Paris has always had her own Christmas tree in her bedroom.  Each year, we set up the Big One, and we set up one for her.  Santa always leaves presents under both trees, so as you can probably imagine, the Bonus Tree is quite the bonus!

Today was a bit on the chilly side in Paradise, so Paris broke out the cold weather gear.  We managed a high of 67 degrees, but hey!  67 is chilly in Paradise.  She’s had the hat since she was two –

We’ll continue getting ready for the Big Day!

Speaking of Big Days, we’ve got a Big One coming up this Saturday!  Army-Navy 2009!  This is “Beat Army!” week at the Academy, and we always do our part to participate.  Raise the banner!

John Gallen will be pulling for Army at the game, but we don’t hold that against him.  His Dad and his father-in-law are both Army vets.  Even so, we know that deep down inside he’ll feel a sense of pride when Navy kicks Army’s ass!

Right John?

John?

Hey, you Northerners!  If it’s chilly and/or wet next Saturday, send warm thoughts to midshipman Mark!  He’ll be entering the Stadium early for the march-on, and then he’s in his seat until the end!  Last year was cold (if I recall correctly), but this year may be better!  And for anyone going like John is…be sure to catch the march-on.  It’s one of the coolest traditions in College football!

Go Navy!  Beat Army!

Sami and Jacqui are the proud parents of a new baby boy.  Please say hello to Alec!

Alec’s brother Jack recently took a break from his elder sibling responsibilities to pose for a few pix in his Halloween costume.  I have it on good authority he was back to his big brother duties quickly!

Congratulations guys!  We’re thrilled for you!

Since we can’t join him for the day, I don’t have a “blowing out the candles” kind of shot or anything.  So I tried to find something that captured his persona…his “essence”, in a way of speaking.

Happy Birthday Chris!  Enjoy the day!

We even had visitors from far and wide — who could miss this?  C’mon!  Tonight’s celebration caps off 12 years of hard work!  First, Aunt Lynn is on the scene and getting ready to scream her head off when Kristin’s name is called…

If you remember last year’s post when Mark graduated, you’ll remember the subject of this next shot.  The Bagpipers!  God I love these guys and girls!  I couldn’t get a good shot of them going in, but let’s pretend, okay?  Let’s pretend that instead of seeing the pipers close the ceremony, we’re seeing them open it.

Okay, on to the good stuff.  As graduations go, not many include speakers we want to hear (sorry).  The speakers rarely do much more than drone on and on while spewing nonsense we wouldn’t allow our kids to utter in public.  Can someone donate a public speaking course?  God!  It was torture!  The Class of 2009 wanted out, and I can’t say that I blame them.  As the ceremony came to a close, chaos erupted.  Families reuniting, friends screaming for (and at) friends.  Kristin promised to find us quickly, and she didn’t disappoint.  Looking, looking…

Found us!  Here’s a shot of a proud Grandmother with her two granddaughters…one the Graduate!

Hey!  And look who else we found!  Susie!  (If she didn’t have parents, we’d adopt her…)

Let’s talk friends.  This is a great time to celebrate with friends that have been there and with new ones too.  Tonight, we were happy to meet Frank.  Recognize him?  Yep…you do…from Kristin’s Prom pictures.  Check this out — Kristin, Paris, Frank and Susie:

More friends.  Kristin, this is Andrea, right?

Let’s not forget the family shot.  Somebody wanna tell me how I got so damn old?

Here’s another shot of the old guy with a handsome young guy and two beautiful daughters –

And finally, it’s time to say goodbye for the night.  Kristin is off to a Project Graduation Party.  The graduates leave directly from the graduation ceremony and once on site for the party, they can’t leave.  It’s a safe, sane, and very fun way to spend the evening!  She’ll get to sleep sometime around 8 tomorrow morning!  Paris doesn’t do goodbyes so well when it comes to family and close friends, and here she’s giving Kristin one last hug before tomorrow –

We’ll see you late tomorrow morning, right Kristin?  Noon at worst?

Kristin?

Okay, whatever…

Congratulations!  We’re proud of you!

Love you !

Dad

Kristin graduates on Tuesday (the 23rd).  We’ll have pictures up soon after.  But until then, check out her little sister’s graduation!  Paris celebrated the conclusion of kindergarten on May 29th!  I know, I know…it seems likes ages ago, right?  But I had some video issues, and although I’m not thrilled with the quality of this one, I’m happy enough to feel comfortable sharing it.

Our videographer was none other than our favorite midshipman.  He managed a week with us after his training block in Mayport, FL.  We expect to see him again in about a month.  Kristin will be with us at the end of July, and our resident golf stud (Cameron) will hit Paradise in early August.

