Summer in the Bungalow Snippets

While we are all very much ready to get out of the bungalow and into our house, we have tried to do a few things to keep ourselves entertained.

The gym has a spirit day each week this summer.  The first day was dress like an emoji day.  Ryleigh wanted to be the penguin emoji, so she made herself this costume (with a little help from Mom and Dad).  Other spirit days have included college colors, dress like a celebrity, and dress like your favorite holiday.

The kids and Jip went to a Tides game as part of the Wardroom (the military officers at the command) welcoming Jip aboard.  They had a little meal in the picnic area, then took their seats in the ballpark.  While we normally love Tides games, this one was particularly boring and everyone was tired, so they left early.

RJ did a week-long camp run by Black Rocket and hosted by Tidewater Community College.  RJ had a great time building a smash-type game.  The instructor was blown away but how much RJ could do on his own, so I think that is our sign that he has aged out of those camps!  This coming week, RJ is doing a week-long camp at Code Ninja to learn 3D printing stuff.  I can't wait to see what he makes!

Jip has spent a considerable amount of time working from the bungalow.  Ryleigh likes to join him sometimes.

Jip has already had some VIP visitors at the shipyard, including a Senator, lots of Admirals, and the former prime minister of Australia.

Jip likes to attend job fairs that are put on by the shipyard so that he can thank his employees for staffing the fair and working hard to bring in new employees.  Ryleigh went to one in July with Jip.  We think the photographer snapped this just as they had just asked her if she wanted to join the apprentice program, thus Ryleigh's look of skepticism.  

School starts in just 2.5 weeks.  The kids are still working hard on their required reading and RJ should be getting started on 2 history projects he has due when they return.  But, I have a feeling they both are going to be working up to the day school starts to get stuff done.  

More to come when school starts, we get moved in, and we start finding our groove.

Sites from Yet Another Cross-Country Move

Someday someone will have to explain to me why the Navy thinks the Mosman Family needs to move across the country every time Jip has to go to a new command.  But, until then, I guess we will take the opportunities to see things and people.

When I planned this trip, I knew I had to plan it to go through South Dakota.  As many times as we've done the back and forth thing, we've never gone through South Dakota.  And, Jip was missing it off of his list of states he had been to.  We knew we wanted to do Mount Rushmore since we were going to be in South Dakota anyway.  Then in looking at the route, it turned out Devil's Tower was sort of on the way, so we planned a stop there, too.  And then because we ended up leaving a day before we had originally planned just to get a few hours out of the way (and get out of the Navy Lodge), we had time to stop at Little Big Horn.  When all of the touristy things were said and done, the kids had 3 more stamps in their National Parks Passports.  I loved getting to see the centerpiece of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Jip loved the drive from Mount Rushmore back to our hotel--it had lots of switchbacks, some timber bridges, and a couple hand cut tunnels.

We also got to visit some peeps along the way.  My parents met us in Wyoming and joined us for Devil's Tower and Mount Rushmore.  It was great to get to see them outside of the craziness of the Change of Command and get to spend a little time playing tourist with them.  Then, as we made our way though the mid-west, we were able to stop to see my brother Brad and his fabulous family in the Chicagoland area.  We loved being able to see their house, grab a little dinner, and enjoy a little non-car time.

We had a few hiccups, too.  Our night in the Chicago area left us with a nail in a trailer tire thanks to a fallen fence behind the hotel.  Luckily, Jip had made sure the spare was ready to go.  Getting out of Chicago led to lots of unnecessary tolls because we changed our mind about the route Mr. Google had wanted us to take.  And the funniest thing that happened was that we had decided to meet at Panera for lunch in Indiana, but we ended up at two different Paneras across town from each other.  But, we finally caught up with each other again down the road.  

We pulled into Norfolk around dinner time, so Ryleigh and I went to our favorite BBQ place to grab take-out while Jip checked us in to our bungalow on NSA Hampton Roads--the bungalows are old townhouses that now serve as a hotel.  We were sooooo ready to be anywhere but the cars and enjoying some food that was as good as we had remembered.  But still, it was a successful trip, with Jip adding one state (South Dakota), RJ adding three states (South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Ohio), Ryleigh adding four states (South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio), and all of us adding two state capitals (Helena and Madison).

Happy 14th Birthday, RJ!

RJ's 14th Birthday celebration was a low key affair.  The night before his birthday, we went to dinner at a place of his choosing.  He chose Bubba's 33, which is a place we went to fairly often pre-COVID.  RJ did NOT want to have the restaurant staff acknowledge his birthday, so we just ordered dessert and kept the embarrassment at bay.

