The Little Man

I'm back out to sea soon - gonna miss this little dude (and his mother - of course!!)

This is going to sound crazy but I've agreed to run the Baja 1000 off-road race with the Cooley Brothers (High School friends). I've had the motorcycle off-road over the weekend getting a little experience in the dirt (or deep sand in my case!) - although we'll be doing this race on a 4 wheel All Terrain Vehicle (ATV).

This was a line item on Paul Cooley's "Bucket List" (things he wanted to do before he 'kicked the bucket'). I couldn't say no.

So, as far as the Navy knows, I'm "support crew handling navigation" (not sure what they would think of this from a Safety point of view!). But hey, they're the same guys who launched me off an aircraft carrier more times than I can remember so - who are they to object?!

More to follow on our preparations - the race is coming up in mid-November. It's actually a pretty big deal - previous competitors include Steve McQueen, James Garner, Parnelli Jones. We can expect to be passed this year by Jesse James (I think he used to be married to some famous actress), Robby Gordon who spends most of his time running left hand circles on the NASCAR circuit, and Jimmy Vassar (Ok, I do respect the Indy Car drivers). I'm not sure if we really fit in that group - but, hey...why not...it's all part of the Adventure!

At work with Les

I had the day off today, but unfortunately Les did not, so we decided it would be a good day for Dylan and I to go and visit Daddy at work. It was really good to finally see where Les works and get to go on a Carrier, it is amazingly big. Dylan really had a good time, it was like a big play ground for him, we all had a great day.

Summer in VA

The little man has been enjoying his summer, a little tennis, splashing in the water and going for rides to Williamsburg. We have been taking Dylan over to the tennis courts when we are in VA, he likes to push around his bikes and even acts as a really good ball boy. However he decided that he would like to give it ago himself. Mind you he hasn't got the grasp of using the racket to hit the ball, he uses it more as a shovel. We recently went to the Water park near us and there were lots of small water slides that we could take Dylan on, he really seemed to enjoy it and so did we. We have also been spending a few of our weekends biking down to old town Williamsburg where we pick up some produce from the farmers market and then have a picnic on the lawns. It has been a really enjoyable summer

Weekend in MD

Dylan and I are up in MD and enjoying the beautiful weather. We have spent most of the weekend in various playgrounds around our house. Dylan really took to climbing up the little mountain in one of them, he has no fear. Dylan and I have also been going bug hunting with his bug jar, but Dylan decided that he didn't need the jar he could see the bugs better without it. Got to enjoy a relaxing Sunday breakfast on the deck, which Dylan helped cook, before heading out for a hike. We love summer, but wish Daddy was with us more to enjoy it.

Brazil Trip

On the trip to the airport my little man was blowing me kisses, it was so sweet. Had an enjoyable and productive trip to Brazil. Spent 3 days in Rio and a couple of days in Sao Paulo. Rio is such a picturesque city, particularly when you get up onto one of the mountains. I arrived on Sunday morning so was able to get out and do some hiking. This time I only climbed part of the sugar loaf mountain and took the easy route. Saw quite a few monkeys taking in the view, fortunately no scratches from these ones. I enjoyed getting back to my boys by the end of it.

Goodbye

Well, I've got a few weeks at home (rare these days) but Michelle needed to fly down to Rio (Brazil) for the week...so, the boys have the place to ourselves (wish us luck!)

...and so it goes. We dropped her off at the airport this afternoon and miss her already. Already looking forward to her return at the end of the week.

Calls to mind a song by Michelle's favorite Aussie band, "the Waifs:"

"Jet plane, fast train, automobile

sometimes we fly on a wing

sometimes we roll on wheels

'I gotta go,' - I know how it feels

but you know it's just part of the deal.

~

Baby there's no such thing as goodbye

just an interlude on a long wild ride

if you're in my heart then you're by my side

and baby there's no such thing as goodbye"

See ya soon Aussie girl!

Busted!

At a outdoor evening concert event hosted by the College of William & Mary,
Dylan gets a little cheeky with his best mate Elinor.

A minute later they dicovered the (on/off) switch on a generator and deflated the Bouncy-Castle.

Weekend fun

Making the most of the warm weather and enjoying the outdoors. I had a work picinic that Dylan and I went to, Dylan had a lot of fun. There was a little kids fairiswheel, Dylan went on it with a friend but didn't go around, that was fun enough for him. However he did go on the spining ride with me. He also got to pat a snake in the petting zoo, I guess he is not affraid of snakes and spiders, like someone else we know!!. Today we spent the morning at the splashpark and then went back in the evening. Dylan is certainly not afraid of the water he had a blast.

4th of July

We enjoyed a lovely weekend in VA, it started with a local street parade which Dylan seemed to like alot, so much so that he wanted to try and join in. On the 4th we took a bike ride down to old town Williamsburg were we enjoyed some July 4th re-enactments including the reading of the delaration of independence. Dylan wasn't quite as interested in it as Les was so he found a garden to play in. Of course an independance day would not be complete without a BBQ with friends; a great afternoon was spent with Josh, Kim, the girls and some friends of their's and finally a local Fire works display 5mins walk from our house.

Paddle in False Cape

I enjoyed a great evening paddle along false cape state park. The park runs evening and monlight kayak paddle tours over the summer time, which I thougt would be fun. We didn't think Dylan was quite ready for a tandam Kayak, so Les and Dylan played at the beach while I paddled. It was a beautiful evening, the weather was warm and the water was flat, very relaxing.

"Birds Away!"

I'm back - another 3 weeks at sea. This trip was the culination of several months of preparation for the USS George H W Bush's first missile shoot. Our weapons systems are defensive - as the moving airfield for 70+ combat aircraft we are a potential target - it's my job, and that of the Combat Direction Center, to protect the aircraft carrier against any potential airborne threats to our ship. So, we have two missile systems that we control that do just that - protect the ship. This past week we tested those systems against multiple ingresing drones shot from Virginia Beach. The weapons systems on the ship were perfectly tuned, my crews were flawless in the execution. The result: we're one step closer to taking this new aircraft carrier on deployment. I think the former President (George H W Bush) would approve...we'll see...


Here are a couple shots of the missiles being launched and my Combat Direction Center Officers that make it all happen - a fantastic group of professional warriors (that's the NATO Sea Sparrow Missile System launcher behind us).

The Navy Website picked up the story:
www.navy.com

Happy Fathers Day Les

Happy DaDa day as Dylan would say. We miss you more than you can imagine and wish we were together especially today, but we know we will be back together as a family soon we love you.

Weekend

Dylan and I had a fun weekend and enjoyed the nice warm weather. We spent most of the weekend either at playgrounds, under water or doing a little backyard exploring.

Birthday party

Dylan got invited to his first Birthday party. Our neighbors boy Jack was turning 2, they had a party at Romp and Roll and Dylan certainly did do a lot of that. He had fun climbing on everything and bouncing in the bouncy castle, but the best thing about it was there was plenty of padded surfaces so he could go crazy.