A Care Package from Daddy

We were walking out the door to go over to my friend Beth's house (another family missing their Daddy on the USS Nassau), when we spotted a box addressed to Sydney and Miranda. We grabbed it and immediately made a U-turn back inside. Nothing is more important than hearing from Daddy!

Sydney made sure to point out, "Mommy, your name is not on there, just Miranda and me." So, she insisted on opening it herself, with her purple scissors (with a tiny bit of help for safety's sake).

Tucked inside right on top, was this initial note from Daddy:

Of course, I later teased Brian about his "brutally honest gift tag"...was it really necessary to tell the recipients of the gifts, let alone a 4-yr old and 2-yr old, they were free? To which he replied, laughing, "Yeah, I guess everything is free to them!" Not exactly my point, but definitely true!

But, I digress...both girls were seriously excited to get mail from Daddy! Sydney took charge of opening their letters, while Miranda tried to figure out what these small, round camouflage things were.

Miranda lost interest as quickly as they popped open into one-man tents! But Sydney hopped right into hers, zipped it up, laid down and asked for her sleeping bag!

Then, since there are two of course, I popped open the second one right away--which came with a bonus gift of Deet bug repellent cream! But wouldn't you know, Miranda wouldn't get in hers. Not to mention, one is plenty big enough for both girls anyway, and eventually after Sydney's urgings, she inched her way in next to Sydney, all the while guarding the zipper to make sure it stayed open.

So...now I just have to figure out how to fold the second one back up. It looks the first one has become a permanent fixture in our house for the next five months. Thanks, Daddy!