The morning of his birthday, RJ opened his gifts.  He'd actually received one gift the week before his birthday - a new bike.  We needed him to try it on for size and it would have been hard to keep secret in our temporary living situation.  Anyway, everyone spoiled him, as usual.  Thanks to everyone for that!!

Happy 14th Birthday to My Best Boy!

NNSY Change of Command

Jip's second incoming Change of Command was June 29, 2023.  Jip again relieved CAPT Dianna Wolfson, but this time it was for command of Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  It was another great ceremony.  It was a typical hot Hampton Roads day, but thankfully everyone stayed upright for the ceremony--I don't know how the military in attendance did it, as they had to be on their feet the whole time!

I was honored to have Kathy Nelson, a retired Navy Captain and my former "boss" at Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society - Norfolk, sit with our family.  Because the CoC ceremony is about the outgoing person, Jip kept his speech short.  After the ceremony, we had lunch with Jip in his office, then let him get to work.  But, we did make Jip cut his workday short so we could host a get-together to mark his first day in Command.  The food was terrific, the wine was glorious, and the company was amazing!  I didn't manage to take any pictures that afternoon, as I was just too excited to catch up with friends.  But, it was a lovely afternoon/evening at the Waters Edge Winery.

  

If you missed the ceremony, you can find it on Facebook: NNSY CoC 2023

PSNS Change of Command

Jip's outgoing Change of Command for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was May 25, 2023.  It was a lovely ceremony.  While his incoming CoC was great given the COVID conditions of November 2020, it was so nice to have a real ceremony with lots of guests who could actually sit next to each other this time around.  The guest speaker added the perfect personal touches to what can be a pretty stiff ceremony.  Jip gave a truly terrific speech.  And, my parents and my niece Mackenzie were able to join in the festivities, too.

Jip and the new Shipyard CO, JD Crinklaw.

Guest Speaker, Mike Irby, first met Jip back in 2006 during Jip's first shipyard tour.

Jip shared lots of words of wisdom during his speech.

If you haven't watched it, you can find the ceremony at PSNS CoC 2023.  Jip's speech starts around the 26 minute mark.

Later that afternoon, we held a reception at our house for invited guests.  Over 50 people stopped by to congratulate Jip and wish him well in his next command.  We had such a lovely time chatting with everyone and were so grateful to see people from throughout Jip's career--from Juan, who was with Jip at Officer Candidate School and Power School, to Dave and Rebecca, who lived around the corner from us in Chula Vista, to our wonderful Naval Base Kitsap neighbors.  

A Little (That's Sarcasm, By The Way) Has Transpired Since the Last Post

So, just a "few" things have happened since the last blog post in March.  Yep, just call me a giant slacker.  But, I finally have the time (and motivation) to do some updates.  It's probably best to break them up a little bit by events.  Otherwise, this post will just be toooooooo long.  So, let's start with how we finished up the school year. 

We really wanted to get the kids to a few PacNorWest must-sees before we headed back to Virginia.  We didn't quite accomplish our goals, but we did make it to Mount St. Helens.  Well, we sort of made it.  The visitor center at the top was still closed due to snow when we tried to go in April.  But, we did the visitor center at the base of the mountain then drove up as far as we could.  I'm not sure how much the kids really got out of it, but Jip and I enjoyed heading back to the area 21 years after we first went.

In May, we participated in Bremerton's proud Armed Forced Day celebrations.  The kids and Jip again were in the parade, but this year were in a Jeep.  The driver of the Jeep warned Jip that the particular Jeep they had chosen was bad for a parade because it was not meant to be driven in a slow parade and was going to lurch - a lot.  Jip had to hold on to the rollbar the entire length of the parade.  But, the kids loved riding in it.  Ryleigh's convinced now more than ever that we should own a Jeep.

That evening, Jip and I attended the Navy League's Gala that is held in conjunction with the Armed Forces Day celebrations.  It was nice to get all dressed up.  But, thanks to me, Jip nearly had a wardrobe malfunction.  I was opening the button holes on the jacket because he got a new chain closure for it that used the button holes instead of the hidden buttons.  I ripped open the button holes and kept going into the jacket.  I made emergency repairs to close my mistake, and it was fine in the moment.  But, a new jacket is in order before the next formal event.  The second picture is Clint, Jip, and JD.  Clint used to work at the shipyard and is now the CO at NUWC Keyport and JD is the new CO at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (more on that in another post).

The end of school arrived before we could blink an eye. As part of the end of the year celebration at the school, Ryleigh volunteered to be part of a mallet band.  She is playing the soprano metallophone--a bit of an upgrade from the Fisher Price version we all knew and loved from our childhood.  After the assembly, 5th graders and their parents had a little reception with cake and goodie bags.  Ryleigh took a few pics with her lunch buddies and then she was ready to go.  

