Birthdays, Rodeo and C-17 Flight

So, I'm way behind on this thing. Here are some pictures from several months back...

We had an excellent Batman birthday 

 it was epic

 cake

 and presents

 and family

 very exciting

 Batman, Batman, Batman!

 a fox out the window at work...he didn't say anything ;)

 this cute guy

 every year they drive long-horn cattle through the base and they let the kids out to see them

 leadership gets to ride horses and the kids really enjoy it

 it's a prelude to the rodeo

 embracing the local culture

 my oldest son...living dangerously

 my folks passed through, taking my youngest brother to college

 they were here for my daughter's birthday

 and we took her to her favorite place

 as a benefit of being here and to understand the other airframe, we get to do an instructor enrichment flight, getting to fly the other plane

 it was a beautiful day for it

 and the 17 was a blast to fly

 I got to do air refueling from the receiver position

 a unique perspective, and very difficult

 a side of the tanker I hadn't seen before

 very close

 beautiful tanker

 we also got to fly a low level...

 very low and very fast

 the best part was I got to fly with Sharon from ELDP

 she is an amazing pilot and instructor

 and it was great to fly her aircraft after I got her a flight on mine

 I got to do an assault landing and go backwards (my plane does neither of those things)

 getting into fall

 then one of my best friends from school passed through

 it was great for our kids to see each other again

 big eyes from the cute guy

see ya

ELDP Grad in DC

Back in June I got to go to DC for the graduation and inter-agency week of the ELDP program.  As DC is only 3 hours from my folks, I got to see them and meet my new niece as well.

 The last get together for the Squad 3 Amigos

 We got to go to the State Department

 much smaller than the DoD and with a very different mission

 out the window of their dining room

 with Sharon

 State Department Selfie

 then graduation at the Pentagon

 we four were the AF grads from the cohort

 a long way from our base

 our grad certificate

 visiting monuments with my battle buddy

 a great day for it

 then walking the Mall with more "Amigos"

 "Honest" Abe's memorial

 so our nephew was serving as an intern in DC, so I met up to take him to dinner in China Town

 it was pretty cool to be in China Town after having been to China and Hong Kong

 I got to introduce him to the joy of Peking Duck

 my youngest brother had his prom and graduation while I was there

 though his graduation was on the same day as mine at the Pentagon, I was able to be there for his prom and help take pictures

 he and his date

 his buds

 and I got to meet my new niece as she and my sister were visiting my parents

 I love when I get to see family when I travel

 so fun to see family

 beautiful ladies

 the view of the Pentagon from my hotel

 and of DC

 going out for excellent food

 Lebanese

 it was excellent

 yogurt

 fruit and cheese

 I got to go see Jurassic World with my brother

 gifts from my battle buddy and squad

 and back home with this cute little guy

rainbows in our neighborhood