Saturday, April 14, 2012

It Was A Truly Crazy Day! Loooong Post!!

Yesterday was one of those days that it is o.k. to have once in a while
but a constant diet of that kind of stress would put a healthy person
in the hospital.

The first treehouse!

 




Let me back up to Thursday evening when Chelsea arrived home
from work with the news that all was not right with her working papers.
We thought, back in November, that it was all figured out and 
her employer (which for the sake of this post I will not identify)
told us was a certain way.  
They truly thought it was.
Well, on Thursday, a new person in Human Resources informed them
that what they thought was true was not.
This meant that Chelsea was not able to return to work until this issue
was straightened out.
I respect their commitment to doing things the right way.
The whole issue just came out of the blue for us.
It meant that Chelsea needed to get her working papers....pronto!
She is on a very busy register and we were headed into the weekend.

Treehouse number two.


Treehouse number three.

Now, in advance of all of this I had made arrangements to 
take our young Rabe friends to Longwood Gardens.
Don't worry, I can't get bored there by going too often.
It is constantly changing and I knew I would go to different
spots in the gardens if I had young ones with me.

 I had a problem.
Plans with the kids that I didn't want to change.
And a days worth of appointments and scheduling to work with 
for Chelsea.  She was scheduled to be at work at 2:45pm.

 Well, here's what happened.
First thing I called the school that issues the work permits
and asked them if our existing form, from last Fall,  would still be o.k. to use 
or if we needed to run there and get another one.
I was told since she had not yet had the physical she was good to use those 
papers.  Whew!  One stop eliminated.

Next I called the doctor's office to plead for a speedy appointment
for the physical.  Well, that wasn't going to happen because they were 
full and the employer had to fill out their part first.
They recommended that I take Chelsea to an Emergency clinic and 
mentioned one that I never would have thought of.....
wouldn't you know it was on the way to Longwood Gardens?
Well, it was on our way because we would be going a different
way than I usually do since we were picking up the kiddos first.
* I know!!*  Crazy!!


The Children's Garden



So....I called Chelsea's HR person, told them I needed their part 
filled out and asked for a return call.  Chelsea and I then hopped in the
car and headed toward her place of work.
I figured SOMEONE could do what we needed when we got there
if they really wanted her at work that day.
I was just hoping that the one who had discovered all of this would be there
and then we wouldn't have to do so much explanation.
Halfway there, he called.
Huge sigh of relief....I told him we were nearly there
so he met us there and that part was done.

This section of the Children's Garden is magical.
Next off to pick up Rachel, Kyle and Sarah for our big adventure.
They were wide awake and ready for fun.
I told them that my goal was to totally tire Kyle out by
going as far as we possibly could at the gardens.
He met that challenge square on.
At the end of the day I was defeated.
There is no wearing that boy out.
At least that is his story.
He's sticking to it.

On our way to the gardens we made the little 
detour to the Emergency Clinic at a WalMart of all 
places.  There a very nice Nurse Practitioner saw us after about 
a half an hour.  The kids were very good during all of this time.
Chelsea got her paperwork signed after a very thorough physical.
We learned much about the anatomy of the abdomen...
"in case Chelsea ever gets hit while playing Ultimate Frisbee 
with her friends"....
all the while the Rabe Children are sitting in the tiniest of waiting 
rooms just outside the exam room. 
We can hear Kyle talking and counting so we knew all was good.
 I just had to relax and go with it.
We were getting what we needed.


There was a Subway at the WalMart so our original plan of Wendy's was
scrapped in exchange for a picnic lunch at Longwood's Picnic area.
A great choice!
It was so much fun and not crowded, at all.
Probably because it was a bit chilly yesterday.

Finally..........
we made it into the Gardens proper.

Kyle's mouth is full of water.  No one make him laugh!
I stayed true to my word and we went the LONG
way around the gardens. 
We walked the brick walk, visited all of the tree houses, 
went across the meadow, enjoyed the Children's Garden,
played in the secret spot we had found the last time,
and ended our visit in the topiary garden where the kiddos 
played hide and seek among the topiary.


Still, Kyle was going strong!

Sarah was drooping, though.


Bless her heart.
In attempting to wear out Kyle I ran the rest of us 
ragged. Poor us.  Poor Sarah.


