As most of you know, Cameron suffered more than the concussion mentioned in the last post.  Without re-hashing the details, let’s just say that he exercised poor judgment…similar to that of the poor sap in the photo above.  What do said sap and Cameron have in common?  Neither was wearing a helmet.

Cameron is usually pretty good about wearing a helmet.  But for some reason, and on my birthday no less, he decided to become the Jean Van Damme of skateboard stunts and attempt something spectacular sans-helmet.  Big Mistake.  He remembers the stunt going bad, and then he has a fuzzy recollection of waking up on a friend’s couch.  Two hospital visits and two doctor visits later, he was promptly ensconced in a Pediatric ICU Unit with a 27 meter needle in his spine (or so it felt) draining spinal fluid that was creating pressure inside his now cracked (though still thick) skull.

After five days on his back (and only on his back), he was pronounced healthy enough to leave the hospital but warned that he’d be “uncomfortable” for awhile.  Today he’s a reasonably normal version of himself but one that suffers from recurring headaches and a general state of “wobbliness”.  In other words, he’s on the path to a full recovery.  He should be good to go in just a little bit, and he’ll most certainly be a wiser version of himself than the one that made such a potentially devastating choice just a short time ago.  Right Cameron?  Right…I thought so.

Thank you again to everyone that stayed abreast of Cameron’s progress.  We appreciate the thoughts and prayers.  For those of you reading this that weren’t aware of the severity of the incident, I apologize…things were a bit hectic for a few days.

When Cameron comes to Florida in a few weeks, he’ll be leaving the skateboard at his Mom’s.  We’ll play a lot of golf, we’ll get him back in Aaron’s gym, and we’ll feed him well (every other day).  Maybe we’ll let him play with a bouncy ball or something similarly low-risk.

Kristin is contemplating a school change.  In an effort to jump-start her education, she’s thinking about leaving William Patterson (where she’s an undeclared major enduring the standard fare of liberal arts) to enter a school that caters to her primary interest: interior design.  Teachers and professionals alike have declared her interior design skills to be “very good” to “excellent”, and having enjoyed her expertise firsthand, I have to agree.  She’s brilliant!  (Sorry…excuse the outrageous display of pride…)  Should she decide to make the change, she’ll dive headfirst into a program that can have her up and running in as little as two years.  After that, intern opportunities lead to careers with the likes of Ethan Allen or Disney.  I kinda’ like the idea of Disney…

We’ll keep you posted on her decision.

Mark just came off Aviation Week (a success) and is busy preparing for Sub Week.  Marine Week was fun, Surface Week wasn’t.  If there was ever any doubt about Mark’s lack of enthusiasm about being on a ship, that doubt is now removed.  He hated it.  (Kinda’ makes the Navy an interesting choice, doesn’t it?)  Anyway, given the opportunity to take the stick of a Navy Trainer in flight, he declined.  Why?  Because flight time is limited, and Mark decided to use his time to enjoy the pilot’s skill.  He experienced a bunch of rolls, dives, climbs, and upside-down flying that left him even more convinced that aviation is his first choice of career paths.  Given that our favorite midshipman enjoys a class rank of 59 (out of about 1,200), he’s got a good shot at getting his choice of career pipelines.  But then again…

…part of Sub Week includes an overnight “cruise” that other mids have called “a blast”.  The Navy has been falling short in recruiting Sub Officers for the last several years, so the sub guys put on a good show for mids-soon-to-be-Naval-officers.  Mids enjoying high class rank are recruited for subs aggressively (and I mean aggressively).  Sub school involves two difficult years of study, but at the end, graduates hold the equivalent of a masters in Nuclear Engineering.  These guys (all guys until this year) join an extremely small group of individuals worldwide qualified in all aspects of nuclear power.  Once deployed, Sub Officers enjoy some of the highest compensation in the military.  Demand in the private sector is off the charts.  All in all, it’s a great career path…

…unless your passion lies elsewhere.  So I guess we’ll see, right?

Paris is enjoying a few weeks in Girl Scout Camp.  It’s a day camp experience now, but Kristin just reminded me today that when she was Paris’ age, she enjoyed one week of overnight Girl Scout Camp.  She was angry with us for not allowing her to attend two.  What the hell was I thinking?  I let my little girl spend a week away from home in the woods?  Where were all of you to smack some sense into me?  I guess it wasn’t all bad…Kristin has great memories of her camp experience, and she quasi-chastised me for not considering overnight camp for Paris.  The only overnight experience Paris is going to enjoy in the near future is in a convent.  (Do convents still exist?)

