It must be May because our "PODS" moving container has arrived. If you are new to this blog, one of the underlying themes of our lives is the fact that we move - a lot. This is our 5th move in the past 6 years. We were late to the game of using Pods, but they are awesome. We don't really use them as they are intended, but more like a staging area until we can shift through what works in the ever-changing layouts of the houses we call home for however long we occupy them. When we moved from Yuma to Arlington Jim had the brilliant idea to rent one and I believe it contributed to saving our marriage - Hahahaha not really, but it did.
The first weekend in the month was Prom! Lucy and Alistair were to meet some friends down at the Jefferson Memorial for photos. We were able to talk our way into driving them down there beforehand to snap a few photos of our own. Sadly it was high tide and the area around the Jefferson was flooded and not accessible, so we snapped a few as close as we could get and then drove them over to the Lincoln Memorial and they met up with their friends. The Prom was being held at a hotel ballroom in Tyson's Corner. She said it was fun, but I am not sure how long they actually stayed.
The next evening, Jim's first cousin Patti's family came over for dinner on their way to a late evening flight back to Massachusetts. They had been at a family wedding down in Charlottesville. It was great seeing them again after so long! We also had Kaiya Jessen with us (as a substitute for Lilly!). She was flying home to San Diego and needed a place to crash for the night. It was great because she attends the University of Richmond which is where Patti's son McLaren will be going next year as well!
With our departure now being measured in weeks rather than months, we are lining up all the dinner dates we can! First up is Nathan Frost! He was in town from Japan and we took the opportunity of the nice weather to sit outside up at North side Social in Falls Church. It didn't disappoint! He caught us all up on the goings-on at Yokota AB. We still miss Japan so much!
The following night we were lucky enough to snag Jim's best friend from High School Scott for dinner. This time at another local favorite Old Dominion Wine and Beer. I knew it sold Beer and Wine, but it is also a full restaurant complete with a back patio!
At the end of the week we were invited to a Friday Evening Parade at Marine Barracks. Always a pleasure to attend especially when we also get a invitation to the pre-parade reception. Given the weather on this particular Friday night, we didn't think the parade would actually happen. Not only was it in the low 50's it was also raining! Boy were we wrong. I was totally under-dressed. We sat in the rain for an hour and 15 minutes while the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Corps, The President's Own US Marine Band, The Commandant's Own US Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, the U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard, Alpha and Bravo Company of the 8th and I garrison, The Marine Corps mascot Chesty and the Marine Barracks Washington perform music and precision marching. As always it was fantastic
but I wish I had brought a raincoat and a blanket!!!
The following night we hosted MC and her family over for a Yakiniku style dinner to celebrate Jim's Birthday! We had also thought we could use it as a test run on doing something similar once we get to Miramar where we will be frequently entertaining for dinner. It didn't go exactly as planned since we were forced to cook inside rather than on our back deck due to RAIN! Also we set off the smoke detectors at least 3 times! Soo we still need to perfect that idea.
On Mother's Day, we walked over to Godfrey's and had a delicious brunch. I will say, although our one year in Falls Church presented some social challenges, the food game was STRONG!
Lilly celebrated Mother's Day attending a Dodgers game with some of her sorority sisters. We, of course, would have rather had her with us. She has a month of school left and then will be with us for the whole summer! We can't wait!
The days are just flying off the calendar! All of a sudden it is Senior Night for the Meridian Mustangs! Lucy hasn't had the senior soccer season we hoped for, but she does get playing time most games and she gutted it out. For that we are grateful and hope she can continue her love of the game in college. The Mustangs were victorious and moved on to the first round of the playoffs. Sadly their run was cut fairly short and they lost one game prior to the championship.
One last update on Jim's tower garden. The cool nights have really led to an explosion of growth! We have more cilantro and bib lettuce than we will ever be able to eat! Here's hoping we can crank it back up as soon as we get to CA and try to recreate our luck.
When I first arrived back to the DMV area I had planned on joining two of my besties from Yokota every month for a fun filled lunch. I was able to do 2 of these lunches before the wheels fell off and finally, my last month here, we did another!! And we were joined by another favorite person from Yokota who was here visiting - LESLIE!!! The lunch extended far into the afternoon and I was super thankful for the break in shuffling my boxes from the attic to the moving pod. I don't know when we will have all these people together again, but it needs to be SOON.
Hard to believe that just last year Lilly was preparing to graduate and now Lucy is doing the same thing! She is sooo ready to be out of high school. I, on the other hand, am not quite as ready to have two in college.
Soccer isn't the only thing wrapping up, JV Baseball also had it's final game of the season. The season started slowly for the boys, but once they found their groove, they ended up doing pretty well. Ben was a leading hitter on the team, batted in the .400s and will miss playing with his friends and coach Z.
Suddenly we are down to Memorial Day Weekend! We had made plans to spend Friday and Saturday night with Jim's family at his sister's river house in Deltaville. That place never disappoints. We got set up in the new bunk house over the garage. It was perfection. After all the pre-move and pre-graduation stress looming over us, we needed just a few days to take a breather and spend some quality time with family.
All good things must end though, so we packed up the car and headed back to Falls Church to finish out the month. Bright and early on Memorial Day, Jim and I headed to Arlington Cemetery to pay our respects to several fallen heroes. We ran into so many people we knew. Some come to the cemetery every Memorial Day while others visit when they are in town. Gold Star families are a constant presence. Every American should visit Section 60 at Arlington, America's Valhalla and the final resting place of so many heroes.
Later that afternoon we drove into DC to meet up with the other incoming Wing Commanders at the Marine Barracks to have some bonding time with each other and their boss at his home. We got a tour of the Center House which is more than just an Officer's quarters. It also houses the Drum room which is decorated with snare drums from both US and also Great Britain's musical units. In addition to drums the walls are adored with beer mugs for a every marine- from the Commandant to the most junior marine living about Marine Barracks. The Drum room hosts an after party after every Friday Evening Parade and those invitations are highly sought after. We had an unforgettable day there.
We are ending the month with the best and the biggest: Lucy's Graduation! She has her cap decorated and her gown on. Let's get this party started! We are super proud of the way she handled herself this year. Having to move to Falls Church as a new kid for her senior year and miss out on the glorious senior year she would have enjoyed in Yokota, not to mention her dear friends in Japan, was a daunting challenge. She handled all this with grace and resilience and we are so proud of her. Hopefully she will take the lessons she learned this past year next year when she again moves to an unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar people - UC Santa Barbara - for college! We are thrilled to be "close by" in San Diego and to have all of us on the same coast for hopefully two years!
The actual ceremony was touching and well attended. The weather was nice although I wish I had thought to bring additional sun protection. And yes, I cried as much, if not more than I did last year when Lilly graduated 🥺
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