Spouse Taxi Day

Steve's squadron hosted a spouse taxi day as part of the B-Course Graduation and I got my second spouse taxi. I got one 8 years ago when we were newlyweds and Steve was a student. It was nice to get a refresher ride and this time Steve was driving because he's obviously not a student anymore. Brian stayed the whole day at school and a few of the other wives held on to Emy so I could go out in the jet. First, we had a safety brief and then briefed with our individual flights, ours was a 4-ship. Then we suited up and hit the flightline, got some pictures next to and in the jet, and taxied to the runway. Once we were all lined up and cleared to roll, we high-speed taxied down the runway. We got to 79 MPH in 3 seconds. That's fast, it throws you back into the seat like nothing you've ever felt before and that is no where near take off speed. I can't even imagine what 9 Gs feels like. I have a renewed appreciation for what Steve does everyday after seeing all the buttons, knobs and dials in the cockpit. It was all I could do to remember which ones to touch/not to touch. And radio calls are really hard! Anyways, it was fun and I hope I have the chance again soon.

Our "Four-Ship"

Me in the back of the D-Model, most F-16s are single seat aircraft, the D-Model, two seaters are used for training (and spouse taxi rides :)

Carrie Underwood Concert

Mommy and Me!

My mom flew out for the first weekend this month and took me to see Carrie Underwood for my upcoming 21st birthday! I can't believe I am finally going to be 21 ;) Carrie was great, that girl can sing and we had great seats! Thanks Mom! You do not look old enough to have a 21-year-old!

Our Babies Like to Jump!

Steve broke out the old jumperoo or whatever it's called this weekend. Emily likes jumping in it almost as much as Brian, but no baby could love the jumperoo as much as that kid. He would jump and giggle, giggle and jump, swing back and forth, run around in it, turn in circles, and after nearly an hour when the excitement of the jumperoo became too much, he'd lay his head in the tray and nap. He finally got too tall for it, which happened quickly since he's a tall kid. But his love for jumping and bouncing never left, he's an old pro at the bouncy house. Emily likes it but would rather you hold her and chat while she jumps in your lap.

Looking at these pictures reminds me of how big Brian was! Emily is so dainty compared to him around the same age. He was almost 5 months in this picture and she is almost 6 months here. His head was large and round and hers is smaller and longer. She is so white compared to him and it's not like he's a tan boy, she's just pastey white. And that blonde hair, where did she get that? Where are my genes?

Range Tour

On October 1st, the kids and I were lucky enough to get to ride down to the Gila Bend range to watch Steve and other members of his squadron drop practice bombs and strafe targets with the F16s guns. It was a long day with both kids and no help but it was worth it to see and take pictures of Steve doing what he does in the F16. Each jet did 6 bomb drops; 2 from 14,000 feet, 2 from 3,000 feet, and 2 from 1,ooo feet. The bombs were not armed so they were silent and when they hit the ground, just a puff of sand and dust came up. No giant fireball or anything too spectacular (or scary for the kids). But when each pilot came down to 75 feet for the straffing runs, it was like nothing I've ever heard before. Loud and violent does not even begin to describe it. The targets they were shooting at were probably about 100 yards from where we were standing. Brian was fine when the first flight of jets came through with the guns, he had his ear plugs in, held his ears, and even sort of laughed about it. The second flight of jets was a different story--after the first jet came through, he was screaming bloody murder and shaking. We ended up in the little building next to the tower for the duration of the second flight's runs, where his shaking subsided slightly, but the screaming continued. Emily acted like nothing was even happening. I just held my hands tightly over her ears (earplugs don't fit in 5-month-old ears) or hugged her against me and she was all wiggles and giggles. When it came time for Steve's flight we headed up into the tower and a friend held Emily so Brian and I could watch and take pictures of Daddy killing the pretend bad guys. He did okay on Steve's strafe run because being inside the tower helped with the jet noise and gun sounds and maybe he felt better because it was "Mr. Ship" (our squadron commander/his babysitter's daddy) and his own Daddy.

One of Steve's bombs--see the puff of smoke/dust?

