Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 4 - Naval Ship Yard Coolness

Oh my this was so cool to drive a boat through.  I couldn't believe that they let boats go through this area.
We saw like a dozen huge Naval ships, 2-3 ships where the planes land on them, and even a submarine that was being worked on.  A couple of the ships had Navy men on top of them patrolling with big guns.  I waved to them and they waved back.  Some of these ships were in the water and others were completely out of the water.  It was so cool to see these ships as close as we were and I was totally geeking out here.  They don't want you taking pictures so I had to be sly about my picture taking.  This was totally unexpected and I was so glad that I got to see all this.  SO COOL!

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 4 - Boating Fun Begins

My mom and I got up and dressed for church.  The ward is super close to Wendy's house and it took us like four minutes to get there.
After a nice sacrament meeting we went back to Wendy's house and got changed for our boating outing.
Gabe got the boat all ready to go for when we were back.  Wendy decided to stay at home and rest, so we headed off without her and Alex.
The place to dock the boat is only like ten minutes away.  We got the boat in the water and we were on our way.  The boat is super fancy and comfortable.  My mom and I put our feet up and relaxed in the sun while Gabe drove the boat.  Jacob hung out in the back of the boat and Benji walked all around the boat and ended up by his dad in the captains chair.
My mom laid back and shut her eyes soaking in the sun and then her shirt flew up and she didn't notice because her eyes were shut.  It was pretty funny and I had to call out to her to put her shirt down.  I am so easily amused.
We took the boat through an industrial area and then we got to drive the the Naval Boat Yard.  So cool!

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 3 - Swimmer School Awesomeness "Airplanes & Lunch"

Gabe then took us out to the hanger where the airplanes are stored.  We didn't go into the hanger but I did get out and take a picture with the airplane in the background, because I am a big nerd.
After that we went to the store that they have on base and got us some sweet Coast Guard souvenirs.  It was a fun store.  I want to go back.  Everything was so amazing to see and I loved every minute of it. 

After our tour we went to a Mexican Restaurant for lunch.  Wendy and I shared and it was super yummy.  After eating we went back to Wendy and Gabe's house to let Wendy rest. 

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 3 - Swimmer School Awesomeness "Drownding Pool"

In a different room is another pool where they have a boat and a helicopter simulators that can be dropped into the water to teach them how to escape them if they were to crash into the water.  It was really cool.

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 3 - Swimmer School Awesomeness "The Pool"

The pool room had two huge pools with a walk way separating each pool.  They had large flags hanging on the walls on each side of the pools.
Each pool was covered with large covers that go up and down with a touch of a button.  It was very impressive to watch the pool being uncovered.
They also had ropes hanging from the wall that they climb up as part of their training.

They have a hot tub on the side of the pool and lots of cool signs all around the walls and even the Coast Guard seal at the bottom of the pool.  I was so proud of all the men and women who go through this program.  All this hard work to help other people.  It's pretty awesome!

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 3 - Swimmer School Awesomeness Part 1

OH MY AWESOMENESS!!!  I could not have had a better time.  This was so cool to see all the swim school stuff and all the other stuff on base.
We first started off with driving by the helicopter/mechanic training school. I couldn't resist getting my picture taken with the helicopter blades.  So cool.
Second stop was the Swimmer school building.  Gabe was so cool to show us all these cool places on base and to answer all my questions.  He first got us into the building and showed us a class room where the candidates learn stuff.  It looked just like a normal class room, but I thought it was super cool.  It even had name tags of the people who were still in the program.  I think their were like 6 names.  They start with as many as 24 people and graduated only a few.  Sometimes no people make it to the end, other times only one.  I think up to five or six people is the highest they graduate.  It is a super tough program and the elite of the Coast Guard.
From the class room we went to the swimming pool training area.  Before we went in there we saw the mannequin with the swimmer gear and of course I needed a pictures with him.
When we got into the swimming pool area I was shocked with how huge it was.  Two huge pools with a walk way down the middle.  Huge flags on each end of the pool.
On the wall they have the names of all the people who have completed the program and Gabe showed me where his name is and let me take his picture.  He really was so nice to indulge me in my geekiness.  Did I mention it was super cool there!

After he showed us his name, so cool, he showed us the work out room.  It is a huge gym with work out equipment and then a door to the outside.  Outside they have tons of stuff for them to work out on and do different drills.  It was really cool.  In the gym they have a bell that they can ring if they are quitting the program.  Gabe told us that they have another bell somewhere else, but we didn't get to see it.  We forgot about it until it was too late.  But it was fun to see at least one of the bells.  My mom rang it.  She said you can't quit something you never started.  She is so silly.