I must be getting old.

More soon –

Mark was one of the “Fencers of the Decade” in Passaic County.  Just as importantly, two of his teammates were named, and a couple of his friends/competitors made the list as well.  All good guys, all deserving!

Mark is in San Diego right now for ProTraMid (Professional Training for Midshipmen).  He may even be out to sea (this week being Surface Week).  His phone is dead, and staying in touch with him during the week while training is near impossible.  Last week was Marine Week (at Camp Pendleton), with Sub Week and Aviation Week coming up.  He’ll hopefully see all of this over the weekend when he has some time off.

Congratulations Mark!

Kristin wrapped up Year One at Patterson University.  One down baby!

Cameron recently managed another skateboard related injury.  This time it was a severe concussion.  The discussion over helmets being worn at all times has already happened on several fronts.  When he finally remembers what year it is, I think he’ll consider favorably all of the helmet advice he’s getting.

Paris wrapped up another successful school year.  She tested and qualified for every available accelerated learning opportunity offered in our school system.  It’s certainly nice to have choices…

We celebrated the end of school with a short trip over to Disney.  Four days of fun in Paradise!

More info soon!

Grammy and Kristin were here for a week (ending this past Wednesday).  Kristin is excited about the start of school, and Grammy was excited to hang with the girls (Kristin and Paris).  Mark flew in on Saturday and added to the mix, and then Cameron joined us on Wednesday.  We’ve been having a blast!

But!  All of this fun and games makes it hard to gather thoughts and photos from Yosemite.  I promise more Yosemite is coming!

Until then, let’s talk boxing.  Whenever Mark is here, he loves visiting Aaron Jaco.  Everyone remembers Aaron, right?  Former National Boxing Association Light Heavyweight champ.  Trainer extraordinaire.  All around good guy.  If you need a refresher on him, check out  this post.

So Mark wants to train with Aaron.  As an added bonus, Cameron decides he wants to as well.  Cameron’s first day was Friday.  It’s safe to say he learned a lot, but it was a tough day for him.  Everyone’s first day is a tough day.  Cameron threw more punches, did more push-ups, and did more ab work than he’s probably done in his entire life.  All of this in one, joyful hour.  But he did it!

After the workout, I asked him what he thought.  “I’m going to puke”, he said.

“Nah”, I said, “that’s just your ab muscles doing a little spasm thingy.  You’re fine!”

“I might need Mark to stop the car.  I’m not feeling so good.”

It turns out we made it home without stopping the car.  On the way, I said “Cameron, you did such a great job today that tomorrow I’m going to introduce you to kettlebells.”

“Oh my God, Dad.  Is he worse?”  (Kettlebells aren’t a “he”.  Kettlebells are weights.  Cannonballs with handles.  I think Cameron was a little tired.)

So Friday was a success!  Mark and I enjoyed the workout, and Cameron is really looking forward to Monday.  Yes!  He’s excited!  This is a good thing.

As an added bonus, Mark sparred with Aaron on Thursday.  Aaron likes to “slow things down” when sparring with someone new to the sport.  He coaches the whole time, he offers a ton of encouragement, and he’s pretty easy-going on his sparring partner.  Do not confuse “easy-going” with “easy”.

Mark busted his butt.  Aaron had fun.  We have the video to prove it!  It shows Mark — decked out in a 2009 Detailer shirt he won from an upperclassman.  And it shows Aaron — shoes off, having fun, hands down while encouraging Mark to “throw your jab!”  Mark learned a ton…

…but learning can hurt.  Check it out:

Important note to current or future plebes that get clever and find this: Mark is most certainly better now (when you read this) than he was in the video.  You probably want to exercise a little discretion.  Comments about this post or video will absolutely make your day-to-day more difficult.  Just a thought…

Well…it was.  Cold, that is.  And rainy.  I wouldn’t call the month “bad” because…hey!…we got to see a lot of folks that are very important to us!  But the weather prevented us from doing a lot of things we would have liked to do, and as a result, our photo collection is sparse.  In fact, the gloomy weather must have had an adverse effect upon my thinking skills.  We had a beautiful day in Albany hiking with Peter and Mona, but did I take any pictures?  No!  I blew it!