RJ was able to finish up his Red Belt at Code Ninja during his last day at the Newcastle (east of Seattle) location.  We are delighted we were able to find a way for RJ to keep coding in the midst of moving during a pandemic and moving to a location where the closest Code Ninja was an hour away.  It paid off and RJ will now get to finish his last belt at Code Ninja in Virginia, where it all started.

We were so delighted that Ryleigh's gym banquet was the week before school got out so that she wouldn't have to miss it.  While she hated the food (Mexican food), she loved putting on something pretty and hanging out with her girls.

The last day of practice, Ryleigh and her BFF Reagan (left of Ryleigh in the above picture) held each other and cried in the parking lot for 20 minutes.  It was truly heartbreaking for these parents.  This is by far the worst part of moving--Ryleigh having to leave her friends.  Reagan's mom was also ultra patient and just let them have the time they needed.  

Our house was being packed out the last week of school, but thankfully the kids reminded me to set aside my signs for our last day of school pictures.  And, I decided I should grab the first day of school signs and shirts just in case we aren't in our house by then (good thing I did that--more on that later).

Speaking of packing out... wanna see what it looks like when they don't believe that you need a full truck even though you've done this a couple times and know what you need, and then they have to literally shove the last mattress onto the truck because it is 10 pm and there is no way for them to get a second truck out there?

And our vehicles were full, too.

The kids and Jip got to do one last shipyard thing before we left.  For the first time in many years, the shipyard had a family day, but it was after the change of command.  So, Jip got to enter the shipyard as a non-CO and show the kids around.  It was a little gray (and chilly, as you can tell by what they are wearing), but it was still a lovely way to spend a few hours.

So, that wraps up what the kids did to finish out the school year.  More posts to come about the outgoing Change of Command, the move, the incoming Change of Command, and our summer as we all get reacclimated to Virginia humidity, terrible drivers, and having shopping choices again.

Washington State Championships 2023

Ryleigh had a great showing at the State Championships for Level 5.  She scored her first 9+ on the beam for this year.  And Ryleigh hit above horizontal on her cast on the high bar (see the still picture in the video), which she was absolutely thrilled about.  Ryleigh was on the podium twice when it was all said and done.

It was a tough season--the judging was harder, and scores lower than she was used to reflected that.  But, Ryleigh learned a lot about not only what she can accomplish, but also about about being in charge of her routines and training, including going at the pace she is comfortable with.  She's super glad she did Level 5.  We are all excited to see what comes next with her return to her old gym.  Ocean Tumblers' coaches know we are moving back and they are all excited to have her back on the team!

Now, please enjoy Ryleigh's last Washington State meet.

https://youtu.be/wxNMcxyMYxs

Skookum Showdown 2023

We had our last home meet and the last meet of this year's season before the state championships.  Ryleigh had a terrific meet, walking away as all-around champion for her level/age group and 2 first places (on vault and bars) and 2 fifth places (on beam and floor).  She was so very proud of herself for her best bars this year and sticking two landings on vault.  And, of course, Mom and Dad (and even RJ) were super proud.

Please enjoy Ryleigh at Skookum Showdown 2023.

https://youtu.be/MVof_W4tkmc

Great West Gym Fest 2023

We traveled to Coeur d'Alene for Ryleigh's big out of state meet for this season.  The weather was our friend on the way there, and we may good time across the State of Washington.  Our first priority upon arrival was eating dinner at Chili's.  Chips and salsa made everyone happy campers.

Ryleigh's group was first to compete Saturday morning, so we were there nice and early.  While Ry was warming up, she started having severe pain in her right foot/ankle.  She powered through on floor, but I could tell by the look on her face that she was in pain.  So, she decided not to vault at the competition so she could rest and ice.  Ryleigh then mustered the strength to compete bars and beam.  She finally broke that elusive 9.0 ceiling on bars that she has been wanting so bad.  Woohoo!  

While her All Around score is low with that missing event, Ryleigh still did great!  It was a fun meet for her and her teammates.

What was not fun was the weather.  Given that Ryleigh was hurting and wasn't up to the afternoon activities we had planned, we heeded the weather warnings and decided to leave Idaho early.  So, after Ryleigh competed, we had lunch, grabbed more Chili's chips and salsa for the road, packed up the hotel room, and headed out.  Thankfully, we beat the snow.  The next day, chains were required on Snoqualmie Pass.  (Though we had our chains with us, we really weren't that excited to put them on.)  We were so glad we made the decision we did.  We all slept in and had a leisurely Sunday.

