The XO's Log

Friday 4:00pm - The first 20 minutes with my crew have gone without incident. Both seem relatively happy and clean. We just made a pact to keep the house clean this weekend and I have great belief that they will hold their end of the bargain. As requested we will be having waffles and tacos for dinner. F is settling in nicely to the weekend tone i was hoping to set by removing his shirt and dancing to The Goofy Movie. We are all optimistic this will work.

Friday 4:22pm - I was alarmed by the sound of what i thought was a rabid squirrel trying to crew through a bank safe only to find it was F playing with toys by himself in the back room. All is safe.

Friday 4:36pm - I was promised a fully stocked larder only to find no butter. Making waffles for the kids is going to be difficult, and even more so to explain. The Quartermaster will be severely punished for this oversight, making me look like an idiot only 40 minutes into my first day of command.
Afternote: My ingenuity has paid off, and my first mate enthusiastically climbed a palm tree to retrieve a coconut. After breaking it open using nothing but hand strength i quickly crushed and pressed the fleshy part of the fruit to make coconut oil. I have conveniently saved the the remainder in a jar found washed up on the beach labeled Trader Joes Virgin Organic Coconut Oil. A local trader brand i am sure.

Friday 8:30pm - I am starting to learn that when fed my crew are much more pleasant to be around. I will remember this for the future. The rest of the evening was happy an uneventful. I am now settling in for a 3 hour tale of sex, money, and a wolf told by a short, thick glassed man known as Martin. 

Saturday 6:36am - I was greeted happily this morning by my first mate, despite the fact that i felt it was too early to get up. She informed me that the little one had once again removed all of his clothes and peed wildly about his crib. This was confirmed and followed by a quick bath so that the crew member did not match the smell of his bedding.

Saturday 7:15am - This morning I decided to appease the crew by taking them to our favorite haunt, Java Johns, for some breakfast. 

Saturday 7:40am - Upon arrival I quickly learned that breakfast was a loose term for carrot cake and frosted cinnamon roll, to which I relented remembering my fed = happy lesson from the previous day. Some baked oatmeal for me and it was off to the market to see what the days haves has brought in. 

Saturday 8:30am - A pint of local strawberries and 2 flowers later we headed back to our transport in order to carry on restocking our supplies.

Saturday 9:15am - The crew convinced me to take a side trip to a “Phelps Park” where they assured me great fun would be had by all. A short hike along the ravine trail and exercise on the metal fortress yielded a a happy crew ready for our next supply stop.

Saturday 9:47am - Our re-supply trip has been successful and we now have fresh fruits and vegetables in tow. This regions trading posts come with traditions I am not accustomed to. Once the bartering phase is complete an insistent to help small child is assigned to you in order to carry supplies to your transport. Not a word was said and he left with a bow. peculiar. 
Saturday 10:21am - The crew was overly excited for the prospect to eat all of the fresh fruit that was just purchased at the market. They were appeased with only a portion thank goodness as our Quartermaster only left us with meager currency for resupply. Also, I have discovered that if you throughly blend…

1 banana
1 cucumber
1/3 cup of frozen cherries
1/4 cup of fresh blueberries
A splash of almond milk (which I squeezed by hand)
And a dash of “chia seeds”…

It makes for a pretty refreshing drink. I think I will name the mixture Smoothie for constancy in which it is consumed.

Saturday 12:01pm - My crew’s proclivity for lawn style water sports have been made very clear, they love them! Both first and second mate have spent the last hour screaming and running around in the yard like banshees. I have been informed that they are hungry yet again.

Saturday 1:46pm - All attempts at convincing my crew to nap has been lost as well as my patience. 

Saturday 5:15pm - I must admit that time with the crew today has flown by. We have all had a great time and lots of work has been completed even with my crew’s help.

Saturday 8:32pm - Although my second mate turned in hours ago my first mate has politely offered to stay up as late as I will. I appreciate the solidarity among this crew.

Sunday 12:16am - After enjoying a new picture show called The Wolf of Wall Street it is time to turn in. In the past my crew has not had much sympathy for my morning crabbiness because I stayed up too late… I assume the time will be the same. 

Sunday 6:36am - I am awoken by a strange sound. At first it sounds like my second mate, but the location and tambour of the sound does not match that of normal circumstances. I hear, “Daddy…hour…Daddy…hour”. Finally and quite abruptly my brain snaps to and I realize the the noise is coming from outside my window. As fast as lighting I am up and looking out the window to see my second standing in the yard. He sees me and happily says “Hi Daddy”! I run over to the porch door to join my mutinous crew member and realize that in the morning dew grass was clinging to his feet and legs and he wanted me to turn the outside shower on. This is the FIRST time he was able to escape from his sleeping quarters and through a perfect storm of security lapses was able to make it all the way outside without alerting me. Security measures will have to be addressed.

Sunday 9:30am - After first and second breakfasts the crew is now donning their aquatic lawn attire to once again engage in “sprinkler jumping”. 

Sunday 12:12pm - The crew and I have had to move quickly to avoid being blown away in a quickly approaching summer storm. The temperature has dropped 15 degrees in the last 5 minutes and we are doing everything we can to get all of our activities cleaned up before the rain begins. 

Sunday 3:07pm - It is with both an ecstatic and heavy heart that our Quartermaster and full time Commander returns from her scouting trip abroad. The crew is very excited for her return and I as well in order to turn command of these energetic maniacs back to her. I feel this expedition was successful and fun at the same time and although I temporarily misplaced my second mate, no crew members were lost entirely or injured beyond kiss repairs. I would take embark on another such adventure but not anytime soon.