Another month of go go go

Jim started the month off by running the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon in San Diego with some of his co-workers. Originally he was going to run this with a USNA buddy, but when that fell through several Marines from the front office decided to run it with him. He did pretty well and achieved his goal of finishing under two hours ... too shabby!

While Jim was running around Balboa Park and surrounding neighborhoods, Wesley and I parked in Little Italy (near the finish line, but not TOO near so there was plenty of parking) and decided to meander down towards the USS Midway. Saw some  pretty cool yachts in addition to the permanent attractions on the harbor. Wesley was less impressed. He just wanted to get back to the car so he could take a nap.

        

    

We met up with Jim in a pedestrian plaza, grabbed a coffee and some  baked goods and headed back to Miramar. Discussed - again - why we don't get out and about every Sunday for the remaining year that we are in San Diego.  I think that will be a new goal! 

We didn't have too much time to dwell on it cause we were going to dinner in La Jolla with Tim and Sandy Day, who have done so much for the Marines with their foundation that endows scholarships for the Advanced Management Program that Jim attended a few years back. It was great catching up with Tim and Sandy Day and the other local Marines who have also gone through the program.

Ben made it home from Annapolis, so our preview of our lives as "empty nesters" came to an end. It was sure quiet around the house with Ben out of town and I didn't have to make any runs to the store midweek to pick up milk or ice cream sandwiches, but I will say, I am not a fan of the empty house. 

The following week, I was scheduled to pick up the girls from college. I tried to get them to align their departures so I could just make one big swing, but with their exam schedule, that just wasn't feasible. I did make it a bit easier on myself and drove up to spend the night with my friend Sarah in Santa Clarita on Monday before picking up Lucy in Santa Barbara. Lucy was all packed up and ready to roll when I got there about mid-morning on Tuesday. We spent about 1 1/2 hours loading up the car and strapping the bike to the bike mount, made one last stop at the student bookstore, and hit the road by mid afternoon. 

We took a couple of photos of Lucy with her roommates - they are all living with different people next year but have tentative plans for Junior year which may or may not hold. Of course Aubrey lives in San Diego and I believe she and Lucy have made some plans over the summer. Mia will be splitting her time between CA and VA but will be living in the same sorority house as Lucy next year.

    

    

As we drove south, I made a call to Lilly and asked if there was any way we could stop and grab some of her stuff as well. Or like 99% of it. She would need to stay until Thursday, but if we could get most all of her stuff, then she could take the train or the bus home on Thursday and save me another trip. Alas, she said that "would not be possible." So I countered with then how about what you have already packed up? She giggled and said she hadn't started packing AT ALL. But promised me she would be ready by the time Lucy and I arrived on Thursday morning. Lucy scoffed at this and boy was she ever correct.

This is what greeted us when we arrived 😒. Not a total shock, but still not exactly what I wanted to see. 

        

Within an hour we were making progress and I started moving items to the car. I kept thinking we could have picked up quite a bit of this stuff two days ago!! 

Lucy is convinced I am crazy. But I had more space in the roof box and PLENTY of room in the car. I still say I could have configured things differently and gotten both girls things in the car on Tuesday. Lilly wouldn't have fit though - she would have definitely had to take the bus or the train - Ha ha

Two hours later, we are ready to hit the road. I am not really sure where this stuff is going to go in their rooms. Hopefully this will encourage them to PURGE! 

    

It is really nice to have everyone at home! This was the situation for the night. The bedrooms/hallways/living room have piles of bags everywhere which isn't ideal but having them all piled on the couch together laughing is worth the mess.

The following week we said "so long" or in this case Aloha to Jim's aide. Jeff has been a Godsend. I mean, all of Jim's aides have been great, but Jeff was the perfect fit for Jim coming into this job. I am not sure how the first year of being the CG would have gone without him. He and his family are heading to Hawaii where hopefully Jeff won't have a +1 hour commute twice a day. We will miss him greatly and hopefully Jim's new aide took copious notes! He has big shoes to fill.

    

Later that week, we linked up with our neighbors for some drinks at "Raised With Wolves" - a local speakeasy in the nearby mall. The storefront is a spirits shop but when you sit on the raised base of the fireplace, the wall rotates to reveal a circular granite bar sitting under a stained glass gazebo with a huge fountain as the centerpiece. It was super cool experience and the drinks were tasty! Will be back.   

    

"7 on 7" Football is now in full affect. This was never a thing in any of the places we've been in the past, but a major part of the football calendar here in California. It is mostly an offensive exercise, but Ben is getting some touches on the ball so that is always a good thing. 

He is also still playing hockey! How does he have the ability to do all these things AND still manage to keep up with his schoolwork? I have no idea. His calendar exhausts me and you guys know how we can cram in events! 

    

Since we are all home for a week, we decided to visit one of our favorite places - Din Tai Fung (DTF)! The food is delicious and this place always reminds us of our time in Japan, where we visited DTF for the first time. It didn't disappoint. I can't believe this is one of the last meals we will have all together as a family until the end of AUGUST!! 

