Miles traveled: over 28,000!
Countries visited: 16 different contries
stops: 21 (they gotta get gas, too!)
Having daddy home: PRICELESS! (sorry, I had to!)
The end of the deployement was so eventful for us. Aidan was vomiting the night prior to the ship pulling in.
Pull in day was very hot! We got to the base at 8:30am. Signs were everywhere welcoming the sailors home! We parked the car and headed up to the pier where the ship would pull in in less than 2 hours! They had a DJ and light refreshments on hand! People were doling out flags and fans. We met our friends and found us a nice spot to watch the upcoming show! We lathered on the sunscreen and sipped on Pedialyte as the DJ and a local sailor gave us all info on the arrival. Then the DJ said make some noise and Aidan yelled his head off! Seconds later, we spotted the ship!! THEY ARE ALMOST HERE!
Horns blew over and over again signaling the ship's arrival. It sounded as if the other ships were honking too in welcome! Aidan was a bit scared of the horns until I told him that was thier way of saying, "Hello." As the ship was being moored, we picked daddy out of the crowd of sailors standing on the top decks. Aidan waved and called to daddy, "Daddy, are u gonna get off that ship and come see us?" (Of course, daddy couldn't hear us. He was still too far away!)The brows were attached.(We are getting even closer to seeing daddy after 5 long months and a night of vomiting!)
There is alot of ceremony that goes into a homecoming. First, is the FIRST KISS! This event is raffled off during the deployment. The luckily guy gets to be the first off the ship and kiss his significant other! Then, there is the New Dads/Moms meet and greet. The new dads got to meet their babies who were born when they were deployed.
AFTER ALL THAT, then they start letting people on and off the ship! We made our way on to the boat and Daddy was first to see Aidan! Hugs and kisses ensued!!! Daddy was so surprised at how well Aidan could talk and that he was taller! (He says Aidan grew 2 inches while he was away!) Daddy brought us back into the ship to hang out in the wardroom. KC was on duty and couldn't leave the ship on pull-in day. I had managaed to sneak a toy in my backpack for Daddy to give Aidan as a special surprise. Daddy "brought" it from his stateroom... it was a POP UP CONSTRUCTION SET!! (This is a Matchbox Car thingy that Aidan has been begging for!) Daddy made his day! They played for a bit then we had some lunch!
Then, the tours began! Daddy walked Aidan ALL OVER THE SHIP! They visited tbe bridge, the fo'c'scl (bow or forward end of the ship), and the hanger bay, and flight deck (on the back part!) I think his favorite part was the binoculars on the bridge! He used those to see the Jetta parked in the parking lot. He got to press some buttons and "drive" the ship!
What a day! We headed home for naptime and Aidan couldn't understand why daddy couldn't come with is to "mommy's house." We had lots of crying and explaination in 3yr old terms and then a promise to come eat dinner with daddy afterwards.
On the way back to the ship for dinner, Aidan noted that we were going in a different way because the gate in which we came this morning was closed. He said, "You are going the wrong way to the boat.You'd better call daddy and get the right way." HA! We had a nice dinner and then more touring the ship for Aidan and Daddy. I got to sit on the bridge and chill out for a few moments of kidfree adult conversation with Aunt Missy by phone! The sun was setting on our homecoming day. We headed home just in time for bedtime.
We are so thankful that Daddy is home safe! Now its playtime.... until Rhode Island!!
-Navy terms to know from this post-
Bridge- place where all the cool buttons are, where daddy drives the ship from.
Fo'c'scl- The pointy part of the ship or the front part of the ship
Hanger bay-place where they keep the helicopters if they land on the flight deck or extra storage area
Wardroom-place where the officers hang out and eat
1 comment:
Great post, Eva! So glad KC is back with you guys. I felt like I was right there for the whole experience! It's so cool what they do for you guys while you are waiting for the ship to come in. And what Aidan said about you going to the wrong gate was hilarious. Kids are so innocent and perceptive, it's very refreshing!
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