Matthew Bunk and his son head over to the family's coy fish pond
with food for the colorful creatures swimming around inside. It's hanging out like this that the 32-year-old will miss during a year-long deployment to Afghanistan.
"This tour is going to be difficult to leave my family, that's going to be the hardest part," Bunk said.
A tough road ahead. But the military isn't treading new water for Bunk. He spent four years in the Marine Corps and later joined the Army National Guard. He's currently serving the Stateline as a Rockford Park District Police officer.
"I just really like that job, it's outside in the parks, I like dealing with kids," Bunk said.
While he's headed for a much different battleground in Afghanistan, and one much further away from home, his family know's it's all part of Bunk's life mission.
"He just has this, this deep root to need to serve his country," Candy Buck.
"The main reason I'm in the military is so my family can stay home in peace," Matthew Buck said.
While he's gone, Bunk's family plans to stay in touch as much as possible, reliving those moments by the coy pond and other special ones.
"We have two camcorders. We'll send tapes back and forth so he can see Matthew play hockey, soccer, you know Thanksgiving, Christmas," Candy Bunk said.
Special times ahead for family life apart, glued together by tight bond on the home front.
The family also plans lots of dinners with friends and family leading up to Bunk's departure at the end of the month. He'll spend 45 days of training in Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Then it's off to Afghanistan. The exact duties there aren't yet known.
Bunk is part of the 333rd Military Police unit based in Freeport. He's one of about 200 soldiers in that unit heading on this deployment.