On the move again??

So, the Hunt family has been here in the northeast for about 5 months and we have tried to cram in as much as possible as we had no idea coming into this where we would be moving come May when the training ends.

Well, we finally got word where we’re headed. Aloha to Sunshine, Mai Tais, and flip flops!!

With this news, we’re trying to hit up the last places around. This weekend was Providence Children’s Museum and the Union Station Brewery!

Unfortunately, this means that I won’t be able to run the Marine Corps Marathon again this year. On the bright side, my sister in law is going to take my spot and run it for me! We’re still going to support the Fisher House in this effort, just me from the Honolulu marathon in December and her at MCM in October!!
http://www.teamfisherhouse.org/goto/Huntfamily2005

20140316-194636.jpg

20140316-194521.jpg

20140316-194453.jpg

20140316-194433.jpg

Marine Corps Marathon – The Completion

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for your support for us, for your thoughts and well-wishes for the marathon, and for your support for the Fisher House.

Marine Corps Marathon is like no other. Called “The People’s Marathon,” there are no elites – no racers getting paid to be there. It is entirely entered by runners wanting to challenge themselves for the sake of the race.

It was cold. Very very cold. But I’d prefer that to rain/wind/snow/heat, so I’ll take it!

174

The race was honestly the best I’ve ever seen/run. It felt like there were just as many spectators on the course as there were runners (and there were a LOT of runners).

179

And the best part of going in with no real time goal except for to beat the bus? You can be one of “those” people who stop and take pictures. Because, well, why not?!

186193197

 

We were even able to meet up with some amazing friends from our last boat (the Navy really is a small world.. or it at least makes the world feel smaller), and it was wonderful to meet their baby girl! She was even sweet enough to take a pic for us!

207

 

And the best part of any race? The bling. And this is by far one of the coolest medals I’ve ever gotten (with the only exception being the Salinas Valley Half Marathon’s… it’s a wine bottle cork, what’s cooler than that?!)

204

In the end, we charged D.C., “beat the bridge” (didn’t get picked up by the slow runner buses), and conquered the last hill at the Iwo Jima memorial.

Thank you, Congress, for doing your job and reopening government so that the race wasn’t cancelled! And THANK YOU to Team Fisher House for your support, the awesome race goodies, the crowds cheering us on, and the food tent at the end.

 

 

 

The things you find

It is truly almost like Christmas. You unwrap way too many toys, some of which you wonder why you even bought it in the first place, you find things you forgot you had, and your kids are ecstatic over items once long forgotten.

You also find those rare gems. Memory trinkets, movie stubs, things that make you go, “I remember that day!”

One of such things is this:

20131015-150932.jpg
My menu from the last week of detest at Madigan!

I have to say, the food was good. Not only was it not bad, it was actually good. The French toast with strawberries (hush, that was a special treat you weren’t supposed to know about), muffins, cookies, and various lunch/dinners made the 28 days much more bearable.

Those were the days…

Travel in summary

So a few last thoughts.

Miles traveled: 3383

State license plates seen: All 50 (first trip with all of them legitimately!)

Days in hotels: 8 in Monterey, 4 hotels on road, 3 nights in families’ houses, 1 last night here in town.

Needless to say, the kids were very happy to see their bed stuffs!

20131010-215329.jpg

New house: awesome.

It’s a very strange thing to have boxes coming off a truck labeled “babies” and “boys” rooms, and unload into “boys” and “girls” rooms.

20131010-215506.jpg

We cannot wait to get settled in, and make it “ours” but it’s amazing to be in a house for at least a little while. Let’s hope for follow-on orders here so we can stay!

Day 8: finally home

We survived. It was a great morning with a bit of a late start due to a real breakfast, and then we headed east. We made it to a friend’s house for a (much too) short stop. They were Navy friends by happy accident and third party connections, but one of those families that you could see yourself being lifelong friends and neighbors with. It was wonderful, and had been too long since last meeting.

Then we hit the road. We knew the movers were hoping to arrive the next day, so we had to push through in one day instead of taking two.

20131009-195411.jpg

The gps didn’t like some of the roads we were on and I’m pretty sure tried to stage a coup at one point.

We made great time though. Had two delays for bad traffic but not terrible by any means.

And finally, we were home. We got the keys for the house, did a walk through, and drove away excited to see it in the light of day the following day.

20131009-195605.jpg

It was a late night, but we found an awesome suite to crash in and settled in for hopefully our last hotel stay for a while!

Miles traveled: 513 miles
States traveled: PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI

Day 7

On the road again….

So we left Tiffin and stopped through our old home where we moved as newlyweds.

20131009-194504.jpg
It was strange to see it again and walk through (we still own and have amazing property managers).

Then into Pittsburgh for some R&R at Steven’s aunt’s house. It was fun- we got a group of cousins together who hadn’t been in, about, 5 years! We actually realized the last time one cousin held Aiden, he was exactly the same age as their baby is now (9 months).

Best part? That aunt was a MoM of triplets too! I’m sure it was surreal to have triple tornadoes running through the house again.

20131009-194806.jpg

20131009-194825.jpg

Miles traveled: 213 miles
States traveled: Ohio & Pennsylvania (slackers…)

Day 6

Miles traveled: ZERO

Best. Rest. Day. Ever.

20131007-171348.jpg

The last picture we have of him under this tree he was 8 months old.

20131007-171459.jpg

20131007-171446.jpg

20131007-171541.jpg

We went out to a dear friend’s farm and saw chickens, cows, and dogs (Jacen’s favorite) but those pictures are on the camera. I’ll upload them when I have a computer again!

Day 5

20131007-170125.jpg

Sorry for delays, little cell service in Tiffin, OH 😉

The Air Force Base we stayed at had an amazing TLF. The babies got some practice on stairs which will be helpful in the new house.

We made it safely from St. Louis to Tiffin. The babies were very happy to get out of the car! We had Grandnan, and one of our aunts and a cousin there too! The boys had a blast playing and the babies loved that there was a higher than 1:1 ratio

20131007-170146.jpg

Then we finally got Chick Fil A for the first time this trip. We had passed several but couldn’t rationalize the time for a stop. This one fell perfectly at a lunch break, and it wasn’t even a Sunday!

Miles traveled: 475
States travelled: MIssouri, Indiana, Ohio

Day 4

20131004-203525.jpg

First highlight to note: we crossed 2000 miles today…

Today started off great- we awoke by the sun rather than by children!

Got on the road to spend yet another day on I-40… Thankfully it wasn’t the WHOLE day today (just 90% of it!)

20131004-203422.jpg

A good friend lived off the route but unfortunately we couldn’t add that extra time in today 🙁 thankful for life long military friends who understand!

20131004-203410.jpg

Made great time, avoided rush hour, and got to an awesome hotel (even if another pipe burst I’d be okay with it. Lol). It was definitely a venti-with-an-extra-shot kid of day though.

20131004-203436.jpg
Walked to dinner (nice excursion, though I’d forgotten about humidity!), and then back.

20131004-203504.jpg
Miles traveled: 530 miles
States traveled: Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois