The Holidays and a Surprise

School seems to be in full swing and the year is coming to a close. We are still really enjoying our time here in San Diego. We are enjoying the normal traffic, mail that comes to the house, being able to drink water out of the tap and all the other conveniences we missed out on over the past 5.5 years. It is crazy to think that we were living broad for just under six years! For the most part, it was very enjoyable. Being a minority in another country and trying to figure out different cultures and ways of life. It is also funny to think that the kids really don't really remember what living in the USA is like. They still ask "do they speak english at the [fill in the blank]?" We are still filling out afternoons and weekends with outdoor activities and a lot of pool time.

Now, regarding "the surprise".... while I was away at Dahlgren, VA for my 5-week school, I found out that the ship wants me to meet them at sea. This isn't anything out of the ordinary, but it looks like they are getting extended over in the middle east with all the recent tensions. Every week or so my sponsor would give me an update from the boat saying they didn't need me to come out.... then he would say things have changed and they want me to come out. Eventually they settled on me meeting them at sea to ride them back home. I anticipated about a month and a half with them, and then I would be home for Christmas... and maybe Thanksgiving. Obviously, I had no say in the matter, so after my final school in SD, I packed up and shipped out to Bahrain. I guess we weren't too shocked from this news... the Navy has always found a way to keep things interesting. I left SD just after LC's 9th birthday.

LC and E received matching unicorn onsies for their birthdays that were big hits! 

The first weekend I was away, Shannon threw a little get-together for the girls' birthday at the pool down the road. All the neighborhood friends came over and it was a good time. 

To stay busy with me being gone, Shannon tried to find things to burn time. She took them to the neighborhood in Coronado that we used to live and and they walked Tidelands park. This was the park that we would take the girls to every day, and every night we would walk Sasha and let the girls roll/run around the park. We also took some family photos one year at this pond that the girls are sitting in front of. Only LC remember.... E was too young. 

This is the pathway we would walk a couple times a day. The never disappoints. 

Shannon signed the kids up for a few different activities to assist with the staying busy theme. LC joined the school choir club that meets Friday mornings. They do various performances around town and also sing to their school every friday morning when all the school meets for "Friday at the Flagpole."

LC and E both wanted to get involved with gymnastics at the community center. LC has done it now for a few quarters but E wanted to try something different and now she is in Jazz and Contemporary Dance. Of course, what is gymnastics without the proper attire?

I remember Halloween being a highlight to our previous Coronado living. The main Coronado street, Orange, is where all the businesses are and they pass out candy to the hoards of trick-or-treaters. The kids dressed up as a witch (E) and a devil (LC). They even were able to dress up for school.  Needless to say, they both made out with a lot/too much candy. 

LC dressed up as a devil. 

E dressed up as a witch with pink teeth. 

Strolls on the beach also help with passing the time. Here are the kids admiring a sand sculpture someone built. 

The kids dont remember too many of the places we used to go when we were here back in 2011. But Moo time Creamery was always a personal favorite of mine. I think this photo was taken in front of moo time. Shannon and I also used to go to the local frozen yogurt place, and secretly eat fro-yo from the cup while pushing the kids in the stroller or wagon. They now ask for it all the time and love being able to choose between the 8-10 different flavors and the numerous toppings. 

Here are the kids climbing on the rocks at the beach. Another beautiful fall day in CA.

Of note, once I got to the boat in October, we received word a few days later that we would be extended another 3 months. That news was very hard on the crew since it would put them at 10 months of deployment. For me, it was sad knowing that I would be missing all of the holidays, but knew 3 months was still better then 10 months! sigh.... the life of the Navy.

Both kids are also in local Girl Scout troops. They were both in GS in Italy and seemed to enjoy it so we thought it was a no-brainer to get them involved here. LC's troop had a camp out at Balboa park one weekend. Here she is practicing archery. They camped next door to the zoo, which they thought was pretty cool. 

