Monday, December 2, 2019
Monday, October 7, 2019
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Monday, January 7, 2019
Friday, December 14, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Friday, October 19, 2018
Labor Day Weekend 2018
My usual stories are about the destinations I've visited, tours I've taken, and sights I've seen. However, this post is a little more personal - well, a lot more personal.
I decided to take a trip to San Diego to visit my son and daughter-in-law. I took 3 of my other kids with me, but we were missing my son who lives in Japan. I am a very proud mama of 2 boys serving our country in the United States Navy. Nathan is stationed in Japan and Michael, who was stationed in Japan for 10 years, is now serving in San Diego. We try to get all together once in awhile, but it's not too often, so I cherish those moments.
From my house, San Diego is about a 7 hour drive, so we jumped in the car Friday evening and headed southwest, arriving late - around 1am. We were tired so we just crashed in their apartment and figured we'd catch up in the morning.
Because I don't get to spoil my older kids much, I took them to breakfast where we caught up on what everyone had been doing and just enjoyed being together. Then we started our weekend of fun.
Our first activity was to go check out Michael's ship, see where he works, where he sleeps when he's out at sea, and get a bird's eye view of his daily life. I can now understand why he needed a warm quilt for his bed onboard - that ship can get really cold. I also see why he enjoys those little goodie boxes from home once in awhile - how much ship food can one really take? We were able to meet a few of his friends who happened to be on duty there. We visited the NEX - kind of like a mini Walmart for the military members and their dependents. We drove around and saw the other ships that were in port at the time. It was an interesting view for an outsider to see how those in our military live.
After our interesting tour of the ship, we headed off for some fun in the sun. Searching online for the best beaches, we found ourselves at Pacific Beach, after finally finding somewhere to park. We spent the afternoon laying in the sun, playing in the cool water, and just relaxing.
After a long day of touring, playing and spending time exploring the area, we headed home to rest our weary bodies. We ordered pizza from this amazing place my son had found and loved - wow, I've never seen a pizza this big. One slice was a meal - some of us had 2 meals - just saying!
Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely start to the day - playing games, talking, grocery shopping - you know all the usual stuff you do when you visit someone. We then headed to downtown San Diego for the surprise I had planned for everyone.
Being a lover of sports (some of us), and especially baseball (my daughter and daughter-in-law), I took everyone to a Padres game at Petco Park. They were playing the Rockies and on top of that, it was Military Appreciation Day, so I was proud to take my sailor to show him off a little. There was a whole group of brand new graduates from the Marine's book camp, so that was cool. The anthem was accompanied by a fly over by the Blue Angels, and of course we were proud to stand and salute the flag.
The game was a lot of fun, the nachos and cotton candy were yummy, and the weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cold, not windy - PERFECT!
After the game, we headed home to an amazing Mexican dinner - well we ordered in - no cooking this weekend. We ended the day talking about our fun weekend and just enjoying our time together.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Sadly, we headed home Monday morning, but we will always have our memories. That's what it's all about anyway, isn't it? Spending time with your family - creating memories that will always last. We can't wait to do it again soon - this time with no one missing.
I would love to help you create your next family memory. Let me know how I can help.
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