First off, let me share a few statistics... after precisely 6 months, 1 week, 1 day, and 6 hours of training; 10 people from 2 different time zones traveled a combined total of 1,807 miles to converge on the Washington, D.C. area. Why you may ask?
BECAUSE CARL GRADUATED!!!!!
That’s right… after 8 years; Carl finally achieved his dream of becoming a Special Agent. Given the momentousness of the occasion, we had to make it a family affair, flying in sisters, brothers (in-law), cousins, parents (in-law), sons, daughters… and of course, wives (well, there’s only one of me!). We all arrived Tuesday and converged upon a beautiful vacation rental home big enough for the entire clan. Combining 5 kids under the age of 10 in a single house can be entertaining (and quite loud, too!). After landing and settling in, Mimi and PawPaw took Todd to Mt. Vernon after settling into the house.
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| This kids loves leaves! |
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| Posing outside Mt. Vernon |
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| Sitting in the rocking chairs |
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| What a beautiful view!!! |
Katelynn and I took a nap until Carl’s sister, Rachel, arrived with her family later in the day. Carl had to work Tuesday, so he arrived at the house right at dinnertime. After unpacking his truck, which was packed to the brim, we all had a wonderful night of relaxing (as much as you can with excited kids running around everywhere).
The following morning, Carl and I got to sneak out before everyone else. He had to be at work early before graduation and I was attending a Q&A session with other DS family members. Once everyone arrived, we all loaded up on big buses and made the journey down to Main State. The kids were really excited when they saw we had a “police escort” to help us get through traffic – one of the perks of working for a Federal Law Enforcement agency! We arrived just in time to meet up with Carl and grab a few family pictures before the big event.
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| A great photo opportunity (and we match - NOT planned) |
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| A family picture before the big event |
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| The whole family!!! |
Then the ceremony began. I can say it was short, sweet, and to the point. Everyone seemed to understand that after 6 months, 1 week, 1 day, and 6 hours of training, no one wants to hear long-winded speeches or drawn-out presentations. Everyone received their badges and credentials, with HUGE applause for each graduate.
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| Receiving his badge and credentials |
After the presentation of credentials, specific awards were given out to select students who distinguished themselves during training. Carl was honored by receiving the Distinguished Academic Award, scoring the highest academic average throughout all of training (which his sister loving calls “The Nerd Award”). When Carl was receiving his award, Katelynn shouted out for all to hear, “That’s my daddy!” It may have been the graduates’ day, but Katelynn stole the show!
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| Being presented his award by the Director of DS |
And just as quick as we got there, the ceremony was over… but the party was just beginning…
Thursday, Carl had to run to work for a few hours to finish up paperwork and check out of training. We all traveled to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. The kids seemed to like the Mammals exhibit the best, although Rachel and I loved seeing the Hope Diamond!
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| Standing with the bear |
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| The Hope Diamond |
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| Princess Rachel |
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| Todd and Madison standing near the dinosaurs |
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| Katelynn saying "cheese" near the dino exhibit |
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| She really liked all the pretty rocks! |
Carl met with us after lunch and we began our walking tour of Washington, D.C. First stop was meeting up with a friend of Carl’s from his days at the Labor Department. It had been a while since we all got to see her (Todd was 19 months old last time) and it was great to catch up with her. We then proceeded to walk 5.5 miles along the National Mall and Constitution Ave., stopping outside the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the White House, and the Lincoln Memorial. Since the kids were missing school this week, we figured it would be a great impromptu civics lesson. And since Carl went to school up here and has spent the last few months around here, he became our unofficial tour guide. It was a little chilly, but a wonderful day for sightseeing. It was rough on the kids, and meltdowns were inevitable, but all-in-all, I think it was a great experience for the kids (and us too)!
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| Todd and Katelynn at the National Mall |
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| The whole family at the Washington Monument |
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| Washington Monument at night |
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| Lincoln Memorial at night |
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| Family picture with Abe Lincoln |
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| The White House |
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| US Capitol |
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| The whole family at the Washington Monument |
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| Honest Abe |
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| Out in front of the White House |
Friday, we all piled into our cars and made the 45-mile trek out to Annapolis. Carl wanted to show the kids where he went to college. Both boys had been there before, but they were way too young to remember (Trey was 6 weeks old his last time to USNA and Todd was 19 months old). Everyone was excited to see noon meal formation in T-Court and the ladies were quite excited to shop at the Mid Store!
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| Naval Academy Chapel |
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| The Brigade of Midshipmen at Noon Meal Formation |
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| Brigade Staff at Noon Meal Formation |
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| Rachel's family poses with the leaves |
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| The cute couple |
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| Katelynn wanted in on the fun |
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| Outside Bancroft Hall |
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| Riding the canon |
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| Beautiful autumn leaves |
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| Tecumseh all painted up for the home football game |
Carl said it was weird for him to be back up at USNA showing his nephew, niece, and son around… made him feel old! Of course, Rachel took every opportunity to remind him it’ll have been 10 years since he graduated next year… so he is, in fact, old! Gotta love sibling rivalry!
And like all good things, our trip had to come to an end. We all flew back home and Carl drove his truck back down to Florida for Thanksgiving. Carl snuck out of the house around 3AM to start the 950-mile drive back to Florida. It still amazes how he pulls off long drives like that (of course, he’s always exhausted when he’s done). It took him 16 ½ hours to make the trip, but he purposely took long breaks so we had a chance to get back to the house and settled in before he arrived.
Even though our day at the monuments was a long day for the kids, they all agreed the Lincoln Memorial was the coolest place we visited. That's quite fitting since Lincoln is Carl's favorite president. Lincoln overcame a lot of adversity and failure before succeeding. Carl used to have this picture of Lincoln on his desk at work from the Successories company:
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MESSAGE: He failed in business in '31. He was defeated for state legislator in '32. He tried another business in '33. It failed. His fiancee died in '35. He had a nervous breakdown in '36. In '43 he ran for congress and was defeated. He tried again in '48 and was defeated again. He tried running for the Senate in '55. He lost. The next year he ran for Vice President and lost. In '59 he ran for the Senate again and was defeated. In 1860, the man who signed his name A. Lincoln, was elected the 16th President of the United States. The difference between history's boldest accomplishments and its most staggering failures is often, simply, the diligent will to persevere. |
Carl most certainly persevered through years of trying to achieve his goal... and after eight years, he succeeded. He had a lot of help from friends, family, and God to get to this momentous occasion. I couldn't be more proud of him and all his accomplishments!!!
