Dominic's Fishing Expedition

DominicsMom related another story about Dominic today:

Did I tell you, the other night I was trying to put Jocelyn down so that I could take my time tucking Dominic in. Anyway, I was rocking Jocelyn to sleep and realized that Dominic had been playing in his room by himself for about 10 minutes. Way too long for me not to hear even one, “Mommmeeeee”. So, I went to peek in on him….When he saw me, he threw the fake water-tree back into the fish bowl! Needless to say, there was water everywhere (not too bad). I think he was playing with the marbles. I’m sure the fish was traumatized, but it is still alive!! Dominic’s arms were wet, his bed had splashes, the carpet had splashes, there was a trail down the wall and even his face and hair were a little wet. I knew it was too quiet!!!

When I asked if he had a guilty expression on his face when she caught him:

Yes, he did.. And he was so cute, I couldn’t really be mad. So, I explained very nicely that we weren’t supposed to touch the fish’s water. Not really sure he understood.

I was laughing pretty hard when she told me this. Let me explain a bit about where his fishbowl is, but first some background. Dominic developed an interest in fish & sea creatures in general pretty early. In the UTC Mall, one of the vendor stalls sells fishbowls that you can hang on the wall. They are of a hemi-spherical design and hold about a gallon of water. They are about the right size for 1 or 2 smaller fish and we bought him a very colorful Beta fish. He loved it. Knowing that he would want to touch the fish bowl, we hung it rather high up so that he could not easily reach it. However, we put hung it up before we put his bed in the room. When the bed was put into his room, he could then reach the fishbowl by standing on the bed, so that is where DominicsMom caught him standing, reaching into the fishbowl!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

EDIT: DominicsMom caught Dominic in the fishbowl again. He got a little scolding this time. Next time DominicsMom may have to move the fishbowl a bit higher up so that he cannot reach it.

DV Visit

Last week we had a Distinguished Visitor, the Secretary of the Navy the Honorable Donald Winters came to Camp Lemonier for a visit. As part of his tour of the Camp, he came up to the Company office and talked to the Marines on-duty. I was introduced to him and I gave him a quick background sketch on the Company and our mission. He talked to the Marines for about 15 minutes and then held a brief question & answer session. Before he left he even signed his autograph for a couple of the Marines.

From our office, he went to the New Cantina to give a talk to all the Servicemembers on the Camp. After he finished, he answered some questions and then we began the promotion ceremony. He promoted two of our Marines, one to Sergeant and one to Corporal. Since they were my Marines, I and the Company First Sergeant were up on stage with him to assist in promoting the Marines. It was very motivating helping with this. At the conclusion, he gave each Marine one of his personal challenge coins. Once this was complete I assisted the SecNav with the reenlistment of a Navy sailor. The sailor wasn't part of my command, but we did not want to muck up the ceremony with too many people marching on and off the stage, so I got to stay up there and assist again. Once it was complete, the 1stSgt and I executed a perfectly timed about face and marched off the stage. I was told that we looked good... Afterwards he remarked to the Camp Commander that the Marines impressed him and that they were doing a great job. The word is that he is not lavish with his praise so I was very pleased with this and passed it on to the Marines.

Here is a photo of the SecNav talking to the Marines in the Company area. Yep, that's me looking on in the background.

Several Marines took pictures of the promotion ceremony and I'll try to get a copy and post it here a little later.

While you wait for the other photo, here is a moto photo of the Marines conducting an Enhanced Marksmanship Program exercise on a Djiboutian range. The Marine in the foreground is shooting the (relatively) new M-4 Carbine, which is a shortened version of the M16 rifle. The Marine Corps has also upgraded from the M-16A2 to the M-16A4 service rifle, which you can see in the background.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Sending Movies Home

DominicsMom sent me a webcam, which I am trying to get set up so that we can chat and see each other through the miracle that some call the Internet. While messing around with the webcam, I made a couple of quick movies (they had to be short, the size gets big very quickly) and e-mailed them home. The first movie was simply me saying hello, I love you. For the second movie, I had to get a bit more creative. So I grabbed an Easter egg (one of the ones from the Boy Scouts) and opened it on camera, showing the candy inside. DominicsMom sent me this reply:

It played well, but Dominic actually enjoyed the 2nd movie better. He wanted the candy that you held up. He said, “Here, here.” While holding out his hand…meaning he wanted you to give it to him. Then he kept saying,”daddy” because he wanted me to play it for him again. He was very excited to see you…it almost made me cry.

I thought this was great, so I told my XO the story and he in turn related a story to me about his son:

His son also has come to really like chocolate, having had the opportunity to have some at Easter. My XO was talking to his wife last night when she told him that their son was tip-toeing into the kitchen, being very quiet. She then asked him what he was doing. He replied, “Don’t know. Candy!”

Little minds do think alike…

DominicsDad

Port Visit

The other day another Navy ship, the HSV-2 Swift, came into the Djibouti City port. The Marines were there to meet it and I joined them a bit later. The Swift is an experimental ship, a trimarine (3 hulled ship) logistics ship, that the Navy is operating as they prepare for the first two Littoral Combat Ships. Here are some pictures of us in and around the ship:

She looks pretty cool and is optimized for speed. Her Captain gave several of us a tour around the ship and we were very thankful that he took time away from his busy schedule to do so. The Swift is leased from an Australian company and it was obvious that her roots were as a civilian ferry. But the twin .50cal machine guns were an instant reminder that she was painted Navy grey for a reason. (Ok, they didn't paint her hull, but left the naked aluminum alone to save weight.) The Swift has a relatively small crew for her size, but that looks like the future of the Navy.

