We missed him so much. I didn't realize what a fixture he had become to our family. I missed his humor, his grace, his faith and watching him play with the younger kids. When we first saw him, he snatched the kids up for big hugs and my heart just swelled. They all love each other so much and I'm very proud of that. He saw Vernon first and actually barreled him over. I couldn't help but to tear up. He did have these hideous glasses on though lol..... good thing he changed to his prescription sunglasses until he could get his contacts in!
We had so much fun just hanging out on Thursday's Family Day. We played mini golf, had lunch at the PX, went shopping, played at the park and went bowling. Anthony picked out a shirt for Janessa and a complete matching Army outfit for Carson. They also all got hats. Anthony is getting their names made to Velcro on the back. Carson had to wear his outfit as soon as we got it!
The kids had a great time playing at the park.
Anthony saluting as the flag was lowered
We had so much fun bowling. Brayden danced after every roll, but then the boys got bored. It took an hour to play one game, because their were so many of us! But it was still fun. We ended up eating dinner there and getting Anthony back to the barracks by 8 pm, so he wouldn't get into any trouble.... It was hard leaving him again, but we knew we got to see him the next day.
Anthony was among hundreds that graduated on Friday. Most of them were in their teens. I looked out and just cried silent tears. Nine weeks ago these boys most likely graduated high school and now they are US soldiers. These are just boys that are now trained to go to war for our country....... for each of us. There was also a 34 year old man and a 39 year old mother of three that graduated that day. All I can say is WOW, what an experience!
Anthony was one of three that received special recognition back at the barracks and were bumped up in rank based on their performance at boot camp. Now he is an E2, but I'm not really sure what all that means yet =)
After graduation, Anthony could finally leave the base for a few hours. We decided to go to the Zoo in Columbia.
Brayden came face to face with his favorite and my least favorite animal....a snake!
We tried to get Carson to change into shorts and a T-shirt, but he refused (and his clothes were smelling pretty ripe after two days in that extreme heat! It registered 103 degrees and that wasn't including the heat index) We knew how much it meant to him, so we all endured....lol!
We went for an all you can eat Seafood dinner, so Anthony could really chow down. Then we had another tearful goodbye. I think it was harder this time, because we know what it's going to be like. I don't think anyone had a dry eye except Brayden, because he slept through it. When we got back to the hotel, he woke up and saw a man in camo from the back. He took off running thinking it was NeeNee and we had to call him back. All of us were wiping our tears again...
We ended our vacation with a stop in Clemson, South Carolina. Vernon was in hog heaven, because Clemson is his favorite team. We even got to see the team cross right in front of us to their practice field. Vernon got a couple of autographs and we watched them practice for a few minutes (before it started lightening and they called off practice). It was really neat and exciting. Vernon was like a kid in a candy store!!!
All in all, we had a great time. I really like being able to record our vacation and other happenings in this blog. It is going to make an excellent way to remember for years to come AND I get to share it all with my family and friends!
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