Southsea Castle (and Lighthouse)

fromwww.southseacastle.co.uk

One day, about 2 months into our time here in England, while sitting at the playground watching Nathan and Sarah play, I looked up and saw a lighthouse.  I was stunned because Nathan has an uncanny ability to see lighthouses everywhere and we had never seen this lighthouse before.  I called him over to me and just before I could point it out to him, Nathan yells LIGHTHOUSE!  Needless to say we planned a trip to visit the lighthouse as soon as possible.

 England has a wonderful thing called fall break that gives the children 10 days out of school in the fall, so while the boys were out on fall break we visited the lighthouse which is part of the Southsea Castle.

First Day of School 2011

Better Late Than Never

This year school is a little different. Alex and Spencer are going to school at Ryde School with Upper Chine. It is on the Isle of Wight just off the coast of Portsmouth. They wear uniforms and ride a hovercraft and walk almost two miles literally up a hill. After school it is down hill. Sarah and Nathan don't have a school. They will be being home schooled once we get a home. The day before school started we had welcome and meet and greet type activity. The weather was a little harsh with high winds and drizzle. The hovercraft was closed and we had to take a foot ferry over to the school. Now we know the procedure for bad weather.

Luckily the first day of school weather was much more delightful. We left the hotel, took a taxi to the hovercraft terminal and as a family took the boys to school. The hovercraft had about 10 students going Ryde. From a not so discreet distance we followed Alex and Spencer up the hill till they arrived at the back gate of the school. They were lucky enough to be friended by another boy Spencer's age who showed them the way.

While the boys were at school Sarah, Nathan, Jay and I toured a part of the Isle of Wight by history telling double decker bus. We also did some shopping and had hot chocolate at the Chocolate Apothecary. After school the boys came down the hill and met us for ice cream. Not your typical 1st day of school, but highly memorable.

Striping Up on the HMS Victory

Today Jay and I were happy to be invited to attend the Striping Up Ceremony for Jay's sponsor, Joe Bainer. Joe has been a terrific sponsor before we arrived in the UK and since we've been here. The favorite saying our first week here was "Joe Says". The kids even talked about playing Simon Says and changing it to Joe Says.

Joe was promoted from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy and chose the HMS (Her Majesty's Ship) Victory as the location for the event. (HMS Victory is perhaps the greatest successful war vessel of all times. It was Admiral Nelson's flag ship for two very decisive Naval battles.) There were officers from the US Navy, Her Majesty's Royal Navy and other NATO militaries all joined together on a beautiful old wooden hull war ship.

During the ceremony they read the Warrant (US Government's official statement of promotion), recited the Oath of Office and then the newly promoted officer changed into his new uniform with the assistance of the Admiral.

We loved being a part of it. Congratulations Joe and thank you for including us.

I Guess It's Really Going To Happen

I guess the Navy really is going to send us to England. It appears all the Ts are crossed and all the Is are dotted. I have been working my tail off trying to get ready for the packers that come in 5 days, but tonight I am calling it quits for trying to make progress and I am going to work toward updating the blog.

Originally I had thought how wonderful it would be to document each step it takes to prepare for an overseas move with the military. I very quickly realized that at the end of the day there was NO WAY I wanted to relive it. There have been many, many mountains to climb with very few downhills. It feels like the actual moving of our things is the easy part when you look at that next to all the paperwork. We are talking four months of intense paperwork and emailings.

Next week our furniture leaves and we will move in with my parents for the last few weeks we are in Virginia. Our adventure begins and I look forward to sharing it on my blog. That's the update for now.

Hop On the Roller Coaster - We Are Going For a Ride

Hop on, sit down, hold on tight we are starting the ride again. It's a roller coaster ride being a military family. For the last 4 summers we have wondered whether or not to get a pool membership at the neighborhood pool because there is a large stock buy in and we didn't know if we would be here the next year or not. We have been living in Virginia since summer of 2006 and every year there has been a possibility of a move. In 2008 we were headed to Japan to the point of selling a bunch of furniture and giving our dog to another family, just to have the move cancelled less than 48 hours before the movers arrived. This year I told a friend that I was pretty certain that for the first time I could guarantee that we would be staying in Virginia for a few years. Jay will be leaving his ship for in August and returning to a job not based on a ship. We were expecting a job in this general area. He chose several jobs here in Hampton Roads, but kind of as a joke he threw in England because it was more like a dream than anything.

Well England it is. The Navy has told us to prepare to move to Portsmouth, UK in September. The Navy has told us what we need to do, but to be prepared that we still might not move to England because we don't have official orders and we can't expect them until June or July.

Mixed emotions flow in the household. Jay, Spencer and I are excited. Alex is looking on the bright side. Sarah is nervous and not sure if she can be happy about it yet. Nathan wants to ride a train, a double decker bus and see Thomas the Tank Engine, but has no clue, what's happening.

It could all change in an instant, but for now we are preparing to move to England. More to come. . .