The Horn Family

Thursday, July 15, 2010

USS Hornet

Yesterday we had the great privilege of touring the USS Hornet with our private guide, Grandpa Jack! My grandfather is a proud Navy Veteran who served over 20 years in the service before retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. He joined the Navy right out of high school (he was just shy of 18, which, if you know my grandfather, you wouldn't be surprised that he bent the rules ;-). He was married to my grandmother, Antonia, for the last 10 years of his Navy career. Growing up, I heard stories of how Grandpa was gone 9 months out of each year, and because of frustrating last minute changes, he was assigned to a ship in southern California just after he purchased a home for his family in the San Francisco bay area. Therefore, they were just able to visit on weekends when his ship was in port.

On my toughest days, I draw strength from the memory of my grandmother. She was Italian-born and immigrated to America when she was just 16. She barely spoke the language, didn't have family as a support system, and had four young children to care for on a shoestring budget. Without the technology that we take for granted today, she relied on the written word to update my grandfather on only the happiest goings on. I just recently learned that she usually wrote several drafts of each letter to make sure they were just right, as the English language did not come easily to her. My grandmother embodied the committed military wife that I strive to be.

Even though it's been decades since Grandpa retired from the Navy, he still considers himself to be a sailor. A matter of months after my beloved grandma passed in 2006, Grandpa began volunteering at the USS Hornet. It is a historic aircraft carrier turned museum that is permanently docked in Alameda. Grandpa goes to work restoring the ship twice a week (he says the first hour he and his friends sit around and "tell lies" over coffee and then log about 2 1/2 hours of real work each day :-). We were so grateful to be able to experience one of Grandpa's passions.

Dad (Papa) met us on his lunch break for the grand tour! Thank goodness that he sacrificed lunch to spend time with us, because we could not have done it without him! We climbed several steep staircases/ladders to reach the top of the ship...Kris and I had babies strapped to our chests, Dad carried Andy, Mom provided much-needed encouragement and Grandpa led the way. None of us are keen on heights, but we helped eachother literally every step of the way. It was well worth the effort. We took in the most extraordinary view of the entire San Francisco skyline. That wasn't even the best part of the day, it was seeing Grandpa's sheer giddiness that made this excursion a trip highlight.

The Captain's Room.

Andy was a perfect angel as Papa carried him around the ship.

Made it to the top! Whew!

There it is! It doesn't get more beautiful than that.

Baby, how's that for nose art ;)

We all wore red, white and blue because we are proud Americans :).

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Great California Adventure

I do apologize for the lack of posts (and pictures, my love!) Us Horn girls have been on the go, and without reliable internet for the past week and a half! I dedicate this post to the fine people at Starbucks who provided me with speedy wireless internet today that cost no more than a tall black iced tea.

On Tuesday the 29th, I pulled out of the driveway at 5:22am (roughly 52 minutes after my scheduled departure time). After an hour-long pitstop (someone decided to take her sweet time eating her mango puree) and several repeat plays of my CD mixes, we pulled into Kris' driveway with 11 minutes to spare before my hair appointment. Thank goodness for Kris (and for the bottle of formula that I agreed to as supplementation), I landed in the chair at the salon only 12 minutes late. It felt great to look in the mirror and see a spiffed-up version of myself (although I should probably make use of the dark circle cream sample that the cosmetic lady pushed on me at the Post Exchange).

The next morning arrived quickly. Gone are the days of us all traveling to the airport in one car...Somewhere in the 5 o'clock hour, Kris, JP, Andy, Claire, Emmy and myself, thee carseats, two strollers, three suitcases and three carry-on bags were secured in two vehicles and enroute to the airport. It didn't take long before it was obvious that we were the group that you didn't want to get stuck behind. After rectifying Clairey's birth certificate debacle (she didn't have one with her and needed one), Kris and I headed to the congested security area with all of our babies and goods while JP rushed to park my car. I'm not really sure exactly how long it took us to get everyone and everything through security, but I do know that Andy had an emotional moment parting with both his shoes and "Sally" car. His carseat became stuck inside of the security machine which required a back-up call for it's retrieval. Of course, both of our carry-ons needed to be rechecked because of milk for the girls. We were most definitely "those people." But we made it through, and everything and everyone was accounted for. It took us two flights, but we made it to San Francisco in one piece with only some rattled nerves. (Our second flight was a very, very long 4 hours with a very, very unhappy Clairey Sacksteder.) Nothing that a little California sunshine couldn't remedy!

So far in our trip, Emmy has put her Grammy and Poppy Horn to work during all of their visits...Feeding her, listening to her, playing with her, soothing and cuddling her. She is thoroughly enjoying all the love that they have showered on her!

We have done our very best to maximize the brief windows of time that we have of wakeful happiness in the master nap schedule (three kiddos under three make it tough to leave as a group!) We have visited the park, the swam at pool, taken long walks and even rode the steam train at Tilden Park in Berkeley!

Emmy had an extra special play-date with her future husband, Will Landgraf! How I love that his grandparents live here too! Will and Emmy have known each other since they were 9 and 5 weeks gestation (respectively). It was so wonderful to chat with his mommy, Jen, but, as usual, we desperately needed way more time to sufficiently catch up. We are already dreaming up plans of a big reunion once Nick comes home!

I have also had the great pleasure of introducing Emmy to all of my side of the family in two wonderful family parties! On the Fourth of July, the Odell family celebrated America's Independence with an epic blow out at my grandma's house! Emmy was right at home as soon as we arrived, I believe it's because she knew that she was with her family. The same was true tonight at Clairey's first birthday party with my mom's side of the family. Emmy was right at home and welcomed with open arms. I can't describe the joyful feeling of watching my family welcome our girl. It's so beautiful to see all of the generations gather together.

We are only halfway done with the trip, can't imagine what other shenanigans we will be getting ourselves into...