In Their Boots/Jane Wayne

The first Saturday in June SOI-E held am "In Their Boots Day" or what was formerly known as a "Jane Wayne Day". I've always wanted to go to one of these and I was pretty excited when I heard I finally would be able to go to one! Ryan's old unit held one when we first moved to North Carolina but we didn't hear about it until it was too late and I was unable to attend. Even though Ryan was mid cycle he was told he should be able to join me, so I signed up. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it is basically like "Take Your Child to Work Day" but for military spouses and children... except maybe a little more geared towards spouses for the most part as you do have to be 18 to go to the rifle range.

So that is how I found myself getting up earlier on a Saturday morning than I do normally on work days when I open! By 7am I was on base signed in and ready to go. Ryan's friend Mark, also a Combat Instructor, had his girlfriend Kayla sign up as well and I was thankful for a familiar face.... especially since Ryan got held up at work and ended up not able to meet up with me. I thanked Mark and Kayla profusely for letting me be their third wheel, and to Mark for taking so many pictures and carrying our bags for us!

Our first stop was the rifle range. My husband has talked about rifle ranges since our dating days so I was pretty stoked to be able to finally do one. They had everything set up for us and we basically just had to lie there and shoot!

We were given flak jackets and kevlar as well as ear and eye pro... I think we did pretty well but Ryan made fun of me when he saw the picture. Apparently my kevlar was crooked. We had to wear long sleeved shirts, pants and closed shoes for the range so I was glad it was done early in the morning before the day got too hot. I know my husband will be on the range for hours and come home hot, sweaty and exhausted with interesting tan lines, so our one hour in the early morning suited me just fine.

We were only given fifteen rounds and I was proud of myself for hitting targets on the 50, 250 and 500 yard line! If I had know the "score" they were tracking was just based on hitting the targets in general versus the distance I probably would have stuck with the closer one! :P I won't share my score but I will say that I hit three on the 500 yard line!

After the range we took the bus back to base and got to try all the other activities, including a night vision goggle obstacle course and the ISMIT. The ISMIT is basically a simulator that they do rather than a live fire range. Above I am using the grenade launcher and below the 50 cal. machine gun. The grenade launcher was a ton of fun and the whole thing shook back and forth, it was crazy powerful! The .50 cal rattled me around a bit too!

We also got decked out again to ride in a Light Armored Vehicle, or LAV, which made my husband jealous as he even said he's never gotten to ride in one! 

That LAV went fast too! Kayla and I were standing in the back (we decided to be good grown ups and let the ten year old kid take the gun turret) and we had to hold on to keep from falling off our perches as we flew around the turns!

They also landed some helicopters in a nearby field that we were allowed to get on and explore.

I got to sit in a Huey! It was a tight squeeze, not gonna lie. No wonder they have height restrictions for pilots! When we explored the CH 53-E I nearly wiped out three different times since the floor was slick with hydraulic fluid and my sneakers have basically no grip. The crew at least got a good laugh out of me, happy to help!

"Get to the choppa!"

I had a wonderful time and I am so thankful SOI-E went out of their way to plan such a fun event for the families. We all received t-shirts, SOI-E canvas bags, and Jane Wayne day dog tags too. I had a blast and even though I was bummed Ryan couldn't make it I was grateful Kayla and Mark kept me company. If you ever get the opportunity to attend an "In Their Boots Day" go for it!!

Leave - 2 Weeks

Before being married to someone in the military I never imagined I would like the word Leave. It usually means someone is going away, saying good bye... but in the military it is an awesome thing. It means my husband is home and not just home, but home for more than 48 hours! I had two whole weeks of having Ryan home. Man did I get spoiled!

Not only did I have my husband home, but he did so much around the house so when I came home from work we could just spend time together. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, dry cleaning, grocery shopping... see? Spoiled! We went out to dinner to some of our favorite restaurants, we played Monopoly at McDonalds (anyone got a Boardwalk? :P), watched Netflix and movies, watched the Gamecocks, went shooting, hiking... we had a busy two weeks! A lot of weekdays were low key as I did have work the next day but coming home to snuggle on the couch with Ryan and a glass of wine made my days worthwhile.

Of course Ryan flew into BWI, 45 minutes away, and his flight was due to land at 12:45 am. Yea. And it was delayed. So I didn't get him until almost 2am! It was so wonderful to see him again, I amy have jumped on him in the airport. It is becoming a trend.

We kept it low key Saturday but Sunday we went to the Renaissance Festival!



