California - we have arrived!

The long awaited trip has finally arrived.  We left Monday, July 29th, at 5 am for a flight to San Francisco, CA.  The summer in Maryland has been so busy and so hot and miserable, that I have literally been counting the days to get to the place of my birth.  Sunny, cool California.  The place I already never want to leave.

Our flight arrived just around lunch time and so our first stop was for some food.  We had had a long flight with no food... so we went to In-N-Out!!  Great way to start our vacation!

We got to our lovely rental home in a beautiful district of San Francisco (we look out our window and see the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Bridge) and got a tour from the owner's brother.  Once he left, we got settled in and everyone was just too exhausted to go out to eat, so Danny and I drove out to get  some groceries.  We stopped at this local restaurant (below) called Perry's for some local clam chowder to go.  Best clam chowder I ever had.

The next day, we had plans to do a couple of things, but Jacob (who had gotten sick when he got home from the Coast Guard Academy) was feeling much worse, so we decided to grab lunch and then head over to an urgent care clinic.

We ate at the same little place (Perry's) and we all enjoyed the atmosphere.  Well, except Jacob.  He was feeling so miserable at this point he couldn't even eat anything.  We left straight from here to the clinic.  Turns out he had a double ear infection as well as an infection in both eyes.  No wonder he was so miserable...

 We came back to the house for the rest of the day and stayed home.  Luckily we are staying close enough to lots of restaurants within walking distance - Danny walked out and got pizza for dinner, and we took a lovely walk into the Presidio to get Starbucks coffee.  I truly already don't want to leave.  Being outside with the cool air and no bugs and friendly people and gorgeous trees and scenery... well, let's just say I am going to have to guard my heart from wanting it too badly.

Until later...

Celebrating Matt's 24th!!!!

Last night we celebrated Matt's 24th birthday as a family!  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings (Matt's favorite food in life) and then came home and had his favorite cake.

It has been so so wonderful to have Matt living at home again (even though it is probably temporary).  I get another chance to be mom, help with laundry, cook his meals, see his happy smiling face every day, and hug him whenever I want.  As a mom, I am not taking this for granted - I am cherishing every moment of it, because I have learned how quickly time flies.  It is nice to have your little boy come home, now a man, and feel like a whole family once again, even if it's just for a little while.

Matt with his beautiful girlfriend Maria, who was a wonderful addition to our celebration!  Yes, she is as sweet as her smile seems...

Coast Guard Academy

 Okay, guess who THIS post is about?  You got it!  Jacob!!  This is his final camp of the summer (whew!) besides the youth retreat.  We drove up Saturday to New London, CT to drop him off at the Coast Guard Academy.  This was going to be a super hard one for me, because we had heard that this is a VERY challenging camp, and when he got there he was going to have to turn in his cell phone and have absolutely no contact with us.  I truly had to brace myself for this one...

We spent the night at a hotel Saturday, and drove around the town a bit on Sunday morning before Jacob had to report.  It is really a cute, quaint, little seaside fishing town.

We went to a local spot for a bowl of lobster bisque and fried clams.  YUM!

The big moment. The DROP OFF!! NOOOOO!!!!!  (actually I was very excited for Jacob because I knew he was really looking forward to this week.  Sorta...)

Gathered his pack and headed for the check in.  A quick hug, and he was gone...

The final view.  Once he went through this door, we were no longer allowed to see what happened to him.  Notice the deceptively friendly smile of the man holding open the door??? 

We drove around campus a little after we left him and took a few pictures.

We knew we would have no contact with him all week, but Danny found a person on facebook who was taking daily pictures at the academy and posting them for all the forlorn parents anxious for a glimpse of their child.  Kinda like playing "where's Waldo?"  Lo and behold - on Tuesday morning we spotted him!!!  We were soooooo excited and happy to see his face and know he was doing okay!  

Tomorrow we go and pick him up!  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!  Hopefully there will be a part II to this post.

Camp Perry

Yup.  Another Jacob post for summer 2013!!  This has been the most incredibly packed summer of his life, and I want to record every moment of it.  

Last week, Danny took Jacob to Port Clinton, Ohio for a national rifle match. They were gone for five days - and in that time Jacob had the most fun shooting he has ever had.  He also got to order a shooting suit (finally one of his own!  He has been using a borrowed one...) as well as other items he needed, he went to college night, he met with the assistant rifle coach at Air Force Academy  (YAY) and made some helpful contacts.  All in all, it was a highly successful week.   He also set his personal record for high scores.

The days were long and extremely hot and humid, one day the "real feel" with humidity was 113.   The shooters hung out in the shade as often as they could.

