Monday, December 17, 2012

Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Just a quick update to say, yes, he's home! He came home a couple weeks ago, and we then had the opportunity to go see his sub before they drove it to the shipyard. The family day ended up on the same day of the USS Enterprise's decommissioning ceremony, so traffic was a little crappy on base, but it was okay. The boat was actually docked right next to the carrier, too, so we saw a little of that action on the walk in.

They didn't put in the spiral staircase, so we had to climb straight down the ladder to get in. This didn't bother me, but I was really worried about how the kids would do. I was happy to discover that Wyatt, with just a little coaxing, handled it just fine. Oscar had to be hauled down by his dad, but he's small enough that that was no problem.

Then, we got to spend a few hours wandering around the sub, checking out what every thing is and how it works. We had lunch there, too, and I was so excited to watch the boys get to finally experience what life for their dad is like. They had him hoist them up onto his rack, which was on the very top this time around. Oscar got scared pretty quick, and Wyatt proclaimed it not really to his liking.

All in all, it was an awesome experience. It'll be years before the chance comes again, so I'm really glad we were able to make it work out. We're juggling one car, and Oliver had duty that day, so I actually just drove up, had dinner with him, then left him back on the boat the night before (they had pulled in that afternoon) so we could come back the next day. It was sad not to have him home his first night (or second), but it was worth it.

Leave is coming up now, too, so yay for finally having a break from this Navy stuff for a bit!