Monday, September 24, 2007

La Beach

So we're back from Virginia Beach, or La Beach as the locals call it. My brother-in-law's Chief ceremony went really well and my dad and my sister each pinned one of his anchors on him. My dad was, of course, in all of his glory at the ceremony. He wore his uniform and was recognized by the emcee who said:


"I would like to thank Master Chief... er, I mean Command Master Chief CED and his wife for taking time, blah, blah, blah."


I could feel my dad grinning in the seat behind me. He is such a lover of the attention. Like someone else I know...... hee hee.


We stayed at the SunSpree resort right on the ocean and it was fanfuckingtastic. Even though it rained a good portion of the time, who wouldn't love this:






That's right. A lazy river. That you float in. All around. With the kids. Who stay occupied. Good fun.


Of course, no trip would be complete without one of my children doing something completely inappropriate. This time it was the little angel, who is three. He learned to sing the "where is thumbkin" song and wanted to sing it for the rest of the family. No problem, right? Wrong. When he got to the "where is middle finger part", he completely forgot the correct way of holding his finger up and instead flipped everyone the bird. My sister and brother laughed so hard they started crying. After a minute, my B-I-L had my son show grandpa that part of the song. Here is what my dad saw:




I though my dad was going to fall over. How he kept a straight face is beyond me. We are all laughing like loons in the background while my dad, as serious as can be, says "that's great sweetheart. I love you too."



Of course, the angel also told his sister that she was being a bitch one of the days. In front of everyone. Shit. Where do these kids learn this language? Just kidding. Actually I try not to swear in front of the kids. Apparently, I need to try a little harder. Although I don't call my daughter a bitch. That one he learned somewhere else.



The very best part of the trip was the first day. We left Wednesday at a little after 5:00 and should have gotten in around 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning. It was closer to 4:00 AM when we arrived because my sister lives in the seventh level of hell. Seriously. Driving in the Va Beach/Norfolk area is bad enough, but the area she lives in? Foggetaboutit. So we crash at her place until we can check in and we are asleep for about 45 minutes when this music wends it's way into my subconscious. I try to ignore it, but it gets louder and louder. I recognize the song but can't place it. Then my eyes pop open. And I hear singing for real. Really, really loud singing. Right outside the bedroom door. This is what I hear:



Stand Navy out to sea
Fight our battle cry
We’ll never change our course
So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y
Roll out the T.N.T.
Anchors Aweigh
Sail on to victory and
Sink their bones to Davy Jones hooray!

Yo ho there shipmate
Take the fighting to the far off sea
Hear the wailing of the wild banshees
All hands, fire brands Let’s blast them as we go, so

Anchors Aweigh my boys
Anchors Aweigh
Farewell to college joys
We sail at break of day day day day
Through our last night on shore
Drink to the foam
Until we meet once more
Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home!

Heave a ho there sailor
Everybody drink up while you may
Heave a ho there sailor
For your gonna sail a break of day
Drink away, Drink away,
For you sail at break of day, hey!

Anchors Aweigh my boys
Anchors Aweigh
Farewell to college joys
We sail at break of day day day day
Through our last night on shore
Drink to the foam
Until we meet once more
Here’s wishing you a happy voyage home!

My B-I-L and one of the other Chief initiates were outside of my dad's bedroom door, serenading him with "Anchors Aweigh". My B-I-L lost it about halfway through and laughed his way through the rest of the song. It was super funny. Even after driving through the night and only getting a minute's rest.

I won't bore you with the details of the trip, but it's good to be back. On a serious note, I have been having some trouble with my blog lately. I may have to turn on word verification. I don't like to censor my readers, but there have been some instances where I have found out that the blogger who left the nasty comment was not, in fact, the person commenting and there was a hacking issue. I'm still thinking about it, but if you see the word verification pop up, I will apologize ahead of time.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Woah, wait - you've gotten nasty comments?

Dammit. I miss all the fun.

Oh... and.. um... I'm all about you coming down here and hanging out and shit. But can you leave your kids at home? Don't want them influencing MY little angels and their virgin ears.

Not a Granny said...

Welcome back! Glad you had a good time.

Sounds like the kids had an even better time!!

fatwonkkid said...

One of the kids I went to school with was in Navy ROTC. I found out his dad is also a Navy man, but enlisted.

At the time of our graduation, his dad was probably in the navy for 20 or 30 years.

I asked my friend, "So after you graduate and get commissioned, does that mean your dad has to technically salute you"

He said yes, although he did it very cautiously. I think he is going to feel uncomfortable having his dad salute him, even though it is protocol.

Mim said...

I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you :)

Also, boo word verification, bc boo hackers! They suck and should be found and beaten within an inch of their lives for all of the inconveniences they deliver.

Tug said...

If one of my grandkids had flipped me off & said 'I love you'?

I'd have HAD to flip them off while saying it back. ;-)

Wouldn't want them to feel left out.

Avitable said...

Great, you're back. Now you can answer the interview questions we sent you.

Anonymous said...

Welcome home! Sounds like you had fun.

Sorry about the asshole problem.

ADW said...

Britt - RE: nasty comments - I know. I'll leave you a mean one if you would like...