So.  Let’s look at what we do have.  First, we arrived in the area and immediately caught up with the kiddies.  Yes!  Paris adores her time with her siblings, and this visit was no different.  We managed to get ‘em all!  Can you believe it?  And…we even met the lovely Michelle.  Cameron finally introduced us to his date after what…18 months?  “Hey Cameron!  Do we embarrass you?”  Hmmm…maybe we don’t now, but gimmie a minute, okay?

Michelle!  This is the young lady who will someday suffer my hands around her neck because she and Cameron text each other incessantly!

I’m kidding, Cameron…put the weapons down.  Here is the lovely Michelle sitting with the hairy version of Cameron:

Fast forward.  We hit Sami’s house, we hit Grammy’s house, we hit Oma’s house, and we descended upon Peter and Mona’s house.  We were all over the place during the first two weeks of June, and it rained non-stop.

Kristin had her prom.  Kristin had graduation.  Christopher graduated.  And Cameron’s birthday is Monday!  We had a lot to celebrate!

Since I had to leave a little earlier than expected, we celebrated Cameron’s birthday on Thursday.  Here are the greatest girls in the Universe enjoying lunch!

I have no idea what is happening here.  Obviously hairy Cameron has become hairless Cameron, and Herb has got some hair action going with that napkin.  Cameron thought it was funny…

And here, the Hairless One opens yet another birthday card.  He looks frustrated!  I guess it does get difficult opening such a large number of cards with checks and cash falling all over the place.  Such work!

We’re not following any chronological order here, so let’s jump back to our Broadway excursion.  Paris (and Mary Kate, Karen and I) ventured into the City to see The Little Mermaid. Fantastic!

Walking in the City!  When Mark, Kristin and Cameron were little, they used to beg me to “go walking” in the City.  We were never allowed to take a cab no matter how cold, how windy, or how rainy it was.  They loved — absolutely loved! — walking in the City.  Cameron was just a baby, so he got pushed around. What did he care?  I have pictures of all of us on the Empire State Building.  Alone.  It was so damn cold that no other person was silly enough to go up 100 stories in the snow and wind.  And when we came down?  “No cab!”.  We had to walk to our next destination and to our car.

So here are Paris and Mary Kate doing a little “walking”.  Paris isn’t as big a fan of New York City compared to her siblings, but she knows how to get around.

And what’s this?  Get ready!  Line up!  We’re here!

Cameras are not allowed in Broadway theaters, but I had mine ready.  We were in the second row, and I had some prime shots lined up.  But the seats were a mixed blessing.  I was in clear view of several Camera Nazis and ultimately, I decided against any photos because I figured it was a bad idea for Paris to see me being escorted out of the show.  It might have left a blight on her day.  I did find some promo shots online and, though not great, they give you a sense of the stage scenery and setting.  It was very impressive!

The “water” is colored sheeting of some sort with light tubes on the top to give it shape and a boundary. It rose and fell in realistic waves.  The performers all wore custom made (and costume appropriate) “heelies”.  If you have kids, you know the shoes I’m talking about.  The large wheel embedded in the heel allowed the actors to glide across the stage like fish gliding through water.  They even had to “wiggle” to get moving (just like a real fish).  Ursula (bottom left) was elaborate and brilliant!  The photo doesn’t do justice to the human-sized octopus moving convincingly across the stage.

Ariel was the show favorite, of course. And then Sebastian (no pix, but he’s the crab). But Paris’s favorite “off” character was this guy –

He’s the chef tasked with making dinner for Eric (the prince) and Ariel.  And he decides to make fish.  For a mermaid.  Pretty funny…

Last night in town!  At least for Dad, anyway…

Carnival!  Paris loves carnivals — what kid doesn’t?  And she has perfect, carnival companions…Kristin and Cameron!  The girls get ready to do some violent, multi-directional, torturous ride from Hell…

The operator wisely put Kristin on the outside.

Here they are getting on some other Death Trap.  This thing was called “Hurricane” (or something)…Paris is all smiles here, but in the end, she decided it was a “terrible, terrible” ride…

Why?  Well…would you ride something that goes round and round at high speed that some stoned, illegal bolted together the night before?  Look at this damn thing…

I don’t want to put unneccessary fears in the heads of any of my kids, but I think Paris is starting to figure out what makes sense in life and what doesn’t.