It is a good thing we squeezed in this dinner because the next morning Lucy was off to go camping at San Onofre State Park for two nights.

    

The Juneteenth Holiday found Jim, Ben and myself up early driving over to Tourmaline Beach for a surf lesson.  Well not for me, I chose to sit on the beach and snap some pictures. Tourmaline is one of the many surf breaks in San Diego, and we weren't sure how they would do since it has been a couple of years since either of these guys have been on a board, but they both did a great job! No boards or surfers were injured and the surfing fire has been ignited. Casey, one of Jim's temporary aides late last year, has been trying to coordinate this for a while and finally the stars and waves aligned! And kudos to me for being able to pick them out of all the other guys in black wetsuits.

    

    

    

    

Yes, I know last month was all about the Eagle Scout Project, but that was just the building phase of the project. We still have LOTS to do on the paperwork phase. We are really hoping to get it all submitted before school starts in August. Wish him us luck! We are going to need it. This picture is just to show that the ESP plaque came in - Yay! And the NMCRS did a soft ribbon cutting to honor the occassion.

    

Next we say goodbye to Lilly for the next 8 weeks. She is off to Dublin for an internship that we know surprisingly little about ... other than she will be working for the Polio Survivors of Ireland. They have a website, so it seems legit, but none of us were aware that Ireland had about 5,000 people who had polio as babies or young children. The organization she will be working for provides support and assistance to those survivors in obtaining services and information to help them lead their lives. 

She isn't going alone. She knows a few other girls from UCLA who will also be in Dublin doing the same program, but with different organizations. She has a long list of adventures and trips she wants to do. She is also starting a blog (I am so proud). So if you feel inclined to read up on what she is doing, check out: https://lillywellons.substack.com - you don't have to subscribe to anything. There should be a prompt that says "No Thanks." Once you select that option, it should take you to her blog home page. 

We can't wait to read all about her adventures. Hopefully she will have as much fun as she is planning on having😁. Seriously though, we are going to miss her.

    

We had about 10 hours before the next child scooted out, luckily for us, just for a week. We dropped Ben off at the American Legion building 4 hours before the buses arrived to take the delegates to Sacramento for "Boys and Girls State." We don't really have a good idea of what awaits him, but have been told by prior attendees (in other states) that it was a worthwhile experience.    

After we dropped Ben off, we decided to visit a Japanese restaurant in nearby Kensington neighborhood. Jim didn't tell us the name of the place until we were walking up. Once we saw it, we knew he had made a wise decision. As longtime readers are aware, we love "Tanukis!" Even if the food had sucked, we still would have been excited to eat here. But in fact the food was terrific, and we felt like we had been transported back to some of our favorite places in Japan! 

    

The next day it was Lucy's turn to leave ... but this time I got to travel along! Lucy is spending the summer in Swansboro! Lucky Goose! She got a job hosting at a restaurant in Emerald Isle and will be helping out at the marina as well, and of course keep Nanny out of trouble. I took the opportunity to go home with her to re-attack on some estate paperwork and of course to see friends and family. It was a fruitful visit and I can't wait to go home again in August. 
 

Didn't take Yoshi long to realize that the "weak link" was back in charge. Jim said Yoshi greeted him with this face nearly every time he entered the kitchen. This is the "feed me a snack now" face that I always ignore, but Yoshi knows it works on Jim. Looks like Jim had a long week.

The week passed all to0 quickly - well at least for me. Will have to ask Jim/Yoshi/Wesley for their opinion. My flight back kept getting delayed (and delayed) but I did finally arrive back in San Diego. Jim picked me up and the next morning we got to meet up with longtime friends who were in town visiting their daughter - who was in town from Okinawa. This exact type of scenario has happened a few times with different people. It is super fun to be living in a city that people travel through! 

Lucy checked in with the news that she was driving to Charleston to visit good friends from Japan! Two years ago, Sam and Lucy's other good friend Annie came to visit us in NC and last year they spent a week in Utah so this year the meetup is Charleston. Sadly, Annie couldn't meet up for this trip, but there are rumblings of another visit, maybe in San Diego later this year.

  

    

Sam wasn't totally available for the entire time Lucy was going to be in the area, so Jim encouraged her to contact his cousin Rene who graciously allowed her to crash. Rene also connected Lucy with other family members who were close by, so she was able to spend the day in Seabrook Island with Uncle Bert, Aunt Florence Lee, cousin Patti and her daughter Abby!

    

Lucy was also able to meet up with one set of Godparents, the amazing Greenes, who live in Sullivan's Island and who were THRILLED to take her to lunch! 

I know you are thinking, I thought Lucy was going to NC to WORK- well, she had a couple of vacation days clustered together and had some  free time before the start of her online summer school class, so she decided to strike while the iron was hot! Happy she was able to see all the people and do all these things.