I have every seen! 

Ahhh, what a great fun filled day at California's Great Adventure!

As you enter the park, this sign says it all.......

Can you believe we have never taken a family trip to California?  Hubby has been several times, I have been a couple of times, but we have never been together as a family.  How can that be?  Well we fixed that problem this week.  Spring break + block leave = VACATION!!

Our California vacation started off a little hairy.  I don't know what I was thinking when I booked our flight out of Austin at 6:30AM.  That means we had to wake up at 3AM - OUCH.  Seriously - what was I thinking?  In the end it all turned out fine even though we ALMOST missed our flight due to the MANY, MANY spring breakers and the ending of South by Southwest – the Austin airport was a ZOO! I have never seen it so busy!  I’m sure we gave a few people a good chuckle as we were running to the gate without our shoes on.  I’m telling you we looked like the Clampetts  (you know, from the Beverly Hillbillies) back packs flying everywhere, Hubby dragging Boy 2, me dragging Boy 3 and trying to make sure we had picked everything up as we went through security, me yelling “where is girl”…it was quite a sight. (Thank God we had Girl! ;o)

Upon arriving into California I couldn't believe how green and plush everything is!  There are fruit trees everywhere!  Ahh, I could get used to this.  Boy 3 told us California reminded him of Hawaii and Boy 1 is thinking California might not be a bad place for our next PCS move - I couldn't agree with him more! 

After getting a little rest & catching up with an old friend we decided to hit Hollywood!   Along the way we saw Capitol Records......

When we reached Hollywood Boulevard there were all kinds of people dressed up as characters...I didn't realize they were 'working' for money at first, I just thought they were freaks.  ;o)

The boys enjoyed hanging out with Shrek....

And seeing his star....

Mickey was a favorite of all the kids!

Here we are hanging out in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.  It was once stated that “to visit Los Angeles and not see the Chinese is like visiting China and not seeing the Great Wall.”   I don't know about that, but it was pretty cool.   

Where else could I get this close to my main man John Travolta (sorry Hubby)?  It was almost like I was holding his hand.

And it was fun running into Marilyn Monroe!  (With my friend T that I haven't seen in 20+ years.)

I had read on Trip Advisor that when you visit the Kodak Theater you could go to the 3rd or 4th floor and have a great view of the "Hollywood" sign.  I'm glad I drug everyone all over that mall to check out the sign.  See it?  It is WAY in the back.  ;o)

We finally happened upon Hollywoods Oldest Italian Restaurant, since 1949 & decided to stop in for a bite to eat, and it was well worth it!! Everyone LOVED their meal.

And look!  We saw a STAR!  This dog was so cool, just haning out in the back of his human's truck.

After hanging out on Hollywood Blvd we headed out to get up close and personal with the Hollywood sign.  The kids were so excited when they 'thought' we were there.

Little did they know we were going to 'explore' all the way to the top!  The security guard at the bottom of the hill told us it was a 30 minute walk to the top.  I don't think that security guard has ever hiked to the top...this took us a good hour to get to the top, but it was fun and I'm glad we did it, even though I was wearing (super cute) heels...

After about an hour we are finally at the top and behind the Hollywood sign!  The kids have never been more excited!  Check out that view! 

After a long day in Hollywood, we headed back to my friend’s house, put the kids to bed and headed out to dinner.  I have been dying to have GOOD sushi since being back in the states and after doing a little research I was determined to eat "Sushi on Fire!" - Everything I read about this place was positive and it was ranked #1 on Trip Advisor for best sushi in Huntington Beach. Sushi on Fire did not disappoint.  This was the best sushi I have eaten since being back in the states....plus, you get free sake with your meal so it is a win/win! 

A Chaplain once told me that Military families are in a constant state of grief.  Grief, really? Most people associate grief with death.  However grief is that internal feeling we have when we have a loss.  Military families today are in a constant grief cycle wheather it be from moving to a new duty station or having a spouse deploy. When I realized this I was in shock!  How simple, yet I never realized this.    

First we have Denial & Isolation- The moment I heard we were heading back to Fort Deployment (Hood) I was in denial.  No freaking way am I going back there. I mean, what is wrong with the Army?  We VOLUNTEERED to stay in Korea.  Why would they spend so much money on sending us back across the world?  This turned into the Second stage of grief which is Anger.  I was so Angry with the Army for not letting us stay put in our happy home where Hubby worked 'normal' hours and we had dinner together as a family most nights. Then the Barganing started - Really honey, you don't HAVE to take this job..... Once we hit Texas soil Depression set in.  Not only did the Army move us back to Texas, they screwed up on housing - we had to live in a tiny 3 bedroom apartment with a borrowed folding table and borrowed air mattresses while we waited for a house that was supposed to be ready upon our arrival.  And finally I Accepted the fact that we were living at Fort Hood and that my soldier would be deploying once again. 