Speaking of which…I just got off the phone with Paris moments ago.  She’s having a blast with Tonte Stephanie at the Warwick house.  She’s got a few more days of New York before she comes home.

Mark is on a training block doing a little sailing.  As it turns out, he’s doing multiple, short trips instead of one long one.  His first was not his cup of tea.  They sailed from USNA to Baltimore, down to Solomons Island, and back to USNA.  He tells me that “Monster (the energy drink) plus no sleep plus waves at night are not a good combo.”  He didn’t lose his dinner, but it was close.  Apparently they sail through the night and the boat has to be manned (obviously).  He also complains that sleep is impossible because “tacking and jibing is loud and rolling into the wall tends to wake you up”.  One mid was hospitalized after hitting his head while trying to sleep.  Poor kids.  Getting paid to sail…

Hey!  Future Plebes!  Mark suspects that some day, when he might actually be responsible for some of you, that some of you may find this site.  Whenever he tells you to stop whining, refer him to this post!

(He will most certainly make me take this down…)

Kristin in Florida in three weeks!  Mark soon after.  Cameron soon after that!  Yeah Baby!

]]> http://trunzo.com/2009/06/27/june-mega-trip/feed/ 0 http://trunzo.com/2009/05/25/zero-block-floridakristin-cameron-and-paris/ http://trunzo.com/2009/05/25/zero-block-floridakristin-cameron-and-paris/#comments Tue, 26 May 2009 01:55:27 +0000 Jay http://trunzo.com/?p=623 Quick update:

Mark was lucky and snagged zero block as his first summer training assignment.  Zero block is the shortest training block of the summer, and it also starts soon after the mids’ last final exam.  As counter-intuitive as this may sound, it’s actually considered a good thing.  It allows mids to get their training underway, it buys them two bonus weeks of leave over the summer, and it allows for an escape from duties during the hyper-busy commissioning week period.  Plus, Mark was sent to Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, FL!  That’s about 260 miles away, but at least it’s the same State!  So we get some bonus time with him…

Those of you to be lucky enough to be considered one of Mark’s 10,067 Facebook friends have already seen the photos.  But for the mere mortals amongst us, I have a few I liked:

This is the USS McInerney.  This li’l frigate acted as Mark’s home away from home for two weeks.

This is what most of us would call a “really, really big gun”.  The guys on the ship occasionally get to shoot this gun.  They like that…

This is another gun (although it doesn’t look like one).  It should never be confused with R2D2 because R2D2 couldn’t shoot 3,000 massive rounds a minute.  This gun can.  It’s called a “Sea Whiz”…probably because if you’re on the wrong end of it, you’re doing the second part of the phrase while the 3,000 rounds whiz past you.

Frigates fire torpedoes too.  In the old days, frigates were tasked with chasing down enemy subs.  Subs still quake with fear if a frigate is in the vicinity, but today frigates are used mostly for drug interdiction runs.  Frigates carry one or two helicopters to help with the sub chasing, and today, the McInerney carries this nifty little guy –

That is what’s known as a “UAV” (unmanned aerial vehicle).  Think of it like a big, remote control helicopter with big guns.  This UAV is currently being tested before a full-blown deployment across the fleet, and Mark’s frigate is the lucky platform used for testing.  There are only one of these right now, and you’re looking at it.

Here’s Mark looking somewhat nervous next to our little friend.  Since it doesn’t have a pilot, I think he’s worried it might decide to shoot on its own.

So what else do we do on frigates?  Well, we train!  Train, train, train!  Everybody has to know what to do in any given circumstance!  And some of those circumstances are called “emergencies”.  Emergencies are bad.  Like…a fire on a ship, for example…when you’re out in the middle of the ocean, a fire is not a welcome sight.  So let’s learn how to put one out, okay?  How?  Well, c’mon!  First you gotta set one!

That’s a training area on dry land.  There’s no point in setting the ship on fire, right?  Now everybody learns how to put it out!  Oh, and that shed in the middle?  There are “simulated” guys in there waiting to be rescued before they become toast.  Better hurry Mark!

