I wanted to share some pictures from Kyle's homecoming this past Saturday. For those of you who don't know, Kyle is the Weapons Officer aboard the USS Hartford; a fast-attack submarine. The Hartford left for a 6-month deployment (typical fast-attack deployment length) on May 15. Kyle was still in school at the time and upon graduation and a little well-deserved time off, he flew out to meet the boat on August 5 in Lisbon, Portugal. It was very nice that we didn't have to do the full 6-month deployment. Prior to the port-visit in Portugal, the Hartford had been at sea since leaving Groton, CT. Kyle got to the boat at the right time, because there were three port calls right in row. After Portugal, Kyle was able to visit both Scotland and Norway. Port calls give the guys some time off and also gives families a chance to Skype or FaceTime, which we can't do when they're on the submarine. Sometimes when the submarine is at sea, you have really good email communication and other times you have no email at all. After the guys left Norway, we went almost seven weeks without a single email. When an email popped up one day, I knew we were on the downhill swing of our time apart.
The sub made one more stop in Portsmouth, England. They were delayed leaving that port by two days, which pushed our homecoming date back two days as well. But this past Saturday was the big day. Kyle was gone a total of 102 days, which is short in terms of Navy deployment, but plenty long none-the-less. This was his first time being out to sea since Brennan was born, so it was a new experience for us all.
Kyle stayed very busy on the sub and that made his time go by quickly for the most part. Brennan and I stayed busy as well. Brennan started school in September, we are very active in our church, and we are active with the other officers' wives from the boat. Having all these support systems makes the time apart much, much easier.
When Kyle left in August, I made a simple sticker chart for Brennan so we could count down the days until Daddy returned. He loved it and it gave us a way to count down to other events too like our trip to Myrtle Beach and Papaw coming to visit. Brennan was very happy to put his final sticker on the chart on Saturday morning! The sticker chart still only had 100 stickers on it because when the boat got delayed I just peeled off 2 stickers and we kept going.
The boat wasn't scheduled to arrive until 2pm, so we just tried to have a relaxing morning at home. Mommy had some more cleaning to do and Brennan was super great about playing independently.
After we ate lunch at home, it was time to head down to the base to watch the sub pull in. We were very blessed with a gorgeous day - mid 50s in November in CT - so we didn't even need to wear coats down at the pier. Here are some shots of us waiting to see the submarine come down the river.
 |
| Right after we arrived, these guys marched by chanting. |
 |
| We had a while to wait and B just looked around at everything going on. |
 |
| I love this one. He kept saying, "Ready now, ready now! |
 |
| A little snack break to pass the time. |
 |
| Giving Ms. Ali a squeeze! |
 |
| We had to get a picture with Flat Stanley for Auntie Val's nephew! |
 |
| Then we could finally see the sub! |
 |
| This is the longest part because it takes so long for them to pull up and get off the boat. TORTURE! |
A friend whose husband came home from deployment early was there to celebrate with the Hartford families and offered to take pictures with my camera. These are the ones she captured!
 |
| Brennan was getting super excited. |
 |
| Still waiting...a cookie makes time go by faster. |
 |
Finally the guys started walking off the boat! Then the gates get opened and everyone
walks onto the pier to find their loved ones! |
 |
| A sweet hug for Daddy! |
 |
| No clue what I'm laughing about, but oh well. |
 |
| Brennan loved his Paddington Bear! |
 |
| And an even bigger hug! |
 |
| Kyle even held Flat Stanley for me so I could get a picture with the sub. |
 |
| And back to that cookie again! |
 |
| Reunited! |
Now that Daddy's home again, he's getting back into our routines. Brennan has specifically asked for Dada to help with teeth brushing at night.
And he is constantly wanting to wrestle with Dada. Being 32 weeks pregnant puts a damper on Momma's wrestling abilities. Here's Kyle wrestling with B and Ringo at the same time!
We are so happy to have Daddy back home. Kyle has duty today, so he's at work on the sub for 24 hours. Brennan slept in later than normal this morning and when I went into his room once he woke up he said, "Dada still sleeping?" When I told him that Dada had to go to work today, he immediately broke down in tears and cried, "No Dada back on submarine!". Poor kid. I think Daddy leaving the next time is going to be much harder on him.
If you're really bored, I actually made it onto our local news for about 2 seconds. It just shows me walking down the pier looking for Kyle. You'll see me right after it talks about communication being few and far between for submariners.
No comments:
Post a Comment