One of his birthday presents was a Megaladon tooth.....3.1 million years old..
The kids all got shark tooth necklaces as party favors.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Kye turns 7!
Kye wanted a shark themed birthday party, so we went swimming!
One of his birthday presents was a Megaladon tooth.....3.1 million years old..
The kids all got shark tooth necklaces as party favors.
One of his birthday presents was a Megaladon tooth.....3.1 million years old..The kids all got shark tooth necklaces as party favors.
Navy-San Diego
In April, the NAVY invited me, as my school's military liason, to San Diego to tour their facilities.
I have never been interested in visiting California, much less southern California, but after exactly 36 hours, I called Dave to tell him we had a new retirement destination!! I loved it there!!! They had a "Heat Wave" while we were there. Eighty nine with 0% humidity. I'll take their heat waves over ours ANY day!!!
As we were having pizza the first night, we noticed a boat out in the bay. It was the SEAL recruits. Notice they are in the water. The boat stayed long enough to drop them off, then came back to land. The recruits had to swim in full gear back to shore. The CMC that was with us said it was probably their 2nd or 3rd swim of the day.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a gun person. However, if I needed to be a gun person, the gentleman on the left is who I would like to learn from. He knew EVERYTHING there was to know about every gun a SEAL could need. The other guy was trying really hard to look cool.
We extensively toured the SEAL training areas. This is their obstacle course on BUDs(Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) beach. They offered to let us have a go, we all declined....
Part of the SEALS is the Swift Boats and their drivers. Trust me, these are not guys you would want to meet in a dark alley or crawling out of the ocean. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the instructors as they are all expected to go back into combat situations.
The Navy uses dolphins for a variety of underwater tasks, they didn't say it but we read "Bomb Sniffing" between the lines. Wonder if these guys knew when they joined they get this kind of job.
We toured all of the weapons training facilities. Picture taking was limited....this was the gun one of our liasons was in charge of when he was out to sea. These are massive pieces of machinery and they say the noise they make is deafening.
Dry Whitney BEFORE our harbor cruise on Assault Craft Number ONE
Wet Whitney after our soaking
Some of the vessels they had in harbor during our "cruise." Notice the floating barrier that prevents vessels from pulling up aside the ship. This barrier only came to be AFTER 9/11.
The naval hospital ship, Mercy. Less than a week after I returned to KC, Mercy left for Myanmar to help with the typhoon relief.
The San Diego skyline from our harbor cruise.
Junior, from my district, and I on the USS Kidd.
Shots of the Hotel Del Coronado
One of our liasons knew some people aboard the USS Ronald Regan that came into port while we were there. We got a personal tour!!! It is an impressive aircraft carrier.
I think my sweet boys, especially their daddy :), were happy to see me home after being gone for 6 days!!!! Professionally though, I'm excited to be able to share all that I learned with students who are interested in joining the NAVY. As an ARMY brat, it's hard to think of a different way of life. I'm not sure I could handle the 6 month+ separations from my family. We saw many other aspects of Naval life while we were there including the nuclear submarine program.
I have never been interested in visiting California, much less southern California, but after exactly 36 hours, I called Dave to tell him we had a new retirement destination!! I loved it there!!! They had a "Heat Wave" while we were there. Eighty nine with 0% humidity. I'll take their heat waves over ours ANY day!!!
As we were having pizza the first night, we noticed a boat out in the bay. It was the SEAL recruits. Notice they are in the water. The boat stayed long enough to drop them off, then came back to land. The recruits had to swim in full gear back to shore. The CMC that was with us said it was probably their 2nd or 3rd swim of the day.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a gun person. However, if I needed to be a gun person, the gentleman on the left is who I would like to learn from. He knew EVERYTHING there was to know about every gun a SEAL could need. The other guy was trying really hard to look cool.
We extensively toured the SEAL training areas. This is their obstacle course on BUDs(Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) beach. They offered to let us have a go, we all declined....
Part of the SEALS is the Swift Boats and their drivers. Trust me, these are not guys you would want to meet in a dark alley or crawling out of the ocean. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the instructors as they are all expected to go back into combat situations.
The Navy uses dolphins for a variety of underwater tasks, they didn't say it but we read "Bomb Sniffing" between the lines. Wonder if these guys knew when they joined they get this kind of job.
We toured all of the weapons training facilities. Picture taking was limited....this was the gun one of our liasons was in charge of when he was out to sea. These are massive pieces of machinery and they say the noise they make is deafening.
Dry Whitney BEFORE our harbor cruise on Assault Craft Number ONE
Wet Whitney after our soaking
Some of the vessels they had in harbor during our "cruise." Notice the floating barrier that prevents vessels from pulling up aside the ship. This barrier only came to be AFTER 9/11.
The naval hospital ship, Mercy. Less than a week after I returned to KC, Mercy left for Myanmar to help with the typhoon relief.
The San Diego skyline from our harbor cruise.
Junior, from my district, and I on the USS Kidd.
Shots of the Hotel Del Coronado
One of our liasons knew some people aboard the USS Ronald Regan that came into port while we were there. We got a personal tour!!! It is an impressive aircraft carrier.
I think my sweet boys, especially their daddy :), were happy to see me home after being gone for 6 days!!!! Professionally though, I'm excited to be able to share all that I learned with students who are interested in joining the NAVY. As an ARMY brat, it's hard to think of a different way of life. I'm not sure I could handle the 6 month+ separations from my family. We saw many other aspects of Naval life while we were there including the nuclear submarine program.