So…maybe you’re thinking “so what kind of real life cool things do these frigate thingys do?”  Well…check this out:

That pirate-looking steering wheel is not the one used to pilot the frigate.  It’s also not the wheel off of Gilligan’s S.S. Minnow.  Nope!  It’s on the bridge of the McInerney, but it’s a souvenier.  You see, it was taken from the largest self-propelled submersible ever captured by the US Navy, and the McInerney did the capturing.  This particular submersible was a small submarine transporting 12,000 pounds of uncut cocaine.  The crew of said submarine wasn’t willing to give it up so easily, but once they realized the game was up, they tried to scuttle (sink) their own ship.  The crew of the McInerney suggested to the sub crew that, since said sub crew thought sinking the sub was such a good idea, perhaps they ought to sink with it.  Once locked in for awhile, the crew saw the light and surrendered the sub.  (Before any liberal readers think about calling the SPCA or Greenpeace, please rest assured that the crew members of the McInerney are wonderful guys that would never allow hostile drug runners to actually sink with their sub.  It was a bluff, and it worked.  And yes, I was honored to meet some of the crew of the McInerney, and I can personally attest to their good character.)

Training concluded on Friday, and Mark has been relaxing and eating us out of house and home since.  He’s also playing a little golf, catching a little sun, and enjoying his new friend named “Aaron”.  More on that in the next post.

Meanwhile, Cameron is really, really mad at us for playing golf without him.  He hasn’t had a kind word for us all weekend.  We see him next week when he will most certainly be straightened out.

Kristin is getting ready to graduate!  But before that memorable day, she’s got a Senior Prom to attend!  I have been given the first, super-secret inside look at her prom dress while it was being altered to fit her super-fit self, and I gotta tell ya’…phenomenal!  Her female classmates are going to hate her!

Paris has three and a half days of school left…almost done!  She’s had a stellar year!  Plus, she’s been honing all four swimming strokes in preparation for joining the Sarasota Sharks.  The Sharks are a very successful, very competitive swim team in our area.  Competitors usually join the team at age 9.  As most of you know, Paris is soon to be 7….she’s a natural!  More on that as the season progresses!

In less than a week, all of us descend upon New York for our June extravaganza…we’ll be in the area for the entire month.  We’re looking forward to it!

We’re working on the video issues now.  So…maybe by next Christmas, I’ll have the outstanding Holiday Performance by Paris’s class…maybe I’ll have the Christmas pix posted, and maybe I won’t be charged with murdering our friends at Bill Webb Studios.  Let’s hope for the best.

Quick updates!  Let’s go in reverse chronological order (with only one tidbit per superstar):

Paris is kicking the proverbial butt in school!  Kindergarten will never be the same.  We’re gearing up for the Daddy-Daughter Dance next week!  Yeah!

Cameron is the up-and-coming God of Fencing!  He has been brought in to fence in all of his team’s matches thus far, and more often than not, he’s being asked to fence the opposing team’s ‘A’ Strip fencer (the #1 guy).  I don’t have this week’s details yet (schedule changes due to weather), but he’s only lost twice this season (both times 5-4) and has won at least four or five…I’m reaching until I talk to him tomorrow.  Regardless, he’s got a winning record, he’s winning against the better fencers in the league, and he’s learning fast.  Another Trunzo rocks the NJ World of Fencing once again!  Congratulations Cameron!

Kristin is applying to schools for next year.  She’s thinking about staying local (for a lot of reasons), and she’s trying to keep a ton of options available.  She’s managed to improve her grades by leaps…bounds (!)…leaps and bounds…she’s doing so well this year!  She’s laying the groundwork for a successful college career, and we’re thrilled for her.  Nice Kristin!

Mark is enduring “the Dark Ages” in Annapolis.  This is the time of year when the weather is cold and grey, the breaks are few and far between, and everyone generally agrees that anywhere is better than where they are.  It’s a common “funk” for everyone at the Academy, but Mark seems to be keeping his head above it all.  He’s doing exceptionally well academically, he’s doing very well in track, and he’s kicking the proverbial ass across the board.  We’re talking really, really good stuff here…Academy discretion and valor dictate that I stop there.  If anyone contacts me privately, I’ll give you the amazing details.