Now, all that doesn't mean I am out of the grief cycle, because I am not.  I've been revisiting one or more of those stages on a daily basis.   For me Denial and Isolation might only last for an hour, and then I move on to Anger, which could last for 20 minutes to five hours.  Typically during this time, I do not talk to anyone on the phone and I just hang out by myself (back to isolation) till I am out of the funk.  For you it may look totally different. When I feel depression hitting, I call a wine meeting on my porch with all my neighbors.  I love to surround myself with like people, people going through the same thing I am, or people that have been there.  (Personally I could NEVER again leave my military family during a deployment.  I did that once, moved to my old hometown for a year while my soldier was deployed and I will be the first to admit that it was the hardest deployment I have ever been though.)  During this rollercoaster of grief I have fully Accepted that my soldier will be deploying once again, I may not be happy about it, but I have accepted that it is happening.  I have friends that have not accepted this reality even when their soldier has deployment orders in hand. Whatever your grief process is, just know that you are not alone, and this is 'normal'.    

So, here are a few things off the top of my head that no one tells you about deployment and believe it or not, they are all normal.....

One or both of you shut down weeks (sometimes months) before deployment.

You will fight A LOT over stupid little things before your soldier deploys. 

You might feel the 'connection' with your soldiers is not as strong as it was last month.  Or you may feel it is stronger. 

Your children will freak out, becoming more moody than ever.  There will be more tears and more fighting as you enter into this separation that is not 'normal'.  A week or two week business trip is what 'normal' kids deal with, not 1 year of being afraid you might never see your Daddy/Mommy again.

Saying good-bye at the manifest site SUCKS.

Your soldier’s flight will change at least 3 times.

You will get to the point to where you just want your soldier to be gone. This is not because you don't love your soldier, but because it is too painful for them to be here anymore.  The countdown is too hard. Their work hours are too long.  The emotional rollercoaster of date’s changing is too much and you are ready for the countdown of their return to start.

Just when you think you can't deal with anything else, something will break, someone will need surgery, or your loving pet will die the moment your soldier boards the plane to leave...

With all of this being said I want you all to know how proud I am of my soldier and how proud I am to be able to say "I am a wife of a US Army Soldier".  My soldier is strong, proud and is a true American hero.  He will fight till the end, but I hope he doesn't have to. 

Toby Keith sings it so well here. (Click to listen)

This past Saturday I had it all worked out. I told them we were going 'exploring'. They were getting dressed.  There were no complaints.  That is until Hubby yelled, "hurry up and get dressed, we're going hiking'.  I was walking down the hall when I heard this...I came to a screeching halt, darted my crazy eyes towards him and mouthed "E X P L O R I N G" in slow motion - he didn't catch on, so I whisper screamed (you know what I’m talking about) in the most freaked out but quiet voice I could muster, "exploring, we are going exploring...what is wrong with you? I briefed you on this, it's exploring, they aren't complaining DON"T SAY THE "H"  WORD!".  The big one heard this. He calmly told me he wasn't fooled, and that he just gave up on the idea of ever getting to go bowling. The little ones heard too, I shoved donuts in their mouths and tossed them in the car.  Yes, I let them eat in the car, anything to keep them from saying the dreadful “H” word.  I just kept repeating, EXPLORING, we are going EXPLORING.  I even sang a few songs about exploring.

This past weekend we visited Mother Neff State Park which is located about 45 minutes from Fort Hood.  Hubby wasn't too excited when he read the history of MFSP.... it was named after Mrs. Isabella Eleanor (Mother) Neff who donated 6 acres of land back in 1916. He was miffed because it could have been named after soldier from the war who did heroic things, but no....you should bring this up in conversation with him some day and see where it takes you.  ;o)

He is not looking too excited yet....

Cool rock stairs, this could be fun....

Boy 1 was a bit disappointed in the cave...he really thought we had some great exploring ahead of us when we read about this cave.

When we found this downed tree, we decided to make it a challenge.  Everyone EXCEPT myself and Boy 3 fell off the first time across.

Next challenge was to climb this tree.  Girl was the only one to try.  ;o)

He found a good resting place.

Boy 3 earned $5 for being brave and sticking his arm in this hole.  No one else would do it - they were all SCARED!! 

A sign along the way....

Log wars....

Now tell me they didn't have fun.....