Family Day with Thomas on Parris Island

Thursday
September 3, 2009

We Woke up at three o’clock in the morning when Shane, Nicole and Haley arrived from Louisiana. We got them settled in the truck and then went back to sleep. We then woke up at six o’clock. We all got cleaned up and dressed and headed for Parris Island. We arrived and found a seat in the drill hall and waited for all the graduating platoons to march in. After that they were all released on liberty. They had five hours of on base liberty. Finally, we all got to give him a big hug and spend time with him. We went by the exchange and then the commissary and picked up some deli meat and went to a park and had a picnic. There was a lot more during the day but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We had a wonderful day with Thomas and look forward to his graduation tomorrow morning.

All of Us with Thomas


Platoon 1059


A Close Up Shot of Thomas in Formation


One Marine to Another Marine


Thomas standing by His Bed


Thomas finding a New Hat at the Exchange


Thomas with his Drill Instructor SSgt Marshall


Everyone Enjoying a Picnic with Thomas


Nicole, Thomas & Shane


Haley & Thomas


Gina & Thomas

(one very happy and proud mom)


Me & Thomas

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

A Fun Day at the Beach

Wednesday
September 2, 2009

Gina got up again before me and put the coffee on. If she doesn’t watch out she is going to spoil me. I then got up with her and brought her a cup of coffee. We both had already decided that we were going back to Hunter Island State Park so she could collect some more shells and rocks. First, I wanted to get the blog entry written and posted. Once that was finished we headed to the beach. I didn’t get any pictures yesterday since the sky was overcast badly. Today was only a little better but we wouldn’t be coming back. Gina headed off to search for more shells and I sat down to finish my book.

Road into the Day Use Area


Gina Searching for Shells

After I finished my book it was lunch time so I went back to the truck and fixed both Gina and I sandwich. Then we pulled the bikes out and went for a bike ride. The temperature was a nice 74 degrees. We headed north on the roadway until we reach the lighthouse.

Lighthouse

We went inside the gift shop but didn’t see anything we couldn’t live without. From there we headed down a trail until it ran us back to the beach. We then went about two miles farther north and until Gina couldn’t take it anymore. She had to put the bike down and look for shells. She didn’t really find the shells she was looking for except she did find a lot of sanddollars. She finally had enough of looking and hopped back on her bike.

View of Campground from the Beach

We then headed to Hunting Island State Park campground. I wanted to see all the camp sites. There are sites that I could have fit in but the trees were just too close to the roads to safely navigate through the campground. On almost every loop there was at least one hairpin turn that I would have struggled to get around.

View Inside of the Campground

While we rode through the campground we ran across three deer. Gina almost got to pet one.

The First Deer We Saw in the Campground


Then Another Deer


Gina is On Cloud Nine

I don’t know what she was more thrilled over the deer or the shells she found. From there we headed south down the beach.

This was a really Neat Area of the Beach


Gina on her Bike

We stopped a few times so she could look for shells.

Some of the Shells She Found


Three Shells still Hinged Together

We left the beach and headed back home. Gina walked down to the laundry room and put a blanket on to wash. She then gave Angel & Zoey a bath. I then cut up a pork loin and a beef tenderloin and Gina vacuum packed them. I then grilled two nice beef filets while Gina put two potatoes in the microwave. After we ate dinner I turned on the truck’s air conditioner so it would be cool when Shane, Nicole, and Haley arrived. Gina baked a pan brownies. We then relaxed while we watched a little TV.

We have a big day planned tomorrow as we get to spend the day with Thomas on base. Tomorrow is family day where all the families of the new marines can spend the day with them and learn a little about what they were taught over the last twelve weeks.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Relaxing Day at Hunting Beach State Park

Tuesday
September 1, 2009

We woke up at eight o’clock this morning and then Gina brought me a cup of coffee at 8:30. This is two mornings in a row that Gina got up before me. We enjoyed our coffee together in bed watching the last few minutes of the morning news. From there we both got on our computers. Gina wanted to get back on Facebook and I wanted to get the blog entry written. We didn’t really have any plans for today. So after I got the blog entry posted I asked Gina if you wanted to go to the beach. She said yes, so that would be our destination today. We left home around noon. We needed to stop by a grocery store to buy some bread first. We both just wanted to eat a sandwich for lunch at the beach. While we were heading toward Beaufort Gina asked me if we could stop by this store called Carolina Stamper. She wanted to see if they had some Marine specific stuff for Thomas’s scrapbook. I dropped her off and then thought I would try to find a place to park. However, after 15 minutes of driving around I realized that I was not going to find a place to park. I finally made my way back around to the store and Gina was waiting on me outside. She did find a few items that she thought would work for Thomas’s scrapbook. From there we stopped by Publix and bought a loaf of bread. We then headed toward Hunting Island State Park. We first stopped by the campground and met the camphosts which were very nice. The reviews on this campground were correct. From what we could see the turns were extremely tight and the trees left no margin of error. I’m not saying I couldn’t get my truck and camper in there. However, I don’t think I would even try to bring my camper here since the probability of damage to our home would be higher than I would be willing to risk. From there we headed down the road to the park’s day use area. We paid our entrance fee and then found a parking spot near the beach. We then walked out to the beach and set up our chairs. The sky was overcast but the temperature was a mild 78 degrees with a cool wind coming off the water. I began reading and Gina went walking down the beach looking for shells. She found a lot of different shells and she must have walked up and down the beach more than 15 times during our six hours on the beach. Gina looked for shells so hard that she didn't even sit down one time. I packed up our stuff and got it all loaded back into the truck and then went to get Gina. We enjoyed the beach so much that we decided we would go back tomorrow.

We made it home around eight o’clock. I lit the grill while Gina washed off her shells. We had baby back ribs and sausage with bake beans for dinner. After dinner Gina chatted with Ashley and then hopped on Facebook for a little while. Around ten o’clock we both went to bed. Gina went to sleep and I sat up reading for a couple more hours. I knew it was getting late so I put the book down and went to sleep too.

Until tomorrow, Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.