Cub Scouts - USS Lexington Live Aboard Trip

Annually, the cub scouts stay the weekend on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.  The USS Lexington is a retired aircraft carrier built in World War II for the Navy.  The carrier has been turned into a museum that does allow "live aboards" which mean people to spend the night for the full experience.

Because I am the designated parent of the family to attend scouting activities, I was the lucky parent to attend with Collin.  We had planned to carpool with another family for the 3.5 hour drive. Then, the day before, the mom asked if we would mind flying there.  Her dad is a pilot and offered to fly us there.  He was staying the night with Collin's friend, Trace, anyway because Trace's mom was going to be out of town.  Would we mind?  ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?  I could not wait to tell Collin the plan but decided to keep it a secret until we drove to the airport the next morning.  As soon as he heard we were flying, he was very worried about flying over water.  I told him would would but only for a little bit.  This barely calmed his nerves.  He forgot about his fear when he saw his friend waiting for us.

The boys helping the pilot check the plane

Getting ready to board and take off

We could not have asked for a better day for flight. The weather was cool and nice without a cloud in the sky.  We each got to listen to the pilot, Bid Daddy, talk to traffic control or us letting us know what he was doing.  Collin did not want to sit up front to watch Bid Daddy.  I think he was still nervous and happy to sit where he was.  The flight was to take us 56 minutes instead of the 3.5 hour drive.  Before we landed, we got permission to circle the USS Lexington.  This was great!  The ship looked so small from the plane.

During the flight, we could see where we were on the interactive map

Trace looking out the window

Collin asking the pilot questions

Corpus Christi bay

USS Lexington from above

Another great picture of the USS Lexington

We arrived 2 hours earlier than we needed to load on the ship, so we went to lunch.  Collin was so hungry, he ate two hamburgers and fries.  I was not sure what they would serve for dinner so at least he was full before he went aboard.  We then waited with the rest of the Pack to listen to instructions and load the ship.  The boys played in the sand or climbed on the ship parts that were by the loading bridge.

Looking for shark teeth

"Is this a propeller mom?" 

The aircraft carrier looked HUGE from the shore

When we were able to board the ship, we had to go straight to the berthing room (sleeping quarters) to drop off our gear before heading the the Hangar Deck to hear the instructions for the weekend. I did have to find a Dad to take care of him at night because the females and males had to sleep separately.  Big Daddy said he was happy to take care of Collin.  We separated briefly planning to meet back in 15 minutes.

By the time I got to the female berthing room, most of the beds were taken.  I found a section of 3 by themselves that were still available.  I choose the top thinking I would have the most head room and worried about how I would get up and down from there later.




Because there were 1,500 people planning to spend the night, the activities were sectioned off by arm band color.  We were the red bands.  That meant we watched a movie before dinner.  When I heard movie, I assumed it would be about World War II, the USS Lexington or another aircraft carrier.  Instead, we got to watch Journey to Space (3D) which was about the Space Shuttle program, International Space station and possible travel to Mars.  It was REALLY interesting.  Collin fell asleep about 10 minutes into the 445 minutes movie.  After the movie, we went to dinner one level below.  Dinner was hamburgers so the boys were not interested in eating them because we just had them for lunch.  We had about 30 minutes to explore before we came back to the Hangar Deck for Color Guard and a patriotic ceremony.  Next, we had two hours to work on the scavenger hunt which was a great way to take the tours and check out the ship.  The boys really liked the Flight Deck because they could get into a few of the planes.

This was one of Collin's favorites because of all of the controls he could touch

The boys thought it was hilarious to learn about the "poop deck".  Here they are pointing to the word "poop" on the sign.

We should have kept them in the Brig (jail) for a few minutes more

Collin's Den looking at one of the many planes on the ship

One of several models

In the Briefing Room

We came back to the Hangar Deck for ghost stories at 9:30pm.  Collin was bored because "the guy is just talking to us" but later kept taking about the stories so I knew he was listening.  We explored for 30 more minutes until we headed to the berthing rooms to get ready for Lights Out at 11pm.  Of course the boys were not tired but the fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, the lights came on at 6:45am.  Our breakfast was not scheduled until 8:15am so we let the boys play some games in the game room after getting dressed for the day.  Breakfast was eggs, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy.  Collin only wanted the sausage and choose to eat two bowls of cereal instead.  He said their milk was the best which is why he ate so much.  There were announcements at 9am and then we could either leave or stay on the ship.  We headed back because the boys had sports games or practices in the afternoon.

