Looking for other moms & GF's in Ship 4, div 823

[Militarymomof2]

Hi, I am a Seal wannabe mom. Looking for other moms that are dreading Pre buds and then the big move to California for Buds after graduation.

[Brie]

Hi Angie, thanks for the info! I have a couple of follow up questions...what is Captains Cup? So Battle Stations is just one night? And what time of day do they start making their "I'm a Sailor" call? Thanks! :)

[AngieFromWA:BUDS Mom/ HM alumnus]

You are welcome. Captain's Cup is an all hands, all divisions "olympic style" competition. Lots of team pride is gained or lost that day as the Divs battle it out for top honors. :) There are definately parts of BC that are "fun" and the Recruits look forward to...Captain's Cup and BS are two of those. (For some, Gas Chamber is another, warped kids! LOL)

Battle Stations starts at 8:30 pm, after a long day of training and studying, and ends 12 hours later. They have their special Ballcap ceremony at the end, then, some briefings. (That's when they have to struggle to stay awake!) They are all pretty tired, but usually end up making calls sometime in the early afternoon GL time. Unfortunately, some loved ones are already in the air, headed for Chicago if that happens on Weds or Thursday!

[mumof7]

Haven't written much in this group but I too have a son in the same div as all you moms. I am so thankful for AngieFromWa. Just read through alot of the post and am wondering if young kids can go to meet and greet and do our sailors go too? Has anyone heard of the springhill marriot and if it is nice or not? We are driving from florida with 6 0f our sailors sibilings! We have heard from him 2 times and recieved our phone call. He sounded so mature and excited about his uniform as well. i believe his words were I am gonna look smokin hot in this thing! Ha ha.There is so much to lok through on this site it can consume you!! But I am truly thankful for it! Praying for all of the navy familys but especially for the SO groups. Hope you all hear from your sailors this week.

[AngieFromWA:BUDS Mom/ HM alumnus]

Aww thanks, mumof7! :) It's Moms like you all and posts like that that make it worth the time I and other mentor Moms spend on N4Ms. :) (You are right, this site can consume you, take it from a card carrying N4Ms addict! LOL) We just want to ease the burden of this journey for those behind us, giving you accurate and (hopefully) helpful info that will make planning and enduring the ups and downs easier. :-)

The Navy used to have a family gathering the night before graduation, but no more. The M and G's are a new N4Ms generated tradition now, so no Sailors there. :( Yes, kids of all ages can be there, check w/your PIR Group re: the plan and to rsvp. First time you will see your son will be in that "smokin' hot" uniform in the Grand Hall Fri a.m. when he enters with all his Divmates. =) You will be amazed at how polished, confident and suddenly grown up your son will seem!! You'll be so proud. Btw: it's quite an early rise. You will want to plan to be at the RTC gates no later then 6:30-7!!

The ceremony starts at 9, so be prepared to keep them all entertained. :) You will be sitting in Div assigned bleachers, first come, first serve. You can buy a Div Tshirt for you, water, and little Sailor hats for them all. =] Bring cash. However, be aware that your son is only allowed to put 4 guest names on his official list! They are the only ones guaranteed entrance and seating. Children under the age of 12 don't count towards those slots. Overflow guests will be asked to wait elsewhere until guests on the list have all been seated, then, if there is room, they are allowed in. The larger your TG (Training Group), i.e. lots of Divs, the less space available. Those lower Div bleachers fill up fast!

I have always heard good reviews on the Marriott. It's not too far up the road from GL. Go up to the "forums" tab and look for "PIR". Lots of info there, or put "Marriott" in your main search box. (Upper right of any page) What an exciting road trip for all of you! :-)

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know that I am working on the ribbons for this division. I know you were concerned about having a name on the ribbons so I came up with a ribbon that will work great for this group and looks awesome. Believe me they all look better in person than they do in pics. They are about 5 to 6 inches from top to bottom. The pics are samples of what I have finished for moms in this group. Let me know what you think. (if you see something green on the anchor it is my shirt reflecting on it from the sun)

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I am actually working on them now lol. I can fit it the way you ordered them with one initial. I have been designing and working on ribbons all day. I designed one for wife to wear when her husbands ship come back to port. It is at sea right now. And it was cool because it is the same ship my daughter will be with.

