Hurricane Hunters
Greetings to everyone.
Today, Rebecca had a friend fly in to spend the weekend. The friend served with Rebecca when she was in England; it was fun to meet so old a friend. We showed Meagan around and introduced her to Tatonuts, a wonderful donut shop in Ocean Springs.
Meagan and Xavier got on wonderfully. Meagan even gave Rebecca and me a date night. Xavier did not care we were gone; that's how much Xavier got on with Meagan (who likely sealed the deal when she walked Xavier next door to Souvenir City and bought him a little helicopter!)
One of the things we got to do when Meagan was here was get a tour of the Keesler Weather Station. Meagan knew one of the weathermen there and, as it turned out, so did Rebecca. Rebecca did not know he was working there. All three of them served together back in the 1990s.
The weather station sits right on Keesler's runway, and right outside it park the Hurricane Hunter fleet of C-130s. We got the tour and learned about the aircraft duties. We see these aircraft taking off and landing all the time, but here we got much closer to them.
The navy was also running nighttime airfield landing practices. We had a small jet practice its approach. It did everything but land; as it nearly touched down, it sped up and off the runway. Xavier was thrilled by the sound and roar of its engines as it sped passed us a few hundred feet away! He squealed with glee and pointed excitedly at the plane as it tore back into the sky. This was much different than a couple of years ago when we watched the Thunderbirds air show in Wyoming; there Xavier did not like the noise at all.
Some helicopters were also doing practice night landings on the pads across from the C-130 line. These Xavier liked watching these also, by not so much as the jet. The helicopters were much more quiet and harder to see in the darkness.
While we stood outside looking at the C-130 fleet and watching the other aircraft make practice runs, dozens (in fact hundreds) of little creatures were landing on us: termites! This is the time of year when they swarm, and they swarmed! It was because dozens of termites a minute were landing on us that we went back into the weather station to finish the visit.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Xavier!
Greetings to everyone.
Xavier turned three years old today!
This year was something of a quandary. We are in Biloxi, Mississippi this year. Rebecca was feeling stressed, thinking she needed to organize a party of some kind. Instead, we decided on a small celebration with just the immediate family.
With Rebecca in school and Xavier also in school, I hit the stores for cake, candles, cards and a few token toys (simple toys which will pack easily for the return trip to Denver in a few weeks). Rebecca called as I was leaving the apartment telling me she had an extended lunch. She was able to join me on the quest for gifts and cards.
After dropping Rebecca off at her classroom, I headed for the commissary to see about a cake. We thought cupcakes or something like that (Xavier loves cupcakes!). I found a small sheet cake brightly decorated instead. The baker happily personalized the cake. I grabbed some wrapping paper and headed back to the apartment.
In the afternoon, I picked Rebecca up, then we checked Xavier out of the CDC. We decided to surprise Xavier with pizza and ice cream, two of his favorite foods. All through dinner, Xavier kept asking for "ice cream, Daddy, ice cream!" We used his desire for ice cream as a motivator to eat all his pizza (or at least all the pepperoni we ordered as a side).
After supper, we headed to the ice cream counter (Sal and Mookies Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor was where we ate—it's a cozy pizzeria across the boulevard from the casinos near the base). Xavier chose the very colorful rainbow ice cream, which was vanilla with swirls of food coloring in it. The primary color (as you can see) was blue. Interesting note: that blue color was unaffected by Xavier's digestion process. Guess what color his next few diapers were!
We returned to the apartment, where cake and presents awaited. Xavier did not know about the presents, but we did tell him he had birthday cake back at "The Room" (which is how Xavier refers to the apartment). He was excited to get home!
We lit the candles and sang the traditional Happy Birthday song. The candles changed color as they burned, something we did not expect. I had to wonder what types of chemical were getting on the cake from these candles. Rebecca had similar thoughts and did not let Xavier lick the frosting from these candles, though he begged to do so.
Xavier knew just what to do. He blew and blew, he just had some difficulty in directing his blow. Also, the candles seemed not to want to blow out.
Xavier ate his slice of cake, then as with the ice cream, showed his messy hands to boast of his satisfaction. After washing him down, we let him rip into the two gifts that sat on the table, teasing him all the while we sang and ate cake.
Xavier very adeptly ripped open his packages. The high humidity here in Biloxi made the tearing of the paper difficult. Turns out, damp paper resists tearing. However, Xavier remembered his training from five months ago. Soon he was flying a plane and dive bombing dinosaurs.
NOLA
Greetings to everyone.
This weekend was a busy one. Aunt Chelle's birthday, Autn Kathy's birthday, Mother's Day. Also, Friday was a down day at Keesler, so no class. This was a three day weekend for us. What to do, what to do?
Rebecca left after class Thursday to meet Chelle in New Orleans. They spent Friday together touring the French Quarter and the World War II Museum. Xavier and I drove in to New Orleans (a two hour drive when not in rush hour, which it was).
We met up with Rebecca and Chelle at the hotel, then went looking for a restaurant for dinner. We found a little pizza parlor on the edge of the French Quarter and went in (we figured, of all we found so far, it would have something Xavier would eat).
We sat in a corner near an open window. Just as we were seating ourselves, one of the wait staff closed the window. Disappointed, we asked why close the window (it was a shuttered window, so closing it meant we could not see out of it; also, it meant no breeze, which we hoped to enjoy).
The answer was "termites." It is the time of year when termites swarm. The pizzeria did not want them getting into the building. Can't fault that. Just outside where we sat was a street light, already on, and loads of termites flying around the light.
After dinner, it was back to the room for the girls and Xavier, but to the airport for Dad. Aunt Kathy needed picking up, and her flight landed 10:10 PM. It was a three-way birthday/Mothers Day celebration this weekend!
Saturday, we breakfasted in the hotel cafe. It was the standard hotel breakfast "free" with the rooms. After breakfast, we headed out to visit the French Quarter. As we neared the car in the garage, Xavier decided to return his breakfast.
"Gross!" Kathy exclaimed. "It feels like I need to change my shirt" I stated (it was me who carried Xavier and he was looking over my shoulder when he yakked). So, it was back to the room for a change of clothing for Dad and Xavier.
Finally in the midst of the touristy area, we hired a horse-drawn carriage to get a whirlwind tour of the French Quarter. Xavier had a fun time, and the adults enjoyed hearing about New Orleans from the driver.
Along the way, we spotted several shops we wanted to visit. Many we did visit after the ride. Chelle, Kathy and I spent the rest of the day walking around the French Quarter. After lunch, Rebecca took Xavier back to the room for his nap, then joined us again for an early dinner.