Collin letting me know he is ready

Basketball Season

Collin decided he wanted to try basketball again after skipping last year.  He also knew several of his friends were playing which helped make that decision.  He is playing on the 76ers (Sixers) team which does include several of his good friends.  We have missed a few scrimmage games because of our recent travels but finally made it to two games in the last few days.


He did really well on defense in position 4 blocking the guy he was assigned to.  He even tried to get the ball a few times when the opposite team missed the basket.  He worked hard the entire game to follow each of the plays the coach or his team mate called out.  He told me if the coach yells out "5" that is when he gets a chance to shoot the ball.  I did not hear this call made during either game.  They won that game 47 to 38.




The next game, the boys played a tough team, the Wolves.  They were good but our boys played aggressive.  It was a tight game.  However, because of a few bad calls, the Sixers ended up losing 42 to 36.  Better luck next time boys during the game Monday night.

San Diego Weekend

Before we decided to take a road trip to Arizona, we already planned a quick weekend trip to San Diego.  None of us have been there before so we thought it would be nice to check it out.  We have several friends that have been or are from there so it was highly recommended as a quick weekend trip....even though we could have spend many more days there.

We went to the airport Thursday night for a 9:55pm departure.  Knowing the 2 hour time change made this flight seem not too bad.  At least we would be in San Diego when we woke up.  We had no idea that this meant we would not be in San Diego until close to 2am.  We settled into the first plane, yep, I did say the first plane, and noticed we were sitting there awhile.  I noticed more than Dad because he had already starting listening to some music and playing a game on his iPhone.  Collin, even though it was late at night, was full of questions about the plane and was very concerned about us flying over water.  This distracted me some from noticing how long we had been sitting there.  I saw the baggage guys outside starting to unload our baggage and new we were not leaving any time soon.  Then, the pilot let us know out plane had a mechanical and we were getting off.  Our "new" plan was still in route from New Orleans and would not land until 11:40pm.  It was late....yep!  We finally got on our plane and took off.  Collin was still awake at this point asking more questions still but did fall asleep about 20 minutes into the flight.  He was still sleeping when we landed which was a little rough.  Our taxi must have been a retired race car driver because he was driving over 60mph through downtown San Diego to our hotel which was right along the San Diego Bay.  We finally arrived and were all ready for bed.

Day 1

Even though we went to sleep around 2am San Diego time, we were up and ready for breakfast by 7:30am.  We ate breakfast and reserved a car that would not be ready until the afternoon so we took a walk.  Our hotel was right next to Seaport Village which consists of shops and dining.  We were a little early for most of the shops to open but did stop in to a few that were open early.  Our first stop was a sunglasses place because I forgot mine at home.  Lucky me because I got a really nice new pair of Coach, wire framed glasses.

We continued walking until we stopped at the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  This was fun for Collin to see because the following weekend, he and I will be sleeping on the US Lexington for Cub Scouts. This gave him a good sense of how big that ship will be.  He liked seeing the planes and helicopters on the deck of the ship.

USS Midway aircraft carrier

Collin wanted a picture of the plane on the carrier behind us

Memorial beside the USS Midway

Walking around the deck near the ship, we found a huge statute.  Dad thought it would be fun to imitate what the statute was doing.  Collin took the picture...didn't he do a great job?


Next to the USS Midway was a really nice tribute to Bob Hope.  The sculptural artwork had  sound coming from a speaker near the statutes of Bob entertaining the troops.  We explained to Collin how important this was for the troops.



Knowing our car would be ready soon, we headed back to the hotel to pack for the rest of the afternoon and get some lunch.  We got the car and headed North along the coast.  We stopped in Carlsbad for lunch.  We we are on vacation, we like to stop at local restaurants or placed we do not have at home.  Most of the time, the meal is really good.  We stopped at King's Fish House which was a real treat.  Not only was the food exceptional, but they are really great with kids.  Collin got to touch a lobster and see how the claws work.  He also got to watch oysters being shucked.  He said, "Mimi really likes those.  I have eaten those at her house before".  Not so sure about that last comment Collin.

Next, we surprised Collin with a visit to Legoland because he kept asking to do something fun.  We did not research what to expect at this place so we did not realize this was an amusement park in addition to a place where the kids could work with Legos.  It was still chilly outside so I was glad I brought long sleeves and warm shirts to wear.  We had fun riding some of the more tame rides but were disappointed when Collin did not want to ride any of the roller coasters. We thought he might change his mind after riding some of the other rides but he did not.  I think his favorite was getting to drive a Lego built car.  Because we were there on a Friday, we did not have to wait in too many lines so we could ride some of the rides several times in a row before moving on.

