On the morning of the 4th of July, which also just happened to be my 24th birthday, my alarm went off way too early. Amy and I had stayed up talking most of the night, and I had got a whopping two hours sleep. I jumped up with the alarm, though, and got in the shower. I had hurriedly packed for our trip the night before, and just had to get myself and the kids ready to go. It was about five thirty when I was ready to go and had the kids dressed. At that early hour, the kids were mostly still asleep. Being the loving mother I am…and hoping that they would sleep for a good deal of the trip…I carried each of them down the stairs and out to the van. Amy congratulated me on my superior mothering, and I covered each kid with a nice warm blanket. Amy and I tossed the last of our stuff in the van, locked the door, and we were on our way. On our way to Fort Jackson!
Going on two hours of sleep was really not that bad with a traveling companion. We stopped one time in Strawberry Plains, but didn’t even get out. We wen through the drive-thru at Burger King for some breakfast and coffee. Why am I telling you this? Well, because their cheesy tots were so good I’ve decided they were blogworthy. Ahhh….cheesy tots. So, anyway, after the Burger King stop, we drove all the way to Fort Jackson. At some point along the way, the sleep-deprived giggling reached twelve year old girl levels. We were definitely enjoying the ride. Let me tell you, it went much faster than the previous trip I had made to Jackson with just the kids. Last time, I met Chris at the outskirts of Columbia and followed him to his apartment on post, but, having Amy with me, she just pulled out her handy, dandy military id and we were set. I’ve really got to get me one of those things! We pulled up to Chris’ apartment, I hopped out and gave him a hug, as he was, of course, waiting on us, introduced him to Amy…THE Amy Maxwell…and then went to get the kids out to greet their Daddy. It was then that I realized what a wonderful mother I am. I took my kids all the way to South Carolina, but left their shoes at home. Yes. Their shoes. When I carried them out to the car, they were barefoot, and I left their shoes sitting at the bottom of the stairs. I felt just a wee bit stupid. So, even though it was time for the Chaplain picnic, we had to make a quick stop at Walmart to buy the kids some sandals. My only condolence was the fact that I could blog about it later. Oh, and just so you know…Amy isn’t really into shoe shopping. She’s more of the grab the first pair that are your kids’ size and head for the checkout line. She did find a pair of camouflage ballet flats that she absolutely loved, though. Didn’t you, Amy?
So, once my kids were…shoed? We headed to the Chaplain Picnic. I regretted the pitstop, but we just could not have the Baptist Chaplain Candidate from Tennessee showing up at the picnic with barefooted children. That would just be too much of a stereotype brought to life.
The picnic was at a lake, and it was really nice. All of the Chaplains and Chaplain Candidates were there, along with several of their families. Everyone was walking around talking to each other when we got there. First off, Amy and I finally got to meet Laura and Heather in person. We didn’t get much more than a hug and a brief hello before they were ready to pray and eat. It was kind of interesting to see how they handled the religious aspect of the picnic. Obviously, the group was made up of many different faith groups. They had a Protestant prayer, a Jewish Chaplain spoke, a Buddhist chaplain chanted, and then they let a Southern Baptist Chaplain preach a five minute message. It was cool. After that, we ate, the kids played for a while, but mostly we mingled. It was totally awesome to get to meet Chaplains that I had been reading their blogs or their wives’ blogs. It was awesome to meet my friends that I had not yet met in person. It was awesome to put faces with names, and it was generally awesome being with Army people.
After that, just for kicks, they had a talent show. Good times, let me tell you. We had poetry reciting chaplains, singing chaplains, saxophone playing chaplains, rapping chaplains, comedian chaplains, and, my favorite, dancing chaplains. It was a lot of fun. I laughed a lot, and it was cool to see everyone in such a fun atmosphere. For your viewing pleasure, I give you…Dancing with the Chaplains!

The picnic was a lot of fun. I did, however, get attacked by vicious Fort Jackson ants. I felt something bite my foot, and looked down to see ants swarming my foot. I had like five or six bites on my toes and foot. I had a new sympathy for all the chaplains who got attacked by ants when they were in the field.
One thing that I got a big kick out of was hearing people call out, “Gentlewhisper?” to Amy. Lots of people knew Amy from her blog, and not all of them remembered her name. So, they were just calling her by the name of her blog. It was really funny. At least to me, but, then again, I have a problem with inappropriate laughing. I find EVERYthing funny.
