Late last night Matt came home. It's been a kind of whirl-wind around here. I originally wasn't expecting his ship to return until right before Halloween. Then, last week, we were notified that the ship was coming in Tuesday (October 1). So on Monday, having not showered, hair up and in a ball cap, ready to clean the house, I got an e-mail shortly before 9am stating that the ship would be coming in at 2pm, that day (Monday). I moved into full-panic mode because in addition to taking a shower (which I quickly did) I had to get organized because I was helping with the Homecoming Committee which means I was committed to being there earlier than the ship. Which means I would have to sign the kids out early from school. (School gets out here at 2:30pm.) Did I mention that it had been raining, non-stop, all morning? By noon, a second e-mail arrived stating that due to the weather, the ship would not come in until Tuesday, as originally planned. I got to relax a little, and since I was already packed for the Homecoming (lawn chairs, activities for the kids, arts & crafts things for the committee that I was to bring), I did some cleaning.
At 2:30pm I picked up the kids as I normally would, and since it was still raining, we went inside to the cafeteria to work on some homework. (On Mondays and Wednesdays the kids have swimming lessons at the indoor pool on Main Base so I usually let them play for 30 minutes on the playground before we leave in the car.) Just as we were wrapping up I heard the familiar tone on my phone indicating I had received text messages. Thank goodness for that because a third e-mail had just been sent saying the ship was definitely coming in Monday night at 8:00pm. The text was telling me to be there at 7:00pm. It was now 3:00pm and it takes about 25 minutes to drive to Main Base. Swimming lessons are at 4:00pm. I only had the kids' swimming stuff in the car and I was wearing a t-shirt and soccer shorts. We wouldn't have time enough to eat dinner come home, change, grab our stuff and go back to the pier. I quickly got the kids in the car, gave them a snack, drove up to the loading area of our apartment building and had them stay in the car as I raced upstairs. Luckily I had packed everything in the morning so it was only a matter of grabbing some clothes (including the special outfits the kids chose) and hauling everything downstairs and loading it into the Blueberry as quickly as possible. By 3:30pm we were finally on our way to MB and the kids quickly got into their bathing suits and made it just in time to their lessons. After that it was a lot of hurrying up and waiting.
We took our time after swimming and had dinner at Brodie's, the rotisserie chicken restaurant/sports bar on base. After we ate I let the kids play a couple video games (which is the main reason they like to go to Brodie's, I think) and then we changed into our "meeting Daddy's ship" clothes. I couldn't extend anymore time there so I headed to the pier. It was only 6:30pm but at least it had stopped raining. And we got a killer parking spot. The tents and tables for the homecoming festivities were set up outside the gate (as we were not allowed pier side until right before the sailors were allowed to leave the ship) and I set up our chairs nearby. The ground was wet and it was quickly getting dark. I gave Leah and Aaron each a glow stick and they were happily running around in a nearby gravel parking lot. Pretty soon the other Homecoming Committee members arrived and Leah and Aaron had other kids to run around with while I helped set up. There were cupcakes, cake pops and hand-made soaps all donated by people with home businesses here. The USO donated ice and drinks and provided a cooler as well as donated 25 teddy bears. We had a poster-making station and a table where people could make pom-pom bracelets. (Leah turned hers into a scrunchy.) Even though it was really dark by 8:00pm when families had just begun arriving, you could easily see Matt's ship approaching the pier in the distance because the giant "6" on the ship was lit up. Then the waiting really began.
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| Some of the cupcakes that were donated. |
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Glow bracelets and cupcakes were big hits with
the kids. |
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Leah and Aaron made posters to welcome their
daddy home. |
The first time Matt's ship came home we waited at the pier it took two hours before he could leave the ship. Since then, I've always just had Matt call me after the ship pulls in and we just go and pick him up without the hoopla and fanfare. Especially on a school night, as it wasn't until almost 10:00pm before we could go onto the pier. This time was different, though, as I won the First Kiss contest, which meant that Matt got to be the first sailor off the ship. (It is a tradition, when returning from deployment, that the sailor who gets the First Kiss and the new dads--their kids have been born during the deployment--get to leave the ship first.) Leah was so excited and was busily chatting up the security guard who was escorting us to the gang plank. Obviously I couldn't take pictures of myself, but luckily, Armed Forces Network (AFN) was there with a television crew and they uploaded the video to You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSP2rJRmFoA. You can see our kiss toward the end as well as a couple seconds of Aaron playing with Matt's hat.
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This sign was pier side and was made over the
weekend. Leah's hand print is the red hand
with blue fingers directly under the "H." |
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| "We can't wait to see Daddy!" |
Even though Matt was the first one off the ship I still had to help clean up so by the time everything was said and done, we got home at 11:00pm. The kids had not been home since leaving for school in the morning at 7:40am. I was surprised at how well they did. Needless to say, they fell asleep immediately and I let them skip school today (Tuesday) so they slept in a little. Matt brought us back presents, which he doesn't usually do and the kids were thrilled with their t-shirts from Hong Kong and stuffed animals from Australia (a crocodile for Aaron and a koala bear for Leah).
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| Leah named her koala "Katie." |
Matt gave me a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt and a Swatch watch from Hong Kong.
Leah, Aaron and I had decided to decorate for Matt's return with something that felt like home to him.
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Nothing says "Welcome home" like Redskins
decorations. |
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Well, at least to someone who grew up in
Northern VA. |
Our day today was pretty mellow. We slept in, played games like Mousetrap and Matt took the kids out to ride their scooters, play on the playground and eat ice cream. I managed to get some laundry done and even got the kids to do some homework. Tomorrow is back to reality. Luckily Matt has a modified work schedule for the next few days so he only has a half day tomorrow and then a few days off so he can watch the kids swim, meet their teachers and all that good stuff. He's scheduled to be in port for the rest of the year so life at Chateaux Rich (Japan-style) can start getting back to normal. Whatever that is....
