Cold Spaghetti

Beautiful weather, warm days, sunshine, and kids. All ingredients for a trip to the park!Brayden was cool with checking the slides face-first… Kate, not so much. Kate was only happy if climbing UP the slide. Down was not on her agenda.
Will tested each slide, thoughtfully wiping away the morning dew at the base of each slide with his behind as he slid down.
Interesting things to explore.
Back from the park and enjoyed her new favorite fruit: APPLE. She goes at it like a champ.

Slides for kids, huge water fountains on a crawling-kid-friendly squishy foam surface, big huge slides for adults, a ton of swimming space, lap lanes, and a huge beach-style entrance… is there any place more perfect to escape the summertime heat???
Will LOVED the frog slide — a huge frog where the open mouth and tongue provide the slide into the water. He spent almost every moment — from when we arrived to when we left — on this slide.Brayden tried it out, too… although he seemed to like climbing out and around the edges of the pool more than anything else.
Cool water features! Will ran in and out of this circular sprayer several times — much to the delight of me and my camera.
Paul and Amy tackled both big slides with me snapping pictures… unfortunately, Paul didn’t pay attention and went down the vertical slide the same time Amy was coming down the tube slide, so I missed his picture (which is why Amy is giving him a hard time here.) They both did repeat performances and I joined them for a trip down the tube slide.
Nana holds the babies while Moms and Dads play on the big slides.
It was actually a “chilly” day for swimming (temps were in high 70s, low 80s with a breeze) but still a beautiful day. Kate wasn’t as interested in being chilly (she is our NOLA baby, after all) and instead hung out with the three plastic ducks Nana brought along and raided our bags in search of snacks, snacks, and more snacks.

Will and Kate love to “help” open gifts. Anyone’s gifts. Brayden, being the chill kid that he is, had little problem with it.

Thursday morning was the end of our beach vacation — we checked out early and decided to visit the US Naval base in Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels and of the US Naval Air Museum. (Also the location of my father’s first post-Naval Academy assignment… he was a star flyer when he decided to give it all up for nuclear engineering and submarines, but that’s another story.)
The Museum was spectacular. I was so impressed at how well they showcased the technology, history, and challenges of flight, aviation, and conflict — without glorifying war or simplifying the complex issues of wartime history. It also did what we’d hope it would: give Will an interest in planes, engines, and technology over the good/bad ideas he’s struggling with. (More on this later.)
The above is Kate with a turbo jet engine — they had several engines out and cut aside to show the intake and compressors (very cool and educational; I learned a lot!)
This is a real “air boat” used for sea rescues. It was cut away at the sides as a teaching tool post WWII and then renovated for the museum a few years ago. People were certainly smaller 50 years ago!
The top of an actual aircraft carrier. There were several scale carrier models throughout the Museum. We looked for ones that my Dad had worked on (specifically the George Washington, which Paul and I actually walked UNDERNEATH while it was in dry dock in Norfolk Naval Shipyard while Dad was in command. Will did not grasp the coolness of his parents having walked underneath an aircraft carrier; nor of his PapPap building them.)
I was fascinated by the WWII propaganda materials. (Above is Admiral Nimitz, a WWII general whose name went to the USS Nimitz, a supercarrier built in the 70s. My Dad has something about the USS Nimitz up in his office… service award? photograph? fleet certificate?… so this poster stood out in my mind.)
Below is part of a 1950s-ear “Main Street USA” — I didn’t see this part as I was running Kate around in the toddler play area downstairs — Paul has been raving about how well it was done.
Planes, planes, and more planes. Very well organized and designed space.


Will sat in the cockpit of a Blue Angels jet, a F-14 jet plane, and a ton of others.

We decided this was definitely worth a trip from New Orleans just to visit. There is also an impressive IMAX (showing Hurricane on the Bayou right now along with several flight-related shows, including one of the Smithsonian flight movies I remember from years ago) and a little restaurant. (And a ton of retirees just WAITING to help visitors through the exhibits.) Oh, and did I mention it’s free? Next time, my Dad needs to be there, too!

Really hopped up on drugs, I took on the Pensacola Pier. Initially, Paul wanted for us to go sailing (something he’s been wanting to do since forever), but the combination of low wind and my still pretty rough back ruled it out. Instead, we used the medicated afternoon (usually I just medicate mornings in order to handle kids and beach, but today was an exception) to use the kids’ naptime to explore.
Pensacola Beach Pier is very long, almost 1500 feet. According to the sign, it’s the “longest and friendliest” in the Gulf.

We walked pretty slowly, so it took awhile.

It is pretty long — you don’t realize how quickly you’ve gotten far away from the shoreline.
The water is still quite clear: clear enough to see lots of fish… and jellyfish! Including several of the largest, most GI-NORMOUS jellyfish I’ve ever seen. Bigger around than a tire… HUGE… and terribly frightening. I didn’t take pictures of them and wish I had. They were unbelievable!
A very, very, very pretty beach.

