A Memorable Memorial Day to Remember

Despite his broken arm, Jake managed to soldier on and enjoy the USS Missouri.

In addition to the bravery of the troops, we spent this week celebrating the fact that Luke's bowels are moving again for the first time in two weeks. Things were looking bleak for a while. The kid was so full of gas we couldn't take him out in public. After a few minutes in Gospel Doctrine he'd clear out the entire Relief Society room. And people would assume it was Kaddi or I. It felt like I was carrying Pepe Le Pieux around in a car seat. We were on the verge of being shunned by society.

Thankfully, other family members are substantially less stinky. I'm proud to say I'm relatively odor-free since leaving Thailand. Eating cereal for breakfast instead of spicy noodles makes a big difference. And now that Jake has a broken arm and plays outside much less, his smell has also improved. His clothes have never been cleaner.

Anyway...

As you can see from the pictures, I went with Jake on his class field trip to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. We visited the Arizona Memorial, the USS Bowfin submarine, the Pacific Aviation Museum, and finally the USS Memorial. At each stop the kids learned something about WWII and the US military.

Now, at a school on the mailand that would be enough. But this is Hawaii, where no amount of indulgence or legal liability is too much for the precious keiki. Why simply visit a Battleship like the USS Missouri, when you can spend the night there. How exciting to spend an entire night stuffed into a tiny metal cubicle listening to dozens of ten-year old boys rattle around in their metal cubicles. Yes, it was just as much fun as an actual boot camp. I kept waiting for a pack of hazers to show up suddenly at my bunk and pin me down with a blanket so that others could begin whacking me with socks full of quarters.

In truth, I got off easy. We had to leave early the next morning so that I could get back to teach my sections of Hist 201 (I've never been so happy to see those GE students.) The chaperones who didn't get early parole got to eat breakfast on the Missouri and spend several more hours visiting such attractions as the library and the laundry room.

It was fun to spend the day with Jake and a hundred of his classmates. But battleships are mazes of hallways with short ceilings divided into tiny metal compartments. Not the ideal place for freakishly tall clautrophobic people.

At least I didn't have Luke with me.