With me being gone, the only time I really get to talk to them is when we pull into port somewhere. We pulled into Bahrain for Thanksgiving which was nice. It was especially nice for the crew on the boat who'd been at sea for over 60 days straight. The girls like to bring up the various filters on FaceTime instead of talking.... sigh...  Shannon and the kids flew up to WA for Thanksgiving to see our good friends from Italy. 

The girls' Girl Scout troops participated in the Coronado  Christmas Parade. Here is E with one of her friends. 

And here is LC's troop marching in the parade.

LC's choir club also had a bunch of lovely Christmas performances around town and at school over Christmas. 

No words to describe this picture..... 

More of LC's choir performances. 

For Christmas, Shannon and the girls flew to VA. We were always kind of planning on flying out east for Christmas this year, but once we heard I wasn't going to be home, they bought tickets for them to head east once the kids got out of school. They decorated the house with most of our Christmas decorations to get into the Christmas spirit. Here they are opening up their lava lamps. 

LC asked for a skateboard for Christmas and here she is showing it off. 

Shannon had a great time in VA over Christmas break -- they were able to see all the family and cousins and they loved opening presents!

Thumbs down for having to go back home!

Both kids love the dogs over at Poppy and BB's, E especially. E will spend hours outside petting and talking to the dogs. 

Ellis also started losing teeth. Both of her upper fronts became loose at the same time, but this was the first one to fall out. 

My second and last port visit of the deployment was to Hawaii. Unfortunetly, the weather was very rainy but it was still great to be on land and to be able to FaceTime with the kids. Here is LC showing me her freshly chalked hair color. 

Shannon signed up for a Rowing event in WA (w/ our good friends in) and her and the girls flew up the WA to participate in that. It was a 24 hour event, where you row for 10 min every hour on the hour, and then rest for 50 minutes. So you stay up 24 hours straight.... sounds awful.... 

Staying busy was the name of the game. Between Christmas and the short trip to WA, it was stating busy with all the activities back home coupled with lots of trip to the neighborhoods (heated) pool. 

New School and Fall 2019

We flew into San Diego on August 12th and arrived to nothing and nobody. We rented a car and drove to the navy base on Coronado to spend a few nights. If you recall, the Navy lodge on Coronado was the place we stayed at prior to departing for Japan back in 2014. The place is right on the beach and has a sweet pool.  We moved into our room and got somewhat settled. We would stay there for a week or so as we finalized our rental house plans. The place we arranged was getting painted and some last minute updates prior to us moving in. So we stayed at the hotel while all that stuff was finishing up. We were able to go to the beach every day and spent hours at their pool. We even saw some friends from Italy who had also recently moved to San Diego. It was nice to get reacquainted with the USA too. The conveniences were welcoming and it was not as chaotic as Italy.

Every night we would let the hounds loose and they would run up and down the beach collecting sand dollars and scaring away birds. Oh by the way, the temperatures were fantastic. When we left Italy is was in the mid-90s, so the 60-70 degree weather felt so refreshing. 

Lovely Coronado beach. We've had a few photos taken here in the past.

One of the first stops we made were to LC and E's new elementary school; Silver Strand. We had to get the school schedule and get some information on what supplies they needed.... as well as register them for the year. It was a different-looking school, with breeze ways and everything outsides (besides the classrooms), even the place where they eat lunch. They were both excited to get to school but a little nervous because of the newness of everything. 

We also had to decide on a car so that we wouldn't be driving around the rental. We did the research prior to arriving and decided to we were going to bite the bullet and get a mini van.... yawwwwn.. I know, boring and a knife to the ego, but they just make sense with the space, comfortability, gas milage, etc..... I just had to find one that would suit us. Shannon pretty much let me make all the decisions (for once) and told me to get whatever. Which also meant that relieved her of all the car dealership hassles. I wanted to make it as painless as possible. I found the one I wanted and the rest is history.

We got all the girls schools supplies and dates for when they were to start school. We also were able to move into the house after 8 days or so at the Navy lodge. Our house hold goods also arrived that same week so we scheduled to have them delivered the same day. Thankfully, everything made it in one piece with no issues. We saw the house for the first time and started the unpacking process.

