We are DONE

The flight landed at exactly 5:30 after a few delays here and there to “keep them on time” gotta love how the army works. Since I knew from the last 2 homecomings that they are rarely if ever early we waited to the very last minute to head to the hangar. When we got to family parking and got on the bus we heard the guys outside say “wheels down in 15” then the driver got on and said the same thing to us and we said “yep” and he shrugged and said “I guess you want me to go right?”. Of course the speed limit through a lot of post is 20 mph so we told him by the time we got there the plane should be on it’s way in. I think we made his day better, at the very least he got a few laughs at those crazy women he had to drive around. Mari was just excited to be on a bus because when her husband comes home they only have about 6 guys and it’s NOTHING like our huge homecomings.

So then we stood out waiting for the plane to land. It was colder than I expected and my hands were freezing. Of course you still had people there in tshirts and short and the poor women trying to look all hot and sexy in skirts and instead their legs were purple they were so cold. Us old pros had on jeans, thick sock, crocs, and jackets. Wish I had taken gloves though because my hands were about to freeze.

Finally starting to unload. It takes a while when there are over 200 soldiers on board.

There he is!! He was walking to fast to get a decent picture!

Stupid balloons. So so pointless! You have to lug all that crap onto the bus to the hangar, then the guys can’t take it with them when they leave so you have to take it all back to the bus and back home with you! I don’t get it at all but there was bunches of balloons here and throughout the hangar.

Opening the doors!

Here they come!

It took a little bit to find Nicholas because as you can see the backs of their heads all look pretty similar unless they are black or women! We found him at the same time and then Mari ran across the bleachers to a different spot to make sure that was him and get a good picture.

They cut them loose! I just stood there and waited for him to turn around. He knew I was wearing red because he saw me outside when he was walking by.

And I love this one because we both look like “eh ok, enough of this, lets get this show on the road so we can get home”. And that’s exactly what we were thinking because as soon and they said for families to return to their seats he said “thank God” and I said “no kidding”. LOL

The girls were so funny! I opened the door and they ran out on the steps and Ki peed all over the place she was so excited! It used to be that Pooh was the Daddy’s girl but Ki is becoming more and more of one now.

He asked for Chicken and Wild Rice soup and bread so I had that made and in the fridge when we got home. We ate and he showered. He was pretty tired from the days of traveling. He was on a plane or in a terminal somewhere for around 24 straight hours because I got the wheels up call Sun night at 8pm and then they landed at 5:30. We went to bed before 9 and he was wide awake at 1am and went ahead and got up. I heard the washer and dryer running so he did some laundry and just enjoyed being home and alone for the first time in months, well almost alone, he just had to ignore my snoring. :)  He’s at reintegration today and has to go everyday for a week. Most days he’ll only be there an hour or 2, the first day is usually longer because they have to do a lot of paperwork.

This was actually the quickest homecoming we’ve ever had! He landed at 5:30 and we were leaving post at 7. The actual homecoming part at the hangar took an hour and then Mari and I moved in the hangar so we could run straight out and get on one of  the first busses. When we got back to family parking everyone was going out to the pick up spot a way I’ve never been so I went the way I knew and was the only one on the road and beat a ton of people because the traffic was all backed up the other way. I was able to park close to the building and I was about to start reading on my kindle when one of the other wives from the troop called me and said that the busses were already there and some guys were done! I went in and found N in about 5 mins and we left. It’s NEVER been that fast in the past! We’ve always had to wait 2+ hours for them to turn in weapons and stuff. I guess it’s about time that Campbell gets this process under control!