I wait all year for Cheesecake on a Stick. AMAZING



I am convinced the food makes it. Macaroni and Cheese on a Stick, Scotch Eggs... oh no I am getting hungry!



The Hubby enjoys Mac N Cheese on a Stick too!



Then we went to juggling school. Ryan was pretty good.



I on the otherhand look terrified of the tennis balls.



But my concentration was totally there!!!



Then Mr. Show Off did it one handed :P



Jousting!



Kyndra, Tim and Boyfriend Bentlee joined us too. Check out those eyes! He is such an adorable baby!



Husband and Boyfriend bonded a bit. The last time Ryan saw Bentlee he was only a few weeks old!



We're dorks and had a blast. We have gone the last two years now, and I hope wherever we PCS next has one close by! I need my Renn Fest fix, if nothing else then for the food!!!



I think Tim and Kyndra had fun too (:

Sadly I did have to work during the week when Ryan was home. We need to save my time off for the ball and holidays, so Ryan enjoyed sleeping til noon and running errands and watching Mad Men until I got off of work! We'd go out to eat or shopping (many shoes were involved in the process!) and then try and go out for definite on the weekends.

Like to Great Falls. It is a special place for us and we go every fall. It was here Ryan first told me that he loved me, so it is definitel uber special.



Plus with the leaves changing it was gorgeous. We grabbed some Subway sandwiches and made our way out to the park and enjoyed lunch on a giant rock in the ravine.



A lot of these are sort of dark, the sun was setting and on my camera display these looked a lot lighter than when I uploaded them :( One day I will know how to take pretty pictures darnit.



Ryan had to give me a heart attack and climb sheer rock cliff faces. No rope, no gear... just him. High in the air above the churning river. He went camping out in Joshua Tree Park while he was in school and climbed one big boulder so now he is an expert.

Oy.



Some perspective... the kayaker in the water, then Ryan, then me zoomed in way up top taking the darn picture.



But he made it. Thankfully!



I made him have to sit for a picture with me after scaring the bejeezus out of me on the cliffs! Self timers are a wonderful thing sometimes!


Insert another work week here. Then Halloween! (Well, a party Friday before) I used Color Oops to take the red out of my hair (sigh, I miss it) for Halloween and the Ball. My red hair just did not work with the dress I have so I knew I'd be stripping it anyway. The Color Oops got most of the red out, but it is definitely strawberry blonde ish more than straight blonde. I think it will get there though. I mean, I used washable dye in the first place!

What were our Halloween Costumes?



Alice and the Mad Hatter!!!



Alice is my favorite costume, this is the third year I have been it! Once I was about 5, then in college, and now. And probably next year. We actually spent money for costumes this year, they will be worn again!

Sunday we went to the shooting range. Because that is how we roll!



I did better this time! Even some bullseyes!



Of course Mr. Marine blew me out of the water. As it should be! There would be a problem if I could shoot better than a former infantryman!



I did ok though.



We also got a fun card game target and tried to get high scores... I just tried to hit the darn things!



After shooting we went to church and then to our favorite Italian place, Trattoria Franco. It was the same place we ate the last time he left... but we do love it. That cannoli was awesome. We also had calamari, veal, and wine. We even got to meet Franco briefly.

As we got home we realized it was Mischief Night and decided we wanted to cause some Mischief.

"What should we do?"

".... Tape Adam into his apartment?"

Genius. I surprise myself sometimes!

We had some painters tape/masking tape stuff that has sat in our closet for over a year, so we used that. Ryan cleaned the gun and I made long strips of tape to hang from our doorway and bookcase. Once we used up the roll we carried them upstairs. Sure some got tangled and we were whisper fighting up the stairs trying to be stealthy, but we did it! Adam said later he thought he heard something, but we didn't alert him or his neighbors dog!



Adjusting the first layer.



We ran out of tape so we thought we could use something more...



Paper towels and duct tape it is!!! Job well done!



Adam was a little surprised when he got Ryan's text asking him to come outside and smoke! We just heard "What the ****?" And saw him slowly punch his way out!


Saying goodbye was hard as usual, but at least we don't have to go too long. I go out to 20 Palms on the 17th for the ball. Cannot wait!

OH! We got IPHONES! No more flip phone for this girl! I am so addicted... and Tango is the best app ever, it is like facetime/video chat but it can use 3G or wifi, best ever!

Sorry for the picture heavy post, I had some ground to make up!