All the 4 year olds at Brooke’s school had a ‘Donuts with Dad’ breakfast this morning where the kids presented their dads with a necktie or bow tie that they had colored along with a placemat that was decorated by them with fun facts that they had told their teachers who helped write them down. It was a lot of fun and a very special time for us.
I took Brooke and Alex to the Ringling Bros circus for the first time this year. Unfortunately it is also the last year for the circus. We all had a great time though watching the acrobatics, clowns, animals and general fun of the circus. Alex especially liked the popcorn and cotton candy.
We were invited to attend the Change of Command Ceremony for the USS Truxtun, a destroyer ship of which our neighbor is now the Commanding Officer. The ship deploys tomorrow for seven months. We watched the ceremony surrounded by the ships officers and crew at attention with accompaniment of a naval band on the flight deck (luckily in a heated tent as it is January). Then we were welcomed to the Wardroom for a reception. The previous captain and Troy used a large ceremony sword to cut the cake together. There was a lot of interesting things that were done in the ceremony and after, that we had never seen or known about. We got a coin also. It was an honor to attend.
We were a little busy the morning of AJ’s birthday on the Truxtun, but we got home and AJ enjoyed opening all his gifts. Then Brooke, Alex, and I made AJ his birthday cake while he relaxed playing video games and watching TV. We went out to dinner as a family to his birthday favorite, Smokey Bones and had birthday cake for dessert. Happy Birthday AJ!
Brooke had her dance recital for Tap and Ballet today. She started with a tap number and finished with her favorite – ballet. Then after getting her certificate we all had a nice reception with our dancer and she got a well earned cookie and juice box.
https://youtu.be/V7QV5VaCwT0
https://youtu.be/Iq_C6HZm5OI