On our way out, we stopped at another one of the refueling piers. Apparently it is an old custom that Naval ships will often leave a momento of their stay and this can be seen at several different ports (but not all I believe). They usually paint their ship's name and sometimes a small mural. This one attracted our attention:

USS Cole, 8 Mar 98, DDG-67. The Cole was bombed on 12 Oct 2000, so this was left on a port visit a couple of years prior. It is a reminder of why we are out here, the importance of our job, and why we must remain vigilent.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Easter

Happy Easter! Today was Easter and the Camp held several services. Unfortunately, I didn't make any of them, I'm going to use work as an excuse. Anyways, we had a good one and the Easter bunny made an appearance out here. Boy Scout Troop 531 out of Maple Grove, MN sent a number of boxes of plastic Easter eggs filled with candy. While I was out of the office, one or more of the Marines (I'm not sure who they all were) hid a goodly number of them in my office. They are stuck to the ceiling, in my war gear, in my desk drawers, and generally stuck in the most random of places. Here are some photos:


Can you find all the hidden eggs?

Happy Easter! DominicsDad, in Djibouti.

More from Djibouti

Time has been flying lately and the weeks rolling by. About 22 more haircuts and I will be home. I've been staying busy, beyond the normal admin work required to keep the Company running. The XO and I took a trip down south to check out the patrol area. We stopped by the Cheetah preserve and took a couple of photos. We didn't go in, so no photos of cheetahs, just a couple of gazelles.

Another enjoyable task is promoting Marines. This month we actually had quite a lot of Marines get promoted to Corporal and Sergeant.

The Company also has a web site up and it contains (or will, there isn't a lot in it yet) photos, letters to the Key Volunteer Network, and updates on what the Company is doing:

www.4thpsc.com

I encourage everyone to check it out.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

More Stories of Dominic and Jocelyn

DominicsMom continues to send me stories of Dominic and Jocelyn. This tidbit was in a letter she sent that came with an Easter card:

Hi sweetie! Dominic just finished decorating your card. It took awhile, though. He wasn't interested once he realized that it made a good tunnel for Murdoch. [A train from Thomas] Then, once I started writing in it, he wanted too, as well.

Here is another story:

At the last feeding, Dominic wanted to hold her. So, after I burped her, I put her on one of my legs and one of Dominic’s so he felt like he was really holding her. Anyway, she got the hiccups. Dominic was laughing hysterically because her little head would toss back every time. He was giggling so hard. I wanted to get the camera, but I knew if I moved it would stop because both kids would’ve had to move. Well, I enjoyed it. I will try to catch it next time.
And here is the little guy in the baby swing. Yes, he is a little too big for it. DominicsMom does not let him actually swing, he just gets to sit.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti.

Where is Djibouti?

I have had a couple questions asking me exactly where is Djibouti. The following graphic should help:

The national flag of Djibouti:

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Stories of D & J

Some more stories from DominicsMom:

Dominic got his hair cut today [Tuesday, 4/4]. He moved around in the seat quite a bit but the girl did a good job. I took him to Bambino’s again. He was very good. He still won’t let Jocelyn sit in HIS swing. But he does know her name. If I ask what the baby’s name is, he says “Joss”. Its so cute. And he is pretty interested in her. He always comes up to her when I am burping her…probably because she is usually awake then.

Dominic also says Thank you. But a lot of times he says, “Thank you welcome”. Now that is really cute. I will try to get it on video. I also weighed Jocelyn the other day: 12 pounds!

Thanks DominicsMom!

Relaxing in Djibouti

It is not all work and no play in Djibouti. The MWR (Morale Welfare & Recreation) department is very active in organizing activities for all the Marines and servicemembers. When we first arrived, a softball tournament was in full swing. Unfortunately, we were not able to harness all of our talent, nor hold any practices, so our team did not do so well.

The volleyball season has just kicked off and we have a team entered. Turnout has been uneven due to the rotating nature of our watches, but we haven't done too badly. I believe that there has been 3 games and 2 practices so far, with the team doing OK. I joined them for the first time for their latest game, against the base Fire Fighters. (As you know, all fire fighters are actually professional softball & volleyball players who fight fires in their off time - no disrespect intended!) We got killed in the first game as the fire fighter's superior skills enabled them to dominate the net. We wore them down and came back to win the second game. I came in half-way through the game and had some key saves, plus winning 3-4 points on my serve. The last game was a tough one, but we lead most of the way. Here is our team playing in one of their first games:
We also have two Cantinas on the Camp. Here my XO & I relax and enjoy a beer. Kenya has a beer, Tusker, that is very good. If you can find it in the States, I highly recommend it! Kronensburg 1664 is also a favorite. (And yes, he is sweating a lot, it was very humid that night and he had just come in from walking the posts.)
DominicsDad, in Djibouti

More Pictures

Here are some pictures from DominicsGrandma Nana. She visited DominicsMom, Dominic, & Jocelyn the other week, helping out and getting to visit.

Here Jocelyn sleeps on DominicsGrandma Nana.

Dominic gives Jocelyn a kiss. He is really taken with her and is interested whenever she is awake.
DominicsMom set up the baby swing the other day. Of course Dominic got very excited and immediately wanted to sit in it. So DominicsMom obliged him and let him sit in it (he's probably 15 lbs too heavy for it...) but didn't turn it on. He was pretty content. Then she attempted to put Jocelyn in it, be he started to scream and yell "Out! Out!" He doesn't like to share.... DominicsMom finally got Jocelyn in the swing on Monday while Dominic was at daycare. She was out like a light!