The Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, after three soccer games, we were able to visit the pumpkin patch. Nana and Pop were in town for a visit, so we were happy they could tag along with us.

We love the farm we visit. It has a small kids' play area, but it is not overdone like so many pumpkin patches and farms have become.

The farm has a nice hayride that goes around the fields. 

Madison and Nana

This crew is very happy to have their dad home.

Karate Tournament

Luke attended his first karate tournament on Saturday, Oct. 5.  He has been taking karate lessons for awhile and was so excited to go to his first tournament.  We didn't know what to expect, but Luke surpassed any expectations by taking FIRST PLACE in breaking.  That means he was the best at breaking boards for ages 5-7.  Way to go, Luke!!!!!  The kids were given two attempts to break the boards, and Luke broke both of his right away.  Edward took Luke to the tournament since Madison and Alex had soccer games, and he was able to record the award ceremony.

Luke did not know he had won anything; in fact, on the video, you can see that he is very nervous that he didn't win.

The karate studio Luke attends is pretty small with one instructor.  We really like that aspect, and his instructor is fantastic. Only eight of the kids went to the tournament, but all eight placed in their events, which speaks very highly of the level of instruction!  Edward said the tournament was really busy, too.

Great job, Luke!  We are so proud of you!

More of San Diego

WI tried to take a lot of landscape shots in San Diego. We were there during a beautiful time of year with fantastic weather.

Bridge to Coronado in the background

The wide beach at Coronado

View of downtown Dan Diego from Coronado

Downtown 

I spent one afternoon at the outlet mall...in the U.S., but barely!

Here, I am at the outlet mall, and that wall is the border with Mexico.

View of the wall from the parking lot

Back on Coronado for the evening...

We met our friends, Kellie, Nick, and their kids for dinner.

Beautiful evening on Coronado

Great view of the Naval Lodge grounds

Beach at the Naval Lodge

San Diego (view from Convention Center)

We had such a great visit, and Edward really enjoyed his conference. It was so nice to visit one of our favorite cities.

Friends

One thing I really enjoyed about our visit was being able to see some great friends. Kellie and I got together on her birthday and twice for dinner with the guys . Her husband was the nurse in Yuma for Edward, and they lived across the street from us. We spent a lot of time together with our kids, attending Bible Study together , and even eating desserts in the street between our homes :) One of the best things about the Army is meeting some wonderful people, and Kellie is definitely one of them. She is a dear friend, and I am so glad we could spend so much time together.

I spent a full day with my childhood friend, Carin. We met when we were 10 as part of a pen pal project. Carin lived on the town my family stayed on each summer in Maine. Through the years, I would always see Carin on our annual trip to Maine. We kept up with technology in college and moved to emails. We loved being closer when I loved in Arizona. Now, 3,000 miles separate us, but we had so much fun catching up. A bonus was that her mom was visiting from Florida, and it was so great to see her too.

We had to stop for treats at Ghiradelli!

We had a great day, and I am so glad we had the chance to catch up.

Shipwrecked

One morning, we awoke to a shipwrecked vessel on the beach. It was very odd, considering this is federal property and the channel was just nearby.  Anyways, it was very interesting to have this in front of the hotel. They tried to move it the next evening , to no avail. It was still there when we checked out a few days later.

As the week went on, the boat dug more and more into the sand until it started taking on a lot of water.

I drove down to the Coronado waterfront for a few pictures too. That is the skyline of downtown San Diego.

Naval ship

The Padres

We have always loved baseball; however, we have not been to a game in a long time. We used to go often when we were living in Ft. Lauderdale. We picked a great night to watch the Padres play the Diamondbacks. The weather was cool, evening was beautiful, and the game was great. Due to all the travel, we were falling asleep at the game and left after the 9th inning, even though the game was still tied.

We had a fantastic view of downtown San Diego.  This is a beautiful stadium, right in the heart of the city.

The Beach

One of the best things about North Island is just how empty the beach is. The beach is on the base, so it is actually sectioned off from the city of Coronado. It is such a beautiful spot and a wide beach, but it is always so empty. That was one of the best things for is when the kids were so little; we never had to worry about safety. It was so peaceful to sit on the beach, sweatshirt and all, where we could just enjoy the wonderful weather.  The kids asked if we saw any sharks, and we did not. We did see some sea otters enjoying the morning.

Point Loma in the background and the channel to the harbor just in front of that

View toward the city of Coronado

The Coronado Bridge with the mountains of Mexico in the background.

The hotel