The picture of the happy family

This ride got me really wet because people could shoot water from the pond on us

Dad and Collin having fun on the ride

One of the many Lego statutes around the park

Jousting ride

Collin went back in line many times for this sack ride

Driving the boats in a race back to the start.  I won!

My competitive boys

Driving around the Lego city.  There were even traffic signals the drivers had to obey.

Headed to get gas?  

He tried hard to stay within the lines and did great.

Vegas Lego city....Treasure Island

Vegas Lego city....MGM Grand

After one of the ride pretending to be sick

On the ship ride that went back and forth and even spun around

The park closed at 5pm, so we headed back to San Diego planning to have dinner on Coronado Island.  We changed our mind after it took us close to 1 1/2 hours to get back because of Friday night traffic.  We ordered room service because all of the restaurants were packed because of a convention. This worked out well because we could get into our PJs, relax and eat dinner.

Day 2

We got up early again but purposely after 8am to wait for the convention crowd to have breakfast not knowing the start time for their day was moved back to 8:30am.  So, we decided to have breakfast on the way.  Our plan for the day was to drive up and down the coast from San Diego to Oceanside and back.  After having breakfast in Del Mar, at Starbucks because we did not find anything else open until this point, our first stop was a beach in Solana. It was a cold day so I assumed, incorrectly, that Collin would not want to get in the water.  At least at this first stop, he was cold and was happy to walk on the sand.  The beach was amazing.  I was surprised at all of the smooth rock along the water front.  We are used to nasty seaweed all over so this was a nice change.




We then drove through Encinitas and Carlsbad before stopping at Oceanside.  I wanted Collin to see the Oceanside Pier and play on the beach.  Here is when "Can I put my feet in the water?" turned into him getting really wet.  I am not really a beach person so I was happy to stay back and take pictures while Dad and Collin played in the water.

One of the many lifeguard stations

One of my favorite pictures of Collin and Dad

Such a happy face because he is getting to play in the water

After playing about an hour, we walked on the pier.  Collin was wondering how the guys fishing knew if they caught a fish, how did the fishing line reach so far below and what they used for bait. He also wiped his hands all over the place even after we explained the white spots were bird poop.  "I could not help it especially after you told me it was poop".  Such a boy!

Fishing poles waiting for the bite

One of the many birds we saw on the pier

We were getting hungry and also knew we needed to stop and get Collin some shorts (his pants were soaked), so we headed South and stopped in Carlsbad.  We ate lunch at El Olas because Dad was hungry for Mexican.  The Mexican was not what we were used to but it was really good.  We were all hungry and finished everything on our plate.  We then found Collin some shorts which were really a bathing suit and a shirt.  We walked around and stopped at a few other shops.  One thing we noticed was that we could cross the streets diagonally.  Dad had the biggest smile on his face after he did it the first time.  I thought for sure he was going to cross back to then be able to do it again but he refrained.

Near Encinitas, we pulled over to look at the rock art we saw this guy working on that morning.

Looking South towards Del Mar

Simple but artistic and peaceful

He wanted to know why he could not touch the rocks

 At this point, Collin wanted to play on the beach more so we stopped near Del Mar and had the beach practically to ourselves.  Knowing he had a change of clothes now, I did not care how wet he got.  He had a blast as you can tell in some of these pictures.






There were so many more rocks on this are of the beach.  Glad we have tough feet to walk on these to get to the water.



We went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.  This time, we did finally make it to Coronado Island to have dinner at Il Fornaio Coronado, and Italian restaurant with amazing views of the San Diego skyline.  I was not too hungry but the food looked amazing.  After dinner, we walked along the shore before we got back in the car to head to the hotel for the night.  My camera did not capture how beautiful the San Diego skyline looked.




Day 3

Because we wanted to see more of the island, we had breakfast at Tartine, a European cafe.  Collin was not happy because they did not have donuts or eggs. He at least tired a few options settling on Dad's pound loaf and some fruit.  Then, we drove around the island looking at the houses.  I looked up how much a few of them cost. They did not cost as much as I thought for being in California and on a island.  The shocker was the gas price which was over $1/gallon more than in San Diego which was already $0.50/gallon more than at home.

We had to turn the car in by 11am and then get ready to fly back home.  No switching planes this time.  We made it back tired, but smiling because of the great time we had and the memories we made together.  I can still hear the waves crashing....ahhhh....