Natural Bridge Safari

My mom and dad came to visit last weekend. As you can see from their t-shirts and general glumness, Carter and Caleb were going through some heavy "papa" withdrawals.

I had to go to Charlottesville all week for some JAG training, but that didn't stop the rest of my family from having a ton of fun. On Monday, they went to the Natural Bridge Safari Park. I guess if there's one good thing about Texas, they don't stop you from getting up close and personal with the animals. Take that San Diego Wild Animal Park! (Note to Wild Animal Park: that was a joke. I have nothing against your conservationist, environmentally-friendly bent. Please don't take away my membership!)

Now that's a family!

On a related note, I came home to find three big scratches down the side of the truck. My mom says it's from the Dairy Queen Drive-Thru though, not from enraged animals.

First day of school! (sort of)

Carter started preschool last week. There's a group of five women or so that are doing it. Each month, they trade of teaching. Right now, it's our next door neighbor. My favorite part is that Carter calls her "Miss Melanie." He even saw her today playing the organ during church, and he shouted "Daddy, there's Miss Melanie!"

Showing off his sweet backpack (it's Thomas the Train).

As you can see, he's learning a lot. Well, at least all the important letters :)

The happiest day of his life (almost)

Well, I guess it wasn't THE happiest day of Chris' life, because that, of course, would be when he married me; outside of family events, though, I think this one is definitely at the top. What happened? The Army dropped this:

from the everyday uniform.
Chris absolutely hated the beret and was rejoicing when the announcement was made.
So now, he gets to look like this:

Instead of like this:

You can read some of the article here or click on the title to read the whole thing if you're really interested.

Army dumps beret as official ACU headgear

By Lance M. Bacon - Staff writer

Posted : Monday Jun 13, 2011 8:08:04 EDT

The troops spoke, and the leadership listened: On Tuesday, patrol caps will once again be the official headgear for the Army Combat Uniform.

The beret change is one of several key uniform changes provided to Army Times by Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler.

The changes were prompted by feedback from “thousands of soldiers” through post-deployment surveys, social media and discussions with soldiers during base visits, said Chandler, who sees himself as a “scout” for the Army secretary and chief of staff and a “voice in the Pentagon” for every soldier.