Well, that called for a slushy on the way home.
So, we stopped and got them for all of the kids.
For some reason
That made me even more eager for Grandchildren.
I told Chelsea that and she had to laugh at me.
I guess its because I was always reluctant to give my kids
that much sugar...especially in the car.

So...as God would have it the school which was the last 
stop we needed to make in getting Chelsea's papers was on 
our way home.  We stopped in and the secretary was 
awesome!  She got the paperwork done right away
and we were off once more.  
A few minutes later Chelsea was walking out the door 
and headed to work.
She was one hour late.
Really not bad, 
considering!
I had my doubts about whether we would be able to 
get it done in time for her to work at all this weekend.
Praise God for the way He just moved obstacles and 
put all of our stops in one big circle.

Even the Rabe kids were at their Grandparents house 
which is not far from Chelsea's employer. 
Seriously.
If you could see our path yesterday you would marvel
as much as I am.
It is good!

Hope you enjoyed the photos we took.
The kids had much fun
and were so sweet to be verbally grateful.
More than once.

They've been raised right!

As for today's stress...
Mikey and his friend, Chris, are
taking a Skydiving Course and plan to do 
their first solo jump late this afternoon.
Really???

Because I needed just a little more faith building 
in my agenda.
Well, here goes nothing....
going on with the day as if it were perfectly normal.

LOL



14 comments:

Vee said...

Oh you got your exercise yesterday! I didn't know that they had those fantastic treehouses at the garden! Glad that the kids had such a fun time and it sounds as if you did, too. It also sounds as if the Lord prepared the way for a much smoother day.

Debby said...

Don't you just love when the planets line up.
Congratulations on all that you accomplished. Hope you can rest today, besides the worry of the sky jump.

SHEILA said...

You wore me out just reading what all you accomplished! I think your pictures are awesome. I'm going to have to go there and play with my camera.

Phyllis said...

It was so sweet of you to take the kids in spite of all you had to do. The kids had such a great time. Very nice.

Zuda Gay Pease said...

Wow! Everything accomplished and lots of fun, AND you still want grandchildren someday. hehe...

MYSAVIOR said...

Becky! God Bless all that energy you have!

Beautiful photos! - are the tree houses at Longwood Gardens?

God is with us always.

♥♥♥
Sue

MYSAVIOR said...

Oh! I did want to mention that I love the zinnias. The photo just draws you in as soon as the blog comes up.

♥♥♥
Sue

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Thank you so much for taking them! I know they had a good time and your photos are so great! I've missed my little people!

It did my heart good to see those freckles...

I am so thankful it all worked out for Chelsea yesterday too!

Your a great friend!

Deanna

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an organized and eventful day you had! I am glad that Chelsea was able to get her work papers in order all in one day AND still see Longwood Gardens. I enjoyed the pictures very much. One day I will make it make to the Gardens. I would love to see it again!

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Good Evening Becky Sweetie...
What a beautiful share. I loved strolling through these gardens with you. You exhausted me just reading about this longggg walk. I can't believe that little guy was still standing and game for a slushy. Where do kids today find all this energy? If we could just have 1 little tsp. of it, I would be thrilled to bits.

The treehouses are totally amazing and the gardens so beautiful. I loved the frog fountain. That one was priceless.

Oh and I forgot to tell you, sweetie you had me at Subway. Oh I love that place. What a fun day.

Have a glorious weekend, and so happy that Chelsea got all her paperwork and physical taken care of as well. Many hugs and much love, Sherry

Buttercup said...

So glad everything worked out for Chelsea. Thanks for sharing Longwood Gardens, one of my favorite places.

Vickie said...

Becky, you DID have a busy, busy day! Wow, but the pictures and the fun time at the park was great! Glad everything worked out - the Lord just laid out everything for you and paved the way. He's just that way! Sending you a hug from Texas!

Theresa said...

I was told recently that LOL fits as a reply if you don't know what to say! OMG fits lots of times too! I use SOL (Smile out loud) for this post! God works in the strangest ways in our lives! Congrats to Chelsea for hanging in there to get the paperwork filled out! And MUCH thanks to you for going the extra mile with her:) Loved the pictures!

PJ @ Planned in Pencil said...

Excuse me please, where are these BEAUTIFUL tree houses? because I want to live in them for the rest of my days!