Good bye, Italy -- It's been Real

I know, hard to believe, but our 3 years in Italy has come to a close. It was a busy pack-out for us - We not only had close out of all the "normal" things like paying final bills and scheduling movers, but also getting international flights and moving across country back to San Diego. We were pretty excited to get to come back to San Diego -- we had a lot of fond memories in SD when we were there back in 2011-2013. I received orders to go to the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN which was already on deployment and also completing a home port shift from Norfolk, VA to San Diego. I selected this carrier because by the time I was scheduled to arrive, they would only have less than one month left in their around-the-world cruise. I would more than likely meet them in Hawaii or some port and then ride them home. I was also scheduled to attend a few schools in route prior to arriving. Less sea time is always a bonus. But back to closing the Italy chapter... Shannon decided to leave two weeks earlier for her and the girls to go hang out with the family in VA. We scheduled three total pack outs with the movers. One for our wine shipment, the second for the majority of stuff, and the final one being the express shipment where all your essentials are packed up at the last minute and supposed to meet you first at your destination. Shannon and the girls hopped on their flight back west on the 19th of July. I would follow two weeks later. This also meant I was responsible for completing all the close-out items, like sell the cars, turn the house back over, and close up all the loose ends. Luckily there was plenty to do which made saying goodbye to our friends and Italy a little bit easier.

Saying goodbye to Villa 66. A ton of Awesome memories here. I can't believe we got the chance to live in Italy and live out in town on the economy. The view from that house will be something we will always cherish. 

At the Navy terminal waiting for the charter plane to arrive. The girls flew into VA two weeks prior so that they could spend some extra time with family. 

Your chariot awaits! 

I said goodbye to Shannon and the girls and then it was time to get to work. I had to scrub the house down, move out and sell the cars. I had a calendar and had everything that I needed to do each day. Thankfully, it all went fairly smooth without any major hiccups. I was able to sell the cars no problem, I moved out of the house and moved on base to finish out the last few days. This was the last view of Italy I saw as the airplane climbed out. Pozzuoli, is in the distance, with Ischia in its shadows. I remember the feeling departing Japan on our flight out and the feeling was just the same. It was sad as I thought about the past three years and all the fantastic memories we'd made. 

We spent a few days in VA and then made the trek to KY to hang out with my family. The girls enjoyed eating chocolate covered strawberries! 

Of course, a trip to KY would not be complete without a trip to Kentucky Kingdom. Ellis was pretty pumped because she was finally tall enough to ride just about every ride. 

We got really lucky and went on a day with little crowds. We were able to jump right back on the rides and not wait in any lines. Ever since Copenhagen, the girls have become thrill ride junkies. They were both looking forward to all the roller coasters and the upside downs. This is LC and Grandpa riding a roller coaster in the front car! This one was called the Storm Chaser. 

Our adrenaline junkies onboard the roller coaster! I think they road some rides over 10 times. 

Here are LC and E riding in the tractor with Grandpa on the farm. They both enjoyed the Air conditioned cab. 

And it was so nice to be able to spend time with the great grandparents! 

We even broke out the board game "Life" which the girls really loved. 

The kids loved hanging out with the Cousins.... here is LC with Chesney.

Our time in VA and KY were very short, but we had to get to SD to get settled in prior to the girls' school start. Not to mention getting a house settled and getting a vehicle. It was great to see family and great to be back in the USA. Everything was so modern, it was easy to communicate and it took little effort to do every-day things. We had to pack up all the suitcases and the four of us were off to our new home, San Diego, CA! So exciting!