Day One: Clear, calm water. Small fussy things in breakwater area.
Day Two: Clear, even more calm water. Many jellyfish stings reported by surrounding swimmers and one close call by Holly. Absolutely perfect clear, calm water: like a swimming pool.
Day Three: Clear water with very rough surf. Decent wave action. Knocked us around… Kate (who was running towards the water yesterday) would start to say “no no no no” when we’d bring her over to get washed off.
My Dad took this picture moments before the wave building behind us came to knock all four of us on our asses. Everyone of us was in the water (I still had Kate in my arms, but she did go under for a second) and kicking all shades off of our faces. Will lost his hat earlier when he and I were swimming — I looked around for several minutes before realizing that the wave had thrown the hat way up on shore… beyond the sand castle Will had built 20 minutes prior with my Dad!
Lots of great ball-play with Skip and Emily! (Note the shirt.)
Kate was very happy to have Daddy there, too. She’s trying to get him to open the cooler (again) in this picture.
Will LOVED the googles we got him… the ocean was so clear, we decided he could use them here as well as the pool. Only, the googles are big for his face and… well. Will: we promise, we would never let you go to grade school looking like this.

Love. The. Beach.
Love the gulf… clear and cool! (Spot those jellyfish!)
Love the company. Lots of hands to hold, eyes to watch, and ears to listen.
Love the sand. Endless possibilities.
And we’ll really love tomorrow if Daddy can join us for a least part of it!

The kids at the beach… playing in the sand and surf for the First Time! Granna and PapPap were on hand for the fun.
Will had a tough time understanding the whole “sand castle” deal. He was very interested in making mud pies, though.

Kate, characteristically, was interested in eating. All the time. The whole morning.
Except for a few moments where chasing her brother became more appealing.
Once sufficiently full (2 eggs, 2 bananas, Kix cereal, trail mix, half a ham sandwich, grapes, and a cup of Gatorade — all before 11am) Kate found that she loved the ocean water.
The breakwater area was filled with small brown furry-looking things (see them in the water?) I have no idea what they were… animal? plant?
The shoreline was a bit of a dip down from the sand edge and did not have the long, progressively deeper water (as we’re used to from years swimming in the Carolina Atlantic), but instead was more bumpy and quicker to gain depth. This made it a bit more intimidating (less space for kids to run from the water’s edge and play with the water) but Will overcame this quickly.
We can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

During our trip to Pennsylvania, we drove out to the Lancaster area to the City of Strasburg to visit the Strasburg Railroad. Paul is pretty sure that as beautiful and quaint as it is, the railroad and surrounding hoop-la is sort of like the Pennsylvania Dutch‘s version of South of the Border.
All that aside, we were out with the masses to see Thomas. He comes to Strasburg (and maybe a station near you) a few times a year. He here is, coming into the station below!
Extra excitement: thanks to the presence and willingness of my Dad, there are actually photos which feature ALL FOUR of us in the same frame. Amazing.
Even more excitement: I had warmed up to the friendly conductor and gotten permission to stand on the platform for pictures while Thomas pulled up. Apparently, this upset someone who yelled at my Dad while he took the pictures above. We missed Dad turning to tell the guy “bite me.” And I thought I got my edge from my Mom. That’s us from inside one of the railcars!Inside the car ahead…
The kids LOVED looking down the line and waving at everything and nothing.
Beautiful countryside, complete with horse and buggy. There were horse and buggy parking spots throughout town.
Friendly conductor.
Kate, our entertainment.
After riding Thomas, we took a break and strolled around the train yard. Then rode one of Straburg’s regular trains. The deal is that you get pulled out of the yard and through the countryside… then the engine unhitches, chugs to the front, and pulls you back in. In the picture below, you can see the engine pulling out.Will loved all the cows in the fields. He worked very hard to talk to them, calling “MMOOOOO!!” as loud as possible.
The corn in the maze was about knee high — low enough to see the patterns of the maze from our views in the train. My Uncle Gus went along for the day — it was great to share all of this with him! He was quite a trooper to handle it all… heat, people, and kids… with a smile!
My Dad playing with Will.
Will rides one of the cars around the kids’ track. He LOVED this.

Many of these pictures capture a special moment — a reaching hand, a softened face, the hint of a smile — precious glimpses of the Grandma I grew up with. Look for the subtly and see if you can find what I feel.

The picture I’ve wanted for a long time: my Grandma, my Mom, me, and my children.

With Uncle Gus (Grandma Betty’s brother) and Uncle Corky, my Mom’s brother.
Plus Aunt Roxanne and Paul. My Dad is taking pictures.


Four generations of generous thighs.