We made it to Kingston fine. Plane was working great and things were so well i was laying down in the back reading. After several touch and goes we decided on one more before heading home. Again things were great...smooth landing, flaps brought to 50%, power up (gain speed) and rotate (lift off)....(pilots voice over headset)..."OH S#*@!!!"...BOOOOM!! And the whole plane shakes! I jump up and go running to my viewing windows to check the engines...everything is fine. I still hear swearing and KNOW something hit but can't seem to figure it out. Finally am told to check the wheel wells. So...1. This doesn't really make sense because not much hits that area. And 2. The only way to see into the wheel wells are these tiny windows. Probably 8in X 6in. Doesn't sound too small except for the huge struts that take up the majority of your viewing space. So really i have about one inch on each side of the struts to look at. But I'm still thinkin, "What the heck happened!?".

Finally I hear the pilot say, "Stupid freakin Dear!". A dear!? Ends up right as we rotated 3 deer had come running across the runway. So everything looks fine from what we can actually see. We go through our emergency procedures (which all the CG trains for constantly) and do a fly by to see if there is any damage not visible to us. We're told we look good so we decide to land. Now usually they just want our lap belts on for safety. Some ppl don't even wear them. But the pilot demanded everyone to strap in and be ready. All I'm thinking is, "This can't be happening!! I've got a little one on the way and things are finally going great!". So movie moment of me...haha

Ends up being the smoothest landing of the night. As we go down the runway those on the flight deck see a HUGE "splatter" across the runway. So we're just waiting for the worst. (On a good note. The city of Kingston had the fire dept. blocking both ends of the runway to stop traffic on local roads and was waiting in 3 spots at the airport for any emergency BEFORE we even did our fly by. Awesome response!) Ends up being the best landing of the night. Stop the plane and get out...absolutely NOTHING to be found on the plane!! It was in perfect condition. We only found about 3 DOTS of blood which looked like they could've been from bugs. We get the OK from base, CO, OPS, and EO (Commanding, Operations, and Engineering Officers) to fly home and as we do a quick inspect of the rest of the plane....we find we have a bird stike on Engine 1 as well!! What a night! So we have to inspect the engine and all areas around that before we can be OK'd to go again. Finally...after being on the ground longer than we were supposed to have been out all FLIGHT, we are on our way home! What a night...

Now some of you might think, "So what? You're in a huge plane and these are just some animals. What could they possible do?". Well I've attached a video below to show you. Mind you...this video is taken from a jet. We're in a turbo-prop plane. Meaning, yes, we have jet turbines but we are still a propellar plane. So if it can do this to a jet, just imagine what it can do to a prop...enjoy.




Now...on a lighter note. To dispurse any rumors or stories. Yes it is true...i'm gonna be a daddy!! And i'm more excited than I can tell you. Sarah and I both agree things could've been done different but it's already happening and we are both VERY excited! So here's another picture of the proud parents.

As you can see...the mustache made a comeback. Sarah LOVES IT! She even yelled at a friend of mine, who was trying to make fun of it, that it's sexy. He's view changed really quick when the beautiful girl said what she thought. hahah

Here's how thick it is now. ;)