Jacob interacting with his team during some down time.  He really looks like he is enjoying himself!  (well, can you blame him?  Look at the pretty girl he is talking to!! haha)

Coaches and parents

Jacob's little "area" to set up

The Leake wedding

At the end of June, the Dustin family tackled their first wedding as caterer and decorator!  No, we aren't starting a business or anything, we just did it as a favor to a friend.  It was a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, and a lot of fun!

Hannah helped me for weeks with shopping and choosing decorations, while Danny planned the menu and worked on fitting it into a budget, and then he single-handedly did all the shopping for the food.  Whew.  He did a ton.  Superman-ish.

And Jacob.  He was the muscles of the whole thing. He did the grunt work.  He loaded many heavy boxes of books, decorations, flowers, food, etc. for me.  Never could have done it without him.  And then on top of that he switched to his dress clothes after the ceremony and went out to help at the reception - hauling trays of food and ice and serving drinks and coffee and then hauling everything that he had just carried into the church back out of the church and into the car.  Whew!

 The bride and groom were very laid-back and easy to please.  They had only one request - and that was that we try to make a trifle that was an old family recipe and had played a role in their first date.  

It turned out beautifully.

The bride was a school teacher, and so we incorporated books and relaxed flowers and burlap to reflect her personality. 

  And I have to say here that my beautiful, talented, hard-working daughter made each and every one of the 32 flower arrangements for this wedding.  I tried to help her.  Ugh.  My arrangements were not up to "wedding" par. It was supposed to be me doing the decorations and her helping me, but it turned out to be  the other way around!  She made one sample, and I was able to copy her for a few that were meant to be exactly the same.  The rest, she went into creative-artist-flowing-inspiration mode and worked without quitting for an entire day.  

At one point I thought we were going to run out of flowers, that I hadn't bought enough, and I started to panic.  My mature, calm daughter said to me "Mom, don't worry.  We have endless hydrangeas in the yard.  It will all be fine."

When I grow up, I want to be like her.  Truly.

The lovely couple

Family heritage theme.  Beautiful and touching.

Hannah serving the lemonade.  And Jacob off to the left drinking it! haha

Beautiful buffet tables filled with food meticulously prepared in the kitchen

I have to say that despite the bumpy spots (like only one person out of seven showing up to help on the night before the wedding) all went well.

We even had a candy station for kids and adults alike!

One of my personal favorites.  This was a cluster of decorations on the drink table.

After much work, weathering heat and broken air-conditioning at our house, and moments of panic when helpers did not show up, I have to say the wedding was a success!

Shooting Camp 2013

Jacob recently had a shooting camp in Hagerstown, MD that lasted a week, and was a week packed with instruction, hot weather, fun, competition, hot weather, and did I mention the heat? Never mind the fact that they are wearing VERY heavy jackets and pants with a SWEATER and undergarments under that!!  In ninety degree, humid weather!!  I get hot just thinking about it.

The instructor line-up for the week was top-notch.  This is a former Naval Academy coach who came to help the shooters with all sorts of things from how to hold your gun and position your body all the way down to what you should eat and not eat.  No sugar, no sodium and no caffeine!!   There was a lot of things to be learned all packed into one great week.

Jacob looks fearsome in this shot.  He explained to me that the coaches had him in this kneeling position for a LONG time, and it started to get very difficult.  In the end, he needed help getting up because everything had gone numb!

Yeah, you don't want to mess with Jacob.

Jacob is third from the left here.

Looks to me like they are all having fun during the lunch break!

Practicing the kneeling position

Jacob's coach on the left (Norris Diefenderfer), as well as Lou and Tracy DiPaola - the parents of Jacob's friend Jordan and the "assistant coaches" for the shooting team.  They have been a HUGE help to us - they are a christian homeschooling family whose son Jordan is one year ahead of Jacob and just went off to the Naval Academy - the exact path that Jacob wants to follow (well, Air Force is his first choice) and we have learned so much from them!  All of the families involved in shooting are really down-to-earth, kind people that we have enjoyed getting to know.  Just great families.

Jacob's current and future coach????? God willing!!  This guy on the left is Coach Kelley - the current rifle coach at the Naval Academy.  He was a wealth of information as well.  It was a great opportunity for Jacob to get to know the coach and make some kind of impression on him.

My handsome shooting guy.  Sooooo focused....

This is Jordan DiPaolo (navy midshipman now) and his sister Taylor, whom Hannah is becoming fast friends with.  Very sweet brother sister duo.

Not quite sure what Jordan is doing in this shot??  But it looks as though he is having a less serious moment and having fun!!!

Three coaches making an example of Jacob and his shooting position.

This is the view we get of Jacob every time he shoots.  Look how far away those targets are!!  I couldn't hit one if my life depended on it, let alone get nines and tens!!  SOOOOOO very proud of Jacob.