Okay!  Video!  It’s just under seven minutes, folks, and it should load up very quickly.  Hit “play” and you’re off!  Be sure to watch to the end!  It gets better as it goes along, and we also slip in some “credits” for a nice gift to help Paris celebrate.  A gift?  “From whom?” you might ask…

…check it out and see –

So!  Plants are in the ground, Karen and Paris are in their bikinis, and it’s time for the “catch a little sun” part of the day.  Karen walks out onto our lanai, and much to her credit she does not scream at the top of her lungs…because up on our pool cage is this guy:

Karen hates snakes.  I’m not particularly fond of them either, so I have no idea what kind of snake this was.  Problem is…here in Florida, we have all kinds of snakes.  We have all kinds of critters. The snakes eat the critters we don’t want sharing our home, so it’s kinda’ a good idea to leave the snakes alone.  But this guy was a Big ‘Un…

Each screen section on the pool cage is six feet wide.  Our boy here isn’t even stretched out all the way, but he’s taking up a nice chunk of that section.  Paris thought he was cool, and as we all watched, Mr. Snake made his way to the palm tree in the background and settled on a frond.  He oriented himself so he was facing into the lanai and kept an eye on Karen and Paris all afternoon.  Obviously the snake has good taste…

Okay!  Enough with the slimy things!  We have news from the Naval Academy!  This weekend marked the celebration of the Annual International Ball.  It’s a time when the Academy celebrates the international members of the USNA community — from professors to midshipmen.  It is a huge, formal affair attended by Heads of State and the occasional princess or two.  More on that later…

Friday night was the “dining out” part of the affair. The mids dress in their “Dinner Mess Dress” uniforms to look dapper and worthy of a princess:

Here’s Mark and two friends doing what young guys do when they put on something more than blue jeans.  Smart, handsome men, wouldn’t you agree?  (Oh, for those that don’t know, Mark is in the middle…)

Saturday night was the Ball.  The attire is still formal, but a little more summer-appropriate.  Nice, huh?

So…maybe you’re wondering about the princess, right?

Way back when, a long time ago, when Paris graduated from preschool, she and her class were asked to tell everyone in attendance what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Paris stepped to the microphone and said (with authority) “When I grow up I want to be a real princess.”

So last night, as I was talking to Mark right before he stepped out the door in his smashing white uniform, I asked him to please find a princess at the Ball and get a picture for Paris.  I mean, how hard is that?  Look at these guys!  Any princess in her right mind would love to be photographed with one of these guys!

And I gave him the line!  I said “Look Mark, you walk up to a princess, and you introduce yourself by saying ‘Hi, I’m Mark Trunzo.  Would you mind if a friend took a photograph of us?  I have a six-year-old sister who wants to be a real princess when she grows up.  She’ll be thrilled!  Do you mind?’”

Honestly, how could that line fail?  It couldn’t!

So!  Where’s our princess?  Mark?  Maybe next year.

]]> http://trunzo.com/2009/04/19/snake-oh-and-the-international-ball/feed/ 0 http://trunzo.com/2009/03/30/2009-member-guest-tournament/ http://trunzo.com/2009/03/30/2009-member-guest-tournament/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:58:07 +0000 Jay http://trunzo.com/?p=516 War!  62 teams.  45 holes of golf.  Only one team can emerge victorious!

For four years, Sami and I have done battle in this tournament.  We were like one.  That’s how well we know each other and play together.  In fact, people began asking “are you brothers?” so often that we finally decided to simply say “yes”.  Yes dammit!  We’re brothers!  Damn you people and your questions!  We’re brothers!

And Trunzo Brothers golf was born.  “Trunzo Brothers — When severely handicapped isn’t”.  Yes!  Raise the colours!  Man the armaments!

With the flag flying from a mast on our armored golf cart, we set out to conquer all.  Four years!  Four years we’ve been trying!  We were so close in Year One…making it to the finals only to be cast aside.  Vanquished!  Last year was humbling — we didn’t win a single match!  Our opponents laughed at us!  Scorned!

We felt compelled to exact revenge.  On Day One, tournament officials stopped us and confiscated our handguns, but we were allowed our golf clubs to defend our honor.  Damn them all!  We were ready!  We were prepared!  We absolutely expected nothing less than victory!

I mean, how else could anyone possibly show up like this?

That was Day One’s Battle Dress.  Our opponents had never seen such audacity.  Confidence!  And yes, dare I say?  Almost arrogance…yes!  We were going to make them all pay for poking fun at our efforts of the prior year!

Day Two’s Battle Dress –

And Day Three –

By the time Day Three rolled around, our opponents expected us to show up in red.  Red!  It’s the color of victory and the color of blood.  Blood!  Yes, we had theirs on our hands as we slashed and hacked our way through the field and slaughtered our opponents.

Ummm….but Sami hates Tiger Woods and Tiger always wears red on the last day.  And plus…

…by Day Three we were in fourth place out of six teams in our flight.  Things were not looking good.  We played “okay” golf on Days One and Two, but “okay” won’t cut it in incredibly windy conditions and in competition.  We needed to pick it up.

