Welcome Uncle Bruce

On Thursday night Emma Claire and I packed our bags and headed to Virginia Beach to see Uncle Bruce come into port on the USS Enterprise. He had been out to sea since January 12th on a 6 month cruise and it was time for them to come home! The neat thing was that PePaw was also on the boat, too! On Wednesday he had  flown down to Jacksonville, FL and boarded the ship on what they call the Tiger Cruise. They allow permitted family members to board the ship and ride up the coast with them for 3 days as they come into port. It was an exciting time for everyone in our family!

Left: When we arrived on Thursday night Emma Claire and Kalei worked hard on getting some posters ready for the Homecoming. Right: Just another ship on the naval base.

Left: A little red 'fire boat' (I think that's what they call it) rides beside the ship in case of a fire emergency.

Right: Here comes the USS Enterprise!!!

The sailors had been lining the rails since 9:30am! When they finally arrived at port it was about 10:45am and they had to stand in position until they were docked. You can see some of the civilians standing on the flight deck that were on the Tiger Cruise.

Left: Emma Claire and her cousin, Kalei. Right: I love this picture because as I snapped the picture the marine on the bottom right saluted.

Look who Emma Claire found!!

Out of all 5,000 aboard the ship look who I found on deck thanks to my new lense and my Dad's bright orange shirt he was wearing! My brother is the tall sailor standing next to him.

Left: They had moved down mid-ship but I could still see them thanks to that shirt! Right: My dad snapped this picture with his phone from where he was standing on the deck. There were soooo many people there. The tent on the right was full of mothers who had their babies while the daddy was out to sea. It was so amazing to see the looks on their faces as they carried their new babies out! Some a week or two old and others up to 6 months old already. I could not imagine missing all that time! I am so thankful for all our service men and women and what they do for our country.

Left: Emma Claire can find friends to play with anywhere. She amazes me how she will go up to anyone and ask them if they want to play. : )  Right: This cute little old man was sitting behind me. I loved how he had his American Flag stuck in his hat.

Left: I have no clue how this guy did not fall out of the ship. He was working to get the ship anchored. Right: Getting ready to let the sailors get off to see their families they hadn't seen in 6 months!!

Left: You could hear the crowd cheering as the first sailors started coming off the ship! Right: Bruce and my neice, Kalei.

Emma Claire loves Uncle Bruce!

Emma Claire was also excited to see PePaw!

Since the homecoming lasted longer than we thought we decided to stay another night and hang out with PePaw at the hotel. Emma Claire was so excited when I let her wear one of my shirts and go swimming in their pool!

Left: She is turning into a little fish. Right: What's a little vacation trip without having white powered donuts and a yoo-hoo as a late night snack. : )

Family Fun

Left: Our kids love watching movies on our phones. Completely worth the cost when they entertain them in restaurants and crowded doctor offices. Right & Bottom: Just having fun with our girl.

Camp's Got Ups

Camp loves to jump and has been jumping up on two feet catching air for as long as I can remember. People have always told me how advanced that was and that children his age haven't acquired that skill yet. So, I thought I better grab some pictures of him doing it so when he is older we could show him why he is able to dunk so well. : )

I just wish in these pictures that you could really see how high he is off the ground. When he jumps up like a frog he can get a good 4 to 4 1/2 inches off the floor. You can tell by his hair in the first one that he is up in the air. : )

He is so funny because he is such a dare devil. If you hear him counting you better find where he is because when he gets to three he is jumping off whatever he is on. But he has such great balance! He will stand on top of our ottoman which is about 1 1/2 feet tall, jump, and land on two feet just like the picture above and to the left without falling. Amazing. Even this past week he starting jumping off the side of the pool to me. : )

An Early Birthday Present for Camp

RaRa and PePaw decided they would go ahead and give Camp his birthday present early so that he and Emma Claire could enjoy playing with it this summer. What a great idea!

It is actually suppose to have sand on the left and water on the right but this momma could brave adding the sand. : )  Camp loved it right away!

I also love the way it has the cover that snaps on. We can double it up as a table top when we are eating outside. Thanks, RaRa & PePaw my birthday present! Love, Camp

A Hero

Emma Claire told a friend tonight that "when Camp grows up he is going to be a hero just like my daddy is."

Melt my heart that she thinks of her daddy that way. Sniff. Sniff.

Presents From Poppa and GG

While Poppa and GG were here you know each of the kids spoiled gift!

We are having lots of new fun at our house!

A Visit from Poppa, GG, Grandmother, & Grandaddy

Poppa and GG came for a visit and brought Grandmother and Grandaddy along too!

When grandparents come there are always prizes! : )

Grandmother and Grandaddy spent almost the entire weekend sitting on our back porch. Even when we would all try to come inside because we were too hot they would usually end up back out on the porch sitting next to the fan. Grandaddy was doing his best to figure out a way to turn his back patio back home into a screened in porch.

We even got to have the neighbors over for a 4th of July celebration!

The reason there aren't many pictures of our weekend visit was because on Sunday afternoon Benjamin and I loaded up and went to downtown Raleigh to spend the day. We had a wonderful dinner at Kanki, went shopping, and then got a hotel to spend the night. We were so thankful to the Quinn's for watching our kiddos so that we could have a little refresher trip. It felt so good to sleep in, eat breakfast by ourselves, and even take a run on the hotel treadmill.
Such a wonderful 4th of July weekend with friends and family!