Tricia’s Graduation Ceremony, Air Battle Manager, Class 22014

Liz and I got to watch a really great event: Tricia’s graduation ceremony, where she officially became an Air Battle Manager, for the 337th Air Control Squadron.
Liz and I got to watch a really great event: Tricia’s graduation ceremony, where she officially became an Air Battle Manager, for the 337th Air Control Squadron.
Brandon set up a slack line (and is something to behold, watching him run and leap onto the thing).
A big event that many of us were looking forward to this weekend: Tricia, visiting with the kids. It’s been ages since Liz and I have seen Paige, Audrey, and Sebastian… and it was a mini-reunion of sorts when they all arrived.
It’s tough to only see family via video, and doubly so since it’s been harder to see the Fords. But video has gotten better over the years, and while it pales to being in the same room… it’s still something that can connect us, despite our distances.
The ladies, checking out some family photos on Tricia’s laptop. For some reason, my iPhone added this extra blur/gauze to things and this looks like a ridiculous stock photo.
We are on a bit of a road trip, visiting family in both Valparaiso and Indianapolis. Last night, we stopped to stay the night in Valpo and visited with Tricia (who is in town with Sebastian, Audrey, and Paige).
In back, that would be Sebastian putting on his Darth Vader helmet. I wish I had some video/audio to share, because in addition to changing his voice… it also spits out Vader quotes. Which, coming from his short frame, was actually just hilarious.
After church, we went out for a late brunch. Kirt and the girls ended up playing a really silly game (where they pinched his mouth, and forced him to talk and make farting sounds). They were in absolute stitches for a really long time, and it was hysterical to watch both him and their reactions.
An early Xmas in Atlanta, with the Ford kids in the midst of opening up their gifts.
I have to say – playing Skee-ball with the kids, they’re all arms and power throws. Every ball is a hail Mary attempt to hit the small “100 point” spot in the corner. And I’ll be damned if they don’t hit it more often than one would think. I was clearly the worst player of the bunch, score-wise.
Once upon a time there was a raindrop. She lived in a big fluffy cloud.
A dangerous combination: children and sprinkles. The containers for sprinkles have extremely wide spouts, and really are designed for adults. When a kid gets a hold of one of these things and pours, the sprinkles just come out like they’re pouring water.
One great gift that the Fords got was a Karaoke set. Shortly after it was plugged in, all the kids began taking turns singing songs. As you can probably imagine, it was both awesome and incessant for the remainder of the day:
For a part of the morning afterwards, Tricia and I drove a bit around Decatur and she showed me around. Before heading home, we stopped over at a place called Revolution Doughnuts.
One of the things we did a lot of, while in Atlanta, was spend time in the pool. Oftentimes in the past, we’ve visited mostly during Christmastime (and not really swimming weather).
With the sun out and the weather as nice as it was… any chance we had to go in the pool, I was there.