They had this thing up in the tower that showed how far the bomb hit from the target (5 meters) and the height from which is was dropped (400 feet). This was Steve's closest drop to the target. On one of Steve's higher runs I asked the tower operator if 11 meters is good and he said, "When you are dropping a bomb from 15,000 feet, anything less than 50 meters is excellent."

They drop the bomb and then immediately turn right to get out of the way of the explosion (if it was an armed bomb) or sand puff (practice bomb)

Steve's second gun run

His bullets hitting the target and sand around the target

His 3-ship doing a fly-by at the end and then heading back to base. They get back to base from the range in less than 10 minutes. It took us 2 hours by bus.

San Diego Trip

We got to go to San Diego over Labor day weekend last month with our squadron for a little fun on Coronado Island. Man, do I love that place! I guess I lived in San Diego when I was 18 months to almost 6 years old and while I do have a few memories (very few) of living there, I mostly remember the house we lived in and a nearby park, my first school, and a swimming pool where mean people made me jump into the deep end (swim lessons). This was actually my first trip back to SD since living there as a young child. No one tried to throw me in the deep end so it was a nice trip.

My mom and sister Laura ("Aunt Ura") and her boyfriend "Uncle Allan" came down for a few nights and were our tour guides to Sea World and the Gas Lamp District and Seaport Village. We spent some time at the beach and the pool and even got a sitter one night (a squadron member's daughter) so Steve and I could go out after the sun went down, gasp! It was go, go, go which was awesome (totally my vacation style--"see everything, do everything, need another vacation to relax from your vacation") but we just didn't have enough time to see and do everything properly. And of course Steve whined because his vacation style is "lay around and do nothing." I sometimes like to lay around and do nothing but not after spending 2 days packing 4 people, driving 5 hours to get there, paying $22 a day for parking, $150 a night for a room, etc. I just wanted my money's worth. But we will be back SD, and we will conquer you and see all that you have to offer! Oh and I hardly took any pictures (I'm not in any at all!) because I wanted to just enjoy our trip and not lug the camera around everywhere. I wanted to see SD with my own eyes and not through the camera lens. And also, Steve+Camera+Sand+Seaspray=Lectures about how bad sand and seaspray are for a camera and said lectures are super annoying. It's his pet peeve. We all have them.

This little guy wanted Brian's fish nummies!

Brian touched one fish, instantly regretted it and let Laura and Allan touch the rest of the fish!

Grandma and Brian

In the days before Seaworld Brian and I would talk about the trip and the rides at Seaworld and he specifically requested "a ride with Aunt Laura."

I think that is Brian's Elvis impersonation, pretty good.

Grandma and Emy at the beach

A favorite pastime, chasing and being chased

The house my parent's owned in SD, it was way cuter back then. It was kept up and painted a soft yellow and had pretty landscaping. I learned to ride my bike without training wheels on that sidewalk!

Brian posing with the Navy ships at Seaport Village

Outer Banks NC Trip in September

Here are some pictures from our trip in September to the Outer Banks in NC with Steve's parents and sister and brother-in-law. The kids loved playing on the beach and spending time with their grandparents and aunt and uncle. We took Brian on a Jeep trip up north on the island to see the wild horses. We saw a 6-week-old baby horse and lots of big horses, none of which seemed scared at all to be near humans or cars. We got to drive on the beach, right next to the water, and through the sand dunes. It wore Brian out so much he fell asleep in the back of the open top Jeep at 11am going 50MPH on the highway back to the rental place. He must have really needed a nap!

Baby Cakes turned 5 months old while we were in NC

We were driving in a Jeep this close to the water!

Grandma and Grandpa Hurt and the kids

Aunt Amanda and Uncle Michael Paul and the kids

Our babies at 4 months--a side by side comparison

So I've never thought that Brian and Emily look that much alike but when I compare pictures of them at similar ages, they do look like siblings! Brian's eyes were always very dark blue and eventually turned hazel like mine. Emily's are a much lighter blue and maybe she's got a chance at keeping those baby blues?! They both have the same lips and nose I think. Brian has my eye shape and brow line and maybe Emily too. Emily has lighter skin and hair for sure. My gosh they are both adorable though! (I might be a little biased but good god I just wanna squeeze those cheeks!)