"Home" Again...

Although we're now back in our actual home, Oak Harbor, we just returned from a week long vacation in our favorite home of San Diego. We moved away from there a little over a year ago now and the itch to get back just never seems to fade with time...I don't think it ever will. Here are some pictures from our trip showing just a few of the reasons why we love this place so much...

First stop...



Shocking, I know. We literally got off the plane, checked into our hotel, and headed straight to the restaurant. The margaritas and shrimp tacos were calling!



The next morning I was like a 10 year old little girl on Christmas. Wide awake at 6am, I tried to stay quiet for an hour or so but then got too excited and had to wake Bobby up. I wanted to go to Sea World! However, we had priorities. Breakfast at Katy's. We headed down to Imperial Beach (our actual home) and visited old friends at the coffee shop. Check out Katy's new sign! It used to be "IB Coffee and Books" but we all constantly told her to change it to the real name - "Katy's". Looks like it worked!



Bobby wasn't too happy about this picture I snapped but he was MORE then happy to be enjoying his "bedhead bagel."



IB has made some nice upgrades to the city and it's great to see how wonderful things are starting to look. This new area is just outside of Katy's - near our first apartment in IB.



Bellies full, we were now able to venture off to Sea World. We never went while we lived there because we figured we'd wait to go with company but some how we just never got around to it. What an awesome place! Although I didn't get to go on any rides (which I found out that Bobby actually doesn't like rides but only told me that originally while we were first dating. ha!) it was still an awesome time. You can't go wrong with Shamu!





Tired from a long day of walking, we grabbed dinner at a near by sushi restaurant on the water then called it a night. The next day was full of wedding planning. I'll keep this part short. We picked the tuxes, started getting Bobby's uniform put together, got a taste of our AMAZING food for the reception, and loved the reception location. Looks like the wedding is a go! :)

After more meals at Costa and coffee breaks at Katy's, Bobby and I went for a walk along the beach in IB. Yes, we wanted to enjoy the scenery and did catch a glimpse of dolphins jumping in the surf, but really we just wanted to snoop in on our old place. It turned out that, while we thought we were the ones doing the snooping, we were actually being watched by people on shore. It took us a bit to really hear what a guy was yelling at us but, as we got closer, we finally heard "Where are your dogs!?!" It was an old neighbor from down the road that remembered us being pulled up and down the beach by Wrigley and Gracie a year before. ha!



We spent time at the pool, time at the beach, and time outside sipping cocktails, but what I'm going to wrap all of this up with was our trip the the Wild Animal Park. Bobby's about one of the only people in the world who doesn't like the San Diego Zoo but we both really wanted to see more animals sooo... we drove about 45 minutes north to the Wild Animal Park. The park is a cage "free" environment because, although there are obviously fences etc, they have 1800 acres of land where the animals are allowed to roam. Clearly they don't keep the lions with the antelope but you get what I mean. It was/is the breeding place for the San Diego Zoo so we were lucky enough to see baby elephants, cheetahs, and giraffes along with countless other animals. Although the size of the zoo is enormous, Bobby and I hit the jackpot when we randomly bumped into the staff taking one of their cheetahs on a walk. They had her on a leash as well as her best buddy, a dog, to keep her calm and happy. We were literally 5 feet from the cat and could hear her purring loudly. There is NO zoom on this picture.



The cheetah's buddy...



We finished our day off with a "safari" where we got to ride on a big truck INSIDE of the animal enclosure. Obviously we were only in with the plant eaters but it was still awesome - we even got to feed giraffes! Here is a video of Bobby feeding a very hungry gals. Keep in mind that we're standing in the bed of a truck so this animal if MUCH taller then it looks.



3 month old giraffe...





The experience is amazing and definitely one that I'd recommend. All in all, we had a great trip and were very sad to leave.



We'll be back soon!!! :)

It's a rental...

As much as Bobby and I would love to buy a house, it's days like today when I'm happy we're just renting. Today was dog washing day. We've tried taking Wrigley and Gracie outside and washing them with the hose, but that ends up being more of a fight then a wash. So, with both of us in our suits, we now trap the dogs in the bathroom and get to work. Here is a short video of the action...



And here is why we're glad this is a rental. Hopefully some Drano will do the trick. :)

Welcome Home!

It's been quite the week! Here's the "short" version...

In anticipation of all of our guys coming home from different deployments at the same time, a group of us girls all went out for dinner at Fraser's on Saturday night. Yes, Oak Harbor does actually have a nice restaurant WITH air conditioning! Who knew? The celebration of our survival through another deployment was a great time with awesome food and a few cocktails. I love these ladies!



Bobby was supposed to be getting home on Sunday so the rest of the weekend had been filled with cleaning. Vacuuming seems to be a daily occurrence due to Wrigley and Gracie shedding like crazy. Well, I got a call some time on Friday, I think, telling me that the NALO (no idea what that stands for but it's the plane that brings Bobby home) was pushed back a day so he was now going to get back on Monday. Typical. I was definitely sad but I can't say I was surprised. They finally left the following evening and Bobby called from Canada letting me know they'd made it to their resting place for the night but would be off again the following morning. The call the next morning was not expected. "The plane broke down over night." Lovely. They were now hoping to get back on Tuesday. Needless to say, I was crushed. Luckily work was slow that day so I could just curl up in bed and have my own little pity party.

After all of that, they were finally back in the air on Tuesday afternoon and on their way to Oak Harbor. Because we live so close to base, Bobby said he'd just call me when they landed and I'd then come to pick him up. I thought I'd be able to do that but pacing around the house was just too much for me to handle so I went to the base and waited in the terminal for their arrival. They landed right on schedule and I was able to give him a big hug and a smooch minutes later. Luckily he had shaved off the mustache so I was even happier to see him. (If that was possible!) He was clearly been working out like crazy during his deployment because he's looking thinner and fitter then I've seen in a long time. I definitely have A LOT of catching up to do!

We had to drop a couple of other guys off at their homes but were then finally back to our "home". I say "home" because Bobby was here all of a week or two before he left. Apparently he didn't even know our address anymore. Ha! The dogs get SO excited to see him that I had to record his arrival. I'm so sorry that most of this video is crooked. Being new to the whole camera/video feature, I didn't realize that happened. But you get the idea. I walked in first to get the camera. The dogs just stayed where they were and essentially said "oh hi, it's just you." Bobby then came in seconds later and here was the aftermath....



So glad to have him home!