Jacob and Benji really like the gym and playing on the exercise equipment.  It was pretty funny watching Benji do the adult sized equipment.  I chose not to try any of it and make a fool of myself.  I am sure I was silly enough without making it worse.

After the gym we went into the room where they work on the water rafts. They have a big work bench and tools.  Everything they would need to learn all about the rafts and how to work them.  They also have things (posters/banners) on the walls from past graduating classes that are a memento of their class.  That was really cool to see the different things that each class did. After that room Gabe showed us more in the big double pool room.

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 2 - Virginia Beach & Lunch

Wendy had some "work" done the Monday before we got to her house and was majorly in recovery mode.  She had hoped that she would feel better by the time we got there, but she felt like crap.
She didn't feel up to doing much on Friday so we hung out most of the morning before we loaded up in her car to check out Virginia Beach.  I drove her big SUV and she sat in the passenger seat with her pillows and told me where to go.
It is super pretty there and it was fun to drive through the streets and neighborhoods.  Virginia Beach looked nice and fun.  We didn't stop and check anything out, but we drove by and that was better then nothing.
After that we went to lunch.  Wendy picked a place called "Taste".  It's a salad and sandwich place.  They also sale different types of nuts and things.  I tried a few of their different peanuts and found that I really liked the Salt and Pepper peanuts.  Who knew?  So bought some of those and some crab seasoned peanuts.  Not my favorite, but it's nice to have something a little different.
After lunch we went back to Wendy's house for her to rest and to check on the puppy.  Ruby was loving her new family, people and doggies.  Wendy's current dogs were learning to love Ruby.  It was pretty funny to watch them.
We pretty much just hung out at Wendy's house the rest of the day and night.  It was nice to hang out with the boys and dogs.  The weather was nice and it was nice to sit outside on their patio.  We watched the dogs and the chickens.  We ate some dinner and then we watched the movie "The Guardian".  I asked Gabe a million questions about how real things in the movie were compared to the real swim school.  It got me even more excited to go see his work.  After the movie we all went up to bed.  I slept in Benji's room and my mom had Jacob's room.  So nice of the boys to share, even they the had to.

Michelle's Trip to Virginia: Day 1 - By Air & By Land

My mom and I got the privilege of taking Wendy her puppy, Ruby.  Teagan and my mom picked me up at my house and we all headed to the airport.
We had to check in with the desk because we needed to pay extra for Ruby and show any paperwork they might have needed.  The ticket agent loved Ruby and wanted to hold her.  She then went around and showed all the other agents our cute dog.  My mom paid the fee and we were good to go through security.
We were TSA approved so we got to go through the shorter security line.  We then headed to our gate feeling pretty good about the process so far.  Everyone loved Ruby and we felt like super stars with all the smiles, looks, and pointing we were getting.  People would come up to us and pet her and love on her.  It was so much fun.  We felt very popular.
They let my mom go in with the first group of people to get her and Ruby situated.  So she put Ruby in the crate and put her under her seat all ready to go.  I had never flown with a puppy before and I was so worried that she would whine or be noisy and bother the people around us.  She didn't make a peep.  She slept the whole time and was perfect!  I was so glad about that.
Since we weren't sure how Ruby was going to do in the airplane, my mom had us take a direct flight to Raleigh/Durham and then rent a car to drive the four hours down to Wendy's house.
We got our car quickly and then got on the road.  It was rush hour so we did have some traffic for about an hour and then the roads were pretty good.  Beautiful weather and no problems.
We stopped at Chick-fil-a for dinner.  We got our food and then ate in our car before letting Ruby out to drink, eat, and go potty.  She did all those things and we were happy about that.  She slept pretty much the whole time in the car too.  She did so much better then we thought that she would.  It was such a blessing.
It took us longer to get to Wendy's but we got there without any problems and Wendy, Gabe, and their boys were all waiting for us to get there.  They ran out of the house to see their new puppy.  We were all very glad that we were finally there.

Megan, Josh, & Tyler's Last Day of School

Megan's last day of school was Thursday when she graduated Kindergarten.  The boys had their last day of school on Friday while I was in Virginia.  Tony forgot to take pictures for me, but the boys said that they had a great day.  They love school and will miss it, but they are both super excited for summer!

Megan's Kindergarten Graduation

Our Megan is officially done with Kindergarten.  I can't believe how fast this school year flew by.  Megan has learned so much this year and I am so proud of her.  She is one smart cookie.  I missed the graduation because I was traveling to Wendy's house in Virginia, but Tony did a good job of recording it and taking lots of pictures.  We both love our Megan so much!!!