Ben's Return

Ben went on a big trip back in May, spending two weeks in the South Pacific.  While it sounds very exotic and exciting, the purpose of the trip was business, not sight-seeing.  Of course he was able to do some sight-seeing while he was gone, but mostly he met with locals to discuss business-y stuff.  I admit, though, that I didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy when he told me that he didn't sleep well on the little beds there, and that he didn't have electricity for a good portion of his trip, and that the drivers were insane.  :-)

That said, we still decided to make a bit of a fuss when he came back home.  He was traveling with two friends of his and one of the other wives was planning on picking all of the guys up.  So we were able to pull off a fun surprise by meeting him by baggage claim.  The kids and I made signs that afternoon (but they didn't really want to hold them after about 30 seconds in the airport).

The kids were so excited to see Ben when he got to where we were that Jack and Eliza insisted on Ben carrying them.  Poor Ben had been traveling for a long time (18 hours?) and must have been exhausted, but he carried them all the way to the car anyway.

He was hungry and ready to eat some American food so we found a Chick-Fil-A on our way home and let the kids play while he ate.  Eliza was more interested in hanging out with Daddy and helping him finish off his milkshake than playing, though.  The conversation went something like this:

"Ca' I have some?"
"No."
(batting eyes) "Ca' I have SOME?"
"No."
(looking concerned) "Ca' I HAVE SOME?"
"No."
(face reddening) "CA' I HAVE SOME?"
"No."
(tears brimming in her eyes) "CA' I HAVE SOME?"
"Okay."

Ben arrived home on a Saturday night, so between the time change and the super long time he spent traveling, we were willing to let him sleep in late on Sunday - church doesn't start until 1pm anyway.  The kids occupied themselves by making a sidewalk chalk mural in the back yard "for Daddy" Sunday morning.  He was sufficiently impressed.

For FHE that week Ben told us about Vanuatu, the country he was visiting.  He also handed out his gifts for everyone, showed us his pictures, and shared the coins and the shells he'd brought home.

I hadn't prepared an FHE treat but I remembered that we still had some tropical fruit slushy stuff in the freezer from a bridal shower I hosted the weekend before.  PERFECT.

Of course, the best part about Ben's homecoming was

just having Daddy home again.  So glad you're back!