As for Ryleigh's foot, her coaches think she has Sever's Disease (not really a disease, but a growth issue lots of kids in gymnastics and other sports experience).  So, I ordered ankle/heel supports designed for kid athletes with Sever's.  Her coaches taped her with Sever's in mind for one practice, and that seemed to really help, so I'm hopeful that the supports will help once they arrive.  

Anyway, here's Ryleigh at GWGF 2023.               https://youtu.be/xsC8fXE3WHs           

Fire and Ice Challenge 2023

The Fire and Ice Challenge was a small, but nice, little meet at the end of January.  Beam gave Ryleigh some difficulties again, but hopefully her next two meets will get those jitters worked completely out.  Ryleigh is still striving for a score higher than a 9.0 on bars.  It will come, I'm sure!  

https://youtu.be/niuenzIo4Io

Freedom Invitational 2023

Home meets continue to be good things for Ryleigh.  She was able to shake off the falling off the beam juju and had a successful Freedom Invitational.  She's still trying to get above a 9 on the bars--she's been so close every meet!

With it being a home meet, I worked a few sessions as a beam timer.  I was able to chat with a judge, who had asked about Ryleigh.  She was so glad to hear Ryleigh was competing Level 5 and did not skip to 6, even though Level 5 is, using her word, "brutal" when it comes to judging.  I shared that with Ryleigh and she felt validated about moving to Level 5.  She knows the hard work and submitting herself to extra hard judging criteria will pay off.

Enjoy Ryleigh at the Freedom Invitational 2023.

https://youtu.be/it8vbq41UuY

2022 Holiday Edition

The 2022 Holiday Season was a busy one, particularly for the CO of the Shipyard--he gets invited to a lot of stuff.  And, of course, we wanted to celebrate with his work people with get-togethers.  So, we divided and conquered.  

We decided to host the military officers for a pre-Thanksgiving potluck.  We made the turkey, ham, gravy, and mashed potatoes.  Everyone else brought their favorite side dishes or desserts. We had 40+ people come, share in some camaraderie, and ate ourselves silly.

Jip and I attended a holiday gathering cohosted by a couple of the regional admirals the first weekend in December.  That same weekend, Jip and the kids went out on a boat to be one of several groups, including Santa, to greet kids with special needs.  The boat they went out on rivaled Grandma Downey with the number of snowmen aboard.

 

The next weekend, we were one of five houses on the base to host a progressive dinner for the base residents.  The kids hung out upstairs, for the most part, for the 45 minutes or so that we were here.  The food was delicious, and thankfully for me, there were not many leftovers.  

And the weekend after that, we packed up and began our trek to Colorado for holidays with the family.  It was a pleasant enough drive there, except for the Apple Maps misdirection onto an icy dirt road that was nearly the scene of a certain Highlander meeting its end.  But, Jip's superior driving skills and a little bit of luck kept us from falling off a cliff, crashing into the side of a hill, or even bending our rack on the back.  

On the way there, we did detour for a little while to the Hagerman Fossil Beds.  We talked to a park ranger there who then directed us to where we we could still see the tracks from the wagons on the Oregon Trail.  We drove a few extra miles to see those tracks.  Jip and I thought that was pretty awesome.  The kids had no concept how amazing it was and they certainly didn't get all of our references to the DOS-based Oregon Trail game we played in elementary school on the Apple IIc or Apple IIe.  Oh, well.

Once in Colorado, we got the whole winter experience with snow, ice, and wind.  Ryleigh got to make a duck army and some other snowballs.  Jip, his Dad, and the kiddos got to go snowmobiling.  And, we got to enjoy some serious family time in Granby and Fort Collins.  It was truly wonderful!

I wouldn't say the drive back to Washington was uneventful, as that is when the hybrid battery announced with all of the car's warning lights that it was starting to fail.  But, we made it back with minimal weather interruptions.  The kids had a few days of recovery before going back to school, then we jumped back into our routine.  

We had one last holiday celebration, and that was with the shipyard's civilian leadership.  They joined us at our home the second full weekend in January to welcome in the new year.  We made a variety of soups and then everyone brought sides and desserts.  It was a very pleasant afternoon where there was very little discussion of the office and a lot of discussion about the Seahawks, who were playing during the soiree.  The Seahawks lost, but I think people still had a great time!  Leftover desserts got to be sent to the watch office so those military officers that have to spend the night at the shipyard would have snacks.  And, thankfully, there were very few other leftovers.  

Now it is time to hunker down and finish out this command tour, this school year, this gymnastics season, and everything else strong.  Until next time, cheers!