And finally…we have a “friends” entry on the Friends and Family list.  The Trunzo family isn’t the only family that gets to share great news about our kids.  Our good friend Chris sends news about his son Taylor.  Check out Dad and Taylor here:

Personally, I would rather not have Taylor get angry with me anytime soon.  He placed 3rd in the Indiana Wrestling State Sectionals (hence the ribbon), and he will now go on to the State Regionals where he will get another crack at the guys who took first and second.  This is significant for more than the obvious reasons: the first and second place competitors only beat Taylor by one point each.  One point!  I’d say he’s in the hunt…congratulations and good luck as you move on Taylor!  Kick some ass!

Okay folks…more soon.  We’ll have more video, we’ll have old videos fixed, we’ll have pix, and we’ll have news.  If there’s anything anyone would like me to post, please send it along!

Hugs –

West Milford: Replacing first team all-league performer Mark Trunzo will be one of the biggest challenges. West Milford will look for some of its younger fencers to fill the void.

I think it’s great that the reporter remembers Mark’s accomplishments, but what’s the big deal?  The younger fencer to fill the void is a natural — Mark’s younger brother!

According to Big Brother Mark, Cameron is “a lot better” than Mark was as a freshman.  In fact, Cameron earned the right to handle a weapon many, many months before Mark did early in his career.

So I say this to the Bergen Record — there is no challenge.  There’s Cameron!

Today we got a note from a parent that attended Fleet Week in San Francisco.  This parent learned of an avid, amateur photographer in attendance known simply as “Z-Man”.  Z-Man got some shots of the Blue Angels that are incredible!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Make a mental note of those boats, folks…

If that shot doesn’t send a shiver up your spine, then you’re dead.  But check these out…700 MPH at about 20 feet –

He gets lower…

And lower still…

Check out the wake behind him…

For now, our midshipman is entertaining flight school.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll get a ride in one of these Bad Boys someday…

Christmas is coming!  Our kiddies start arriving in just over 36 hours!  Mark first, and then Kristin and Cameron.  The camera should be clickin’ away!  Stay tuned…

As many of you know, Karen, Paris and I were recently in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for six days.  I planned on taking a ton of pictures and video, but we got so wrapped up in the “enjoying” our company part that we didn’t really shoot much footage of any of them.  This is especially true with Kristin and Cameron (the two we should have shot most!).

I do have some video I’ll try to piece together, and Sami was busy firing away with his camera.  Maybe he’ll share?

In the meantime, I received a DVD in the mail today from USNA courtesy of the Parents’ fund.  It’s a video detailing the fun known as “Plebe Summer”.  This is a generic USNA piece…it is not the video I expect to receive soon that will feature more of Mark.  But!  At the very beginning of this Plebe Summer video, you’ll see footage of our young man humping that damn zodiac he thought was so funny (until he had to carry it, row it and carry it again).  He may appear a couple of more times as well, but any of you that have searched through thousands of photos (like I have) know that “they all start to look alike”…

This thing is 18 minutes long.  It’s “okay”…it’s not going to rock your world, but it does offer some insight into the USNA experience and Plebe Summer.  If you have a chunk of time and you’re in the mood to learn about the madness, hit the “play” button.

Enjoy –
{vidavee id=”16181″ w=”500″ }
I’m trying to get away from the need for a YouTube link. YouTube doesn’t play nice with videos over 10 minutes long, and I thought the quality was just so-so. Since I’m on a Mac, I picked Quicktime as my default video player. My website host also prefers Quicktime. For you Windows Mediaplayer freaks out there…sorry. You probably have Quicktime on your machines anyway. If not…it’s free to download.

Make sure the video loads a bit before you hit “play”.

We’re using flash video now courtesy of our friends at Bill Webb Studio (no relation…sorry).  We owe them our thanks!  And I owe them some money…

But we live in an imperfect world, and I don’t claim to be an expert at this stuff.  So…some of you that checked in found a post that wasn’t behaving…

For those that don’t know, I tried like crazy to post a video of Plebe Summer courtesy of the Academy.  I had it working (well), and then it stopped cooperating.  I’ve taken the post down because it was preventing the entire site from loading in a timely fashion.  That’s the bad news…

But there’s good news!  I have an expert looking into our “issues”, and once the problem is resolved, I will get the post back up!  The video in question is “okay”, but we need to get this working.  Real videos are coming!  We want to make sure we’ve got all of our ducks in a row!

