Vaillant Family Update

We received notice of Eric's change in orders on June 6th.  We quickly started making appointments and getting things in order to obtain family medical clearance for an overseas move.  We submitted everything on our end about 2 weeks after we found out.  After months of waiting Eric received his military orders to Yokota AB in Japan on August 17th.  We quickly started making calls to get our movers and flights scheduled.  Eric basically spent one whole day on the phone just trying to find out who to call to schedule our flights.  This process has been a struggle for sure and we are just so ready to be done with it.  Unfortunately the movers could not come to our storage units until September 6th so my parents are overseeing that for us since Eric's report by date is August 31st.  We will fly out of Dulles International on Monday, August 29th.  We have an hour layover at JFK in New York then will fly straight to Tokyo which is about a 14 hour flight.  Because we booked so last minute we could not fly the military flight direct into base.  From there we will take a 3-4 hour shuttle to base.  We should arrive on base a little after 9pm local time on Tuesday, August 30th (8am local time in MD) so it should be pretty awesome to still be awake.  :)  I am a little nervous about the trip but praying the boys will handle it well and we can all get a little sleep on the way.  We will attend orientations on base Wednesday and Thursday morning at 8am so just hoping we can make it through.  Hayden will likely miss the first 4 days of school but hoping to get him registered on Wednesday which will allow him to start on Friday.  We will look for preschools for Lincoln once we get a little more settled.  We will stay at a temporary housing facility while we wait for a house to open up (1-4 weeks on avg).  Once in a house they will give us loaner furniture until our household goods arrive...sometime in October.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make our way in a new country.  We have heard a lot of great things about living in Japan and we are so ready to experience all it has to offer.  I know Eric is anxious to get back to work and back in the operating room too.  It has been a blessing to have him off for so long but we are all ready to get back to normal life and a family routine.  Well this momma sure is anyway.  :)  Just wanted to give one last update before we leave!  Here is our new mailing address and most recent family photo.  I'm sure it won't take too long for me to be back on the blog.  Looking forward to posting about our experiences in Japan!!! 

The Vaillant Family
PSC 78 Box 681
APO, AP 96326-0007

OBX 2016

Since we were still awaiting orders in Maryland with no end in sight we decided to tag along on my families beach vacation.  My parents and my sisters family had planned a vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina over the winter.  We did not know where we would be moving at the time so we did not plan on taking a vacation this summer.  We were grateful to be able to spend this time with family at the beach.  Eric, Lincoln and I left a couple days early since Eric's orders did come through while we were there.  We wanted to get back and get some things set up for the move as soon as possible.  Hayden was able to stay the full week and had a blast!  We spent lots of time at the community pool and the beach.  At first Lincoln was not too in to the beach but by the end of our trip he was rolling around in the sand and even got his feet in the water.  The kids did lots of fishing and crabbed off the pier a couple mornings.  Eric and I got up early most mornings and walked or ran the beach.  My favorite part was hanging on the beach in the evenings and watching the kids play.  Here are some pics from our time in the OBX....

First day at the beach - Hayden & Ryan

Linc loved the pools - not too cold

We caught a fish!  That is our townhouse in the background.

I'll just start out in this beach chair

Brother is catching some waves

Ok, the sand is not too bad

Sarah, Hayden, and Ryan

I got my feet wet!!

We were able to meet our MD friends Laura and Bryan for drinks one night

Ready for night crabbing

Linc

Hayden

The whole clan on the hunt

Day crabbing - they caught a lot of blue crabs but only one that was legal

Chillin with my sis on the beach

Building a sand castle

My cute boys!

Wall at our place.  Thanks to my family for letting us crash!!

 

Georgia Visit 2016

We were excited to get to Georgia after our road trip fun.  We arrived at Eric's parents house on a Thursday afternoon and we were able to stay until the following Monday.  Eric's younger brother Sean and wife Andrea were also coming in from Louisiana and we were excited to meet their new baby, Emory, for the first time.  We were all happy to relax by the pool and catch up with family while we were there.  We had lots of family dinners and let the kids stay up extra late to hang with cousins.  We went to see Finding Dory on Sunday too.  We are grateful we had this extra time before the move to get to visit with all our Georgia family.  On our way back to MD we stopped in Athens, GA to visit Eric's good friend Mac and got to walk around the UGA Campus a bit.  Here are some pics from our visit....

Just arrived - must swim with Emma!

Lincoln going off the diving board with crazy Uncle George

Sweet baby Emory

Such a happy baby!

Mel and her boys

Hayden & Emory chillin

Finding Dory with cousins

Linc had a lot of fun with his Uncles.  Uncle Wayne make me tall!

Being silly with Ashton and Uncle Aaron

Family Photo!!

Cousins - Emma, Aaden, Ashton, Alyse, Emory, Lincoln, and Hayden

The ladies - Aimee, Ang, Mel, Karen, Tammy, and Andrea

The guys - Aaron, Sean, George, George Michael, Wayne, and Eric

We left our Georgia dawg in Georgia.  Here she is scoping out her new yard.  :(

UGA

At the hotel pool - halfway back to MD

Road trip!

One of the benefits of being in moving limbo is it gave us a chance to take a road trip to Georgia to visit Eric's family.  We decided to make 4 stops along the way to visit with my sister and my three best friends from home.  We left my parents on a Saturday morning and headed to Fredericksburg, VA to stay two days with my sister's family.  We hung out at the pool on Saturday and made a trip to Kings Dominion on Sunday.  We left Monday morning to go to Richmond, VA to visit my friend Meredith.  About halfway into the trip the battery light came on and then all went haywire on the dashboard and then the car pretty much died on the side of I-95S.  About an hour later we got a tow and were taken to a shop to fix the car.  Luckily they had the part and we were back on the road.  We made it to Richmond around 2pm so we still stuck with our plan to go to the Children's Museum of Richmond.  The kids had fun hanging out and playing with London.  On Tuesday morning we drove to Raleigh, NC to meet up with my friend Jessi.  We went to her parents house to enjoy lunch and their pool.  Jessi made me take her two exercise classes that night and then we met back up with the boys for dinner.  On Wednesday we headed to Smyrna, GA to stay with my friend Stephanie.  We got in around 5pm so we took the kids to the community pool and ordered pizza.  We were able to hang out half the day Thursday before driving to our final destination in Georgia.  Here are some pics from our road trip....

Ready for our road trip!

Hayden's first time off a high dive

Kings Dominion!

Starting small on this mini coaster

Linc loved it!

Hot Air Balloon ride with Linc and Emily

Hayden & Ryan

Fun at the waterpark

Mommy and Linc left in the early evening.  The big boys stayed to ride some more serious rides.

The boys thought the tow truck was awesome

A little delayed but we made it to Richmond!

Fun at the Children's Musuem

USA!

Poolside with the boys in Raleigh

Playing with Aunt Jessi

Out to dinner at Beer Garden

Pool fun with Kyle and Taylor

Pizza party!