National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

For Memorial Day weekend Ike wanted to take us to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. It was a beautiful place to reflect on the sacrifice that some have made for our country. We are thankful for these soldiers who gave their lives for our freedoms.

Random Cuteness

Almost Over

School is almost over. Julianna only has 1.5 days left. Time to hang up those backpacks for a while. I think she is sad to leave her friends but luckily she has lots of friends from school right here in the neighborhood. Mason will still go to his "baby school" as Julianna calls on M, W, F mornings. I am looking forward to more one-on-one time with her while Mason is at school. We don't get much of that anymore.

He was so proud of himself for actually wearing the backpack like Sissy. He usually makes me carry it when we walk to school.

Cuties!! This summer will go by quickly I'm sure and before we know it I'll be posting the first day of school again!

Fun at the Museum

The morning of the Dining Out Ike had to go and make sure everything was situated for the party so he took the kids with him and showed them around the museum. I was off getting my massage gift from Mother's Day!! Looks like they enjoyed it. As much as Mason loves airplanes and helicopters I would assume he was in heaven. Thank you Daddy for taking us to the museum!!

Prom for Grown Ups

Our squadron had a "Dining Out" on Saturday night which basically is just a very formal dinner. It was held at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island. The venue was a very neat place to have a dinner. There were airplanes literally dangling over your head while you ate.

Here are Ike and I all dressed up. It felt very much like prom, except we had to pay a babysitter.

Here are the HSL-37 Easyriders.

And here are all of the lovely spouses. They are some lucky guys, I'd say!

Ike had a minor wardrobe malfunction. Whoopsie.

My handsome hubby and I. It was a nice evening out. Always fun to have a reason to get all dressed up once in a while.

Vicious Cycle

Unfortunately it’s that time again. Our friends are moving. Time to say goodbye. This time it’s not only friends but neighbors, which just rubs it in your face even more. You have to see the moving truck. You have to physically SEE them leave. (On the upside, you also get a lot of random groceries, clothes, toys that they either can’t pack or realize that really don’t need anymore.) :)

This move was bittersweet because the Mom was my friend, and her son was Julianna and Mason’s friend. So we are all feeling a bit sad as we say goodbye. I have said it before and I’ll say it again… I think it is harder to be the one who gets left behind rather than the one who is leaving. When you are moving you are so stressed that you don’t have time to think about how sad it is, and on the other hand you are so excited about the new location, house, etc, that you don’t feel that sad. When you are the one who get’s left behind your every day life remains the same, but now there is something missing.

Military life is really something unique. The rate at which you make friends and then say goodbye to them and make more friends is so fast paced it’s kind of ridiculous. I am amazed at how quickly I can become consumed in a brand new friendship. How can a bond be formed so strong, so quickly? I have friends that I only lived in the same place for 1 year, yet I would do anything for those friends. I mean seriously, pretty much anything. Like, does anyone need a kidney? ;) There is a very unique bond that happens. You go through a lot together. You become each other’s sole support system. You are family.

This particular station has been harder than others. On the other hand I feel like I’ve had more support here than ever before. We are far away…. from EVERYONE. When your kid is sick you can’t call grandma to help out. Well you could, and I’m sure that if I ever made that frantic phone call that grandma WOULD come. Even so, it would take 24 hours for her to get here and a dump truck of money for a plane ticket. You have to have people around you can trust, depend on, even at 3am. I am so lucky to have that here. I’ve made phone calls at 3am. Guess what, someone showed up. I knew they would.

So, long story short. The vicious cycle continues. Hello, Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye. We just enjoy each other while we’re together and then thank God for Facebook. Sometimes this moving thing stinks… but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t change things even if I could. It’s a good life, even when you have to say goodbye. You always hope your paths will cross again.

Hope to see you soon, friends!

USO and Elmo!

Sesame Street is currently doing a USO free tour for military families on bases all across the US. They were here at MCBH this week and we had a fantastic time. It was perfect. 30 mins, free light up/spinning toy, floor seats so close you could touch the characters. We had a great time. It's times like this when I realize that I truly was meant to be a Mom. I couldn't have been happier to be there with them. It was a sweet story about a little girl who had to move to a new place because her family was military.