Let’s talk October!  As many of you know, Karen, Paris and I were in New York, New jersey and Pennsylvania earlier in the month.  Some of this is covered in the post that’s now down, but play along here, okay?  Anyway, one thing you can’t do in Florida is play in the autumn leaves.  Being a good Mom, Karen promised Paris that we’d go back “up North” this Fall to do just that!  And we got lucky!  We had some leaves, and we had some cousins, and we had neighbors, and we had fun!

Paris, Stephen and Troy after Poppop fired up the leaf blower!  But wait!  More leaf fun!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of Grace!  There was a lot going on…maybe she was busy helping Grammy or something?  Grace!  We need pictures!

Oh!  Speaking of pictures…

We met Crissy and Kirk for brunch on Sunday morning. Kristin and Cameron joined us too…Nina’s!  Everyone’s favorite spot for brunch!  Karen and I pull up to the parking area, and what do we see?  We see someone dressed in the exact clothes Karen is wearing.  Karen is laughing hysterically…apparently this happens often whenever she and Crissy go anywhere together.  They swear there’s no planning involved…no phone calls…anyway, Kristin popped this on her cell phone –

Trust me.  Even the damn pants and shoes were the same.

Speaking of “looks”, the beginning of October marks the Naval Academy’s changeover in the world of fashion.  Gone are the Summer Whites (that so many of us kinda don’t like) — in come the Dress Blues!  The blue is actually black, but who’s going to argue with the Navy?  Check out the look (another cell phone shot):

Mark on the left (could you tell?), Susie, Alyssa (Susie’s sister), and of course…Cameron (green shoes and all).  That was taken on Columbus Day weekend when the mids had TWO overnight liberties courtesy of the most incredible, most awesome-est, best-ever, coolest damn Commandant on the Face of the Planet…

Captain Klunder!  Here he is with Mark and friends –

In case you’re wondering, he’s the guy with all the gold on his hat…

Captain Klunder is a true leader.  He’s certified qualified to fly somewhere in the neighborhood of 41 aircraft, he’s done the whole carrier thing, and he’s even been filmed in “compromising” positions for YouTube videos just to boost morale.  The mids will throw themselves under a bus for this guy.  I, for one, will give him a bug hug and a kiss when I see him next.

[UPDATE} 11/3 3:48 AM  Mark sent this insight about Captain Klunder after reading the original post:

Dad — Really cool update about Capt. Klunder:

USNA had its Halloween concert in the chapel this weekend  It sold out within two hours of tickets being on sale.  It’s that good. Anyway, Captain Klunder went to the Friday showing.  Mr. Houck (my squad leader) stayed after on Saturday night to help clean up the miles of cables and the mess.  As he’s backing up blowing confetti up to the wall, he bumps into someone.  He turns around to apologize, and he sees Capt. Klunder on his hands and knees in sweatpants cleaning the floor.  Capt. Klunder didn’t even go to the Saturday night show.  After he put his kids to bed that night he headed over just to help clean up.  That man is awesome.  The Commandant of Midshipmen is on the ground cleaning the floor.  He is probably the best Commandant the Academy has ever had.  Mark

Halloween!

So, a lot of you think that Florida is full of “old” people that shuffle around and hit the early bird dinners.  Some of you even think we’re nuts for moving here.  Wellll…

Let me tell ya’.  Our sleepy little town of Venice was packed with kids trick-or-treating the local merchants on Halloween!  It was literally elbow-to-elbow on the sidewalks, and everyone was having a great time!  Here’s some afternoon downtown action:

That was the “slow” end of the street.  Paris was just tuning up.

So.  What was she?  C’mon!  She was a Monster Bride!  Here’s a better look:

And check this out!  These next two pictures Paris took herself.  She was “trying on” her costume a few days before Halloween, and she decided to help herself to my desk, my chair, and my computer.  Kids today are amazing, and she has no trouble firing up my Mac’s iSight camera and having some fun.  She did this all by herself…I found these on my computer two days later:

She did the effects by herself too.  Not bad, right?

Back to Halloween.  “Old” people need to stay young too, and I say this with only the utmost affection…but these two were older than dirt.  But they’re having fun!

Seriously…her costume made her look younger…

We had a great time!  Paris hit downtown, then she hit the neighborhood.  I followed her and a friend around in the limo (i.e. golf cart), and when they wanted to get soemwhere fast, they hopped in and I hit the gas.  Karen and the friend’s Mom even jumped in every once in awhile (with Karen riding the back like a caddy…priceless!).