RE: Your little angels. Mmmmhhhhmmmmmm.

Not a Granny - Thanks, I did.

Fatwonkkid - I just don't see it happening, but you never know.

Mim - I feel the same way.

Tug - It is up to us to guide the younger generations.

Avi -who is we? Are you trying to be royal and refer to yourself in the 3rd person again?

Metalmom - Thanks!

Ed & Jeanne said...

Welcome back. I had a hacking issue once but then I coughed it up!

Open Grove Claudia said...

I've had the same trouble. What a mess, eh?

I'm glad you had a wonderful trip! Hurray for that! Do you feel revived seeing your family or is the longing to move home returned??

George said...

Sounds like an awesome trip, glad you had a great time.

There are a lot of people who have stopped blogging due to one or two jerks doing crap on them, nasty comments, etc ... watch out for a You Live in my Head chick

ADW said...

VE - Dork!!!

Claudia - Sometimes I would love to move down there, but it is just not feasible for us, so...

George - Yeah, it sucks, but what are you gonna do?

Avitable said...

Well, I am the king of wishful thinking.

ADW said...

Avi - Where the fuck are those lyrics from????

I'll get over you
I know I will
I'll pretendmy ship's not sinking
And I'll tell myself
I'm over you
Cuz I'm the king of wishful thinking.

I'm too lazy to look it up myself.

fatwonkkid said...

As long as both are uniformed, there would have to be a salute. Even your CMDCM dad would have to salute my Ensign friend.

Now what happens behind closed doors, with uniforms off, between the father and his ranking officer son is a different story....

Yoda said...

The lazzzzy river looks soo inviting to me now. Can I sleep in it? Please?

Anonymous said...

Ah, man. That sounds like a great trip. Can you fish in that river?

Kim Ayres said...

I had to use word verification to cut down the amount of auto-spamming. It worked well.

GoteeMan said...

hilarious! Love the lazy rivers when we go on vacation - the kids go nuts over them. And you had me cracked up with the "birdkin"...
hehe!

J/

Glamourpuss said...

You should introduce your son to Man Ho Cho - i'm sure he could teach him some new songs and gestures.

Puss

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! No stay put for a while ;)

Sounds like your little man has been hanging around me?

Anonymous said...

Duh....that was me up there.

The [Cherry] Ride said...

WHy is it called "La Beach"?

And Lazy Rivers are the best. I think they're making my list of underrated things.

Zen Wizard said...

That Sun Spree Resort looks pretty cool.

Jenn O'Neil said...

Go West
»
King Of Wishful Thinking


I don't need to fall at your feet
Just 'cause you cut me to the bone
And I won't miss the way that you kiss me
We were never carved in stone
If I don't listen to the talk of the town
Maybe I can fool myself
I'll get over you I know I will
I'll pretend my ship's not sinking
And I'll tell myself I'm over you
'Cause I'm the king of wishful thinking
(King of wishful thinking)
Ooh I am the king of wishful thinking
I refuse to give into my blues
That's not how it's gonna be
And I deny the tears in my eyes
I don't want to let you see...No!
Now that you have made a hole in my heart
And now I've got to fool myself
I'll get over you I know I will
I'll pretend my ship's not sinking
And I'll tell myself I'm over you
'Cause I'm the king of wishful thinking
I'll get over you I know I will
I'll pretend my ship's not sinking ooh-ooh
And I'll tell myself I'm over you
'Cause I'm the king of wishful thinking
(King of wishful thinking) yeah ooh
If I ever get a chance I'll get over you
(I know I will)
If I don't listen to the talk of the town
Then maybe I can fool myself
I'll get over you I know I will
I'll pretend my ship's not sinking
And I'll tell myself I'm over you (I'm over you)
'Cause I'm the king of wishful thinking
(King of wishful thinking)
I am the king of wishful thinking
I'll get over you I know I will
You made a hole in my heart
But I won't shed a tear for you
I'll be the king of wishful thinking
I'll get over you I know I will
I'll pretend my heart's still beating
'Cause I've got no more tears for you
I'm the king of wishful thinking
I'll get over you I know I will
You made a hole in my heart
And I'll tell myself I'm over you
'Cause I'm the king of wishful thinking

Jenn O'Neil said...

So glad you are back - you were terribly missed. Sounds like you had a good time and that story about your three year old is freakin priceless. That lazy river would be great with a inner tube a frozen drink and a pool boy rubbing my shoulders.

? said...

Your son is a little powerhouse! Next thing you know, he'll be smackin' hos and drinkin' fo'ties.

Anonymous said...

Awww...that's so awesome for your dad! The town I used to live in is situated right between two air force bases and a coast guard station (Destin, FL)...I go all wet when I see the marches and hear the songs.

Also, uniforms are HOT. Way hot.

PS: Fuck trolls. Up the ass and without the kindness of lube.

Chris Morris said...

When I was in the navy and at training school in Pensacola, Florida, we called that whole area "L.A."

Lower Alabama.

Dubious gene pools.

Amy said...

I'm so jealous, that sounds like so much fun!

Sleepynita said...

I love a good lazy river ride, been years since I have gone anywhere with one.

Looks like you had a good time.

ADW said...

Thanks for all of the comments....