Onboard the Stennis

When Walter first got here Alekisio was so excited because he wanted to go on the ship. It's huge, but when I think about being on the ocean on it, somehow it seems small. The most exciting thing about the ship at first was that Alekisio was going to meet a pirate. Walter's friend Chris was the pirate. He stayed with us a few nights, and the whole time he was with us his name was Chris the pirate. Alekisio loved being on the ship and at one point when he was walking up the stairs he said,"Wow this is the coolest thing I ever saw!" We saw the tiny little cubby Walt sleeps in, and got to on deck to see all the "birds". It's really crowded up there which confused me because I thought the planes needed a bigger runway to take off. I got to learn how they're catapulted off the ship.

This is Alekisio in Walt's gear that he wears on the flight deck.

This is Walt and Sio in front of Walt's bird. I don't know what it's called but it does radar I think. Alekisio really remembers what it was like in the ship because we were watching NCIS and he came out of his bedroom and saw the stairs(they were on a ship)and then a room that looked like Walt's shop and he said,"That's where Chris the Pirate lives!" I was amazed because it really did look like the room where he met Chris. I really enjoyed being on the ship. Getting on there was so much security, and guys guarding the entrance to the ship had huge guns. I really liked that every time someone walked on or off the steps to get in the ship they turned to acknowledge the flag. I was a little confused at first because you can't actually see the flag, but it's there at the front of the ship. Every time we went to get Walt people were coming and going in groups. I kept imagining my grandpa's when they would come into port. Not much has changed so did they dock in the same spot? I imagine that the excitement of getting to port is the same, the groups coming on and off in shifts the same, just different clothes. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to live somewhere so flooded with military. Living here you never forget the sacrifices made for our country because your faced with it on a daily basis. Anyway enjoy the pictures!