What Exactly Does Michael Do?

Michael's job can be hard to explain, but we'll try! The last four years have been his first "sea tour," during which he flew the EA-6B Prowler, an Electronic Attack aircraft. For the next 30 months or so, he is on his first "shore tour." His job now is to analyze threats to naval air warfare and brief other aviators on those threats. Being on a "shore tour" means he won't be deployed during this time. (Unless something very unfortunate happens...)

There is an article in the L.A. Times that explains what Electronic Attack aircraft do, and focuses on their role in the Libyan conflict. (The article talks mostly about the "Growler" which is the aircraft that is slowly replacing the Prowler; they do the same job.)

Michael's old squadron, VAQ-140, is deployed again out of Whidbey...this is the 3rd time in 3 years for VAQ-140, which puts a big strain on both the service member and their family. While most of the folks Michael flew with have also moved on to other jobs, we still have some friends back there, and they are always in our thoughts!


Here is the L.A. Times Article...
EA-18 Growler: U.S. is using electronic warfare to attack in waves - Los Angeles Times

DC Summer Fun

We're settling in to our DC home very nicely! 

We've particularly enjoyed getting to know our neighborhood, the Capitol Riverfront:  http://www.capitolriverfront.org/

Right around the corner is Barracks Row, where we love to visit the doggie boutiques, restaurants and shops:  http://www.barracksrow.org/

Maya loves the dog parks, and the fountains...where you'll often see both humans and dogs swimming and nobody seems to care!

Our neighborhood has outdoor concerts twice a week, and an outdoor movie on Thursdays.  Maya particularly enjoys the outdoor movies because she gets to share our picnic blanket (and our picnic food too.)

 We've also been sampling the DC Food Trucks when we find them, and at the bi-monthly Truckeroo (http://www.truckeroodc.com/www/) where about 20 food trucks (there are more than 75 total..) gather outside Nationals Stadium.  There is a bar and live music as well.



Happy Independence Day!

We celebrated our first Independence Day in our Nation's Capital...

We started by catching some of the DC Independence Day parade where we saw Michael's high school marching band

Then we spent several hours (melting, sweating, getting sunburnt) on the capitol lawn claiming our spot for "A Capital Fourth" which is the concert and fireworks celebration.  This year there were a few broadway stars, Matthew Morrison from Glee, Steve Martin and Gosh Groban.

Lessons learned:

1. Always bring an umbrella- for the crazy sunshine and the rain that will both happen in the same hour

2. No amount of sunscreen is enough

3. Nikki is still allergic to DC lawns