We had to ship our wine out in early May in attempt to beat the heat as it traveled across the lands.  Our final tally of wine was just over 400 bottles. Since it left us so early, a buddy of mine here in SD took possession of it for us until we arrive. Once we got semi-unpacked, I drove up and picked it all up. Thankfully it made it in one trip. This should last us a few months!

We also found out that the neighborhood has a pool, tennis courts and a community center about 300 meters from our house! Needless to say, we spent many hours at the pool burring off energy and staying cool during the heat of the day.

 They both received their birthday presents early - mermaid tails that actually work in the pool. With all the pool time, they both have evolved into excellent swimmers. They love doing flips and splashing around.

Here are the bathing beauties, modeling their mermaid tails. 

The pool has been so nice. It is heated so it isn't too cold and its so close. The girls also met some neighborhood friends that are starting to become friends with. 

Summer was officially over once the first day of school rolled around. No more staying up late(r) and back into a routine of some sorts. The girls enjoyed picking out their school supplies and getting ready for the big first day. 

 As you can see, it was a quick turnaround. Arrived in SD on the 12th, and back to school on the 22nd. LC was a little sad to leave us but they both we eager to get the school year started. 

Here is E getting acquainted in her class and sitting next to her new classmates. 

 And here are the other kids in her class. She was excited to learn that there were to "Ryan's" in her class... and one was even "Ryan C."

E had her 7th birthday on the second week of school. She even got her name up on the school's marquee board. Unfortunetly the school doesn't allow parents to bring in cupcakes or snacks or anything. 

We were also really lucky because they have a bus that takes them to school. A little silly since the school is only 4 minutes away, but the kids like the independence. Also, no more luxury touring coach buses for LC and E. They have a real school bus... the yellow ones with holes in the seats, busted out windows and squeaky shocks. Im kidding about the run-down bus, but up until now, they thought the buses that they had in Italy (w/ coffee makers, wifi, and reclining seats) were school normal buses. We live about a 4 minute drive to the bus stop and then they get bussed to school. These are all the kids at the bus stop. Once a month, the parents bring breakfast (i.e. junk food) to the bus stop to have a little fun. The girls that LC and E met at the pool also ride the bus so they have kids they know. 

We also made it to Sea World, which was a first for the kids. 

Our thrill seekers went on a few rides.... 

Checked out some of the exhibits... 

.. and we caught all three shows (Orcas, dolphins and the seal lion/otter show).

It was a little different then the Sea World Shannon and I remember, where the trainers enter the water and were part of the show. Now, the trainers stay out of the water and just walk around.... thanks a lot Black Fish. 

Here are the girls getting in some rides before we leave. 

Fun!

The girls also got signed up for Girl Scouts. E's troop went to Coronado City hall for a tour with the Mayor. 

Here is E sitting in the Mayor's chair in the chamber, discussing some of her demands as a new Coronado resident. 

The girls decided that instead of a party, they would have their good neighborhood friends over for a sleep over. We let them pick where we ate and they decided on Red Robin. It brought back a lot of memories for me because that was also a popular choice for Sonya and I for birthdays. Here is LC and her friend Annelise. 

Red Robin was at the mall, and before the girls wanted to go to Claires to shop. We gave them each some money and they took what seemed like hours to decide on what they bought. We finished off our Red Robin burgers with ice cream sundaes and milk shakes! Happy 9th and 7th Birthday! This is E with her friend, Emma. 

LC also got her name on the School's marquee on her birthday! Happy 9th Birthday -- man, where has the time gone? 

So far the kids have liked their classes and teachers and are starting to make new friends. I have been jumping around from school to school awaiting to hear if I'm going to meet the ship while out on deployment or just wait till it arrives here in San Diego. We have been liking the neighborhood -- it is nice to live on a slow and quiet street where the kids and ride up and down the streets w/out getting hit. And the clubhouse with its swimming pool is paying off big time.