The Day Before

We stayed near the Hartford airport and drove down in time for mass at the Chapel on Sunday morning.  The boy who did the readings is Pumpkin's company commander.  We did not find that out until later in the day.  None of the cadets were in uniform at mass.  We left mass with a good feeling in our hearts.

We used Yelp and searched for a breakfast place.  It was a small place with picnic tables outside.  My cousin, who I hadn't seen for year, was in the area.  She ended up using Yelp, driving to the same place and joined us for breakfast.  It worked out great as we did not think we'd get to meet up with them.

We checked into the hotel and headed back to the Academy for the Open House and some socials.  It is hard to look at those curls  - - as they are no more!

Through a convoluted list of friends, we knew of this boy and his family.  It was fun finally meeting.  Both are swimmers and seem to be building a friendship (as much as I can tell from the pictures we see.)

We got to eat dinner in the Ward Room, dining hall.  Surprisingly, I enjoyed the festivities.  It was wonderful to meet other parents.  The network is impressive as we are all in this together.

 The mascot...Go Bears!

At the swim team ice cream social, the swimmers appeared to instantly bond.  There is something about the chlorine these kids must thrive on!  It is a big recruiting class.  Look closely at how clean that tile is!

I have to say I did great through it all until I got my goodnight hug.  Pumpkin came to me and gave me a big 'ol hug.  I admit.  I am tearing up now as I type this.  I do miss him.  But, I am so proud of him.  The opportunities that await are amazing!

And, to mark the occasion, I took a picture of the boys sharing a bed.  We are so blessed to have two boys that don't mind sharing.  Yes.  One steals the covers and one twitches when he sleeps.  But, they get over it.

Believe it or not, we all slept well.  We were all up bright and early as we did not want to be late for Reporting In!

Some Milestones...

Pumpkin opened up a Navy Federal Credit Union account.  He tried out the ATM card to make sure it worked.

For his last meal at home he requested sausage/white bean pizza.  A few years ago, I threw this pizza together from what was in the pantry.  It turned out to be a major hit.  I had to make two pizzas.  We cooked one in the oven and one on the green egg.  I liked the green egg version better as it had a crunchy crust.

 This was a tough one to watch.  Pumpkin was saying goodbye to the puppy dog.

 It is almost as if Buddy can understand him...

 In Memphis, at the airport - he won't see it again until November...

My boys at the Hartford, CT airport.  They are going to miss each other.  They stayed up until 3am the night before we left.  They had to get in as much Xbox as they could!

Birthday & Sweet Send Off

This year I had to work on my birthday, but just half a day.  When I walked out of the office, I realized Pumpkin had been busy!!  It was such a nice treat.  He was thrilled that he surprised me.

It had me grinning all day.  I promptly cleaned it off the next day - not the easiest to clean off!

When I walked in the house from work, I asked them what smelled so good.  They both said, "nothing."  I knew it was something but did not want to spoil their surprise.  It turns out it was a special birthday cake.  They even made homemade icing, my preferred kind.  And, they only put a small amount on the cake as I am not a big icing fan.  The boys bought me a card.  I laughed as they forgot to get the envelope when they bought it!

The day after my birthday, we had a SWEET Send Off Celebration for Pumpkin.  We rented a local cheesecake place down on the town square.  We had cheesecake, fruit, cake, water, tea and lemonade.  A woman I work with had her brother make these cakes.  He did the seal by hand.  Very impressive!

There were swimmers, high school kids and parents at the party.  The Big Guy put together a 15 minute slide show chronicling Pumpkin's life.

Here are the swimmers.  These kids are like family.  One was out of town.  Pumpkin grabbed a picture of the out of town boy on his cell phone to make it seem like he was there with them.  Two of the boys in the picture left the next day to report to the Naval Academy.  One boy is going to be a senior this year.  The pool is going to be different for him without his buddies.

Peanut out did himself in the art department.  I asked him to make signs to hang outside the shop.  This is what he came up with.  Sometimes!  He is talented but could not be bothered.  We all know there probably isn't too much about Swab Summer that is fun!

I had the idea for Pumpkin to make his girlfriend a friendship bracelet in the Coast Guard Academy Colors.  Guess who ended up doing most of it?  Neither one of them really wanted to talk about the separation.  Who would?  I don't know what will become of them, but pray they have fond memories.

Leading up to his actual Report in, I had my moments.  I was nervous about the party as I wasn't sure I could hold it all together.  But, I did it!  The party was relaxing.  The kids enjoyed it and we got to visit with lots of folks.  The Commander that gave Pumpkin his certificate even stopped in.  I was thrilled with the turn out as summer can be a challenge working around vacation schedules.

As I type this, I can't believe Pumpkin's been at the Academy for 9 days already!  As you would expect, there will be lots more to come on that...

Fond Memories Wrapping up CA

Pumpkin's swim coach lived out in Santa Clara.  We had to try his favorite Mexican place.  The burritos were yummy!

 We took a short detour to the Stanford campus on our way to the airport.

We flew home on the redeye.  I was a bit apprehensive, but ended up really liking it.  It was a big plane and it felt like we were flying so fast.  We were in Atlanta before we knew it!  (As a side, my heart goes out to SFO, the families and the airlines as they deal with the crash this past weekend.)

Loving these pictures with Pumpkin.  He ended up watching movies on the flight.  Peanut, the one who does not sleep on planes, slept the entire time!

Hearst Castle

One of the touristy things we did was visit Hearst Castle.  We used it as an excuse to drive down CA 1.  Wow!  The views were breathtaking as were the hairpin turns.  We were in some rental sedan.  Boy!  A convertible would have been ideal!

I love the colors in the following photo.  The Big Guy snapped it from the passenger window as we were driving.

 More beauty...

Pretty close to San Simeon are the elephant seals.  They were a hoot.  They were just about extinct in 1990.  Fortunately, they've made a comeback.

For the castle tour, you get a ticket at the visitor's center.  By way of bus, you are transported up to the house.  We took the standard tour.  In actuality, you don't get too see too much.  It is amazing that this was all started in the 1930's.

 On the way up the hill...

My camera battery died at the castle right after snapping this photo.  When I saw this sculpture, I immediately thought of my two boys.  They did wrestle with each other, but all in good fun!

The Big Guy bought the book, Chief, all about William Randolph Hearst.  He is currently reading it.  It is epic, but he says it is still interesting.

Sunset

While out in CA, we spent one evening on the beach savoring the sunset.  The beach is a magical place and the setting sun adds to it.

This is special one for Pumpkin.  I did this w/o him knowing and snapped the shot right before the waters washed it away.  I had a card made on Snapfish and sent it to him.  Yes.  We love our Swab!

Pebble Beach

Even though our California trip was just a few weeks ago, lots has happened...

But, back to California...we went to mass at a mission style church, San Carlos Cathedral.  I found it to be very refreshing.  It is so interesting to see how mass is in different places.

Then, headed to Pebble Beach and did the 17 mile drive.  What a lovely day!