Strategic Air and Space Museum
Kye, Kris, Dave, and Max and Dave went with the Boy Scouts to Omaha to visit the Strategic Air and Space Museum in April. 
Kye and Trent
Kye and Trent
Kris' new big boy bed
Kris now has a big boy bed and he and Kye love to read together at night. Kris makes sure to point out though that it's HIS bed and Kye needs to sleep in his own bed.....
Kris turns 3
We celebrated Kris' 3rd birthday at Joe's Crab Shack with the Faoros. The kids were determined to play outside even though it was very cold!!! I think they had frigid fun!
Kris got a Thomas pillow for his new big boy bed in his new Train Room!
Nicholas and Alyssa with Kris
We celebrated his bday twice at LaLa's because not all the kids were there on the same day!<
Kris got a Thomas pillow for his new big boy bed in his new Train Room!
Nicholas and Alyssa with Kris
We celebrated his bday twice at LaLa's because not all the kids were there on the same day!<
GG and Ba-Ba
We spent a weekend with GG and Ba-Ba in April...
We got the "girls" (LuLa and Sophie) to sit still long enough to get a quick picture. Kris has finally figured out that he is bigger than them.
We got the "girls" (LuLa and Sophie) to sit still long enough to get a quick picture. Kris has finally figured out that he is bigger than them.
Spring Break Part 2
It was a very long, snowy, and cold winter here in Kansas City. The morning we left for Corpus, we had our 36th "Snow Event." We were more than ready to head to warmer climates!!!
On our way down, we stopped to visit my AX sorority sister Dorothy and her husband, Mike and son, Sawyer. Sawyer and Kye are only a year apart and it seems everytime we get together, they act as if they've never been apart!! It's so wonderful to see Kye and Sawyer developing the kind of relationship Dot and I have after 4 years in the same house together!!
We also stopped in Waco to visit my cousing Brianna and her boyfriend Jeff. Although we've heard about Jeff for over a year now, we'd never met him. He's everything she said and more. He was so patient and kind with the boys, who were a bit rowdy after being in the car for a day and a half!! We sure wish we lived closer to Brianna, we miss her lots!!
Our next stop was at the San Antonio river walk. We were able to find a river side cafe and enjoy a little snack while we watched the boats go back and forth on the river. It was very relaxing and the boys enjoyed it a lot! We even saw one of our foreign exchange students and his host family go by on a boat while we were there!
Kye had some friends join us that he wasn't too sure about.....
One of the biggest entertainments of the week was feeding the birds. The boys made quick friends of ANYONE who had bread to throw out and had a ball!
One of the T-shirt shops had a JAWS replica out front, Kye insisted we get a picture.
This is in front of the Corpus Christi aquarium. We picked a great day to go as it rained most of the day and we were inside!
They had a touch pool and I think Kye picked up EVERYTHING in the pool, he especially liked the sea urchins. Kris did a lot of looking!
Ba-ba and the boys at the aquarium.
The boys in front of a whale statue at the aquarium.
The next day we went to visit the USS Lexington. Dave and I are huge fans of military ships and love looking all around them. We made it about 3/4ths of the way through the ship, that took about 6 hours. The boys did great!! It was VERY windy that day, especially up on the flight deck. We held on the Kris for dear life, we were afraid he might just blow off the deck!!!
For some reason, this was Kristopher's favorite place on the boat. Hope this is not a premonition!!!
On our way down, we stopped to visit my AX sorority sister Dorothy and her husband, Mike and son, Sawyer. Sawyer and Kye are only a year apart and it seems everytime we get together, they act as if they've never been apart!! It's so wonderful to see Kye and Sawyer developing the kind of relationship Dot and I have after 4 years in the same house together!!
We also stopped in Waco to visit my cousing Brianna and her boyfriend Jeff. Although we've heard about Jeff for over a year now, we'd never met him. He's everything she said and more. He was so patient and kind with the boys, who were a bit rowdy after being in the car for a day and a half!! We sure wish we lived closer to Brianna, we miss her lots!!
Our next stop was at the San Antonio river walk. We were able to find a river side cafe and enjoy a little snack while we watched the boats go back and forth on the river. It was very relaxing and the boys enjoyed it a lot! We even saw one of our foreign exchange students and his host family go by on a boat while we were there!
Kye had some friends join us that he wasn't too sure about.....
One of the biggest entertainments of the week was feeding the birds. The boys made quick friends of ANYONE who had bread to throw out and had a ball!
One of the T-shirt shops had a JAWS replica out front, Kye insisted we get a picture.
This is in front of the Corpus Christi aquarium. We picked a great day to go as it rained most of the day and we were inside!
They had a touch pool and I think Kye picked up EVERYTHING in the pool, he especially liked the sea urchins. Kris did a lot of looking!
Ba-ba and the boys at the aquarium.
The boys in front of a whale statue at the aquarium.
The next day we went to visit the USS Lexington. Dave and I are huge fans of military ships and love looking all around them. We made it about 3/4ths of the way through the ship, that took about 6 hours. The boys did great!! It was VERY windy that day, especially up on the flight deck. We held on the Kris for dear life, we were afraid he might just blow off the deck!!!
For some reason, this was Kristopher's favorite place on the boat. Hope this is not a premonition!!!
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