The Kassel Family Project Life 365

This is what the “vacation tireds” looks like…

We arrived home from vacation at 5 am.  It was interesting to watch the sun rising as we were driving home.  We all went to bed and slept until about 10:30 am.  After I got up, I went onto our deck to take a closer look at our television antenna.  We are *extremely* lucky that we did not have a fire from the lightning strike.  Time to start making phone calls…

Today is our last day of vacation.  Because Sigma Chi Grand Chapter is over, we took our time getting ready in the morning.  We ate a nice breakfast and then decided to visit the Maritime Museum of San Diego.  We got to see the Star of India, which is the world’s oldest active sailing ship.  The kids enjoyed wandering through and looking at everything.  John was most amazed at how “small” the anchor was…  Keep in mind that he saw the anchors for the USS Midway just a few days before.  Any anchor looks small compared to that!

We also got to walk through the B-39, which is a Soviet submarine.  Talk about cramped quarters.  We also got to the see the USS Dolphin, which is the deepest diving submarine in the world.

We headed back to the hotel about 3 pm because the kids were showing signs of being really tired.  This trip included a lot of busy days and late nights with much less sleep than they are used to.  We had intended to hang out at the hotel for a while, but we decided to cut that short and headed for the airport early.  Fortunately, Southwest let us check our bags early so that we could go through security.  We found some comfy seats at our gate and sat down to relax for a (long) while.  We eventually changed the kids into their pajamas and let them play on their tablets.

Andy and I had drinks at the airport bar with some other Sigs who had late flights as well.  Our flight was delayed due to mechanical issues in San Antonio and, instead of leaving San Diego at 7:45 pm, we actually left closer to 9:10 pm.  Tomorrow will be a long day…

Laura got to experience her first White Rose Luncheon today.  This is for the spouses, significant others, and daughters of Sigs.  I was very much looking forward to taking Laura and the luncheon could not have been more perfect.  The location was George’s at the Cove in La Jolla and the view was beautiful!  The food was delicious and the luncheon was everything I wanted it to be for her first Sigma Chi White Rose Luncheon.  It was great mother-daughter time.

After returning to the hotel, we all got dressed up for the closing banquet.  Laura was excited to wear her fancy dress and John did not argue about wearing a tie.  I call that a success!  Andy also got to wear his new, custom-tailored suit.  I must say that, despite the cost, the suit looks great on him!

Unfortunately, the kids were tired, so the three of us returned to the room right after dinner.  Andy stayed at the banquet and then went to a couple of small receptions.  It was a nice way to end the 80th Sigma Chi Grand Chapter.

Today is a day of relaxation for the kids and I.  Andy will be busy all day with Sigma Chi Grand Chapter.  The kids and I intend to spend most of the day at the pool.  We got to the pool about 11 am and stayed until nearly 5 pm.  Success!  I drank some good wine and read a book.  The kids swam, swam, swam!

That evening, we went with the wife and kids of one of the other Sigs from the Western Illinois University chapter to Seaport Village.  What a fun evening!  We wandered around, ate some good food, and just enjoyed the time.

The kids (and me) were exhausted by the end of the day!  Lots of sun and fresh air.  A perfect vacation day.

Vacation – Day 2 started out fantastic.  We stopped by the Sigma Chi vendor tables to see what was new.  Everyone who saw Andy and John got a kick out of John’s t-shirt.  John *is* in training to be a Sigma Chi, you know…

Originally, we were going to take the kids to the beach, but it turns out that it is not a direct path there, so we adjusted our plans.  We mentioned the USS Midway Museum (the aircraft carrier) and both kids got very excited.  A shuttle from the hotel takes you right there, so off we went!

You really have no idea just how big an aircraft carrier is until you are standing on the flight deck and see just how long the deck really is.  It is amazing!  We spent the entire afternoon wandering through the ship.  We took the self-guided tour and learned all about the different parts of the ship.  This is a picture from the end of the flight deck.  It is quite a view.

I was most impressed by the wall with all the different squadrons that served on the ship during the 46 years she was in service.  Just amazing.

As we were wandering through the ship, we found the brig.  We thought about leaving the kids there…

…but then thought better of it.  Besides, they were behaving really well at the time and we really had no reason to leave them there.  We ended the tour on the flight deck where we got to see the Admiral and Captain’s quarters and many different airplanes and helicopters.  We also got to listen to a former Navy pilot talk about what it is like taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier.  As we were wandering around, we found a statue of the shooter.  Of course, Laura took a moment to pretend to be the shooter.

I asked John to take a turn, but he was already off looking at the next airplane.  He really was in heaven and loved every minute of being on the aircraft carrier.

Unfortunately, the five hours that we spent on the USS Midway went by very quickly!  It was such a fun day until Andy got a text message that our house had been hit by lightning.  Yes.  Lightning.  While we attended the opening reception of the 80th Sigma Chi Grand Chapter, we were furiously texting and calling people we knew to find out the extent of the damage.  There was no fire, so we are thankful for that.  We will be home early Monday morning and will know more then.