HOBART | Joe Negron and his 7-year-old son, Nicholas, wore matching smiles Tuesday as the two were reunited after nearly eight months.

"It's great to be back," beamed Joe Negron, a Navy serviceman who completed his fourth tour of duty in the Persian Gulf on Friday.

Joe Negron's visit to John Wood Elementary School at the end of the day was done to surprise Nicholas, a second-grader, who hadn't seen his father since June.

"It's super Tuesday for the Negron boys," quipped Cheryl Negron, Nicholas' mother.

Joe Negron couldn't fly into Chicago Midway Airport on Monday night as planned because of the fog, said Maryann Reynolds, Cheryl Negron's mother.

But Joe Negron arrived in the area Tuesday morning and wanted to surprise his oldest son, who had been bummed out by the delay, she said.

The surprise was a hit with Nicholas, who couldn't stop looking at his father and giving him an occasional hug.

"It's awesome," Nicholas said of his father's return.

Cheryl Negron and her sons, Nicholas and Michael, 4, have been staying with her parents, Maryann and Gordon Reynolds, who live in rural Crown Point.

The Reynolds family moved there from Lansing, where Cheryl Negron attended high school.

"This is a wonderful thing," Maryann Reynolds said while videotaping the father-and-son reunion.

In coming days, the Negron family plans to get reacquainted by dining out at Joe's favorite pizza place, the Home Run Inn in Chicago, and hanging out at home playing video games.

Cheryl Negron said family members have a lot of catching up to do since they didn't spend Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's together.

"This is very surreal. He's home. Being a Navy wife with two kids; it's very challenging," she said.

Joe Negron said he's been aboard a ship for so long he has cabin fever.

"It's good to be on solid ground," he said.

Although he's finished with his ship tour aboard the U.S.S. Kearsarge, Joe Negron's been assigned to shore command -- which will mean finding and buying a house in the Virginia area.

"No more tours. I'm so relieved," he said. "Now we need to find a home and go back to being a family."

The couple, who will soon celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, met at a Chicago law firm where both had worked, Cheryl Negron said.