Trip to CA:

My 10 day trip to CA was busy, emotional, successful, and genuinely fun.

I got to camp and visit with lots of family:

I went to a Graduation:

Ate at some of my favorite CA spots:

Enjoyed a bit of reading and relaxing:

And helped pull off our 5th Annual Fishing Derby successfully.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye but I did get to bring my cousin back for a visit on the East Coast. It was nice making the trip with someone to keep me company and I know we will have a blast showing him around our new place. We'll be back in the next couple of days with some posts on Calvin's visit. Happy Sunday!

Meet our friends:

Since we have moved here we get asked almost every phone call: "Have you guys made friends there?" And yes, we have made friends. We have a handful of friends now and I thought I would introduce a few here on the blog. Meet the Browns:

This is TJ and Jackie Brown. They live here in the housing, they have a little dog, they don't have kids, they love playing cards(we are getting better at their games!) and he works on the Finback with Quincy. We hang out with them often and we are so happy to have them here!

Now meet the Brudzinskis:

This is Mike and Miranda Brudzinski. Quincy met them when he participated in the Project Fireside at Thanksgiving while in bootcamp. They also live in housing, have a little dog, are total foodies(YAY!), they are musical, and they are super adventurous. Miranda is the one in the CG and she works at the firehouse on base. We have SO MUCH in common with them its just crazy... but in a good way!

We are meeting more and more people every day and I'm constantly amazed at how quickly you become family when you're in this military bubble. I guess its because most of us are so far away from any family of our own so you just make a new circle of people to be your family away from home. Its really incredible.

The Eagle and Visitors.

Well we had our first visitors!!!! Quincy's parents Terry and Gail came out to the east coast a few weeks ago and we had a great time in both Philadelphia and Cape May. We met them in Philly first for dinner at Spasso(delish!) and it also happened to be perfect timing for a tour on the Eagle.The Eagle is an active Coast Guard cutter that allows tours while its in port and its so so so different from Quincy's cutter so we had a good time checking it out.

We also had a great time once we came home to Cape May and checked out lots of local sites too. We took them to see the sunken concrete ship, the lighthouse, the WWII bunker(thank you to miss Macey for the info!), an alpaca farm & yarn store, and a handful of tasty restaurants too. It was fun playing host in our new town and we really enjoyed our west-coast visitors.

Dear Molly,

While your uncle Quincy was gone at boot camp I had a wonderful time on our "girls night out".

I could never explain to you just how thankful I was to get dressed up that night, to have someone to go out to our favorite restaurant with, to have someone make me laugh like uncle Q could always do, and most of all to take my mind off the amount of time I had left as a "single" auntie.

Your imagination, humor, and joy was contagious as always. I will always look back giggle about your determination to eat that entire marinated salad even though it was as big as your entire torso! It was a great night and just what I needed. I wrote to uncle Quincy in boot camp and cried happy tears as I tried to explain just how happy and thankful I was to have you guys in my life while he was away. It was truly a blessing and a very sweet time in my life. I love you Molls!

~Auntie Kate