[AngieFromWA:BUDS Mom/ HM alumnus]

Ah, the "Ricky Crud" (various BC viruses) strikes again. Poor guy. Yuck! :P These kids are so resilient, I know that on a 100% healthy day, I couldn't do half of the things they have to!

Happy Anniversary CBMom! :D

LaLa, very nice job on those ribbons. :) Thanks for being so accommodating to the needs and concerns of our Spec Ops Moms/Wives! We appreciate you helping them to celebrate a special day while still watching out for their new Sailors. Blessings to you. :-)

[fredabee]

I will keep my eyes out for other 823'ers. I think I may be too late to get ribbons from Lala....

[AngieFromWA:BUDS Mom/ HM alumnus]

Me too migi's mom, we should just plan sometime for an 11 pm west coast chat! :) Btw: my son lived a couple of towns away too. working and going to school. Weeks would go by without hearing from him. I'd text and tease, "hey, remember that you have a family nearby?" Then he'd suddenly call and say he was coming up for Sunday dinner. Of course, he'd arrive with a couple of bags of laundry, but he did them (worked myself out of that job when he was 12!) so I didn't mind the excuse for some family togetherness. Didn't have the ironing thing down until after BC though. :)~

Do you have a POA (Power of Atty) for your son or are you just on his account? I'd sure recommend that you all get a POA if your son has any bills/obligations. There potentially will be plenty of times when they won't be able to take care of things themselves. We are still on our son's, even though he's married now. Both parties have to be in the same place at the same time to sign the POA, so that can get tricky. Migi'smom, hope you get the new card with no hassle and can get it to him by PIR. On second thought, maybe you should hold on to that for him. New Sailors are notorious for spending money like it grows on trees! They'll have financial management classes as part of their Indoc, post BC training. :-)

[Brie]

Hi, Just been too busy this week at work. I have been trying to stay caught up with the site though. I'm 90% sure that I will be at the M&G. Not buying a ribbon--I just know that I won't get to it--too much going on. However, I will think of a way to make myself identifiable. May just wear a set of small ribbons in the Navy colors or maybe put . Does anybody know where this Ramada is? I could call them and try to get the layout and maybe find a good spot where we could meet. Any thoughts? I just don't know how many people show up at these things, but if it's only 25-35 it won't be too hard to find each other--even without ribbons.

[AngieFromWA:BUDS Mom/ HM alumnus]

Brie, the gathering time that the Ramada hosts is for ALL Navy families in town for PIR that week, not just N4Ms, so it can get really crowded. I've heard it's packed and noisy, hard to find other Div and PIR mates. At one, some non N4Ms were rudely taking ribbons made for N4Ms members! There has been conflicting reviews (good and bad) about the experiance, environment and location (safety, child friendliness, cleanliness etc). I'll check with a gal I know from a recent PIR Group who were debating whether they would participate, or do their own thing and see what they decided/thought. I'll get back to you all on that.

You can Google map the location to see the layout, how close to RTC etc. I believe that Anastasia's restaurant is next door, so you may want to start at the Ramada for the cocktails and salty snacks, (and to meet your PIRmates) then head over to the restaurant for a more intimate, less noisy, 823 family dinner atmosphere. The guys at Flanagan's restaurant have always been wonderful to our N4M families too. :)

[sdcalram]

glad I am not the only one in this division that has not gotten a call in over two weeks. I think our boys are really busy trying to get it all done in one less week than most have. and they get less sleep than the other divitions my son did say they are up at 4 am everyday and to bed at 10. but he does not get everything done until around midnight so he is getting 4 hours of sleep. some nights. they are trying to win some award and because they are all seal wannabe they have been told they better get it lol Our young over acheivers!!!! I am proud of them all!!! But it would be nice to hear from them. by the way where are you getting ribbons they sound nice!