And pick it up we did!  We played some solid golf with a couple of incredible moments tossed in for good measure.  Things were looking up!  And check this out: the swing feared by all who encounter it –

Sami can hit a golf ball.  People duck when they hear the club make contact for fear they’re being shot at…

Jay isn’t quite as powerful off the tee –

But hey!  We all bring something to the table, right?  Check out this finesse Sami managed to capture on film –

So!  Where did we end up?  Most of you must have figured this out…but maybe this will help –

That’s right baby!  After 45 holes, a chip off to win our flight, a three hole shoot-out against seven other teams, and a sudden death playoff against one, Sami and Jay come out on top!  Check out Sami blowing out his hip in celebration!

The colours are flying!  The armored golf cart remains intact!  All that remains now are the spoils!

We’ll end it there.

2009 Venetian Golf and River Club Mens’ Member Guest Grand Champions!  Yeah baby!

Mark was well prepared but anxious.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures as a result.  He wasn’t so concerned about what he knew was coming; he was very concerned about what he didn’t know.  As it turns out, the day was “easy” (his words).  I wonder if that’s still the case today.

Here’s an attempt to capture the plebes being marched in for their oaths and swearing-in ceremony:

It took about 20 minutes to get them all in — some looked better than others.  It was a day of screaming and yelling, learning about new things, and coming to the realization that you weren’t at the top of the food chain anymore.  You were now just food.  For these guys:

See those guys standing at ease?  They’re surrounding the plebes that just came in.  Those guys are called “cadres”.  The cadres have a job to do, and they’re very, very good at it.  They’re midshipmen that are leaving their junior year and entering senior year.  Three short years ago, they were plebes.  When they were plebes, somebody kicked their collective asses.  Now they return the favor.  They love their work.

The ceremony was short but “official”.  Just before the swearing in, they bring in some big boys for a fly-by:

Then the plebes get some time with families.  Mark asked that we not do a lot of pictures, but he didn’t look any worse for the wear, right?

We had fun for the few minutes we had.  Since I’m the proud Dad, I get to plug a couple of my own –

Okay, so we were screwing around.  Let’s get serious –

There.  A happy young man and an even happier Dad.  We’re thrilled for him!

I won’t have much information about Mark until mid-August.  He can’t have access to a cell phone or computer, and he only gets three, three minute phone calls over the next six weeks.  His Mom is taking the first one because I’m a nice guy.  That puts me about four weeks away from hearing his voice.

He can write, and in fact, the Academy makes him write before tomorrow (7/5).  If he delivers any news via snail mail, I’ll share it with all of you.

I’ve got access to other parent photos and to USNA “official” photos — if anything interesting comes up, I’ll post them here.  I’m also going to post a link to some news clips on a separate page.  The links will ultimately expire, so I won’t post them here as usual.  When they’re dead, I’ll pull the page.

More soon!

Mark graduated on June 25th.  Our experience since then makes the graduation seem almost insignificant.  Of course, it’s not insignificant at all!  He finished fourth in his class, he earned a ton of academic awards and recognition, he was a 12 season varsity athlete, and he was Captain of four varsity teams.  The Cross Country teams he led were County Champions twice and performed well at the State level.  The Track team enjoyed similar success in what was billed as a year of rebuilding.  And of course, his “part-time” sport of Fencing was a blast!  He finished 9th in the State Championship but ultimately was ranked 6th in the State.  It was a successful High School career.

Graduation marked the transition to the “real deal”.  We’re going to have some stories to share as the next few years go by.

But first, a side note: one of the coolest things about Mark’s High School is their bagpipers.  These kids are incredible!  Led by the bagpipers, the school band is so good, that every year they’re invited to march in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  In fact, they’re so freakin’ good that this past year they were invited to take the #1 slot in the parade — that is an incredible honor!  They’re the group right behind the Grand Marshall.  Incredible!

Of course, the bagpipers led the way in and out of graduation.  I had to jump in front –

The young man on the left is a long-time friend of Mark’s (of everyone’s frankly…great kid).  He leads the bagpipers, and he received about $8 billion in scholarships because he plays multiple instruments very, very well.  He also earns $90 a quarter hour when asked to play the bagpipes at an event.  I wish I were him.

Okay!  A few photos –

Kristin was working, so she couldn’t join the family photo.  Next year it’s her turn!

Paris worships the ground Mark, Kristin and Cameron walk on — can you tell?

And of course, how could we finish without a nice picture of Mark and Susie?  We couldn’t…so here we go:

Congratulations Mark!  (By the time he’s allowed to see this, it will seem like a million years ago…)

Paris makes her entrance.  The sunglasses were her idea…

Anxiously awaiting…

Finally!  After all these years of hard work!  Diploma in hand!

The girls celebrate!  Kristin still keeps her Nursery School diploma framed in her room…

On to kindergarten!