ahoy, matey, weigh anchor and cast off!

The boys and I are going on a cruise this weekend.  An overnight cruise on a ship that will not leave the dock.  This will be my sixth time spending the night on this ship.  It's Ethan's fifth time and Sam's third.  I think.  I've lost track.

It's time for our annual scout overnight on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier, Ethan's second favorite place on the entire Earth.  (His first favorite is Disneyland.)  Here's a photo from one of our early overnights on the Hornet, when Ethan was just a Bear cub.  This must have been our second trip.  Didn't we both look young back then?

Ethan was so enamored of the Hornet that when the pine car derby came around, we decided we had to make an aircraft carrier car.  This is the absolute pinnacle of my craftsmanship with woodworking.  Ethan did most of the painting himself.

Years later, when Sam became a Tiger cub, we all went together.  Here's a photo of the boys on the flight deck with one of Sam's best friends.  That was four years ago; now all three of them are in the same Boy Scout troop.  (The kid hanging off the missile is not with us.)

Although we sleep in bunks in the berthing areas with lots of other people snoring and whatever, and although the food is cafeteria quality, and although it gets cold and drafty at night, I actually am really looking forward to this trip.  The Hornet puts on a great overnight event, and it's fabulous to see such a piece of history come alive through the stories the docents tell and through the eyes of the kids.

Hopefully I won't forget my camera.  Come back next week to see photos from this year.

BEER LABEL UPDATE

On Sunday I'll be bottling the beer I brewed two weeks ago.  I still have only two label submissions.  As it stands now, I'll be using both and sharing them on the blog next week.  If I get any more at dudleypj@gmail.com, I'll include them in the batch.

WRITING UPDATE

I am happy to say that on my recent business trip I managed to write for several hours on airplanes and came up with about 4,200 new words on the new new novel.  The new old novel is under submission, and the old new novel was semi-abandoned a couple months ago in favor of this new new novel.