Well, almost everything. Which brings us to the next day…the fifth. We were going home that day, but we were going to meet up with Heather and Laura first. Amy had spent the night with a friend of hers, and the kids and I stayed with Chris in his apartment. I had been woke up way too early that morning. I woke up the first time when Chris was getting ready for PT at some ungodly hour, and then again when he came back home to shower and dress for the day. Other than the mild thrill I got out of seeing my super hot husband in his ACU’s first thing in the morning (only mild because it was, oh, so early in the morning), there was nothing good about that time of the day. Unfortunately, the kids did not go back to sleep after Chris left. So, I was up for the day. While getting ready to go and re-packing our stuff, I decided to go outside to call Amy and see when she was coming back. I had to go out to the van, because my cell was dead and I had to plug it up. The kids were at the table eating poptarts when I walked out. I had carried Owen outside with me, and, while I was on the phone with Amy, I noticed the older kids had come out to. They were happily playing in the dirt, and I was subconsciously patting myself on the back for creating such adorable children. I hung up with Amy, and said, “Let’s go back in now. It’s hot out here.” Kyra looked up at me, oh, so innocently, and said, “We can’t. The door is locked.”
Yep. My children locked me out of the apartment. My.Heart.Sank. Sank, I tell you. To my feet. I tried both the doors, and fought the urge to cry (as well as the urge to beat my children in public). I called Chris, and, thankfully, caught him during a break from class. He told me to try the office, and if they couldn’t let me in to call him back. So, I took my three children, none of which were wearing shoes….yes, again with the no shoes….and tromped down the road to the office. The only one inside was a maid. A very grumpy maid. She very reluctantly gave me a spare key, and made sure…very sure…that I knew I was to bring the key back right away. Like, immediately. I was so very kind and polite, but she just did not want to give me the stinkin’ key. I unlocked the door, returned the key, refrained from crying, and told Kyra it was in her best interest to stay clear of me for a while.
Shortly after the locking out, Amy came back for a brief time before Heather and Laura picked her up to go to lunch. I skipped the lunch so that I could have lunch with Chris. Unfortunately, Chris ended up getting a shorter than usual lunch and did not have time to eat with us. Even more unfortunately, he had no food in his apartment, and we had already ate the snacks that I had brought along on the trip. Before he headed back to class, he helped me load the van up, and, as I was standing in the parking lot, a big truck pulled up, and I heard someone call, “Mrs. Harmon?”. It was none other than Chaplain Olson. It was very nice to meet him. I was very grateful to him, for he was the one who posted the pictures that I happened to spot Chris in. I talked to him for a few minutes, and, oh, so casually said that I was traveling with Amy Maxwell. Being a fellow blogger, I think he was impressed. I was like, “Yep. THE Amy Maxwell.”
After that, I took the kids to Burger King, only to discover that there was no way we were going to get to eat there. It is the only fast food restaurant on post, and it was completely full of basic training graduates and their families. We waited there for a while, but the line never got any shorter. I took the kids to the bathroom, and then we went to the park to meet up with Amy, Heather, and Laura.
By the time I got there, after being locked out, the disappointment of not getting to have lunch with Chris, the early wake up time, and the lack of lunch…I was less than chipper. Hanging with my friends was a great way to get cheered up, though. The kids played on the playground, and I got to visit with Heather and Laura. I’m still jealous that Amy got lunch with them, but, oh well. I got some pictures with them, so check them out on my photo blog.
The funniest part of the time we spent at the park was when we were sitting at the picnic tables under the little pavilion thingie, and the sprinklers came on. We though, “Surely they won’t spray where people are sitting.” You would think they wouldn’t, but, let me tell you, they most certainly would. And they did. We were grabbing cameras and babies and heading for dry ground. They kind of just chased us, though. It was very funny.
Our visit with Laura and Heather ended to soon, and it was time for us to hit the road. After a quick stop for food, Amy and I successfully found our way back to I-26 with no map. Seriously. It was only our keen sense of direction, amazing memories, and general traveling expertise that got us to where we were going. Several miles later, I discovered the map tucked up behind the visor. The trip home was mostly uneventful. We only had two near death experiences, torrential rain, and gale force winds. It was all good, though. It was a great trip.
We arrived home safe and sound but very tired that night. Our trip to Fort Jackson was one of the highlights of Amy’s visit.