Herschel's Last Patrol and Emma's 1st Birthday

Good evening from lovely monterey, Ca.

I'm sitting here alone...Family is on the road heading to GA.  I still have a few weeks left here and I'm trying to fight off boredom and loneliness by writing on this blog for once...I feel like I'm just starting to sleep after a fun-filled weekend of duty (I had the privilege of handling arrested sailors and not sleeping among other things) and a day of immersion in Arabic...oh, yeah...packing out.  I have to tip my hat to the movers----we haven't had a bad military move yet, and this was no exception. Very professional.  Very quick.  Very helpful.  Joy did a great job organizing, too, so I'm sure that will pay off on the other end.

Anyway, I guess I don't have much else to say right now, so I'll just get to the pictures:

Here Aiden and Emma have some Daddy time in downtown after hot chocolate and and a muffin at our favorite little Italian cafe downtown.

Aiden just being Aiden---and Emma loving every bit of it.  Her hero.

Aiden is very sweet in his instruction of Emma. He's always happy to show her how to do something.

Play time.

Aiden helped his Mama make some special cookies.  He loves to cook, too.

Still a ham. "CHEESE!!!!"

This is Aiden getting caught red-handed, or cookie-handed as the case is here.

Enjoy the naked time while you can, I guess. The kiddos and mama enjoy an afternoon in the sun.

Waiting for Daddy to get home from work.

"Is he here yet?"

Two of a kind..

Aiden takes a pause during a recent hike to examine a rollie pollie up close.

Taking it all in...Aiden at Lover's Point eyeing BIGGER rocks to climb...seriously. That's what he was requesting.

Super-Aiden!!!  All boy...all the time.

We found a nice area of wildflowers along the rocky coast near Lover's Point just south of Monterey proper...the kids are doing their best to appease their parents' incessant badgering for a super cute picture...

Aiden simultaneously cheeses and pulls Emma's arms back like Gumbi.

My little princess.

Aiden and Mama share a tender moment during our hike.

i'm not sure what he's up to, but he manages to pull it off well...

i'm sorry if this is boring...i'm totally uninspired right now...I guess it's obvious I'm just pushing through this...I'll try to pull it together.

So I was walking Herschel the other day and I almost walked right by this abandoned lot with a horse...between the deli and the japanese hair salon...I have no idea. It was there for 3 days. Aiden even went and petted it.

H-bomb obliges me with a pose on his last patrol through the old neighborhood, stopping to greet his fans one last time, pee on a few of his favorite fire hydrants, the usual...

And...it's nap time. wa shukran.

Emma's 1. can you believe it.  By comparison, Emma is leaving monterey at the age Aiden was when we arrived...wow.  Aiden can be a little shy for the camera.  Don't know where he got that gene from...I for one was never shy from the camera when i was a little boy... but anyways, Emma looks for the camera ALWAYS.

YAY! weird, block thingies...ahh, whatever...she loves them.

goofy.

The pink blocks were a small attempt to prevent Emma from always stealing Aiden's "boy" blocks.  

The Hancock Girls.

Daddy's little girl.

Aiden always wants to hold her now...he's doing well so far.  He's a great big bro.

As always, Joy did a marvelous job with the cake.

Aiden is asking to help blow out the candle and Emma is going for a handful.

"Yummy."

"Dad...DAAAAAADDDD...DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDD....I want a Star Wars birthday."  Oh, really, Aiden.  I just didn't know that.

Yeah....she got kinda messy.

Messy girl.

And now we rub it in the eyes...that can't feel good.

Ahhh...this got out of order. Oh well...

"Daddy...I need a bath."

Emma is ALMOST giving me smoochers.  love her.

Look at that smile. Beautiful.

Ok, like i said, not the most impressive or inciteful or imaginative post ever, but i'm just uninspired right now.  Joy and the kids are in Colorado staying with friends.  Herschel is at the tail end of a long week of travel across the country to my parents' house.  I'm trying to get my request for early graduation approved.  I'm trying to mentally prepare for taking the DLPT again as well as the Oral Proficiency Interview, both requirements for graduation from DLI.  I'm living out of a Honda Civic, crashing at various friends' houses.  I know it could be worse.  But it's somewhat taxing, still.  I'm just ready to be done.  You could see the visible relief on Joy's face as she pulled away from Monterey.  I feel just as done, but I have to find a way to put my game face on and go perform at a high level on a few more very big tests.  So, pray for that.  Tentatively schedule is as follows:  July 10, OPI (speaking test) July 16/17  DLPT (Defense Language Proficiency Test-Listening/Reading).

This summer will be crazy, for me at least.  I'll drive across the country end of June or beginning of July, get a few weeks in Augusta with the family before reporting for 2 months of duty in Dahlgren, VA...after that, I'll fly down to Augusta, drive the family up to RI.  We'll be in Rhode Island from October - May.  Finally, Jax.

Well, that's about it for now. If you'll be at Edward's wedding, we'll see you there.  Looking forward to seeing everyone, especially Steve, Amy and the kids.

Daniel